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Thursday, July 2, 2015

Still Mile High #HNS2015

       Just waking up from my first night at home after attending the 2015 conference of the National Historical Society in Denver. The travel was tough, and it was not an inexpensive trip, but I think it was worth it. I met many wonderful people (history geeks are such fun!) and heard several great speakers.

View from my room.

       My Blue Pencil writing mentor, author Wendy Perriman, gave me some seriously helpful feedback on the beginning of my novel, as did the two agents who heard the first two pages read aloud in another session. That combined with the material Larry Brooks covered in his workshop on The Architecture of the Historical Novel, really had me thinking and working during the conference.
      The end result (so far) is that the novel I brought home is changed, and for the better. I'm really excited about the changes as I did not see them coming. The changes include a new title that came to me in Denver. Now I'm on to final revisions with feedback from my beta readers, and then I'll be sending it off to agents.
      My primary objective in attending the conference was to see if I could get one agent interested in my book, and two asked for more! All in all, that is so encouraging in what can be so daunting a process.
Diana Gabaldon talking sexy.

      It was also wonderful to meet and get books signed by Diana Gabaldon and Karen Cushman, and to get my pic taken with the very dapper General George Washington, as portrayed by Vern Frykholm.
 General Washington arrives.

Now --- back to work.