The days are fast winding down to C-Day...Christmas. Are you all ready? I've got the gifts purchased, but I'm no wrapper. I depend on my daughter to help me with that, or you'll just get a box with fancy paper around it and lots of tape.
On my new position as 'published novel author,' I just got my third royalty check. Keep those book purchases coming, people. "Even the Bushes Talk" is a great gift for anyone on your list, but don't take my word for it. Writers Gay Nagle Myers, Melanie Reffes and Kay Showker have all given it high acclaim.
That makes me feel great. It's a lonely effort to sit at my computer and pour out 204 pages without a clue as to whether or not this is a boom or bust. So those accolades from other professional writers who are well recognized in their fields makes me especially happy.
Check it out. There's no law that says you can't give yourself a fun Christmas gift!!!
Looking for Someplace Different for New Year’s Eve?
How about Cuba? Insight Cuba, the leading provider of U.S. authorized people-to-people travel to Cuba, has five programs running over New Year’s Eve, ranging in length and itineraries from a four-day Weekend in Havana to an eight-day trip to the infamous Bay of Pigs. Some departures feature free or 50% off round trip charter air from Miami. What better way to ring in 2012 than a trip to this once forbidden exotic destination?
Meet Cuba’s wonderful people at a roadside stop, on the city streets in Havana, at a jazz club, in the town square or at a school for special needs children. Small groups (max 16) enjoy a local host/escort, 4- and 5-star hotels, all meals, ground transportation, all the proper papers plus travel insurance.
Weekend in Havana (4 days/3nighs from $1,995), departing Dec. 29. Visit this cultural city, retored by UNESCO. Roam its iconic plazas, cathedrals, palaces and art venues.
Havana & Colonial Trinidad (8 days/7 nights from $3,295), departing Dec. 27. Double the pleasure in two well-preserved charming towns with cobblestone streets and pastel colored houses. Feel the beat change from Cuban salsa to Trini steel pans. Happy New Year!
BOOK CLUB APPEARANCE
Back from New Jersey and a very successful evening with a wonderful group of women who really liked my book. They were a lot of fun, and we spent an enjoyable evening devouring a splendid Caribbean buffet of Creole Chicken, coconut rice, saltfish cakes, mango/avocado salad, squash and banana bread with whipped cream. (Did I make you hungry, or are you full of turkey?)
It was another evening of surprises learning how other people view my first novel. Initial remarks from this group were about the solid left margin and spaces between paragraphs. I had to go looking through the books I was currently reading to see what they meant. Sure enough, there were all those antiquated indentations. Most disturbing was the continuation of a new paragraph right up against the old one. I like space between thoughts, and they all agreed that it was a much easier read. Vote #1 for me.
Along with all my other readers who have reported back to me, this group was also in the dark until the very end about the identity of my protagonist's secret lover. I had no idea I was masking him so cleverly. Maybe I should become a mystery writer!
It was another evening of surprises learning how other people view my first novel. Initial remarks from this group were about the solid left margin and spaces between paragraphs. I had to go looking through the books I was currently reading to see what they meant. Sure enough, there were all those antiquated indentations. Most disturbing was the continuation of a new paragraph right up against the old one. I like space between thoughts, and they all agreed that it was a much easier read. Vote #1 for me.
Along with all my other readers who have reported back to me, this group was also in the dark until the very end about the identity of my protagonist's secret lover. I had no idea I was masking him so cleverly. Maybe I should become a mystery writer!
GOING NATIONAL WITH MY BOOK
This coming week, I travel to New Jersey to meet and greet a number of wonderful book club people who have read my first novel. Am I going into the Lion's Den? No, I really need that feedback. They are going all out with a Caribbean buffet to get us all in the mood for the setting of my story. I'll let you know next week how it all turned out. Meanwhile, go on line to e-book sites (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple) or to my web page to order, and read along with us. http://booklocker.com/books/5554.html
SUNDAYS IN NEW YORK…OR CHICAGO…OR D.C.
Escape the cold winter in a cozy room at Affinia Hotels for just $111.11 for the night, any Sunday between Jan. 1 and March31, 2012. But you MUST book on 11/11/11 between 11am and 11pm for this special rate for two. Affinia supplies TLC (tender loving comfort) with daily snacks and beverages, a six-choice pillow menu, tub toy, guitar, discounts on nearby attractions and more. www.affinia.com (use promo code ELEVEN).
TURKEY DAY ON THE BEACH!
Spread your feast on the warm sands of Trunk Bay, courtesy of Westin St. John Resort & Villas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. That U.S. part is important. It means you don’t need a passport. Just pack up and go for at least 2 nights until Nov. 30, 2011. A deluxe room for two begins at $389 per night.
You have 3 choices for your Thanksgiving Dinner a la beach. Dream Package ($75 for two) offers a turkey lunch with all the fixings. Extreme Package ($125 for two) adds beach towels, water bottles and a St. John guide book. Super Package ($525 for two) goes all out. It includes everything from the Supreme Package, plus beach chairs, umbrella and your full feast set up ahead of time by your own beach butler.
Order the package of your choice by Nov. 10, and you’ll have a Turkey Day to brag about for a long time.
SERIOUSLY, NOW
In case you hadn't noticed, not much has been entered in my blog on what you might call a continuing basis. Too much going on that keeps me from posting, but I hope to remedy that now and get down to business. Writing is still my career, so there is no excuse to keep me from sending something out there to the on-line public. I do promise to keep it meaningful.
Speaking of writing, part of what kept me busy was setting up a bookmark layout that I finally got to look like and say what I wanted to get across. Now it's printed and I've already distributed a few. Lots more work to do on that. Of course, it's advertising my first novel and enticing you to buy and read.
Reviews keep coming back to me, and I am happy to say they are all very flattering. Everyone seems to like my take on the far from passive living we all imagine on that idyllic Caribbean island. It was fun, exciting, and most of all...very much a learning experience that we could all use: how to get along in a diverse culture.
Hope you will all click on the book cover on this site, check out the details, and ORDER.
Speaking of writing, part of what kept me busy was setting up a bookmark layout that I finally got to look like and say what I wanted to get across. Now it's printed and I've already distributed a few. Lots more work to do on that. Of course, it's advertising my first novel and enticing you to buy and read.
Reviews keep coming back to me, and I am happy to say they are all very flattering. Everyone seems to like my take on the far from passive living we all imagine on that idyllic Caribbean island. It was fun, exciting, and most of all...very much a learning experience that we could all use: how to get along in a diverse culture.
Hope you will all click on the book cover on this site, check out the details, and ORDER.
HOTELS HELP YOU FIGHT CANCER
The 5 Fifty 5 Restaurant at the New Orleans Marriott is painting the town pink to support breast cancer research. For 31 days, Chef Mark Quitney will don a pink chef’s coat and serve up a special healthy menu. Ten percent from each order will to to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fund’s New Orleans affiliate. http://www.neworleansmarriott.com/
Guerlain Spa at New York’s Waldorf=Astoria features Pink Ribbon Pedicures during October for Breast Cancer Awareness month, $10 of the $90 treatment will be donated to breast cancer awareness and research. Guests are invited to enjoy a sparkling pink champagne cocktail and an ultra pampering luxury pedicure topped with P.Y.T. pink polish. http://www.guerlainspas.com/
October’s offering from The Spa at Doral in Miami, Fl is built around the spa’s 80-minute Cranberry Citrus Body Scrub and Massage. Ten percent of the $150 cost will help fund breast cancer research. The innovative application (sea salt, Vitamin E, cranberry seeds, shea butter and a citrus fragrance lotion) exfoliates and emulsifies, moisturizing the skin without any greasy residue. http://www.doralresort.com/
If you are vacationing in any of these areas, please visit these spas and do your part.
TRAVEL WEEKLY Reviews "Even the Bushes Talk"
Great news. Gay Nagle Myers, Caribbean Editor for TRAVEL WEEKLY, wrote a review of my book on pg. 37 in the Sept. 19 Caribbean Section, and she really liked it! Here's the link: travelweekly.texterity.com
Since Gay Myers has been writing about the Caribbean for many years, I'm sure you'll take her word for it that my revelations are authentic. Order your copy at: booklocker.com
Since Gay Myers has been writing about the Caribbean for many years, I'm sure you'll take her word for it that my revelations are authentic. Order your copy at: booklocker.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my youngest son Rick, who lives way the other side of the country in beautiful Santa Cruz, CA. Dinner in the Sky at Montmorency Falls
If you’re up around Quebec, Canada, August 6-10, you should definitely check this out—a three-hour dinner that includes dining on a platform suspended over the falls from a 120-ton crane! You begin with appetizers on the ground. Next, you are raised up to that table in the sky with a spectacular view of the Falls and the St. Lawrence River. In all that splendor, enjoy a meal to match, prepared by Martin Cote, renowned chef at Montmorency Manor The last hour is set aside for dessert down on the ground. Oh, did I mention that during dinner, a dazzling Italian Festival fireworks display takes place? It’s part of the week-long 17th Grands Feux fireworks competition.
NEW BEGINNINGS
This is a new venture for me, blogging, but I'm a writer so it shouldn't be too hard. I just hope my tales are as interesting to my readers as life is to me. Don't look for a lot of political commentary. I keep those thoughts mostly to myself. This blog will include a variety of travel snippets in between the ordinary daily events of an octogenarian. Yes, I'm an old lady, but I'm still very much alive and loving every minute of it...well, almost.
So let's get on with it and see how close we can all become. I welcome comments because I aim to please with Travel Capers. Welcome Aboard!
