The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this recording from April 22, 2026. Author Helen Lundström Erwin (The Lure of Water and Wood ) is in conversations with authors Martha Jean Johnson ( The Queen’s Musician ) and Erica Obey ( Dazzlepaint ). They discuss how writers should balance their responsibility to the facts with theirpurpose as storytellers. Do historical novelists ever decide to simply make stuff up? What about historical fantasies and alternate histories? Our three writers consider how far a novelist can go in breaking the rules without sacrificing their responsibilities as historical novelists.

Additional Information:

HNS-NYC website: https://hnsnyc.org

Guests:

Martha Jean Johnson (US) https://www.marthajeanjohnson.com/

The Queen’s Musician https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1684633109

Erica Obey https://ericaobey.com/

Dazzlepaint https://www.amazon.com/dp/1940442362/

Host:

Helen Lundström Erwin https://helenerwin.com/

The Lure of Water and Wood https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986266663

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this recording from March 17, 2026. Author Susan Wands is in conversation with author and narrator Leslie Carroll and narrator Jennie Litt. They discuss the process of working in collaboration with authors and how the many decisions—including tone, style, accents, and pacing—are made in performing a novel for listening pleasure. We were also treated with brief samples of eachnarrators work. A Q&A follows the presentation.

HNS-NYC website: https://hnsnyc.org

Guests

Leslie Carroll (a.k.a. Juliet Grey) https://lesliecarroll.com/

Becoming Marie Antoinette: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345523865

Jennie Litt (audiobook narrator)

https://jennielitt.wixsite.com/voiceactor

Host:

Susan Wands https://susanwands.com/

Emperor and Hierophant https://www.amazon.com/dp/1684633028/

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this recording from January 21, 2026. Host Stephanie Cowell is in conversation with novelists Leslie Carroll and Jeanne Mackin, and Polish translator Sean Gasper Bye. These multi-translated novelists and translator discuss the vagaries of translation for foreign markets: how a translator works, how and where translations are sold, advances and royalties, capturing and respecting author styles, joys and problems of translation, and title and cover changes. Information about our chapter is available at our website listed below. Thank you and enjoythe program.

HNS-NYC website: https://hnsnyc.org

Guests:

Sean Gasper Bye (translator) https://sgbye.com

Leslie Carroll (a.k.a. Juliet Grey) https://lesliecarroll.com/

Becoming MarieAntoinette: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345523865

Jeanne Mackin https://www.jeannemackin.com/

Picasso’s Lovers: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1101990562

Host:

Stephanie Cowell https://www.stephaniecowell.com/

The Man in the Stone Cottage: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1646036247

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this recording from November 25, 2025. Loretta Goldberg ( Beyond the Bukubuk Tree: a World War II Novel of Love and Loss ) moderates our Open Mic for historical fiction authors. Ten members join her at a live event hosted at the Jefferson Market Library (NYC) to read excerpts from their published books and works in progress. The historical times and places range from 1C Rome to 1970’s Israel with stops in 17C Spain, US Civil War, Gilded Age, and many more.

HNS-NYC website

Moderator:

Loretta Goldberg https://lorettagoldberg.com/

Beyond the Bukubuk Tree: a World War II Novel of Love andLoss https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4MH8D63

Readers in order they appear:

Christina Britton Conroy (1970’s) https://www.christinabrittonconroy.com/

One Man’s Music https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002R8LED0/

Linda Stasi (1914) https://lindastasi.com/

The Descendant https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQVVYJJH/ref

Andrew Kass (1863) https://www.siwriter.com

A Woman of Agency (WIP)

Faith L. Justice (Rome AD 64) https://faithljustice.com

WIP sequel to Sword of the Gladiatrix https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WTCSPN6/

Martha Hoffman (early 17C Spain) https://cuidono.com/

The Queen’s Nun (WIP)

Catherine Siemann (Gilded Age NYC)

Death Uptown and Downtown

Ann-Marie Brumm (20C Israel) http://annemariebrumm.com/

Honor Killing: A Mossad Thriller https://www.amazon.com/dp/0578105411

Diane Botnick (1942, USA) https://www.dianebotnick.com

Becoming Sarah https://www.simonandschuster.biz/books/Becoming-Sarah/Diane-Botnick/9798896360001

Ava Seavey (US Civil War) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ava-seavey-663a253/

Mary Lincoln: The Untold Story (WIP)

Nola Saint James (Regency) https://nolasaintjames.com

Love at Midnight https://regencynola.info/v9jvtw7d

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this program on turning from journalism to fiction, recorded on November 19, 2025 at the Book Club Bar in NYC. Author Sarah Relyea ( Playground Zero ) is in conversation with Galina Vromen and Emily Benedek whose long experience in journalism informs their debut novels: Vromen’s Hill of Secrets is set at Los Alamos in 1943; in Benedek’s post-9/11 thriller, Red Sea, a young American reporter meets a mysterious counterterrorism operative. They discuss why they turned to fiction and how they chose their subjects, as well as their thoughts on research and craft. A fascinating program for our writers and readers alike.

HNS-NYC website: https://hnsnyc.org

Guests:

Emily Benedek https://www.emilybenedek.com/

Red Sea https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DMS1F3WG

Galina Vromen https://www.galinavromen.com/

Hill of Secrets https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKTPVQLD

Host:

Sarah Relyea https://www.sarahrelyea.com

Playground Zero: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1631528890

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents What Madeleine L'Engle Taught Me: Building a Literary Community, recorded on October 20, 2025. Stephanie Cowell and Kathrine Kirkpatrick, two former students of the great writer reflect on her influence on their writing, their 36 years of friendship, and building a literary community. They also read from their just-published novels: Stephanie’s The Man in the Stone Cottage about the three Brontë sisters and a mysterious shepherd on the moors, and Katherine’s To Chase the Glowing Hours about the discovery of King Tut’s tomb. They also took questions from the audience. A fascinating program for our writers and readers alike. Thank you and enjoy the program.

HNS-NYC website: https://hnsnyc.org

Guests:

Stephanie Cowell https://www.stephaniecowell.com/

The Man in the Stone Cottage: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1646036247

Katherine Kirkpatrick https://katherinekirkpatrick.com/

To Chase the Glowing Hours: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1646036271

This presentation is a collaboration between the New York City chapters of the Romance Writers of America and the Historical Novel Society. On August 2, 2025, Dan Woods the COO of Draft2Digital provided an engaged joint audience with information on getting the packaging right for your books so marketing efforts pay off, what is working best in paid advertising, marketing you can do that is free, plus much more. We're pleased to present this joint venture to our members and hope to do more in the future with this and other writing organizations.

Presenter:

Dan Woods, COO Draft2Digital (https://draft2digital.com/)

Additional information:

RWA/NYC website: https://rwanyc.com

Contact: info@rwanyc.com

HNS-NYC website: https://www.hnsnyc.org

Contact: info@hnsnyc.org