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

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this special program recorded on June 7, 2025 in the virtual reality space of the Foremothers Café. Helen Lundström Erwin hosted us in her VR space inspired by the research she conducted for her book Sour Milk in Sheep’s Wool. She invited our members to a discussion of images provided by authors Loretta Goldberg (Beyond the Bukubuk Tree: a World War II Novel of Love and Loss ), Faith L. Justice (Theodosian Women series ) and Sarah Relyea (Playground Zero). They talked about the images and their relationship to their books; social customs dealing with marriage and gay/lesbian relationships in the times they write about, and much more. A fascinating program for our writers and readers alike.

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

Guests:

Loretta Goldberg https://lorettagoldberg.com/

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

Faith L. Justice https://faithljustice.com

The Theodosain Women series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QFLHD6K/ and Sword of the Gladiatrix https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WTCSPN6/

Sarah Relyea https://www.sarahrelyea.com

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

Host:

Helen Lundström Erwin https://helenerwin.com/

Sour Milk in Sheep’s Wool (19C Sweden)

https://www.amazon.com/stores/Helen-Lundstr%C3%B6m-Erwin/author/B0979XTDXV

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this program on writing alternate history in historical fiction, recorded on May 27, 2025. What is the balance needed in writing a novel based in fact, but embroidered with flights of fancy? Author Kris Waldherr (Unnatural Creatures is in conversation with Elizabeth Crowens (Bye Bye Blackbird) and Susan Wands (Emperor and Hierophant) who took license with set stories and provided an “alternate reality” in executing their narrations. They discuss how they wove fact, fiction, and other worlds into their writing. A fascinating program for our writers and readers alike.

Information about our chapter is available at our website . Thank you and enjoy the program.

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

Panelists:

Elizabeth Crowens https://www.elizabethcrowens.com/

Bye Bye Blackbird https://www.amazon.com/dp/1685128408

Susan Wands https://susanwands.com/

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

Host

Kris Waldherr https://kriswaldherr.com/

Unnatural Creatures https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B26TYV2S/

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this debut program in our “Authors Under 40” series, conceived and developed by Sarah Relyea (Playground Zero), and recorded on April 22, 2025. Author Leslie Carroll (Confessions of Marie Antoinette ) is in conversation with LCW Allingham about her novel Lady, in which a young noble woman dons her dying husband’s armor to protect their lands and people during the violent War of the Roses. They discuss Lady Rosalynde’s exploits in the context of the times as well as Allingham’s research, writing challenges, and much more.

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

Guest:

LCW Allingham https://lcwallingham.com/

Lady https://www.amazon.com/dp/1998360059

Host:

Leslie Carroll (a.k.a. Juliet Grey) www.lesliecarroll.com

Confessions of Marie Antoinette: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345523903

The New York City Chapter of the Historical Novel Society presents this recording from March 25, 2025. Sarah Relyea (Playground Zero) hosted a wide-ranging conversation on historical fiction with Leslie Wells, Jane Rosenman, and Judy Sternlight. These three veteran editors from 5E, an independent editors' collective, have worked on several successful historical novels. They discussed trends in the market, how to maintain personal momentum while writing, the process of working with a developmental editor, and much more.

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