Historical Novel Society
New York City Chapter
Join Us for
The Program:
"Researching Historical Fiction" will explore the task of an author and editor’s job in balancing research with good storytelling. Host Susan Wands will be in conversation with two authors, Radha Vatsal and Faith Justice, and editor Andrea Robinson. They will discuss making a compelling narrative while weaving in historical facts that make up the genre of historical fiction. A short Q&A will follow the panel presentation, with a meet and greet with the authors, along with light refreshments and book signings.
This is an in-person event held at the Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave, New York, NY 10011. It will be audio-recorded for our podcast. Because space is limited, please RSVP below:
About the panelists:
Faith L. Justice writes award-winning fiction and articles in Brooklyn, New York. Her work appears in such publications as Salon.com, Writer’s Digest, and The Copperfield Review. She is past Chair of the Historical Novel Society–New York City Chapter and is Associate Editor for Space and Time Magazine. Her most recent book is Rebel Empress: A Novel of Imperial Rome, the third in the Theodosian Women series of biographical historical novels. For fun, Faith likes to dig in the dirt—her garden and various archaeological sites. Sample her work, check out her blog, or ask her a question at her website. She loves to hear from readers.
Andrea Robinson, developmental editor, spent over a decade as an acquiring editor at Penguin Random House, where she edited New York Times bestsellers including Samantha Irby's We Are Never Meeting In Real Life and Jennifer McMahon's The Winter People. Prior to that, she was on the editorial team at The Book of the Month Club. In 2016, she started her freelance editorial business, where historical fiction continues to be one of her favorite genres to edit.
Radha Vatsal is the author of A Front Page Affair and Murder Between the Lines, the first two novels in the Kitty Weeks mystery series set in World War I-era New York. Her essays and stories have been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Smithsonian Magazine, CrimeReads, Kirkus Reviews, Brooklyn Rail, and elsewhere. Born and raised in Mumbai, India, Radha received her Ph.D. from Duke University where she studied Victorian literature and film history. Radha used to be fluent in Russian, which she studied at the House of Soviet Culture in Mumbai (then Bombay). For one summer, Radha worked as a translator in the Far East of Russia, near the Russian-Chinese border. She loves paper ephemera, and is a tennis enthusiast. Her new novel No. 10 Doyers Street will be published in March 2025. She lives and works in New York City.
About the host:
Susan Wands has authored three books in her Arcana Oracle Series: the award-winning Magician and Fool, High Priestess and Empress, and the May 2025 release of Emperor and Hierophant. A writer, tarot reader, Susan is a co-chair with the NYC Chapter of the Historical Novel Society, helping to produce monthly online book launches and author panels. In London, she has lectured at Watkins Books for their Recorded Authors series, at Atlantis Bookshop, the Occulture Berlin Festival, and in NYC for the Yeats Society. Ms. Wands’ writings have appeared in Art in Fiction, Kindred Spirits magazine, and The Irving Society journal, FIRST KNIGHT. Podcasts include: ‘Morbid Anatomy’, ‘Biddy Tarot’, ‘Imaginary Worlds’, and “Catching Up With” on The Hermit’s Cave YouTube channel.