Regency Fiction Writers – The Beau Monde

Regency Fiction Writers: Join for 1 year at $25USD! Rates increase Jan 1st, 2021!

I have been so busy this fall! The Beau Monde, my Regency writers group, disaffiliated from RWA® at the end of September. Since reopening as Regency Fiction Writers (RFW) on October 1st, I haven’t had time to breathe, let alone post here. Today, the new organization stands 359 members strong! So proud of my fellow board members and  the efforts to make this process as smooth and practical as possible.

RFW welcomes ALL writers of ALL sub-genres set during the long Regency period (1780 to 1840). So yes, writers of Regency-set historical fiction, Romance, Mystery, Paranormal, Suspense, Thrillers, Horror, and even Fantasy [thanks to authors like Naomi Novik (Temeraire series), Mary Robinette Kowal (Shades of Milk and Honey), Zen Cho (Sorcerer to the Crown), and Jo Walton (Tooth and Claw). Oh, and have you read Newt’s Emerald by Garth Nix? More, please!] are all welcome to join and find support, networking, education and advocacy with over 350 other writers of Regency Fiction at various stages in their publishing journeys.

I have to say, The Beau Monde‘s amazing community has been one of my most useful and influential Regency Resources since I joined back in 2012 and I only see it growing stronger  on this new venture!

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, please visit the Regency Fiction Writers website for more information and the membership application. We’re offering a special introductory membership that’s just $25USD for the first year, but you must join before January 1st, when membership rates increase (but will still be extremely reasonable!).

And, oh yeah… speaking of Regency-set fiction… I’ll be watching Bridgerton on Netflix on Friday. And maybe Saturday and Sunday too. We’ll see! When I was binge reading Historical Romances in the early 2000s, Stephanie Laurens’ Cynster Series and Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons were some of the earliest ones I read and loved. Just a mention of “the mallet of death” still brings back memories of playing croquet with my cousins in an almost equally cut-throat and creatively competitive manner.

Are you going to watch? I know the RFW Forums and Romancelandia Twitter will be lit up with the topic (with both pros and cons)

The 2020 Beau Monde Writers’ Retreat will be Virtual!

You may have seen me mention the Beau Monde before and wondered what it is…

The Beau Monde is an online writing organization with members all over the world that welcomes all writers of Regency-set romances, regardless of stage of publication and publication path of the writers, and level of sexuality, range of plot elements, and degree of historical accuracy in their books.

The Beau Monde also welcomes all writers, regardless of race, creed, religion, ethnicity, nationality, age, body size, physical appearance, neurodiversity, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, or ability or other factors.

All authors must feel free to create their historical worlds, determining the level of historical accuracy, the types and diversities of characters, the level of sexuality, and other factors.

If you write romantic fiction set the Regency era (or even just based on it!), you should check out the virtual writers’ retreat that we’ll be holding in June! More details below!


* * * PERMISSION TO FORWARD GRANTED AND ENCOURAGED * * *

The 2020 Beau Monde
Virtual Writers’ Retreat

The Beau Monde's 2020 Virtual Retreat Pin: Gold pin with silver silhouette of Jane Austen and gold lettering that reads 'Beau Monde Virtual Retreat 2020'.

June 26-27, 2020

TBM Members: $20, Non-Members: $25

Our two-day retreat will be live via Zoom Meeting and recorded for future use. This virtual experience includes two full days of writing craft and historical workshops; a marketing panel; a Silent Auction; a Regency Romance Spotlight FB Live event; The Beau Monde Soiree with fashion show and door prizes!


Friday, June 26th

• Annual General Meeting •
• Keynote Speaker: Victoria Alexander,•
• An Intimate Conversation with LaQuette
about Representation and Authenticity in Fiction •
• Bestselling Writing: Style, Power, Success—Margie Lawson •
• Talking Regency—Joanna Bourne •


Saturday, June 27th

• Regency Romance Spotlights on FB Live •
• How to Thrive Marketing Panel—Elizabeth Essex, Vanessa Riley and
Liz Pelletier from Entangled Publishing •
• Developing Characters—Victoria Hinshaw •
• Royal Navy Primer—Elizabeth Essex •
• Back to Basics: What is Historical Romance?—Jackie Horne w/a Bliss Bennet •
• Lessons Learned from an Indie Bestseller—Cheryl Bolen •

• Soiree with Regency Fashion Show and Silent Auction •

* Final Schedule subject to change.


For more detailed information and to register, visit:
https://thebeaumonde.com/retreat/

Secrets of a Research Ninja

Want to Improve Your Google Searches?

I’ll be teaching my SECRETS OF A RESEARCH NINJA online course in November for my local RWA® Chapter in San Diego. It doesn’t matter if you’re a romance writer or even a writer at all, the class is open to everyone! So, if you’d like to improve your “google-fu”, this is the class for you.


Secrets of a Research Ninja

Instructor: Kristen Koster
Active Class Dates: 11/04-11/15/2019
Cost: $15 RWASD Members, $20 Non-Members
To Register: https://rwasd.com/classes/

Course Description

Everyone’s Googled something at least once, right? But there must be ways to make your searches more efficient, effective and accurate, because no one wants or needs pages and pages of endless irrelevant results.

Would you rather spend more time writing (or whatever!) than on a frustrating search for that proverbial needle in an ever-growing haystack?

Course Outline

By the end of this two week class, you will:
– write better basic Google searches,
– recognize good & bad results,
– use advanced Google searches,
– learn about specialized Google searches, and
– have resources other than Google to use.

This online Course consists of two weeks of MWF Lessons & some light homework.

Click here to Register.


Hope to see ya there!

Interview with Historical Romance Author Margaret Locke

Cover image for The Demon Duke by Margaret LockeToday, we’re celebrating Margaret Locke‘s newest release, THE DEMON DUKE, the first in her new Put Up Your Dukes series.

I first met Margaret through Facebook and her first series of books which were more paranormal with time travel to and from the Regency and fell in love with her sense of humor and her heroes. She’s since joined The Beau Monde chapter of RWA® and I finally get to meet her in person this summer at Nationals in Orlando! And honestly, I’m not in the least bit surprised to find we share a love of Lynn Kurland’s time travel romances!

The Demon Duke
by Margaret Locke

ASIN: B06XTXGJMKAmazon pixel
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A Primer on Regency Era Doctors

In this entry about Regency Era doctors for my Regency Primer Series, we’re going to take a look at the medical profession. Just as there are lawyers and barristers, there the different were different types of Regency Era doctors: physicians, surgeons, apothecaries, midwives/accouchers, and barbers/dentists. These differences determined what they practiced and their place in society.
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Jack of Hearts is a Finalist!

Finalist Badge for 2016 Pages From The Heart Unpublished Author, Historical Category
JACK OF HEARTS by Kristen Koster
2016 Pages From The Heart Finalist
Unpublished Author, Historical Category

You know how they say you can’t win the lottery if you don’t play? That holds true for a whole lot of things in life. If you don’t put yourself or your work out there, how can you expect any recognition?

A couple of months ago, I submitted the first 25 pages of JACK OF HEARTS to two RWA Chapter contests. I got the scores back for one of them a while ago and had one really glowing set where the judge loved it. The other two judges were far more critical. So, I figured the other contest would come back with similar scores.
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Eliza Hamilton Dress: Another ‘Historical’ Pattern

A widow's dress with shawl and mobcap for a Colonial Days presentation in 5th grade.
That was 8 years ago?!?

Once again, I’ve been scrambling to finish a costume for my eldest, an Eliza Hamilton dress and it managed to pull me away from both writing and social media for a while. Long-time readers of the blog may recall the purple widow’s dress I made for a 5th grade presentation using the Simplicity colonial dress pattern… good gracious that was 8 years ago!

Anyway, this year, we needed a dress in time for Anime Expo in LA for a cosplay of Eliza Hamilton from the Broadway musical. Over the last few months, the cast album plays here non-stop.
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$5 Friday eReads

$5 Friday eReads: What can I read for under $5 this week?$5 Friday E-Reads are my way of listing what I’ve been reading lately, sharing them with you as well as a few good deals to boot. Each week, I’ll either bundle a set of books that I know total $5 or less at the time of posting, or pick one book that’s $4.99 and see how that goes. I like the idea of 5 books for $5 or less too so expect some freebies thrown in like this week to make up the balance.

I found a lot of stuff on my iPad that I need to get to work on reading, so I have more to share with you in the coming weeks, but I’m always looking for good recommendations, so if you’ve read something fantastic lately, be sure to share it in the comments below!

-Kristen

$5 Friday eReads

What can I read for under $5 this week?”

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$5 Friday eReads

$5 Friday eReads: What can I read for under $5 this week?$5 Friday E-Reads are my way of sharing some good deals on the great reads I’ve read fairly recently. I’m going to try to bundle a set of 5 books that I know total $5 or less at the time of posting. I kinda like the 5 books for $5 or less idea too, so if one book costs $4.99, expect to see 4 freebies too!

It’s Friday again! Let’s see what ebooks we can buy for $5 this week!

Another mixed bag here in that there’s an excellent craft book on sale in the kindle edition, some great Regency Romances — maybe a bit on the tame side this week– and one not so tame Contemporary Hockey Romance. I hope there’s something in there that catches your eye.

Have you found any great reads lately? Let me know in the comments below. I’m always looking for new stuff to read… I just need more time to read everything!

-Kristen

$5 Friday eReads

What can I read for under $5 this week?

Continue reading “$5 Friday eReads”

$5 Friday eReads

$5 Friday eReads: What can I read for under $5 this week?$5 Friday E-Reads were conceived because I’ve been contemplating a new type of blog post that’s both relevant and recurring. I’d also been thinking about listing what I’ve been reading lately, and thought this would potentially kill two birds with one metaphorical stone. I’m thinking I’ll either bundle a set of books that I know total $5 or less at the time of posting, or pick one book that’s $4.99 and see how that goes. I kinda like the 5 books for $5 or less idea too.

I don’t read exclusively on my iPad these days, but I do read most things there lately. Craft of writing and research books are more likely to be physical books because I can picture WHERE on the page and how far through the book I read or saw something and the kindle zaps that to uselessness.

I also tend to read rather widely and rather eclectically, so please let me know if you’d prefer a mixed bag like I’ve included below, or to do do themed weeks or something different.

Lemme know what you think and what books you’re looking forward to their release!

-Kristen
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