#HNS Conference Scotland 2018

Weekend Conference Update!

There was no "Aye. Ken it wis like this.." post last Friday and that was on purpose because I knew I would be in transit down to the HNS (Historical Novel Society) Conference 2018 which was held in the Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld, near Glasgow. I'm not sure I'll get to any other far flung events but I was determined to attend this year's HNS conference since I was relatively local.

I am so glad I made the effort, and forked out the expense for the residential stay, because it was a fabulous weekend, jam packed with really interesting talks and additional events.

with John Jackson

I was delighted to see that two of my Crooked Cat colleagues were there, one I've met before and one that I haven't - Carol Maginn and John Jackson. As happens sometimes at such events I didn't get around to ensuring a photo with Carol, but I did make sure to get one with John. Apart from them at the outset I had only physically met one other person and a number of others from Facebook Groups contact. It was marvellous to meet up with all of them, in particular Louise Turner.

I'm now home having listened to a variety of talks which covered both traditional publishing information and self-publishing. I loved the talks given by Ben Kane and by Kevin Ashman, though I could be said to be biased since they both have written Ancient Roman novels.

I also liked the information given by two different types of printers who offer self- publishing packages - Ingram Spark and Troubador Publishing. Each representative brought their own bias but I learned something new from both of them which should make it easier if and when I branch out from Createspace for my paperback printing.

The after dinner session on Friday 'Dressing History in film and TV' was entertaining as we had the privilege of seeing some genuine and ancient costumes demonstrated by Graham Hunter who has been involved in the costuming of prestigious projects like Outlander and Game of Thrones.

I had such a fantastic time at the Saturday night ceilidh, danced almost every dance, but I'm ashamed to say that I missed the Keynote speaker of Sunday starting at 9 a.m. -  Sarah Dunant who spoke about The Borgias. However, I hadn't missed Alison Weir, the Saturday Keynote speaker. She was excellent her talk title and book being about Jane Seymour. Her selection of paintings of the Tudor figures who featured was truly impressive as was her knowledge of the era.

The paperbacks but I've even more new ones on my kindle! 

I brought home a load of new signed novels and have plenty of other reading material to keep me occupied for ages to come.

It's time for me to get on now with more new writing and no more procrastination.

Slainthe!