My Dream Bookish Panels

Historical fiction is one of my absolute favorite genres. I find it amazing how authors are able to take a specific time period, event, or historical figure and recreate or develop a story of their own. The Future of Historical Fiction panel would explore how these renowned historical fiction authors researched and developed their unique tales. The panel would explore what historical fiction novels the authors are currently working on and what these authors would like to read or write about in the future of the genre. 

I tried to choose authors that wrote stories in different time-periods and locations. Although it would still be interesting, I did not want to hear from five authors that only wrote about World War II or another specific time period because there are other stories to be told. There is an entire world with a history that extends over thousands of years. There are people, places, and events that have yet to be explored or discovered. The Future of Historical Fiction panel would focus on the current state of the genre and how it can move forward.

Creating a fantasy world is not easy, yet these authors somehow make it seem easy. The Magic, Mystery, and Managing the Mayhem panel would focus on the worlds, magic systems, and plots these fantasy writers have created. The authors would answer questions that explained how they keep their magic system or fantastical elements from backing them into corners and how to get around an occurrence if it does happen. They would also talk about how they keep their readers on the edge of their seats and how they put in specific plot lines to come back to later without the reader realizing it.

The Magic, Mystery, and Managing the Mayhem panel would answer fantasy and writing-related questions to fantasy readers and aspiring writers alike. While these authors cannot spill all their secrets, they can assist their fans/writers with some how to's and how not to's  when it comes to fantasy novels. They might even drop some hints about their worlds that mega fans did not even realize.

If I was actually in charge of an event and was able to organize the panels, I would have at least two The New Kids on the Block panels. 2017 is one of the greatest years for debut YA novels. It was extremely hard to narrow down the panelists to only five authors. While I could have chosen a sixth to moderate the panel, I thought it would be more interesting to choose a 2016 debut author to moderate the panel because they would understand the process more and have better questions than an author who is even newer to the process or an author who has been a part of the industry for years.

The New Kids of the Block contains authors with novels debuting from late January to late August of 2017. The panel would contain an even spread of authors in different parts of the process. Some of these authors have ARCs of their debut while others do not and some have covers for their novel while others do not. It would be interesting to compare the journeys of all these authors and see how their lives have changed as an author.

The New Adult genre is a rather new and blurry genre. Several Young Adult novels can be categorized as a NA novel and several Adult novels can also be categorized within the genre. It just depends on the reader and where they categorize the novel. Essentially, the New Adult genre follows characters aged 18-26ish. It mainly follows characters that fall in the weird age gap when a person is neither a Young Adult or an Adult. 

The New Adult Royalty panel contains some of my absolute favorite NA authors and some of the most popular authors within the genre. The authors would discuss the challenges and benefits of writing within the New Adult genre while also recommending some of their favorites. They would also discuss their time as a New Adult and how their experiences influenced their writing within the genre and in general. They might also talk about what they wished they would have known at that age and how it could have altered their future.

Hopefully one of these panels can be possible someday! For anyone interested in planning or finding a bookish event in their area, Eventbrite's conference management page is a good tool to have. I would love to hear if you would attend any of my dream panels or what your dream panels would be.