HNSA Conference 2019

By Marilyn Forsyth



I’ve just returned from the biannual HNSA Conference (at Parramatta this year), with my head buzzing. Wow! What a weekend! Hats off to the committee for a fabulously well-organised three days with a wealth of writing experts discussing their craft.

Thanks Pamela!

The Friday craft workshop on Making Research Work for You with the oh-so-knowledgeable Pamela Hart was brilliant. I’ve come away with so many great tips on researching. Honestly, I can’t wait to get started on her suggestions. If you get a chance to take part in any workshop of Pamela’s, just do it!

The Introduction to the weekend was made by the beautiful Kate Forsyth (who I could listen to endlessly because her passion for writing comes through with such heartfelt enthusiasm).

Paula Morris gave the Keynote Address on the theme of History Repeats. The key thing I took from this was something I already knew, (and I’m sure you do, too) but it certainly bears repeating: “History exists in voices, and voices disagree.’

Paula is very funny and not nearly as stern as she looks here!

Jackie French was the worthy Guest of Honour. I particularly liked her suggestion that ‘If writing a book sounds too terrifying, think of it as writing a scene each time you start to write. A book is a series of scenes.’ I will also keep in mind (in my timeslip work-in-progress) her advice that ‘It’s important to know what REALLY happened, rather than what we wish happened’, as so many people (myself included) learn their history from historical fiction.

Here are just a few snippets from the panel discussions I attended (some may be paraphrased):

Stoking the Flame (sizzle vs slow burn): ‘It should be a meeting of the minds before a meeting of the bodies.’ Elizabeth Ellen Carter. (So succinct!)

Love that these ladies dressed up for the occasion!

Learning from History: ‘Having an emotional connection to a place will come out in the words you put on the page.’ And ‘Atmosphere is created through characters; how they relate to what is around them, how they feel, what they see, hear and touch.’ Winton Higgins. (Important things to keep in mind.)

Personal Histories: ‘Setting is a tapestry upon which the story is woven.’ Ella Carey. (So eloquently put!)

I am Camera (point of view): ‘Ask yourself, which character has the right to tell this story?’ Julian Leatherdale. (I take this as meaning the character with the most at stake, which makes sense to me!)

Walking Side by Side (collaboration between historical novelists and historians): ‘There is power in standing (in your characters’ shoes), in standing where your characters have stood.’ Gay Hendriksen. (I’m a strong believer that nothing can beat actually walking the grounds of your book’s setting.)

The hands-on session of Medieval Armour and Armouring was a real hit! The opportunity to handle replica swords, daggers and shields, and to try on chainmail and helmets was way too good to pass up. AJ and Matthew really knew their stuff! 

There was also a fantastic fencing display over lunch.

At the Conference Dinner, the ever-affable Anna Campbell showed off her considerable photographic skills with stunning photos of Scotland’s Small Isles, an area of inspiration for her with her popular Lairds Most Likely series. Huge congratulations to Christina King, winner of the ARA Short Story contest, and to the two winners of the Inaugural Colleen McCullough Residency on Norfolk Island, Sally Colin James and Chris Bell (so jealous!), also announced on the night.

Random photos...

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend. Roll on 2021 for the next one...

What do you love about conferences?

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Love to Love spending time with friends, old and new. 

Love to Laugh at Enisa and I trying to catch a taxi at 10 pm on a Saturday night in Parramatta! (What were we thinking???)  

Love to Learn the thought processes of other authors.

What I Loved About the Historical Novel Society Australasia Conference

 by Marilyn Forsyth

Image courtesy of HNSA

I just spent the most fabulous weekend at the Historical Novel Society Australasia (HNSA) conference in Melbourne. It was the first one I’ve attended and I assure you it won’t be the last. Sadly, the next isn’t until 2019, but at least it gives me plenty of time to save up 😊.

The selection of sessions, practical workshops and academic sessions was absolutely sensational (the only problem being that there were too many choices)! Everything you could ask for, from being allowed to heft pieces of medieval armour to listening to a panel of feisty romance authors vent their ire at the proposition that romance is written to a formula.

Lisa Chaplin’s From Elevator Pitch to Finish proved to me yet again what a wonderful author and teacher Lisa is. I attended her Deep POV workshop some years ago and it was shortly after that that my debut novel The Farmer’s Perfect Match was accepted for Harlequin’s MIRA line (due in no little way to Lisa’s suggestions, I’m sure). Fingers crossed, I now have the perfect pitch for my current wip.

I found out from the panel discussing Bio Fiction: Can You Defame the Dead? that according to Australian law, no, you can't defame the dead, or their descendants. Handy to know for those Aussie writing historical fiction.


The Outlander Effect: Parallel Narratives was of particular interest because my latest work is a time-slip novel. Ella Carey, Felicity Pullman, Belinda Murrell and Gary Crew gave some great insights into how to bring a dual timeline novel to life while maintaining the authenticity of both timelines and their characters' stories.

Looking like a dag

Having missed out on the Weapons session at last month's RWA conference (clashing sessions), I was so pleased to be able to attend the session on Armour with Matt Curran. I was able to get a tangible feel for the medieval past by trying on a chainmail hood and a twelfth century Norman helmet (recreated).

The discussion about the difference between historical romance and a historical love story was a lot of fun. The panel, consisting of Lisa Chaplin, Anna Campbell, Isolde Martyn, and Alison Stuart, presented a lively and entertaining discussion with a lot of laughs. 

The panel discussing Authenticity vs Truth: Does Historical Fiction Need to be Accurate? was interesting, but without arriving at a definitive answer, of course. There will always be those who believe that historical fiction should serve the narrative versus those who believe writers have a moral obligation to get the facts of history correct (even in fiction).

Photo courtesy of Jel Cel (HNSA)

I’m lucky enough to have had two books published (in a different genre to historical fiction), but there was so much I wasn’t aware of with regard to the process. Thank you to the panel of Pathways to Publication for outlining the different reasons why mss may not make the cut.





The last session, Writing Outside Your Comfort Zone: Sex and Violence, provided a lively conclusion to the conference. Thanks to Kate Forsyth, Anna Campbell and Luke Devenish for the laughs.

Over the weekend I also got to have a coffee with one of my all-time favourite writers, Juliet Marillier, and to actually meet the fabulous Anna Campbell for the first time in person. Talk about fan girl moments! Loved the way these ladies took the time to talk to their biggest fans (i.e. me :D).

Photo of Juliet Marillier meetup courtesy of Denniel Allysha

I love the conference experience! The interaction between writers of all levels is wonderful to be involved in. Needless to say, I've been totally inspired and can't wait to get back to my story with a heap of fresh ideas for finishing it off. (But I will miss Melbourne - despite the cold.)


What has been a memorable conference workshop you've attended? Would you rather interact or sit and listen to an expert?

Love to love meeting up with Facebook friends in person. I met a few Word Count Warriors for the first time - lovely to be able to put real faces (as opposed to Facebook photos) to names. Plus, I also unexpectedly ran into an old school friend - such a lovely surprise!

Love to laugh along with Anna Campbell's infectious laugh.

Love to learn about the concept of a 'sensitivity reader'. If you have a sensitive issue in your novel, it's a good idea to have an expert on the issue read your book to advise if your treatment of it is authentic. An example might be that if your book delves into the treatment of our Indigenous peoples in the past, your sensitivity reader should be an Indigenous person from the area you write about (the reason being that it's disrespectful for an Aboriginal person from one area to talk about the culture of an Aboriginal group from another area). I'd never heard the term before, but it makes sense to me.