In this interactive conference workshop, Alina Adams and Kyra Davis Lurie explore how writers can discover lesser-known historical stories and weave them naturally into powerful fiction. From family history and local legends to archival discoveries and underrepresented communities, they show how overlooked history can become the foundation for unforgettable novels.

Rather than simply retelling facts, Alina and Kyra demonstrate how to shape real history through character, conflict, voice, and carefully chosen moments—so the past feels alive, emotionally resonant, and fully integrated into story.

You’ll learn how to:

• Identify untold or underexplored historical stories worth bringing to the page

• Use family stories, local history, and primary sources as rich creative starting points

• Blend real historical figures with fictional characters in believable, engaging ways

• Reveal history through scene, dialogue, and conflict rather than exposition alone

• Decide where to begin and end a story drawn from real events

• Handle gaps in the historical record and determine how much to fictionalize

• Use immersive research to create deeper, more convincing story worlds

The session also includes insight into Kyra Davis Lurie’s The Great Mann—a reimagining of The Great Gatsby set in the affluent Black community of 1945 Los Angeles—and Alina Adams’s work writing Jewish stories set in the Soviet Union and beyond.

Perfect for historical fiction writers eager to move beyond familiar settings and subjects, this replay offers practical tools for discovering hidden histories and turning them into emotionally rich, memorable fiction.