Friday, March 8, 2019

Cruise With Your Muse by Kristin Wallace


Sunrise on the Caribbean
If you’ve been swamped by late-winter storms…I’m sorry. I might make your suffering worse with this blog, which is about the cruise conference I just went on last week. It was a conference with my local writer chapter, Florida Romance Writers…on a cruise ship. We do this conference every other year, but this time I somehow wound up as the conference planner. 

We went on a Royal Caribbean ship from Fort Lauderdale to Cozumel, Mexico. Having a conference on a cruise ship is both wonderful and challenging. The best part is simply hanging out with other authors for four days. Unlike a huge conference like RWA Nationals, we had about 50 people so we really get to know each other better. We also get value time with editors and agents, which you can never get at another type of conference. There were workshops and other group events, including our famous Floridian Idol where 2 pages of a manuscript are read out loud (anonymously of course) and then the panel of editors and agents give their immediate feedback. We also had the honor of hosting NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Jennifer Ashley as our Keynote Speaker. 

The challenges come from the simple fact that you are on a ship in the middle of the sea so you are pretty much at the mercy of the crew. You never know if the projector will work the way it’s supposed to…and it often didn’t. You have to be flexible and try not to freak out if something doesn’t
go the way you planned. (Or at least fake being calm and collected.)

I think the best thing about the Cruise Conference is meeting new people and making new friends. On this voyage, we had authors from Texas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and even Belgium. Some were just starting out and others were multi-published, both traditionally and indie. I hope we’ll all keep in touch. I know I feel like I made 50 new friends. 

Kristin Wallace is the USA Today Best Selling Author of inspirational and contemporary romance, and women’s fiction filled with “Love, Laughter and a Leap of Faith”. Her next book, SECOND CHANCE HERO, is part of a new Palm Cove Tales trilogy, and is available for pre-order now.

Second Chance Hero is the follow-up to The Heiress Games trilogy. This story features Serena Douglas, who not only lost the Armington fortune, but also managed to escape the competition without falling in love…or so she thought.

It all starts with a new challenge…and hairless cat named King Tut. Serena has a chance to win a $10 million fortune. All she needs is a job. Too bad the only one willing to hire her is the one man she’s been trying to forget since she was a teenager. 

Pre-order today

AMAZON   /   ITUNES    /     BARNES & NOBLE    /  KOBO

8 comments:

  1. Kristin,
    What fun! Someday, I'd love to go on one of those cruises. Best wishes on your newest release.

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  2. How fun, Kristin! Someday I want to go on a conference cruise. :)

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  3. It sounds like you had a great and informative cruise.

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  4. Did you have rough seas? We just came back from a cruise to the Panama Canal, and the seas were really rocking the ship.

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  5. I'm always tempted by the FRW cruise, Kristin. I'm glad you had such a marvelous experience! (Issues like non-working projectors just make it more memorable.)

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  6. It was great and I can't wait to go again. It was a pleasure meeting you!

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