Leslie Diamond

L.L. Diamond is more commonly known as Leslie to her friends, Mom to her three kids, and servant to her three cats. A native of Louisiana, she has been a wanderer for the past 20 years, living in Mississippi, California, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, England, and Missouri before settling in Maryland. One day, Leslie may decide what she wants to do when she grows up but for now, she enjoys writing the stories that live in her head and coaching age group swimming. She has degrees in biology and studio art, certifications to coach swimming in the United States and Britain, and numerous fitness certifications. Leslie is also a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Her accomplishments include drawing, watercolor, and playing flute and piano, but much like Pride and Prejudice’s Elizabeth Bennet, she is always in need of practice! After watching Sense and Sensibility with her mother, Leslie became a fan of Jane Austen, reading her collected works over the next few years. Pride and Prejudice stood out as a favourite and has dominated her writing since finding Jane Austen Fan Fiction. Aside from mother and writer, Leslie considers herself a perpetual student. She has degrees in biology and studio art, but will devour any subject of interest simply for the knowledge. As an artist, her concentration is in graphic design, but watercolour is her medium of choice with one of her watercolours featured on the cover of her second book, A Matter of Chance. She coaches swimming and holds a variety of fitness certifications. She is also a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America. Leslie also plays flute and piano, but much like Elizabeth Bennet, she is always in need of practice!

Most commented posts

  1. Happy Anniversary Jane Austen Variations! — 111 comments
  2. Agony and Hope – Chapter 1 — 109 comments
  3. The 12 Days of a Jane Austen Christmas – The Christmas Wish — 108 comments
  4. Celebrating the Release of Particular Intentions! — 107 comments
  5. Particular Intentions Audio Book Release Day!! — 87 comments

Author's posts

Celebrating the Release of Particular Intentions!

It’s release day! I’m so excited and I hope you are too! To celebrate, I have an outtake! I’d like to thank my family, my friends, my betas, and the wonderful proofreaders (including my husband) who helped me along as I’ve written this and been a huge bear while editing it! My poor husband didn’t …

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A Sister’s Contribution: How Cassandra helped Jane write The History of England – A guest post by Olga Palagina

Today, Olga Palagina shares with us her amazing research on Jane Austen’s fun juvenilia The History of England, and the collaboration between Jane and her sister, Cassandra. Thank you so much, Olga, for sharing your time and knowledge with us!       At a first glance, ‘The History of England’ appears to be an …

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Jane Austen Regency Week 2016

If you follow me on my own blog and this one, you might get a little bit of repeat when covering my time at Jane Austen Regency week this year. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the entire week but I did try to pack my time with as much as I could when the weather …

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Happy Anniversary Jane Austen Variations!

To commemorate our second anniversary, we invite you, our loyal readers and friends, to join us this month at Austen Variations. We have grand plans! For February, we intend to share the endearing moments of Jane Austen’s beloved characters as they celebrate their own anniversaries.     Jane Austen Variations is two years old and …

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Regency Theatre

The season in Regency England was not just balls and Almacks. The theatre in Regency times was an important place for those who spent the season in London, and those who ventured to the theatre did not attend to simply watch a play. They dressed to the nines and sat in long carriage lines to …

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Pass the Water…Umm…okay, Pass the Wine?

Did you know that in as late as Victorian times water was considered dangerous? In fact, one of the main causes of death in children was tainted water. Adults avoided a similar fate by mixing wine with their water—nothing like a little alcohol to kill the germs! So, if you eliminate plain water, what was …

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The 12 Days of a Jane Austen Christmas – The Christmas Wish

The parlour at Netherfield was bursting with cheer as my family enjoyed Jane and her Mr. Bingley’s first Christmas Eve celebration. The newly wed couple sat side-by-side on a sofa across from where I stood near the window and whispered to one another as they observed those around them. Jane’s countenance was blissful as was …

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What Sort of House Would Jane Build?

What if we suppose Jane Austen made her fortune from the publication of Pride and Prejudice, and she wanted to build a house of the latest architectural style? What would she build? It is a simple and yet rather complicated question when you look at it from a historical perspective. Jane Austen lived during the …

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The Lady’s Maid

Most Regency authors have, at the very least, referenced or mentioned a lady’s maid in a story, even if we haven’t made her a confidant or important servant in our heroine’s life. She is often a useful character, who can be used to impart information about the household gossip, mend gowns in a trice, and …

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Harriet Smith Went Where with Robert Martin?

For those of you who are fans of Emma, you might remember Mr. Knightly’s mention of Astley’s where Harriet Smith finally thrown back into the company of Robert Martin, which leads to his proposal and of course, her acceptance, however, Mr. Knightley never mentions what on earth Astley’s is! “It is a very simple story. …

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