Category: WriteWed

It was quite an experience to be able to watch the filming of South Beach Love. It was like watching chaos somehow come together to form something cohesive. There were people all over the set, each with their own responsibilities, who would dash in to make adjustments between shots. There were also people sitting there watching everything during the shots, making sure that what was happening on the screen would come across as clear and pleasing. It was also a lot of fun meeting the cast! Everyone was so welcoming and I was grateful for the way they responded to the book I had written. For today’s Write Wednesday, I’m sharing some shots I took on the last day of filming. These shots are from the last scene in the movie where the happy couple is opening their restaurant together. Even though it seems so smooth on the screen, I hope you can tell from these pictures just what it took to make that scene happen. By the way, if you haven’t read South Beach Love yet, a new paperback version is available! You can get the new version featuring Taylor Quinn Cole and William Levy on the cover at https://amzn.to/3nvWcbL.

This seems like a perfect follow-up to National Book Lovers Day yesterday. I decided to make a list of things that a diehard book addict might do and came up with this list of five things:

1.Your perfect kind of guy is fictional.
2. You always think the book was better than the movie.
3. Your TBR pile resembles the Empire State Building.
4. The delivery driver knows you by your first name.
5. You look forward to rainy days so you can spend the day reading.

So are you a book addict? I know I am! LOL!

I just finished up my time at the International Women’s Writing Guild (IWWG) conference at Endicott College. I had a lovely time and it was a beautiful location just yards away from the North Shore and a number of quaint towns. I taught two workshops in the Business Track and now I’m headed to Washington, D.C. for the Romance Writers of America (RWA) conference. I’ll be teaching two workshops there as well. One is on Point of View and the other is on Improving Your Amazon Presence. I can’t wait for the conference and to get together with old friends as well as make new ones! Here’s some scenes from today’s journey so far!

When my fur baby Slate heard that there was a sandcastle building contest going on today at the beach, he insisted that he had to go! LOL! He’s a good baby, but I can’t picture him at the beach. Hubby and I are contemplating teaching him to walk on a leash since he loves being outside on our little balcony. I’ll let you know how that’s going.

On the writing front, if you’ll be in the Trumball, CT area on Saturday, I’d love for you to come visit with me at Romanticonn at the Trumball Marriott. The book signing starts at 12 pm and runs until 4 pm. There is a fee for attendance, but I think you’ll love visiting with so many other authors and vendors at the event. You can find out more at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/romanticonn-2022-tickets-234015144597.

I’m so so excited to be part of the K-9s on Patrol series with my fellow Harlequin Intrigue authors Elizabeth Heiter, Maggie Wells, Cindi Myers, Leslie Marshman, and Lena Diaz. All the books are standalone and my book Decoy Training helped launch the series!

You can also visit Harlequin.com for Deadly Chase, a daily free read from the K-9s on Patrol series.

If you love dogs and stories about canine heroes, I think you’ll love the K-9s on Patrol series! You can check it out at https://amzn.to/3to93iF.

After a beautiful day and morning in Budapest, it was time to board our ship and head out for an overnight cruise to Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia. It was so exciting to head down to the dock and board! We were greeted by a crew member who checked us in and directed us to our cabin, a lovely room with floor-to-ceiling sliding doors that opened for us to be able to take in the river breeze and the sights. Here are some photos of our ship: the Avalon Artistry II.

Once we were settled, it was time to head up onto the sky deck and watch as we pulled out of Budapest. There were so many sights to see along the Danube as we started our cruise!

Once we were cruising, we had a safety lesson, a lovely champagne cocktail to toast to the cruise, an introduction to the crew, and then it was time to cruise for a little bit before our dinner! The meals on the ship were amazing and the staff was so pleasant. Our Cruise Director Helmut was exceptional! As night fell, hubby and I went up to the sky deck to watch nightfall and also to see another ship passing us in the night. Hubby was worried the captain might get lost, so he pointed out the way to him! LOL!

After all the excitement, it was time to head back to our cabin and get some rest! I have to confess I was a little freaked out about knowing that my bed was on a boat floating on a river. I had visions of something Titanic-like happening. LOL! Of course, very different since you can always see the shore from the boat which was very reassuring to me.

Here’s a little video of our departure from Budapest and two ships passing in the night on the Danube.