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Category: Risky Regencies

So, did you hear there was a big RWA conference last week? 🙂 I’ve been doing laundry, sending emails, downloading pics, slowly unpacking all the princess swag I acquired, and I’m still smiling. I’ve been to a lot of RWAs and I have to say I think I enjoyed this one the most. There was a great, laid-back feeling to the conference, I got to meet up with lots of friends (and make new ones), and I finally got to see Disney World. I was ridiculously excited to ride the rides and meet the princesses!

A quick look at some of the festivities:

At the Beau Monde Soiree with Janet (in my new Countess of Scandal gown!)

With Keira Soleore and her adorable bonnet

In the stocks at Disney World with Michelle Willingham (we were bad authors that day!)

With Michelle and the Harlequin Mills & Boon editors (Joanne Grant, Linda Fildew, Kim Young, and Jenny Hutton), waiting to run through the Magic Kingdom gates as soon as they opened…

Lunch at Cinderella’s Castle!

At the awards ceremony with Michelle and Joanne!

Megan and Carolyn at the ceremony
After the ceremony!

Princess Swag

Abigail, my own little Snow White

See you next year in New York City! Were you at RWA? What did you enjoy the most???

Like many of you (and most of the Riskies!) I am off at RWA this week doing writerly, business-y things (or more likely wandering around Disneyworld in my light-up Cinderella shoes–yes, I do have a pair, don’t ask…) . Back to regularly scheduled blogs and lots of conference wrap-up info next week!

If you are at RWA, come and say hi to me at one of these places (or in the bar, where I can usually be found):
Literacy signing, Wednesday 5:30
Grand Central Publishing signing, as Laurel McKee, Saturday 3:00 (Southern Hemisphere Salon One)
NAL signing (as Amanda McCabe), also Saturday, 12:00, Salon Two
Risky breakfast meet-up, Friday at the conference continental breakfast

See you all there!

Happy Tuesday, Riskies! I’ve only just now finished unpacking, doing laundry, and getting back into the writing schedule after RomCon, and now I have to put everything back in the suitcase for RWA. Luckily I have new dresses, new bookmarks to give away, and I’m all warmed up for the conference rounds.

I had so much fun at RomCon! Carolyn’s recap last week was excellent and I totally agree with her–it was the first year for this conference, and they have some kinks to work out and organize for next year, but I thought it was highly enjoyable and lots of fun. It was much smaller than RWA or RT, and focused on reading and the love of romance novels and all the things that go along with them (covers, characters, whatever). The small size (and the hotel lobby full of comfy sofas and chairs!) made it much easier to sit down and really talk to people–I sometimes feel overwhelmed at RWA and it can be hard to do that sort of thing. It was fun to remember what brought me to writing romance in the first place, the fact that I was addicted to the books. It was also fun to talk to writers of so many different genres, and it planted lots of new ideas in my head…

I have to admit I wasn’t as organized as I could have been! I missed many workshops (including the “controversial” ones! I always seem to miss it when there is controversy going on!), didn’t get to see a few people I meant to look for, and spent what seemed like hours trekking around the massively long hallways of the conference center. I also gave into the lure of the shiny covers of the many giveaways, which now reside in a pile by my desk trying to tempt me away from my writing. (Seriously, if you love to read, I have never seen so many book giveaways at a conference!) There was good food, secret rites of the Cucumber Club, and lots of wine. A fun conference. (And there are lots of posts floating around the Internet if you want to know more…)

I didn’t take many pics, but here are a few:

At the workshop I participated in, “Stripping the Heroine,” in my Regency day dress and new spencer and bonnet, with Terri Brisbin and Pam Nowak! (Sorry it somehow go turned around)

At the Saturday signing with my neighbors, Melissa Mayhue and Monica McCarty!

Carolyn at the signing with her neighbor Brenda Jackson!

Hopefully I can make it there next year, I had lots of fun and Denver was blessedly cool compared to the heat and humidity here!

Now on to RWA. Are you going to be in Orlando???

(Also, yesterday, July 19, marks the day the Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799! Since this post was already long enough, I’m talking a bit about it at my own blog later today)


I’m still out of town, but will be back next week with photos and a recap of RomCon and looking ahead to RWA! In the meantime, I’m up in the mountains of New Mexico where Internet is iffy, so I’m leaving some of my favorite fashion history links, which I used in the workshop last weekend. Enjoy–and let us know some of your own favorite sites!

18th Century Blog
Costumers Guide to Movie Costumes (not history exactly, but tons of fun!)
FIDM Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Costume Institute has a wonderful searchable database)
Worn Through
The Costumer’s Manifesto
Jessamyn’s Regency Costume Companion
Elizabethan Costuming Page
Sense & Sensibility Patterns (great links)
Cathy Decker’s Regency Fashion Page
Demode Couture
Fashion-Era
The Costume Gallery
The Costume Site (tons of great links!)
Tudor Links

And of course these are just the tip of the fashion iceberg…