Elizabeth Storrs opened the inaugural Historical Novels Society Australasia conference in Sydney, beginning with a reception on Friday night and a lively debate on ‘what historians and historical novelists can learn from each other.’ It was a wonderful night, made particularly special as I was invited to launch Unholy Murder, the third novel in the Janna Chronicles, very graciously introduced by Dr Gillian Polack, who was such a huge help to me when I originally wrote the series as the Janna Mysteries. HUGE congratulations to the committee who organised such a well-run and interesting conference. There were so many wonderful authors there, including the patron Kate Forsyth, Posie Graeme-Evans, Sophie Masson, Isolde Martyn, Goldie Alexander, Vashti Farrer, Belinda Murrell, Jesse Blackadder and so many others, along with the keynote speaker, Colin Falconer, who gave us a thoughtful and evocative speech on the theme of the conference, ‘peace and war’, and the ANZAC tradition. So many topics of interest were covered, from the sub-genres of history to indie publishing, from personal histories to ‘sexy, saucy and sizzling bedroom scenes.’ There were also a couple of really interesting panel discussions on the topic of what publishers are looking for, with publishers and agents laying it on the line. (Scary!) I suspect the next conference, in two years time in Melbourne, is going to be a sell-out success!
