Dateline: Denver, Part 2

Oh, what a lovely time we had at the conference! I quite agree with Marissa that the best part of conference is spending time together. Sometimes we attended workshops as a pair; sometimes we divided and conquered, sharing notes with each other afterward.

Two special moments involved tea.

The first was the Beau Monde mini-conference. As we have mentioned, the Beau Monde Chapter of Romance Writers of America^TM  promotes excellence in romantic fiction set primarily in the Regency period (1811-1820). Marissa and I are both members. The workshops on travel, Bow Street, rebellious ladies, and inheritances were excellent, as was the keynote by fabulous author Cheryl Bolen. And after all that information and inspiration, we were treated to tea, followed by an elegant soiree in the evening crowned by the announcement of the winners of the Royal Ascot contest. This contest highlights up-and-coming authors. Remember the name of Lesli Lent. I predict you’ll be reading great books from her soon.

Friday, Marissa and I had the honor of being invited to tea by the incomparable John Charles, reviewer extraordinaire. We joined the likes of Kristan Higgins, Jane Porter, Evelyn Richardson, and Elizabeth Boyle for a splendid tea at the Brown Palace Hotel. This Italian Renaissance-style hotel in downtown Denver opened in 1892 and was one of the most expensive and luxurious hotels then and now. Tea was served with delicious treats, on the traditional three-tiered tray. Because I have food allergies, the hostess brought me my own plate. The conversation, my dears, was as delightful as the company and the fare.

And then we returned to the less rarefied but much beloved air of our homes, our families, and our books. Stay tuned next week for a very special announcement on the last from Marissa. Two words: awesome story!

Dateline: Denver

Hi everyone!  Regina and I are back from the Romance Writers of America’s national conference (and our annual get-to-hang-out-with-each-other event), held this year at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

I’ve never been to Denver, so I was looking forward to going. And I wasn’t disappointed: I really liked Denver as a city (at least, what I saw of it)—it felt like a very liveable, friendly city...though this New England girl had a hard time wrapping her head around the miles of flat land spreading out below it, unobscured by tree and hills and more trees. More than a little cognitive dissonance, I think...

Regina and I were terribly clever and managed to find flights that got in more or less at the same time, so we got to hug and squee at each other by the luggage carousel while we waited for my suitcase...and then we were off! The rest of Tuesday was spent checking in to the conference, then catching up on family news and our lives in general over a very tasty dinner (note to self: blackened shrimp vampire tacos are amazing) before heading back up to our room to keep on talking (of course!)

And speaking of rooms, we had a lovely one—it was enormous, with separate walk-in closets and a huge bank of windows looking down over the pool and out toward the Civic Center Park and the Denver Art Museum and Central Library.

Regina will give you the details of what we did, but I want to mention a few stand-out points for me:

•  The hotel staff were incredibly nice and helpful...which was a good thing, considering that the convention area of the hotel was more than a bit of a rabbit warren and required frequent stopping to ask for directions.
• The Beau Monde mini-conference—a terrific line-up of workshops on multiple aspects of Regency history as well as delicious food (yay, cucumber sandwiches at the tea!) and a lovely evening party, the Soiree, which included a delightful historic dance instructor, an appearance by that lovable scoundrel, Sir Reginald, who has recovered from the gout that side-lined him last year and danced up a storm, and a fun silent auction where I won the bidding on a lovely item that will be making an appearance here on NineteenTeen at some future date.
• The RWA workshops I attended were, with just one or two exceptions, excellent. I came home with a lot of information and a to-do list about three feet long.
• Seeing so many writers (it's so cool!), catching up with old friends and acquaintances, and meeting new people.

But the best part, as always, was seeing Regina. Every year when we arrive at conference, we look forward to a nice long visit...and it always goes by in a flash. But what a lovely flash we had!!

Off to Denver!

Not much to say from me and Regina this week. Like about 2000 other writers, we're off to Denver, Colorado for the Romance Writers of America's annual National Conference. We’ll be attending workshops on everything to do with the writing biz, from craft to business to maintaining health while parked in front of a computer for long periods of time (a definite occupational hazard.) We'll be seeing old friends and making new ones...but most important of all, we’ll be seeing each other! It’s not easy to see one of your dearest friends only once a year, but we manage to cram a lot of talking into the 4 ½ or so days we have together.

Stay tuned till next week, when we’ll have a full report. And now, I had better go finish packing because I’m outta here bright and early...