A Flight on the Millennium Falcon

Earlier this week, we visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios along with our friends, Es & Rick Cohen and Sue & Mark Bernstein. We rushed there early to try and get on Rise of the Resistance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Unfortunately, the ride was closed. We moved on to the only other ride attraction in this area. With trepidation, we asked a passing guest how it was. He said it was great and not as rocky as Star Tours. I knew this one was a flight simulator and I’d tended to avoid those types of rides. But his reassurance persuaded us, and we got in line.

         

      

Indoors was comfortably air-conditioned as we snaked through the line and climbed up several ramps to the boarding station. Along the way were several interesting scenes.

 

Finally, we got to the boarding area. Two of us were assigned as pilots, two as gunners, and two as engineers. The attendant described our roles and what we had to do. We piled inside the craft in that order. I was a gunnery officer. I was to look for a flashing button by my station and push it when I wanted to fire weapons. Did our actions have any effect on the scene? Who knows? It was fun to think so. The craft held six seats in rows of two, so it worked out perfectly for our crew. We fastened our seatbelts and prepared for liftoff.

      

What followed was an awesome thrill ride as we zoomed through space, down into canyons, and across planetary landscapes and jumped into hyperspace. Enemy fighters shot at us and we fired back. I was too dazed to follow the story, if there was one, but the ride must be called Smuggler’s Run for a reason. I would agree with the assessment that this experience isn’t as jarring as Star Tours. It was great fun if you don’t mind a little jostling around. I’d love to watch the video by itself to see the scenes that went by so fast.

  

Once done here, we headed over to the “Frozen” singalong show. We relaxed inside in a comfy chair and listened to a retelling of the Frozen story along with music. It was a very pleasant interlude with a rousing grand finale that included a surprise snowfall. This one is a great feel-good experience.

After eating burgers at the Backlot Express, our crew headed next door for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Loud booms and explosions accompanied this exciting demonstration of movie magic.

We tried to get on Micky & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, but that ride had technical issues and shut down. Meanwhile, Rise of the Resistance was up and running again but had too long of a wait. By now we were hot and ready to leave before the afternoon thunderstorms arrived. I’ll still have to come back for the Star Wars ride I keep missing but our next Disney trip will be to Epcot.

Orlando Reads Books – Workshops Part Two

Orlando Reads Books Convention in Altamonte Springs, FL offers advanced writer workshops for two days prior to a public booksigning. These are my notes, and any errors are due to my misinterpretation. This is a summary of what I learned. 

Tackle the Trifecta Touch – Email, SMS, and MMS with Dana Claire

Newsletter Optimization – Create an automation sequence, such as five sequential emails with a welcome message, reader magnet, reviews, author events, birthday gift. Or talk about different aspects of your book.

Connect with your readers where you can find them. Write. Click. Engage.

SMS stands for Short Messaging Service (i.e. text messages). MMS stands for Multimedia Service.

Average 20% open rate for emails and 98% open rate for texts.
Average 2% clicks for emails and 30% clicks for texts.

There are SMS marketing platforms such as Simple Texting, Attentive and others.

Get readers to subscribe via website, forms, popups, QR codes, superfans, social media. Entice subscribers with a reader magnet, discount codes, swag items, or an audiobook freebie. Collect opt-ins and provide an opt-out. You must provide a means for them to unsubscribe.

Give value to get value. With each message, introduce yourself. Use short keywords such as “free” or “book.” Content can include updates, pre-orders, book sales, new releases, review links. Make it about them, not you. Send a birthday gift. Present an inner circle vibe. Include a call to action with links. For texts, there’s a character limit. Make sure you respond to each message. Vary the content for email and SMS.

Elevating Your Author Business with Aria Bliss

Set Goals.
Branding and packaging to market.
Build a backlist.
Core marketing/advertising focus

GOALS should be prioritized.
Production and Publishing – word count, timeline, publication schedule, production
Marketing and Advertising – Set a sustainable monthly income then raise it. Like, start at $500/month then raise it to $1000, $5000, and 10k a month.
Reader Engagement via social media and newsletter.
Superfans/Reviewers/Bloggers

Review sites – BookSirens and Booksprout. She limits copies to 100 arcs. Check how long each site keeps your book up for review.

BRANDING

What is the look and feel of comp authors?
Subgenre packaging
How should your brand look?

WRITING TO MARKET

Evergreen Tropes – Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance, Fake Dating, The Chosen One
Trending Tropes – Reverse Harem, Age Gap, Bully Romance, Stalker Romance, Taboo

See The Trope Thesaurus and TV Tropes

Book One to Book Two 50% sell-through is good. Should be higher for Book 2 to Book 3.

Stay in Your Lane. Stick to one genre and keep your promise to the reader.

Readers love Easter Eggs. Use crossover characters and interactive maps between books.

MARKETING PLAN

Define your goals and set a budget.
What are your desired results: To make money? To revive a backlist? To increase traffic to a series? Promote a new release? Gain new readers? Get Facebook ads to work? Raise your book’s rank on Amazon?

Utilize stacked email promos, Facebook and AMS ads. Skip ads on preorders and start them the day before release.

Writing Action/Fight Scenes Realistically with L.E. Perez

Utilize the five senses.
Set the tone.
Determine how you want the reader to feel.
Avoid gratuitous violence.
Use your own experiences.
Be aware of slang terms, i.e., a whooping versus a beating.
Violence differs upon location, i.e., urban setting versus the suburbs.
Self-Defense is blocking, not attacking.
Break away when you can and run.
Watch the movie “The Forbidden Kingdom” for good fight sequences.

GIVEAWAY

Enter Now to win two free cozy mysteries from Booklovers Bench.

Orlando Reads Books – Social Events

Thursday at the Orlando Reads Books Convention in Altamonte Springs, FL focused on writer workshops. Friday morning had several more workshops, followed by lunch with sandwiches, pasta salad, chips and cookies in the ballroom. After this meal came a Mastermind session where authors could ask questions of industry guests.

Friday night was a Masquerade VIP Reader and Author Dinner. Many attendees wore costumes and/or masks, but others did not. Some authors had reserved tables to sit with their fans. Otherwise, you could sit wherever you wanted. Dinner was a salad, chicken with sides, and cheesecake. I sat with author Corinne Kenner and her husband. Since the dinner started at 8:00 pm and I was commuting, I left early.

Saturday morning had a Book Panel with Elite Authors, a Reader Café for New Releases only; and then Author-Reader Speed Dating. For the speed dating, authors were assigned tables. Our table had six authors and four empty seats. There was little guidance as to how this was supposed to work except someone in charge yelled out every five minutes that it was time for readers to switch tables. We each gave our spiel, and I handed out postcards. It was a good way to meet readers but it would have been better with fewer authors per table and more readers. Also, the moderator could have used a whistle or bell to sound the time.

The Book Fair was Saturday afternoon. I shared a table with cozy author Natalie Palma. Saturday night was a pajama party, but I did not attend.

    

Note that this hotel was warm, not chilly like other places. But it was also undergoing remodeling with some doors left open to the hot air.

Here are authors JoMarie DeGioia and Jessica Baker:

 

Coming Next: Writers Workshops

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here to win two free books from Booklover’s Bench in our monthly giveaway.

 

Orlando Reads Books – Overview

This was my first time attending the Orlando Reads Books Convention. It’s a three-day event held at the Embassy Suites in Altamonte Springs, FL. The first two days were “Industry Days” with workshops for advanced authors. These talks blew my mind with info I hadn’t heard before. Topics included Mastering the Art of Ad Strategy, AI in Your Author Business, Tackle the Trifecta Touch – Email, SMS and MMS, Strategizing Your Way to 10k a Month, and Author Direct Sales. The speakers were excellent. I took notes and still need to absorb all the data.

Saturday held reader events. I participated in the Author-Reader Speed Dating. Authors were assigned tables, and there were six authors at mine with four empty seats for readers. The moderator could have used a bell to ring when it was time for readers to switch tables because she had to shout to be heard. I gave out a lot of postcards and hoped to see some of these readers at the signing.

A lunch break of an hour and a half followed. We were on our own, and I’d brought my lunch from home. At 1:30, we began to set up for the booksigning. VIP Readers would be allowed in at 2:30, and the doors would open to the public from 3:00 to 6:00. We’d been given seating charts ahead of time so it was easy to find my spot.

Overall, book sales for me were disappointing. I sold only 4 books, swapped books with 2 other cozy authors, and gave one away for the raffle. But… I met a lot of people, gave out postcards to readers, and attended some powerhouse workshops. I’d say the majority of writers did contemporary, paranormal or urban fantasy romance. Someone said paranormal romance is swinging toward fantasy. A smattering of cozy authors represented the genre.

I’d signed up to share a six-foot table and that was adequate. It didn’t appear that displaying books on racks made any difference to sales. I had fun seeing what other authors offered for swag. The usual magnets, key chains, candy, pens, stickers and other goodies prevailed. I liked the glow headsets one author provided. QR codes were popular among this crowd. These could send readers to Bookfunnel for a free book, or to a retail site or a newsletter signup. The codes were engraved on a fan, put on a sticker at the back of a lollipop, or came on a business card.

  

Would I go again? Yes. The fee was worth it alone for the networking and advanced seminars.

Next year’s dates are set for Oct. 10-12, 2024. Go here for more info: https://orlandoreadsbooks.com/

Coming Next: ORB Social Events & Workshops

Epcot Flower & Garden Festival 2023

This year at the Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, many tempting food choices await at the booths around World Showcase. I lucked out this year with all good selections. Accompanying us were Sue and Mark Bernstein and Ann Meier.

 

At World Showcase, we turned left toward Mexico. Our first stop was Lotus House at China. I got the Pan-fried Vegetable Dumplings. They were very tasty and served drizzled with a sweet sauce. I would get these again.

 

At the Refreshment Outpost by Africa, I got an Ice Cream Float with Tangerine soft serve ice cream and Cream Soda. It was a refreshing drink. This is always my husband’s go-to stop for a hot dog.

 

Potato Pancakes with homemade Applesauce were found at Germany’s Bauernmarkt Farmer’s Market stand. I thought I’d get one potato latke and ordered two portions, one for me and one for Richard. It turns out we could have shared. On each plate were two thick potato pancakes. They could have been a bit thinner and crispier, but I liked them nonetheless.

At La Isla Fresca (between France and Morocco), I had the Coconut Tres Leches: Vanilla cake soaked in oat milk, almond milk, and coconut milk with toasted coconut. Custardy taste with whipped topping and toasted coconut melted in my mouth. Oh-so-good! Perfect accompaniment was Florida Orange Groves Winery Tropical Perception White Sangria, a light white wine that wasn’t too fruity.

   

As always, the displays of flowers and topiary were inspiring.

 

 

 

Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival from a Foodie Fan #Disney #Epcot Click To Tweet

SAVE THE DATE!

Tuesday, March 14, 7:00 – 8:30 pm EDT – Book Launch Party with Fun & Prizes!

 

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here March 1-18 to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench in our monthly giveaway.

 

EBOOK SALE

My ebooks are 50% off March 5-11 at Smashwords to celebrate Read an Ebook Week.

 

 

Kraft Azalea Garden

We visited Kraft Azalea Garden in Winter Park the other day. It’s a lovely, tranquil nature park bordering Lake Maitland.

     

The 5.22 acres are shaded by tall cypress trees where white great egrets flock in the branches.

     

Of course, in spring the blooming azaleas are an attraction themselves.

 

Over on the lake, we saw tourist boats plying the waters and huge mansions on the water’s edge. If you want to take the Scenic Boat Tour, go here for details.

    

This site is a pleasant detour from the city. If you’re into secret gardens away from the normal path of traffic, check it out.

 

 

Spend a pleasant afternoon at Kraft Azalea Garden #nature #botanicalgarden Click To Tweet

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench in our monthly giveaway #cozymystery #giveaway

 

ON SALE

Smashwords Sale March 5 – 11
On Sale! My ebooks are 50% off March 5-11 at Smashwords to celebrate Read an Ebook Week

Audiobooks Sale Jan. 1 – March 31

The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Audiobooks are on sale through March 31 for 50% off. Narrated by Mary Ann Jacobs. Start with Permed to Death. Available at Apple, BN, Chirp, Google & Spotify.

 

 

Epcot Festival of the Arts 2023

The Festival of the Arts during the winter months at Epcot is always fun to attend. You can view art works on display and sample dishes at food booths around World Showcase.

      

Here are some of the items we tried:

Duck and Dumplings at the Artist’s Table by the American Adventure. Smoked Duck Breast, Ricotto Dumplings, Petite Vegetables, and Duck Jus. I liked the smoked duck flavor, and the meat was easy to cut. I’ve had better at higher end restaurants, though. The ricotto dumplings were interesting, almost like a potato texture.

Three-Meat Meatloaf with “Peas and Carrots” came with Green Pea Pudding, Carrot Ketchup, Shaved Carrot salad, and Snap Peas. This was a dish that appealed to my husband. He said it was “average,” meaning it wasn’t anything special to his palate. Same location as above.

Red Wine-Braised Beef Short Rib with Parsnip Puree, Broccolini, Baby Tomatoes, and Aged Balsamic at the Pastoral Palate by Germany was by far the best of the batch. The boneless meat was supremely tender and tasty as well. This one would be on my repeat list.

General Tso’s Chicken Shumai at The Painted Panda by China came with three pieces of shumai. These were tasty and enough to share. I’m a fan of Trader Joe’s frozen chicken shumai and so I knew I’d like this version.

On a second visit, our friend Ann Meier had the Napoleon with Beets, Cashew-Herb Filling, Pepper-Pine Nut Sauce, and Balsamic Vinegar Caviar from the France pavilion.

Then Ann tried the Carrots Three Ways from Morocco while I had their Chicken Skewer.

 

Next, we’ll look forward to the Epcot Flower & Garden Festival. A whole new tasting experience begins March 1st with a fresh set of “outdoor kitchen” choices.

GIVEAWAY

Last Day! Enter Now to win 1 of 7 free cozy mysteries from Booklover’s Bench in our 10th Anniversary Contest! 

Wekiva Island

If you’re looking for a weekend spot north of Orlando where you can kayak, canoe, and hang out by the river or in a tiki bar, Wekiva Island is the place for you. It was not the place for us old fogies. The structures had a dilapidated look about them, except for the bar that appeared much more appealing.

 

The café, while offering an interesting menu, looked no bigger than a food truck and had outdoor seating. Even the view wasn’t as expansive as I’d expected. It was more like a canal.

 

I could see the appeal for young adults but not seniors like us who prefer more atmosphere for a lunch venue. We came on a quiet weekday but I understand they can get lines of cars waiting to get in on weekends. Artists had set up their easels along the waterfront on the day we visited. A sign warned of gators and snakes so swim at your own risk if at all and don’t fall out of your boat.

 

We walked around the perimeter in about ten minutes. For a scene in a mystery, however, this place could serve as a model. The various buildings, including one set up as a classroom, harbored intriguing nooks and crannies.

For lunch, we drove to The Southern Deli in Apopka since I’d been wanting to try it. The food was tasty if you enjoy southern fare, but next time I’d rather go to a deli with traditional favorites like grilled cheese, tuna melt, and nova on a bagel. My meal here was chicken in BBQ sauce over cheese grits and my husband had a burger.

It’s fun to go out exploring and trying new places even if it’s a One and Done experience.

Nancy J. Cohen explores Wekiva Island. #Florida #Orlando Click To Tweet

ON SALE!

Half-Price Sale! The Bad Hair Day Mysteries Audiobooks are on sale for 50% off retail price! Get started with the first four books in this award-winning mystery series. Narrated by Mary Ann Jacobs. Available at Apple, BN, Chirp, Google & Spotify.

https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/id1553038978

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/permed-to-death-nancy-j-cohen/1102558931?ean=2940178644997

https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/permed-to-death-by-nancy-j-cohen

https://play.google.com/store/audiobooks/details/Nancy_J_Cohen_Permed_to_Death?id=AQAAAEAch0fHSM

https://open.spotify.com/show/67tbDPCdqSyEqPUt6NM83u

Holidays at Leu Gardens

We visited Harry P. Leu Gardens during their Dazzling Nights display, although we went during the daytime. I love to walk these grounds that remind me of a rainforest. The shady paths wind past trickling brooks and pass by a nearby lake.

   

The azaleas looked as though they wanted to pop out soon, but the camellias were in full bloom in all different colors. Seeing them made this visit worthwhile alone.

     

 

I was surprised at the variety of colors among the poinsettias on display.

 

We came upon some other interesting plants too, such as these specimens.

        

This one looked like it had a tongue coming out. It could easily double for a carnivorous alien plant.

More photos from Previous Visits:

Harry P. Leu Gardens
Harry P. Leu Gardens Revisited

Be sure to visit this lovely botanical garden next time you are in the area. For more details, go to: https://www.leugardens.org/

 

Christmas Tree Stroll 2022

We were happy to dine at Disney Springs with our children for our 46th anniversary a couple of weekends ago. It has become our tradition to visit here during the December holidays. When the kids were younger, we would go to a movie on Christmas Day at the dine-in theater for lunch, and then afterwards we’d stroll through the park festive with shops, holiday decorations, and tourists.

 

I always enjoy seeing the differently decorated Christmas trees as we walk through the site. Their Christmas Tree Stroll is a popular event. We were able to view many of the themed trees. See for yourself:

       

     

 

Christmas Tree Stroll 2022 at Disney Springs #DisneyWorld #Holidays Click To Tweet

Our next visit to Disney World will be to Epcot in January for the Festival of the Arts. Is there anywhere special that you like to go during this season?