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Historical Novel Society North American Conference
by Nicole Maggi
The Historical Novel Society is a UK-based organization that in 2005 began holding a conference in North America. They only do the North American conference every other year. The next one will be sometime in 2009, probably spring or summer, and most likely somewhere in the Midwest.
As the name suggests, it is solely focused on historical fiction, which for us historical novelists is a dream come true. Instead of asking “what do you write?”, you’ll be asked “What’s your time period?” It’s wonderful to be surrounded by so many other lovers of history. They have a variety of workshops, from editor panels to writing battle scenes to historical costuming.
HNS has done a very good job of getting high caliber speakers and presenters in such a short history of this conference. They structure the conference nicely, too – it’s only a day and a half, starting on Friday night with a banquet and ending on Sunday afternoon. The cost is not exorbitant at all. It’s also a great place to network. I met my agent through this conference. If you’re a historical novelist, put this one on your list for 2009. It’s fast becoming a must-attend for historical fiction writers.
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