When my daughter and I both worked in New York City, we did many fun and exciting things on our Friday Girls’ Nights. Korean BBQ. The Rose Mansion. 260 Nomad Sample Sales where we scored some amazing clothing, shoes, and a beautiful Mont Blanc crystal fountain pen ink bottle that I still have to find a place to display! But one of the most fun things we did was visit the Color Factory which bills itself as an “interactive art museum.” How can I explain this place? It is an immersive and interactive series of rooms and experiences that fill your senses with color and joy. Today I’m sharing some pictures from our trip and if you’re ever in New York City, I would recommend checking it out. They also have locations in Chicago and Houston! P.S. If you want a story that also gives you a taste of life in Manhattan, check out One Summer Night. Although that book is part of my Jersey Shore-themed series, Maggie and Owen also live and work in New York and you get to see many places that I love in the city.
Fun Calendar Facts
It’s that time every fourth February, namely LEAP YEAR! Why do we even have a leap year? Turns out that it takes more than 365 days for the earth to circle the sun and to make up for that extra time it’s necessary to add one day every four years. Weird right?
What about other calendars like the Aztec calendar I mention in The Fifth Kingdom? The sun stone used by the Aztecs consists of a central image of what some scholars believe is a sun god. The four sections around the sun god represent the four kingdoms of the Aztecs. Each kingdom was supposedly destroyed by a cataclysmic event, namely, monsters, hurricane winds, a rain of fire, and floods.
It’s possible that the arrival of the Spaniards, who might have been mistaken for the return of an exiled god, signaled the start of the fifth kingdom of the Aztecs and their ultimate destruction.
Just some fun facts on this February 29th! P.S. – The Fifth Kingdom is FREE on Kindle Unlimited and specially priced at 99 cents!
Happy Times at CMC 2024
I had such a lovely time at the 2024 Coastal Magic Convention! There were wonderful panels and social events and I loved meeting so many new people as well as getting together with old friends. I had a chance to take part in several panels and also attend a number of very interesting workshops. On Friday night we had a Murder Mystery party and I volunteered to be one of the actors and it was a blast! CMC volunteers did an amazing job of decorating the ballroom to look like a Las Vegas casino and all the actors dressed up for their roles. I played a butcher who was very upset with one of the other characters because they were dissed by her. Turns out she had annoyed a lot of people and ended up as the murder victim. The next day was lunch with my reader friends and I loved spending time with Franjessca, Alexia, and Patrice! We had a lovely time and it passed way too quickly. The book signing was fabulous and I loved seeing so many people come by to chat and pick up a book. The final event was a pajama party with all kinds of games as well as a planjama event where planner lovers got together to exchange stickers, washi tapes, journals, ideas and suggestions on how to get organized. I scored some lovely washi tape, stickers, and ideas on how to improve my social media calendar! A win win! If you love conferences, I would highly recommend the Coastal Magic Convention!
Did Ikea nail this gamer station?
My daughter, her sister-in-law, and I hit our local IKEA to look for some cute items for the nursery we’ll be putting together in a couple of months. We found some fun items, but the one that had us chuckling the hardest was this demo display that IKEA put together for a gaming station. It hit us as being so accurate even down to the empty DAIM candy bag on the ground. What do you think? Did IKEA nail this display? P.S. – I could totally picture billionaire software developer and gamer John Wilson from Biscayne Bay Breach having a station that looks like this, maybe even messier as he works on finding out who’s trying to hack his uber-secretive program. You can find out more about Biscayne Bay Breach at https://amzn.to/497fWYa.
A Touch of Tower Bridge & Tower of London
I’ve been lucky to travel to several countries for work, vacations, or research! My first very short visit to London was during a business trip but I fell in love with the city and vowed to bring my family to see it. Many years later, my daughter was doing her study abroad just outside of London so we did a family trip to visit with her and see the city. One of our stops was the Tower of London and the nearby Tower Bridge. We had a fun time exploring the area and finding out about the history of the tower and some of its less fortunate inhabitants as well as the Beefeaters (Official title: Yeomen Warders of His Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London) who guard the Tower and the Crown Jewels located there. The Beefeater we met there was named Dickie and he had actually given us a Jack the Ripper tour of London the night before (his side gig). Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos from our visit on this Throwback Thursday. Fun Fact: When the showrunners for the Jane the Virgin show were trying to decide who would ghostwrite the novel tie-in for the show, we had to send them writing samples of historical scenes. I sent them excerpts from The Vampire’s Consort which has several scenes set in old England and that sealed the deal. That’s how I got to ghostwrite Snow Falling, the novel featured on the television show. Warning: The Vampire’s Consort is five chili pepper hot. You can download the e-book at https://amzn.to/3OKQgZw and it’s also available in print and audio.
Amazing Visit to Yongin Dae Jang Geum Park
We saw so many amazing places in and around Seoul, Korea. If you get a chance to visit this wonderful country, DO IT! The sights range from ancient temples and palaces to ultra-modern you-can’t-believe buildings. One of the interesting locations I visited was Yongin Dae Jang Geum Park on the outskirts of Seoul. It’s not a “park” in the traditional sense in that it’s a vast area owned by MBC (Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation). MBC is a South Korean television and radio broadcaster and uses the park to produce an assortment of historical dramas, and the site has also been used to film music videos like “Daechwita” by BTS member Suga.
The park has areas reflecting three different Korean dynasties and we were able to all the different areas which were actually quite different in style. By the time we reached the end of the tour, we ran into a movie crew that was getting ready to film another of MBC’s historical dramas. I even got a picture of one of a young boy who was taking part in the production. It was so interesting and I could imagine using this location as a setting for the new romantic suspense book I want to write, and which will be set in Korea.
Picture this (said in a Sophia voice): The hero, a baseball player who is also working for the CIA, meets the heroine in the ancient amphitheater where a party is being held by the billionaire who may just be a traitor selling secrets to North Korea and the Chinese. But is the heroine in on that duplicity as well?
Hopefully, I’ll get to work on that soon, but in the meantime, if you’re looking for a cinematic kind of read, check out Darkness Calls, my very first vampire suspense book. I actually had a producer interested in pitching this to Lifetime, but the day after he picked it up, a similar project got picked up by one of the cable channels. So close. So close! Darkness Calls is free on Kindle Unlimited and specially priced at 99 cents for the month of February. You can download it at https://amzn.to/3SMhqSr.
Amazing Cable Car Ride
One of our adventures in Seoul, Korea was a trip up to the Namsan Tower. The nearly 800-foot tower is a communication and observation tower on the top of Nam Mountain. Now you may remember that I fear heights, so getting into the cable car for the three-minute ride up to the top was…well…difficult and interesting. Somehow I managed to video it for you! Of course, the audio has been edited out to protect your delicate ears from an assortment of laughs, swear words, and prayers?! It’s also been speeded up in the interest of time since it is a longer ride. As for the views from the top, well they were definitely worth it as you can see if you watch to the end of the video. The views of the tower above us as well as the entire city once we walked up at least four or five flights of stairs to reach the tippy-tippy-top were absolutely stunning. There was also a long chain link fence where you could leave locks with a message. Of course, we had to buy some locks and leave them with our own message! If you ever get to Seoul, be sure to take the ride up to the tower! P.S. – This reminds me of a trip I didn’t take to the top of the Space Needle in Seattle. I was at a legal conference and online for the trip when we were called away to meet some colleagues. But I did get the Space Needle into the story for Trapping a Terrorist. You can download that romantic suspense at https://amzn.to/47XF034. I hope you enjoyed today’s Throwback Thursday!