HISTORICAL HAPPY HOUR

Weina Dai Randel is the Wall Street Journal bestselling, award-winning author of four novels, Night Angels, The Last Rose of Shanghai, The Moon in the Palace and The Empress of Bright Moon, a historical duology about Wu Zetian, China’s only female emperor. Weina is the winner of the RWA  RITA® Award, a National Jewish Book Awards finalist, and a

Soraya Lane graduated with a law degree before realizing that law wasn’t the career for her and that her future was in writing. She is the author of historical and contemporary women’s fiction, and her novel Wives of War was an Amazon Charts bestseller. Soraya lives on a small farm in her native New Zealand

Shaunna J. Edwards has a BA in literature from Harvard College and a JD from NYU School of Law. A former corporate lawyer, she now works in diversity, equity and inclusion. She is a native Louisianian, raised in New Orleans, and currently lives in Harlem with her husband.

Ronald H. Balson is the author of Once We Were Brothers, Saving Sophie, Karolina’s Twins, The Trust and The Girl From Berlin. Ron is an attorney practicing with the firm of Stone, Pogrund and Korey in Chicago. The demands of his trial practice have taken him into courts across the United States and into international

Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty novels, including The Venice Sketchbook, The Victory Garden, The Tuscan Child, and the World War II-based In Farleigh Field, the winner of the Left Coast Crime Award for Best Historical Mystery Novel and the Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel. Bowen’s work

Paulette Kennedy is the international bestselling author of The Witch of Tin Mountain and Parting the Veil, which received an HNS Editor’s Choice Award in 2021. Originally from the Ozarks, Paulette Kennedy now lives in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles with her family and a menagerie of rescue pets. When she isn’t writing, she

Pam is the author of several novels, including her most recent The Woman With The Blue Star, as well as The Lost Girls of Paris and The Orphan’s Tale, both instant New York Times bestsellers. 

Nicola Harrison is the author of three historical fiction novels,  Montauk, The Show Girl, and  Hotel Laguna. Born and raised in England, she moved with her family to Southern California when she was 14. She is a graduate of UCLA and received her MFA from Stony Brook University. Prior to writing novels she worked as a fashion journalist

New York Times, USA Today, and Wall St. Journal bestseller, M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother’s favorite books before she was allowed. She believes mystery and magic are all around us

Melanie Benjamin is the author of the New York Times and USA Today bestselling historical novels The Swans of Fifth Avenue, about Truman Capote and his society swans, The Aviator’s Wife, a novel about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, and Mistress of the Ritz, based on the true story of the American woman who ran the Ritz

Mark Sullivan is the acclaimed author of eighteen novels, including the #1 New York Times bestselling Private series, which he writes with James Patterson. Mark has received numerous awards for his writing, including the WHSmith Fresh Talent Award, and his works have been named a New York Times Notable Book and a Los Angeles Times Best Book

Madeline Martin is a New York Times and International Bestselling author of historical fiction and historical romance. She lives in sunny Florida with her two daughters (known collectively as the minions), one incredibly spoiled cat and a man so wonderful he’s been dubbed Mr. Awesome. She is a die-hard history lover who will happily lose herself in

Lynda Cohen Loigman grew up in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. She received a B.A. in English and American Literature from Harvard College and a law degree from Columbia Law School. Her debut novel, The Two-Family House, was a USA Today bestseller and a nominee for the Goodreads 2016 Choice Awards in Historical Fiction. Her second novel, The

Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty works of historical fiction, including Band of Sisters, The Summer Country, The English Wife, the RITA Award-winning Pink Carnation series, and four novels co-written with Beatriz Williams and Karen White. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages, picked for Book of the Month Club,

Kristina McMorris is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of two novellas and seven historical novels, including the million-copy bestsellerSold on a Monday and her latest releases: The Ways We Hide, an instant international bestseller named one of Target’s top five books of 2022, and the collaborative When We

Kris Waldherr’s books for adults and children include The Lost History of Dreams, Bad Princess, Doomed Queens, and The Book of Goddesses. The Lost History of Dreams received a Kirkus starred review and was called “an unexpected delight” by Booklist. The New Yorker praised Doomed Queens as “utterly satisfying” and “deliciously perverse.” The Book of

Julie Gerstenblatt holds a doctorate in education in Curriculum and Instruction from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her essays have appeared in The Huffington Post, Grown&Flown, and Cognoscenti, among others. When not writing, Julie is a college essay coach, as well as a producer and on-air host for A Mighty Blaze. A native New Yorker, Julie

Jillian Cantor has a BA from Penn State University and an MFA from the University of Arizona. She is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of 11 novels for teens and adults which have been chosen for Indie Next, Library Reads, Amazon Best of the Month and have been translated into 13 languages, including, most recently

Jenny Judson met Danielle Mahfood in high school. Both share a mutual love of historical fiction and romance novels. Instead of passing notes in class, Jenny and Danielle would write short excerpts from imaginary novels that featured themselves and their classmates as characters caught up in tales of romance and adventure. Many years later, after

Heather Webb is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of nine historical novels, including her up and coming Queens of London set to release in 2024, and her most recent novels, The Next Ship Home and Strangers in the Night. In 2015, Rodin’s Lover was a Goodread’s Top Pick, and in 2018, Last Christmas in Paris won the Women’s Fiction Writers Association STAR Award. Meet Me

Gill Paul is the bestselling author of twelve historical novels, many of them describing real women she thinks have been marginalized or misjudged by historians. They include A BEAUTIFUL RIVAL, about the bitter rivalry between cosmetic titans Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein; THE MANHATTAN GIRLS, about Dorothy Parker and three friends navigating life, love and

Fiona Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of seven historical fiction novels set in iconic New York City buildings, including THE SPECTACULAR, THE MAGNOLIA PALACE, THE ADDRESS, and THE LIONS OF FIFTH AVENUE, which was a Good Morning America book club pick. Her novels have been chosen as “One Book, One Community” reads

Elyssa Friedland is the author of five novels and a picture book. She attended Yale University and is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She worked as an associate at a major firm before turning to writing full-time. She teaches an undergraduate course at Yale called Contemporary Novel Writing. Her work has been published in

A native New Englander, Elise Hooper spent several years writing for television and online news outlets before getting a MA and teaching high-school literature and history. Her debut novel The Other Alcott was a nominee for the 2017 Washington Book Award. Three more novels—Learning to See, Fast Girls, and Angels of the Pacific—followed, all centered

Diana lives in the Greater Los Angeles area with her husband and a small menagerie. A writer and reader of historical fiction, while Diana’s first book is forthcoming, you can find out more on her website. Diana is also a board member with the Women’s National Book Association, Los Angeles Chapter. In those rare moments

Danielle Mahfood is the coauthor of The Last Season. She received a B.A. in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from Columbia Business School. She and coauthor Jenny Judson met in high school, where they shared a mutual love of historical fiction and romance novels. Instead of passing notes in class, they would write

Ariel Lawhon is a critically acclaimed, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of historical fiction. She is the author of THE WIFE THE MAID AND THE MISTRESS, FLIGHT OF DREAMS, I WAS ANASTASIA and CODE NAME HELENE. Her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been Library Reads, Indie Next, One

Amy Mason Doan is the bestselling author of LADY SUNSHINE, THE SUMMER LIST and SUMMER HOURS. Amy grew up in Danville, California and now lives in Portland, Oregon with her family. Before turning to fiction, Amy worked as a reporter & editor for The Oregonian, San Francisco Chronicle, Wired, Forbes, and other publications. Amy has an M.A. in Journalism from

Alyson Richman is the USA Today bestselling and #1 international bestselling author of several historical novels including The Velvet Hours, The Garden of Letters, and The Lost Wife, which is currently in development for a major motion picture.  Alyson graduated from Wellesley College with a degree in art history and Japanese studies.  She herself is an accomplished

Alka Joshi is the internationally bestselling author of the Jaipur Trilogy: The Henna Artist, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur and The Perfumist of Paris. Her debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a New York Times bestseller and a Reese Witherspoon Pick. It has been translated into 29 languages and is currently in development at Netflix as a tv series. Joshi was