Where else can you enjoy after-dinner drinks while Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe series) hams it up, the man’s voice in a steamy sex scene written by Gilllian Bagwell (The Darling Strumpet), with the author in playful swoon while Diana Gabaldon (Outlander series) reads the narration? Where else can you meet Philippa Gregory (The Other Boleyn Girl), up close and personal, with an inside view of her writing process — guide and inspiration 
to others bringing dusty facts, most intriguing, to life in a well-crafted and deeply engaging story? Where else hear Margaret George (Mary, Called Magdalene) wax eloquent about the history of historical fiction one hour and within the next couple of hours dine with the author bedecked in fabulous Cleopatra garb? Where else catch Sarah Dunant‘s (The Birth of Venus) stirring call to writers of historical fiction to make real and memorable (for the widest range of readers) the historical moments, people, and places that shape our future? Or where laugh with the inimitable Lindsey Davis (Falco series) as she reads the fan mail of William Shakespeare?
What a great conference. Such highlights. But that’s not all. The Historical Novel Society meeting in London afforded an opportunity to meet many more incredible authors, editors, agents, booksellers, and readers from panels to workshops… all this just steps away from whiskey in dark paneled pubs. (That I actually went to the conference with such fabulous libations within easy reach probably says more about the meeting than anything.) Reenactors, tea and biscuits after nearly every session (so civilized), and the buzz of shared passion — fantastic. I loved meeting other writers — so many intelligent, lovely, hilarious, and passionate writers telling the stories of historical people who have captivated them, real events and places from new perspectives, and the universal stuff of human life with a unique sensibility. I’m already looking forward to next year’s gathering. Onward!~
