Last weekend I attended Sleuthfest Conference at Deerfield Beach, Florida. Sponsored by Mystery Writers of America, the conference was perfectly executed…pun intended. LOL
I have helped organized three conferences and have attended too many to count, but Sleuthfest really stood out as an amazing conference. With top speakers, NY editors and agents, and incredible screenwriters, I learned so much from the industry. Of course, I cannot forget to mention the lovely and talented ladies of Florida Romance Writers were there.
I always have a fab time around these vivacious party animals. We certainly dominated the bar with laughter and fun.
All in all, I had a great time and would certainly attend Sleuthfest again. I only wish I had gone the previous years. Awesome job, Mystery Writers of America.
Below are some pictures of the Florida Romance Authors at Sleuthfest.
I will be signing my Celtic series at a booth across from Barnes and Noble
between 12-2pm on Saturday March 20, 2010. There will be giveaways and a gaming wheel for those who feel lucky. ;0)
Sponsored by Florida Romance Writers & Mystery Writers of America.
Thanks FRW and MWA!
Address: “THE WALK” IS LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF UNIVERSITY DRIVE IN CORAL SPRINGS BETWEEN 26 th ST. and 29 th ST.
For more info and directions visit: http://www.csfoa.com/intro.htm
For those of you who have followed the Hearts of Fire Blog Tour, congrats for making it this far. If anyone wants to start at the beginning of the blog tour and get a chance to win fabulous prizes click on this link: http://booknibbles.com/blogtour
Note: the blog tour starts on Friday night at midnight and goes through to Sunday night.
So allow me to introduce myself. My name is Lyn Armstrong and I write historical erotic romance. I have five books in the Celtic Witch series.
In a superstitious time where witches are prosecuted and magick considered the devil’s work. A Scottish clan filled with secret Celtic powers must fight an evil darkness that threatens to destroy everyone they love.
Since I write about bad boys and wicked ladies, I thought I would do up a top five list of pick-up lines for each sex. If you are easily offended, you may want to skip the list. ;0)
For the ladies:
1) You’ve been a bad, bad boy, go to my room!
2) Sex is evil; Evil is sin; Sin is forgiven; so let’s begin.
3) Are you going to kiss me or do I have to lie to my diary.
4) My name is ….., that’s so you know what to scream later on.
5) I miss my teddy bear, would you sleep with me?
For the gentlemen:
1) Lets go to my place and do the things I’ll tell everyone we did anyway. (He’ll either get slapped or get lucky – LOL)
2) Hey baby, what do you say we go behind that rock and get a little boulder?
3) Nice socks. Can I try them on after we have sex?
4) Sex is a killer…want to die happy?
5) Fuck me if I am wrong, but haven’t we met before?
I would like to know if theses lines actually work. LOL.
Anyway, please leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of the first erotic novel in the Celtic series, The Last Celtic Witch.
To check out the titles, go to www.LynArmstrong.com.
Until then, have a wicked Valentine’s Day and may all your knights be filled with passion.
Lyn Armstrong
The ship’s lack of motion actually woke me up early today. I crawled out of bed to see the high risers of Miami. Sigh. We were back home. A depressing lethargy came over me, the very same feeling you get when you know your vacation is over. Grabbing the last of my personal effects, I went to breakfast to find our FRW members already there. They wore the same glum expressions. But it wasn’t over, we were all going to meet at the News Stand Cafe at South Beach. One last hurrah before heading home.
Everyone ate a larger breakfast at the News Stand and recapped on all the shenanigans of the past four days.
I gave Adam Wilson one last tarot reading where the wind nearly blew us away along with the cards.
After eating quickly, I caught a ride to my car in Ft. Lauderdale with Kathy Pickering and Alexandra S. (Sorry, I can’t spell her last name). Needless to say, I enjoyed my ride home with the ladies as we talked about tarot cards, spirits and all things paranormal.
I hugged them goodbye and drove home where I crawled into bed and didn’t wake up till the next day. Thank God I am a writer and work from home in my own time. You gotta love that flexibility.
All in all, I had an awesome time and will cherish the fun memories of the FRW’s Writers Retreat on a cruise ship to Mexico.
Thank you all for following me on this journey. If you wish to see all the photos from the cruise, check out my website at www.LynArmstrong.com.
May you all have a magical day.
Lyn
xoxo
The lack of sleep and partying has finally caught up with me today. Think I’ll take things slow. And when I say “slow”, I mean run around like a chicken with its head cut off. LOL. I am constantly on the move at these conferences and retreats. I can rest when I get home.
An announcement came over the intercom that there was a person who needed to be air lifted from the ship. Of course, I ran to the deck the moment I heard a helicopter. It’s not every day you see a coast rescue team lift someone into the air.
They couldn’t land the copter on the ship, so it took them a while to pick up the passenger. As you can see, I was standing under the glass roof taking pictures and eating pizza. Hey, I was hungry.
I have never been so close to the bottom of a hovering helicopter. After many attempts, they lifted the passenger and everyone beneath the glass roof cheered.
That was the excitement of the day. Later on, FRW hosted a psychic night with cocktails. I was one of the tarot card readers along with Traci Hall and Toni Andrews. The readings went really well. I know many of my sitters were happy with the tarot messages.
I went to dinner while half of the group went to karaoke. At this stage, my lungs refused to sing any longer, so regretfully, I called it an early night.
Luckily, I went back to my room. The cruise porters were taking the luggage away for the next day. I just threw all my stuff into the bag and shoved it outside when the porter came with a nasty look that said I should have packed earlier. LOL. I shrugged my shoulders and yawned. Geez, I hope I left my some underwear out.
Tomorrow we make port in Miami. I’m going to miss this sweet cabin with a big bathroom. Gotta love a bathroom that doesn’t make you feel like you are stepping into a coffin just to bathe.
Time for bed…
Ah, Mexico. Here we are. I can’t help but feel the excitement of a new adventure run through my veins. I stepped off the ship and pushed my way through the throngs of photographers (no, not the paparazzi, instead it was the ship’s vultures eager to make commission on a photo op). I took a deep breath of Mexico…then coughed. Note to self: walk away from the fishy wharf before breathing again.
Yup…we were in Cozamel. One of the tourist islands off the mainland.
Many of the group chose to do different land tours. Some went to see the Mayan ruins while others wanted the excitement of the zip line through the treetops. I had already done both on a previous trip so instead, I joined six lovely ladies for a shopping adventure in downtown.
Our hard-core shopping group consisted of Kimberly Burke, Karen Kendall, Tea Majors, Rosemary Letson, Patrice Wilson and yours truly.
The sights and sounds of the markets were incredible. Mexicans would stand outside their colorful stores and say anything to drive you inside. One man said to us, “Come in, come in. Everything inside is almost free.”
I had a feisty man take my hand and offer me a free massage if I went into his store. I cleared my throat and retracted my hand. “No thanks.” Then I practically ran to catch up to the other girls.
Definitely, the best sales pitch we received was a man calling out, “Come into my store so I can try to rip you off.” LOL.
We almost bowled the man over trying to get inside his store. We thoroughly enjoyed his honesty after so many others would lie to us to get our business. After bartering all day and saying, “No gracias” over and over again to the outside sales team, we headed off to the La Mission – a Mexican restaurant with the best shrimp and avocado in town. In fact, all of the food was delicious. Kimberly was our translator, she wow’d us all with her fluent Spanish, even the Americans at the next table were impressed.
After a tasty excursion into the Mexican fare, everyone went back to the ship to relax except Kimberly and myself. We wanted to see more of the island. With the last of our cash, we haggled a price for a quirky little taxi man call Segio to show us the sights of Cozamel. However, I believe we had more fun chatting to the driver about the naughty exploits that happened in the back seat of his cab than checking out the sights. For some reason he pointed out the swingers hotel on the beach. And hinted he would like to take us out again but this time with a bigger back seat. LOL. I wonder if it was because Kimberly told him we were romance writers. Hmmm.
We eventually returned to the dock and rockin music blared from the bar, Fat Louey’s. Kim asked if I wanted to have a drink on the boardwalk or go back to the ship. I looked longingly at the ship. My feet screamed for relaxation, not dancing, but my wild side said, “Do it!”
So we went into the loud bar on the waterfront and ordered pina colada’s. Drunk women and men danced on a small stage, grinding against a pole. Gotta love blind drunkenness and lots of enthusiasm. It was infectious, but I resisted the urge. I would need at least three more cocktails. Four, if I was to grind a steal pole. LOL.
All in all, I had a great time with awesome company.
PM
I must dedicate a portion of this blog to karaoke. It’s not something I do very much but Heather’s daughter, Bryee Anne convinced me to pick a song for us to sing. It snowballed into an FRW sing-along and I must say I had a blast. By the end of the night my voice was hoarse from singing and whooping for the brave who ventured on stage. Two FRW members stood out from the rest of us. Toni Andrews had a very sultry voice that had us in awe, and the other was Kristen Wallace. Holy moly, that girl can sing. The audience was entranced with her sweet voice.
There was one person I must tell the world about. This person was new to karaoke and had the most theatrical zeal. When he sauntered across the stage with mic in hand, the whole room cheered with abandonment. Eric Raab had to be the coolest karaoke singer I had every seen. He was totally unabashed when gliding around the stage like a rock star. Gotta love his showmanship. He totally rocked the house!
Sleep didn’t come easy on the first night. I tried to revert back to babyhood, thinking that the ship’s constant rocking was my mother rocking my cradle. But it didn’t work. Note to self…need to work on my visualization technique.
So just when my eyes finally closed, a knock sounded at the door.
“Breakfast!”
Geesh, was it 7.30am already?
I glance at my cell and it said 5am. Grrrr. I’m going to pounce on this waiter the moment he puts down my tray of goodies. After all, I don’t want him to spill my tea.
That would be rude.
I gave him my most deadly glare. For five in the morning, it wasn’t too hard with smudged make-up and wild tangle red hair. But he didn’t seem to notice, instead he smiled at me as if I was dressed for a cocktail party. Okay, that soothed my inner beast. God bless his blindness.
It was at this time I realized my ever faithful clock on my cell was wrong. For some reason it was showing Miami time rather than the middle of the ocean time, which happened to be 8am.
I asked my roomie, Kimberly, if she wanted breakky. She pulled the covers over her head and mumbled something I don’t think I should repeat online.
So without making too much noise (like a bull in a china store) I took the tray outside onto the balcony.
As I smeared cream cheese on a slightly burned but definitely cold bagel, my eyes scanned the endless ocean. I wondered if someone was swimming out there and needed help, would I really be able to see them.
So I looked harder.
Nope. No one out there.
Phew! I can stop stressing.
Then I wondered how many pirate ships had battled in these Caribbean waters. In my mind, they were all handsome like Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom instead of the smelly and dirty men they probably were. Maybe if I squint real hard, I can see the Black Pearl cutting through the blue waters…
Nope, nothing there but my sense of wishful imagination. God bless its little romantic heart.
I took a sip of OJ.
Bugger, it wasn’t freshly squeezed. LOL. Okay, some of the cruise tarnish was wearing off.
Then I wondered what happened when a whale or dolphin died? Do their spirits swim the ocean for all eternity, thinking they are still alive?
Wow, it was way too early to contemplate these issues.
Day Two (PM)
We had a fun-filled day of workshops in a relaxed atmosphere. Traci did her plotting workshop while Heather Graham, Karen Kendall, Mary Stella and myself did a panel on marketing. Everyone loved my marketing handout. Phew, I’m glad that was over. Now back to the serious work of drinking cocktails I can’t pronounce. ;0)
We went to the cocktail ballroom for free drinks. Aleka and myself drunk delicious blue cocktails (don’t remember the names, that’s how yummy they were). But they tasted like frozen blue icees.
We went up on the deck to watch the sun go down and eat the world’s best pizza. Or maybe it tasted so good because of the alcohol.
We retired to our prospective cabins to relax before the formal dinner.
I went outside and leaned against the balcony railing. It was so beautiful to watch the horizon. The fresh breeze tousling my long hair that seemed to frizz no matter how many times the hair iron sizzled it. The sound of the waves slapped against the ship as it cut through the warm waters. Suddenly, I heard a rowdy song being sang by a man, and then the familiar tinkling of sweet laughter.
Greg and Traci Hall were a few balconies down. Greg was singing a song and Traci giggled like a teen in love. Those two are so cute.
At the risk of annoying our cruising neighbors, we shouted jokes and gibes across to each other. It felt like college all over again.
Traci and I wished upon the first star of the night. I would tell you what I wished for but then it wouldn’t come true.
Then I tricked them into believing I saw a dolphin. Greg yelled I would burn in hell. From inside my cabin, Kimberly screamed out, “If Lyn’s going to hell it won’t be because of a dolphin.”
I love my friends. LOL.
Tomorrow we arrive at Mexico.
I can’t wait!
Sorry I have taken so long to blog about the cruise, but the party Gods have decided to punish me for having so much fun and gave me the flu on my return. But I am on the mend and ready to dish out all the fab gossip that happened on the Florida Romance Writers retreat to Mexico.
I took blogging notes while on the cruise, just in case I would forget anything. And now I am glad I did.
To get the true feel of the cruise, I will blog over the next four days as if we are on the “Carnival Destiny” in real time.
Please forgive any typos/errors, I’m still woozy from the flu and ship. For some reason my office won’t stop rocking. LOL.
Day One:
Arriving on board the ship came with a flurry of excitiment. I had swooped by the Ft. Lauderdale airport to pick up Adam Wilson, Editor for Mira, Harlequin and drove to the Miami port. It was exciting to see the large ship, Carnival Destiny waiting just for us.
Yes, in my mind, the ship was waiting just for us to arrive and not the 3,000 other passengers. ;0)
After finding our cabins and a quick rest to regroup we waved goodbye to Miami.
After a tour of the ship, we met in a large room to get to know each other by playing a game. We had to tell three things about ourselves. Two things were meant to be true and the other, was a lie. Everyone had to guess the lie.
My three things were:
1) I was taught to ride a motorbike when I was six years old.
2) I was married on the beach in Australia in a short wedding gown.
3) I spent a lovely afternoon with the actor, Billy Zane.
So folks, can you take a guess which is the lie?
We then went to dinner and socialized. After that everyone split off into groups, some went to karoke, some shopping, others were blown away by the hurricane-strength winds on deck, while the others called it an early night.
However, my roomie and I went dancing and watch young guys dirty dance with a few elderly ladies. Needless to say, those ladies had huge smiles on their faces.
Well, it is 12.30am and I’ve got an early morning ahead of me. I’ll be having breakfast out on our balcony.
As my hubby says, “It’s hard being Lyn.” LOL.
Tune in tomorrow to see if we encountered any Caribbean pirates.
After waiting all year long, the day has finally come that I get to pack for my cruise trip to Mexico for a writers retreat with FRW (Florida Romance Writers). Tomorrow, myself and 40 other writers leave the port of Miami with a notepad and pen in hand. Along with sunscreen, bathers, a wicked cocktail. LOL.
We are set to learn from the collective experience of the pros like Heather Graham, Erin McCarthy, Lyn Armstrong (I had to throw that last name in…tee hee). Workshops are planned throughout the whole trip with a little bit of karaoke and a psychic night with tarot readings. I’m so excited, I can’t wait to sail away on the Caribbean blue seas.
The only decision left is whether to track through the jungles of Mexico or visit the Mayan caves. Hmmm. Which to do…
Bon voyage!
Lyn
We had an awesome meeting today with the lovely Pearl Wolf as guest speaker on Character Arcs.
Afterwards, many of us gathered at the hotel restaurant for a bite to eat. I took this photo on my cell. God bless technology. ;0)
However, the highlight for me was to finally come out of the creative closet and accept nomination for the FRW President position. Yes, that’s right folks, yours truly is running for prez. With lots of well wishes and pats on the back from the my FRW pals, I blushed like a virgin in a sailors bar. I’m very psyched and can’t wait until it is official in April. Woot!
2010 is going to be one hell of a year…I can just feel it! ;0)
Day Four
After waiting all year long, the day has finally come that I get to pack for my cruise trip to Mexico for a writers retreat with FRW (Florida Romance Writers). Tomorrow, myself and 40 other writers leave the port of Miami with a notepad and pen in hand. Along with sunscreen, bathers, a wicked cocktail. LOL. 
