Annabel Lyon's passion for historical novels and her love of ancient Greece make her lecture on the process of creating characters of historical fiction captivating. She discusses the process of wading through historical sources-and avoiding myriad pitfalls-to craft believable people to whom readers can relate. Finding familiarity with figures from the past and then, with the help of hindsight, discovering their secrets, are the foremost tools of the historical novel writer. Readers interested in the literary creative process and in writing or reading historical fiction will find Lyon's comments insightful and intriguing. Introduction by Curtis Gillespie.

Annabel Lyon is the author of two books of adult fiction, Oxygen and The Best Thing For You. All-Season Edie is her first work for children. She lives in New Westminster, British Columbia, with her husband and two children.

Annabel Lyon's profile page

"[This public lecture] gives first-person insight into the golden aura of fiction, the place where reality is transformed and enhanced by visceral imagination.... Her first-person approach to history with human perspective gives empirical reality to her characters, male and female, living in the moment. Her Kreisel lecture not only provides insight into her process, but is a valuable primer on writing real history through the telling of personal stories." Linda Rogers, The Malahat Review, Winter 2012

"[Imagining Ancient Women] lays out the processes of researching historical sources for useable material in creating believable characters, backgrounds, scenarios, and stories that contemporary readers can readily relate to. Informed, informative, insightful, scholarly, 'reader friendly', of immense and immediate practical value, Imagining Ancient Women is highly recommended for personal, professional, academic, and community library Literary Studies and Writer Reference collections and supplemental reading lists." Wisconsin Bookwatch, May 2012