I’m back from RWA, all bone-weary and brain-dead, but also rejuvenated and ready to conquer everything about the Romance writing world. I did have a lovely time.

Before the RWA conference, though, there was the Beau Monde conference. The Beau Monde is the Regency chapter of Romance Writers of America and they had a one day conference before the big conference. It is a great time to reconnect with writing friends who love the Regency as much as I do.

Big thanks to Isobel Carr who made the Beau Monde published authors little pins of their latest bookcovers. I wore mine proudly the whole week–until I lost it the last day (sniff!!).

Every one of the workshops I attended at the Beau Monde conference was terrific.

The first was by our very own Risky Susanna Fraser who spoke on Your Hero’s Military History: Beyond Trafalgar and Waterloo. Susanna’s love of the Napoleonic War and its heroes equals (or maybe even exceeds) mine and she did a beautiful job of making a huge topic understandable and useful. Plus in her handouts she provided a fabulous set of timelines.

The next workshop I attended was A Quack or Dr. House by Sharon Lathan, RN, which made the different professions in Regency Medicine much clearer. Now I know the difference between a physician, a surgeon, an accoucheur (midwife) and an apothecary.

The afternoon began with Louisa Cornell, who is such a loyal friend of Risky Regencies. Louisa’s topic was A Great Proficient, about the performance of music in the Regency, especially what a proper lady or gentleman might do. One of the fascinating things about her topic was how similar music became popular then as it does in modern times. One heard music performed, say at Vauxhall Gardens, then ran to the lending library or music shop to get the broadsheet so it could be played at home. The real delight of this workshop, though, was getting to hear Louisa sing. I’ve known for years that she was once a professional opera singer who performed all over Europe, but I’d never before heard her sing!

Last workshop I attended was by our very own Risky, Janet, who talked about The Jewish and Black Communities of Georgian London. I won’t say too much about this one in case Janet wants to expand upon the topic for the blog, but she showed the stereotypes portrayed and some of the ways these groups were assimilated and accepted beyond stereotypic expectations. I will say that Janet was her usual very entertaining self and just listening to her was a pleasure!

The workshops I didn’t get to see were Regina Scott‘s What is So Grand About A Grand Tour, Historical Accuracy: When To Worry And When To Fudge with Anne Cleeland, Jade Lee, and Elizabeth Hoyt, and Ashlyn Macnamara‘s How To Play Whist. But I have the conference tapes so I can catch up on those later!

Later that evening we had the Beau Monde Soiree with Regency dancing. I love this part of the conference because so many of the members dress in Regency dress. I didn’t this year, but wore a long “Regency-esque” dress. One lovely part of the Soiree is that the Mills and Boon editors from the UK (Amanda’s and my editors) always attend. It just seems fitting that they should!

Of course I have NO PHOTOS. I’m terrible at remembering to take pictures until it is too late!

For more on the RWA conference-according-to-Diane, see my blog on Thursday.

If you attended the Beau Monde conference, what was your favorite part. If not, which of these workshop titles most appeals to you?

I’m revising my current WIP and have come across the scene where my heroine  out for a drive with the hero in an open carriage. They have just passed the entrance to Hyde Park and, being new to London, she wonders where they’re going.

They’re headed for a picnic in Kensington Gardens.

When I first worked on this scene, I did a little research on Kensington Gardens and shared it on my personal blog. Since I am quite convinced that my blog has about two followers (including me), I thought I’d share it here as well.

Kensington Gardens is west of and contiguous with Hyde Park. It was carved out of Hyde Park and made what it is today by Queen Caroline, wife of George II. Queen Caroline had The Long Water and The Serpentine (in Hyde Park) created from the Westbourne Stream and separated Kensington Gardens (which was a private park throughout most of the 18th century) from Hyde Park with a ha-ha.

Here is a plan of the gardens from 1754.

Plan of Kensington Gardens 1754

Once the hero and heroine arrive at the gardens, they will get out of the carriage and take a stroll – and who knows what else might happen? Well, I do, but I’m not telling just yet.

Kensington Gardens 1798

I think that, were they to be transported to the present day (which they won’t be), they might recognize a lot of the gardens in which they are strolling.

Kensington Gardens

There are many things, however, that they would not recognize, including the Albert Memorial (Queen Victoria made several additions to the gardens) and the bronze statue of Peter Pan, now a destination for visitors to the park.

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

I had fun finding out what I could do in Kensington Gardens. I hope that Anne and Simon have fun while they’re there and that perhaps one day you can join them.

Prints are from The British Library Online Gallery