A lot of excitement for the month of June, I must say! I travelled to San Diego for the Historical Novel Society conference June 17-19 and had a wonderful time. So many talented writers there, and a real book fest. The conference is super well organized, the people friendly and helpful, and some very impressive and approachable editors and agents were present. I came back with an armload of books, many signed by the authors, and have fond memories of the sessions, the people and the readings. The historical costume night, the Friday night fight scene and Saturday night sex scene readings were fun and informative. All in all a great conference, and San Diego was a perfect backdrop. In 2012, the conference will be in London, England, and will include a cruise up the Thames to have a banquet at Hampton Court Palace! Talk about a historical fiction writer's dream. Here's a link to the HNS site:
http://www.historicalnovelsociety.org/conference.htm
The WCDR SLAM competition auditions were held last night at Brock House, and what a turnout! Our room was packed, and we had 14 contestants, all of whom delivered a stirring piece. As judges for the event, Sue Reynolds, Dorothea Helms, Piers Walker and myself had a hard time choosing the seven finalists, but congratulations to:
· Phil Dwyer
· Connie DiPietro-Sparacino
· Michael Khashmanian
· Vilma Blenman
· Gwynn Scheltema
· Ruth Walker
· Helene Paquin
A job well done! We look forward to seeing you at the July 9th breakfast, and hearing your pieces again. The audience will have a hard time choosing, I'm sure. For registration go to:
