In June, 2025, I had the pleasure of attending my first Historical Novel Society of North America conference for writers of historical fiction at Cesar's Palace in Las Vegas. It did not disappoint!
Forced to sequester themselves from other humans in order to immerse themselves in a world of their creation, novel writers often lead solitary lives when it comes to their work. Since I can only afford to write my work-in-progress on evenings and weekends, it was sure nice to lift my head out of the rabbit hole for a few days and discover new friends and colleagues.
Hearing the words, "I get it" was a tonic to the soul, and sessions weren't bad, either. Actually, they were phenomenal, with topics ranging from craft improvement, to marketing, to the state of the publishing industry.
The conference gave about 500 of us a chance to learn from one another. It's pretty special when "us" includes New York Times Best Selling Authors. Please indulge me while I toss a little jaw-dropping into this post, because I truly felt surrounded by greatness. Rubbing shoulders with authors like Margaret George, Fiona Davis, Kate Quinn, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Sarah Penner and so many others was inspiring, to say the least. Every one of them was down to earth, serving on panels and participating in sessions alongside us newbies.
On the first day of the conference, while swapping stories with another author, she said to me, "There's someone here you really need to meet, because her book also features Lewis and Clark."
Bada bing bada boom, I'm now proud to call Brook Allen a friend, the author of West of Santillane. Brook's first-person account of Julia Clark, the wife of William Clark is a beautifully written, utterly charming romance backed by solid research. I've been a Lewis and Clark groupie for 25 years, and Brook captured Julia's voice with remarkable charm and grace. Brook was equally gracious, sharing her research experience and making introductions.
That's what this conference was all about: craft, connections and a little commerce. Check.
I've put together a few photo highlights, but it cannot do justice to the hard work that goes into planning one of these international events. I am so grateful for the organizers, and look forward to the next conference in Pittsburgh in 2027. Allow me to add another "c" to the above alliteration - coincidence. Several scenes from my soon-to-be-released novel, The Purchase - Seed of Manifest Destiny, take place at Fort Fayette in 1801-03, right there on the bank of the Allegheny River in Pittsburgh, the staging area for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Oh yeah, count me in!
Okay, break over. Back to my revisions rabbit hole.
--Kari
