This will be my 4th time attending my favourite writers' gathering, and I've had the pleasure of participating in the UK as well as the US conference. The HNS is an international organization and sponsors major conferences on three continents. This week in, Portland, Oregon, at the Hilton Downtown on SW Sixth Avenue. In September, our Australasia branch holds its conference in Melbourne. Next year, Edinburgh, Scotland. We cover the globe!
On Friday, 23 June, I'm a panelist for the session MIXING IT UP: Historical Writing in Multiple Genres, with colleagues Susan Higginbotham, Kris Waldherr, and Aimie K. Runyan. On Saturday, with fellow 17th century novelist Gillian Bagwell, I'm hostessing a Koffee Klatch for the public Readers' Festival titled FROM THE MERRY MONARCH TO THE FOUR GEORGES: 17th and 18th Century London Coffee House Conversation. And, making use of my on-stage experience, I'll be reading aloud introductory pages submitted for immediate comment and critique by editors.
The Book Signing, Saturday afternoon from 3.45 to 5.15, will feature 120 authors of historical fiction, and I'll be one of them. Two of my titles will be available, and I'll hand out bookmarks and happily chat with readers and writers.
It takes as long to fly to Portland as it does to London, and though I'll be there but a short time, I'm looking forward to the trip--a chance to meet up with seldom-seen writing comrades and editors I've worked with in the past, make new friends, and talk with histfic readers. And as an avid rosarian, I am very eager to visit Portland's International Rose Test Garden!