Roseau, Dominica Nov. 7, 2012, Vision of the Seas We did the Royal Caribbean ship’s excursion RO32 called Cooking Caribbean, Rum, and Nature. An air-conditioned van drove us through a poor section of town with ramshackle buildings to a mountain road. We drove up a steep, winding incline. It was a bumpy ride where we … Read more
Philipsburg, St. Maarten Nov. 6, 2012, Vision of the Seas On previous tours of this island, we visited the French side of Marigot. It’s a tedious drive across the island on the only road which means it’s usually congested. We didn’t find the expensive restaurants and European cafes to excite us when the ambiance in … Read more
Vision of the Seas, Nov. 2-12, 2012 The Food If you want a sit-down meal on Vision of the Seas, you go to the dining room. Otherwise, the Windjammer Café on the pool deck serves a buffet three times a day plus afternoon snacks between 3 and 5 pm. You could also get pizza, burgers, … Read more
Vision of the Seas Nov. 2-12, 2012 The Ship Vision of the Seas was a refreshing change from our last voyage on the exciting but enormous Allure. A member of Royal Caribbean’s Vision Class fleet, this ship has sleek lines and a classic layout. Ocean views are prevalent from all the lounges, and the more … Read more
Epcot Food and Wine Revisited On our way to Orlando from the Necronomicon convention in St. Petersburg, we stopped at the Parkesdale Farm Market in Plant City. Alerted to this venue at the annual Strawberry Festival, we hoped to obtain some of the goodies for sale at that event. We were pleased to find the … Read more
Necronomicon, Part 2 Getting Started: Writing Believable Dialogue with Nick DiChario, K.L. Nappier, M.B. Weston, Nancy J. Cohen, and William Hatfield. A lot of good advice came from this panel. Be true to your character. Determine your target audience because it makes a difference in the language you can use. Listen to the people around … Read more
Necronomicon was the first SciFi/Fantasy convention I’ve attended. In many ways, it’s similar to a mystery conference. There were more men than at a romance con. The panels were professional and moderated by a host. Aspiring authors attended in abundance. However, here’s the biggest difference: Gamers. One darkened breakout room held 3 rows of computers … Read more
How can you raise your readership and increase your book sales? Today at the MWA-FL Chapter meeting, Joanna Campbell Slan spoke on Promoting Outside of the Box. Joanna is the author of three mystery series, including the Kiki Lowenstein books and her newest Jane Eyre mystery, Death of a Schoolgirl. Joanna offered tips on increasing … Read more
Paranormal research isn’t an exact science, but investigators use certain tools to help determine if an anomaly is present. In my Bad Hair Day mystery, Dead Roots, hairstylist Marla Shore attends a family reunion at a haunted Florida resort. Along with her fiancé, Detective Dalton Vail, she unearths dead bodies along with fond memories in … Read more