Board Member Maryka Biaggio
The first HNSNA Conference I attended was in San Diego in 2011. Months earlier I had been browsing the internet for conferences and discovered the Historical Novel Society North America Conference. I thought, wow, I’ve struck gold! What could be better than rubbing shoulders with other authors of historical fiction and also pitching to agents specifically looking for historical fiction? I straightaway registered and booked my flight.
I recall walking into a room full of mingling attendees and getting excited about all the energy, but also feeling intimidated. I was new to the writing life and hadn’t yet published a novel. Digging deep to find my inner extrovert, I broke into a circle. And from that moment on, I felt like I belonged. Everybody was so welcoming. Having almost all the meals provided with registration made it easy to mix with other attendees. I even played maid to a 13th-century lady, helping her dress for the costume pageant.
Afterward, I was invited to submit a write-up of the conference for the Historical Novels Review, which I imagine doesn’t happen for many first-time attendees at writing conferences. I had great fun writing the piece, which I’m going to crib to give you some idea of the delights of my first HNSNA Conference.
The conference, although primarily attended by writers of historical fiction, offered something for everyone. Readers and writers found a bookstore filled with a cornucopia of offerings; unpublished writers had opportunities to pitch their projects to agents and brainstorm with their peers; agents and editors commiserated with their colleagues about all things historical fiction (and who knows what else!); and published writers met their readers and discussed their work on panels.
One of my favorite things to do at conferences is to pick up little gems of wisdom, and I garnered quite a few in San Diego: Publishing these days is like living in the Wild West; what editors call content we writers call truth; when agents are pressed to describe the novels they represent, they often steal descriptions from their authors; it doesn’t sell until it sells (apropos of anyone’s ability to predict the market); and if you’re going to write anything about the Civil War you better know your details, down to the wallpaper in rooms where meetings were held, or readers will promptly inform you of your lapses.
And then there were the precious tidbits from overheard conversations or panel presentations: “I’m way too tired to stay up for sex scenes”; “I’ve murdered so many of my little darlings, Lucifer has asked me to do a workshop”; “I haven’t lied in my writing but I’ve made up things when the probable version was inconvenient—I call it fiction”; “The world of publishing moves at the pace of medieval molasses”; “I don’t find it terribly difficult to get inside a character’s head: one of my protagonists once orchestrated a massacre for revenge, and I’ve sometimes wanted to do that.”
HNSNA is a conference that seems to have come up with the right mix of ingredients. The number of attendees is manageable. Most meals are included with registration, which facilitates mingling and networking. Keynote speakers are all informative and interesting. Hallway exchanges and fun scheduled activities combine with stimulating panels to provide just the right spice.
I’ve attended every single HNSNA Conference since San Diego, and I’ve never been disappointed. Now that I’m on the board I see how much work goes into making the conferences successful. I’ve attended numerous other conferences, but I have to say that this one is tops on my list—always worth the time and money. I highly recommend it!