If you’ve found yourself reading the Lazare Family Saga and trying to remember just how Character X is related to Character Y, you’re in luck! Using Canva, I created this handy color-coded family tree, which hopefully looks a little bit like it was painted on parchment.
When I thought I’d be attending the 2021 Historical Novel Society North America Conference in person and would have an author table, I imagined printing up this family tree as “swag” to give away. Sadly, COVID has made this year’s HNS Conference 100% virtual. So I offer this digital version for you to download yourself. Click here for a high-resolution PDF.
Please note: This family tree contains spoilers because it reveals who marries whom and whether they have children, but these are spoilers only for Book One of the Lazare Family Saga, Necessary Sins. Most of these Book One spoilers occur in the bottom two rows of the family tree. In order to minimize spoilers, I include no death dates, only birth dates.
Trigger Warning: The Lazare Family Tree contains rape.
Not only will I be attending the 2021 Historical Novel Society Virtual Conference, I’ll also be presenting! Two other authors approached me about being on their panels. I was honored. I said yes and helped them write the proposals. In mid-February, both proposals were accepted by the HNS Conference Board! Here are our topics:
WRITING HISTORICAL FICTION ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS
Danielle Apple, Elizabeth Bell, and Michael Ross
This panel will describe the challenges in writing about Native Americans in the areas of research, language and culture, obtaining cross-cultural help and cooperation, effectively transmitting oral histories, and dealing with the publishing industry for Native American stories.
BATTLE FLAGS, FALLING MONUMENTS, AND THE LOST CAUSE MYTH: THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF ANTEBELLUM AND CIVIL WAR FICTION
Elizabeth Bell, Glen Craney, Susan Higginbotham, and Sadeqa Johnson
The past is never dead, wrote Faulkner: It’s not even past. Perhaps more so than any era in American history, the Civil War is viewed through the prism of current social and political divisions. Our panelists will discuss new challenges and opportunities in writing and selling novels set during this period. Topics will include: Creating empathetic Confederate protagonists for a woke readership; ramifications for book covers; balancing authenticity and sensitivity using racially-charged language; navigating the minefield of cultural appropriation; interpretations of slavery and the Underground Railroad by emerging African-American voices; and public expectations and the persistence of the states-rights narrative.
I highly recommend Historical Novel Society conferences. If you’d like to attend, here’s the website with the program and all the info. You can get the discounted Early Bird rate on registration through March 15, 2021. I hope to (virtually) see you there!