Wednesday/Thursday, June 7-8
I committed to attending the Historical Novel Society North America Conference back in February when three writers from my online historical fiction writing group at Creative Academy agreed to meet in person there. I’d seen two of them last fall at the Surrey International Writing Conference and found those in person connections and memories to be so valuable. Unfortunately, one of the three from that group couldn’t make it but plans were laid with the others to meet up in the lobby of Marriott Rivercenter in downtown San Antonio, Texas on June 8.
I had booked a red eye to Houston using points so I could save money and fly after work and not miss a day of work, as I had just taken two weeks off work to go to Europe on my research trip (see previous posts). I had rented a car to drive the three hours to San Antonio as direct flights were prohibitively expensive. Unfortunately the flight, scheduled to leave at 11:30pm, was delayed over two hours, and didn’t leave until 2am. I seldom sleep on flights and true to form got barely 30 mins of shut eye before landing 9am local time. No wait as I brought carry on, and called the number for the bus which took me to the car rental place a 15 minute drive away. No one was on the small building and I thought I was at the wrong place until another man entered one of the two rooms with doors. I tried the other one and saw a screen and soon enough the rental agent was speaking to me via the screen – no doubt a COVID-inspired solution. Not the worst idea (I always prefer these kind of things in-person but I get it) and I was shortly on my way.
Uggh – not a fun drive. Felt much like the drive between Calgary and Edmonton except there were way more large trucks. I was quite sleepy and had to pull over three times to rest and drink coffee. I’m a good driver but this was a stressful drive. Finally made it with the thermometer in the car showing 94 Fahrenheit outside…and reached 97 soon after.
Checked in and had a nap and then sure enough met Jenny and Jacquie from my writing group. I had met Jenny (from Ohio) in person at SiWC, but had not yet met Jacquie (from LA) in person. They were joined by Tonya and Cate (who had joined Jenny at Detroit when she had overheard Jenny talking about historical fiction) and we grabbed a bite at the bar, then others joined. By the end of the conference our group had grown to twelve, but that’s a story for later. Took a brief walk outside and found the Riverwalk by the hotel, a canal with lots of green that is a popular with the tourists. I was too tired to explore very far or stay up very late but did manage to print out my pitches, as I had two the next morning. Asleep by 9:30pm.
Friday, June 9
Up at 4:30am Friday. San Antonio is two hours ahead of Vancouver but I was exhausted so didn’t feel too bad as I’m usually up by 5am. Practiced my pitch for The Storyteller’s Desire (TSD) at 7:30am breakfast with Jenny. The room was a typical large conference room holding about three hundred with freezing cold A/C. Then practiced with another kind soul (whose name I forget) who happened to be at the same table. Then at 8am James Scott Bell shared “Page turning secrets of the pros” which was helpful.
Then back to the room to practice then the real deal as I pitched to agent Shannon Hassan at 9:15am. She liked the idea and asked me to send 50 pages and a query letter – win! Then back to the pitching waiting room, where I met Jonathan Putnam from HNSNA’s Board – a very interesting fellow.
A few minutes later I pitched Amy Durant, an agent from the UK. I knew she was looking for a series and was interested in medieval period so thought it would be a good fit. I pitched TSD, and also mentioned I had just come from Europe where I hd been doing research for another novel in the series, The Storyteller’s War, with Chaucer as a spy, and her eyes lit up. Had I considered making Chaucer spy thoughout all the novels, and having that as a throughline? No I hadn’t I replied, but what an intriguing idea. She asked me to write a synopsis of the three novels with this throughline and send to her and then she’d see if it was a fit. So I had some work to do, as while TSW was easy with Chaucer tasked by King Edward the Third as a courier and spy, and The Storyteller’s Reputation (TSR) might also work, TSD would be harder. But the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea, as it gave the series a believable spine, alongside the throughlines of his relationship with his wife to be Pippa, and his poetry, and above which ran his public persona of the silver tongued but sometimes too clever for his own good drunk. Much to think about!
Then into more of the day’s sessions. I tried “Writing About Medieval or Renaissance Europe? Where have all the Muslims gone? Exploring Resources That Will Help You Depict These Critical Eras in a Less Euro-Centric Light” by Karima Alavi. Once I struggled past the snappy title I was interested, as the topic was thoroughly researched, but I felt much of it I could have been gleaned in a PPT and wanted a bit more of the presenter’s perspective.
Lunch to re-group with the gang, then at 1:30pm I had an excellent Blue Pencil session with Kathleen Jones. She had throughly read and marked up the first chapter of TSD, and gave me very helpful and specific notes. She had even read the opening of TSER to provide a comparison (that one has a lot of energy with the setting described clearly). I’ve had several Blue Pencil sessions, many excellent (Robert Dugoni at SiWC was great) and some not so much. This was the best of the lot, and left me feeling empowered. And am looking forward to her book Cities of Women, to be released this fall.
Then at 2:45 joined a “cozy chat” led by the very highly respected historical fiction author Margaret George. The topic was “Why Historical Novels Are Important in Today’s World”. I was wondering what the audience would say about revisionist history in both novels and video/streaming series. I was not surprised by the less woke-friendly response as compared to Surrey or Vancouver, and the discussion was lively.
Then Donna Alward talked about independent publishing – giving hope to folks like me who are struggling with the challenges of the traditional publishing world.
Then out to for a Riverwalk and then some dinner with our rapidly expanding group now up to 8 of us. Cate joined as a bit late and as we were waiting for our food she got a call – from her agent, about an offer to turn her non-fiction book into a film. We all celebrated her success. I was tired and turned in to get a decent sleep.
Saturday, June 10
At 8am, Amy Durant, Shannon Hassan, Marcy Posner, Mitchell Waters gave a panel discussion on “State of the State: Publishing in All Its Forms”. A sobering hour. I then took in James Scott Bell again for his session on “How to Write Dazzling Dialogue” – lots of helpful tips. Was going to take in another session and ended up chatting with Maureen (aka Brook Allen) , and indy author who kindly gave me her time and take on her experience self-publishing her novels. Helpful. Then lunch and Jenny suggested I move tables and introduced me to Griff Hosker. He started writing historical fiction at age 65 after retiring as a school teacher and educational consultant in England. Twelve years on and he has written and self-published (through his family business Sword Publishing) some 185 novels, with sales of over 2 million books. Inspiring. Griff talked non-stop while I ate and took it all in. Wow!
Then Jamie Ford entered and shared his experiences writing. A really good speaker. Then I needed to go warm up as was freezing in the conference room. The hotel pool was not open so was directed to the Marriott across the street and that pool was no good for laps so gave up and went back and took in Griff Hosker and others talking on “Writing About Wars in a Time of War” – which meant I was unable to take in “The Good, the Bad, and the Bloody: Nineteenth-Century Crime Scenes and Their Forensic Evidence by Kerry Cathers, one of our group (luckily the session was available after the conference via on demand video). Kerry, I learned, is also a historian with a PhD in medieval warfare so I made a mental note to connect with her after the conference re: TSW.
Then badly needed a break and went for a walk (again to warm up, which I did quickly in the 98 degree heat) and ended up at the Alamo, which as only three blocks away. Pretty interesting display and buildings, but all smaller than l imagined. The Alamo story as described in the museum is one about a young country fighting for its independence that has become a key part of American mythology. The soldiers and police out in front added another layer to the story and perhaps reflects the present day reality of that mythology. The passionate feelings about the Alamo and what it means was evident in the faces of the people visiting. I haven’t visited the Plains of Abraham near Quebec City, site of a battle that similarly altered the fate of a nation, but I imagine the feelings evoked there are similar. Sans soldiers and police.
Then back to the book signing where I met Allen, whose served in WWII, and we bonded (as my farther was a veteran of Normandy and Korea), then we both ended up listening to Griff Hosker regale us about homing pigeons amidst war and other stories. He also mentioned he was writing a story about John Hawkwood that had Chaucer as a spy (after I had mentioned my story TSR set in Milan, and TSW, that has Chaucer as a spy). Then Margaret George graciously signed my copy of her fabulous book The Confessions of Young Nero.
Then to change and off to the closing keynote by Lisa Wyngate which was excellent, and she announced that the next conference in 2025 in Las Vegas. A much easier trip to plan for! The HNS North America conferences rotate in alternate years with the NNS UK chapter, which will have their conference in 2024.
The room was even colder if that was possible and I had to leave near the end and pee and warm up. I wasn’t the only one complaining about the cold. Then dinner was served. Then our group – now twelve strong – gathered in the main bar for one final drink and to say goodbye.
Not a great sleep as my mind was so full of what I had learned and the stories I heard.
Then the next morning it was off to Houston (a much easier drive this time) to return the rental and catch the flight home. Glad to be back and then busy at work and life and took a month to get this down.
Then booked the hotel for next year’s conference in Devon, England in September. Now to start saving up…