The Kerrytown BookFest took place on a gorgeous late summer Sunday in Ann Arbor, MI. It was the first book festival I participated in as an author.

Barbara Mhangami-Ruwende, a scholar-practitioner in public health with a focus on minority women’s sexual and reproductive health, founder/director of the Africa Research Foundation for the Safety of Women, and author,  moderated the panel on “Women in History.” She kept the conversation lively as four of us (two nonfiction writers, two fiction writers) talked about our work.

Laurel Davis Huber and Greer Macallister have written fascinating novels based on the lives of real women. Laurel’s is about Margery Williams Bianco, author of The Velveteen Rabbit, and her daughter Pamela, a passionate and troubled artist.

Greer’s takes readers into the life of Kate Warne, the first woman hired as a detective by the Pinkerton Agency.

Pamela Toler, one of the co-founders of the Nonfiction Fans discussion group on Facebook (I’m another co-founder), wrote the companion book to the popular PBS series Mercy Street.

And I rounded out the panel talking about some heroines of World War II.

What was especially great was being able to talk to readers–those who asked questions during the panel as well as those who visited our book table afterward. It’s always nice to know that there are readers who are just as fascinated by history as I am.

And I am very much looking forward to the next books by all of my co-panelists.