WAS IT THE ROAD TRIP FROM HELL?

1/23/18...   WAS IT THE ROAD TRIP FROM HELL? Not if God, Garmin, and a determined hub could help it! Covering over 4300 miles (round trip thru 14 states), our trusty  Rav4 maneuvered us through 2-6 lanes of speeding traffic, and around hundreds of semi’s, detours and construction zones to destination—California! The InD’tale Writer’s Convention at the Marriott Hotel in Burbank was a 3 day respite--if you could call it that--for  3 weary passengers (including our  patient furbaby Hannah Jo.) 

AFTER FULL DAYS OF CLASSES— e.g. Branding, Marketing, Mastering Blurbs, Smashwords,

Body Language, Finding Your Core, Hiding a Body, and How to Write Villains you Love and Heroes you Hate, besides keynote addresses that drew tears and applause, a 4 hr.Book Sale, a Reader Rave luncheon, evening entertainment that included a Murder Mystery Dinner, Karaoke Contest, and the annual Rone Awards Gala, I was sure my own body language was slammed to the core! Good thing I was wearing the I.D. badge I was given!

 AS ONE of 3 FINALISTS in the Time Travel Category for The Accidental Stranger,  I was a runnerup, happy to be included in a literary award that had more criteria for winning than the Academy Awards. Meeting a LOT of best-selling authors that weekend was a highlight; also sitting next to the legendary ANNE PERRY who has sold over 30 million books in 33 series and still writes as she nears 80 years. I was shocked when she told me she writes ALL her books in longhand and doesn’t know how to do FB.! Not so shocked that she believes 80% of books are sold by word of mouth & reviews--or even that readers care more about relationships than WHO Done It !        

I left the WC with a big satchel of new books by authors new to me, a new smartphone filled 

with photos, a yellow tablet filled with journal notes, and a LOT to think about.  I Already read Suzan Tisdale's Rone winner with a highland theme,"The Brody Bride."  Suzan, with me at the Book Sale, is proof that Indie authors rock! 

THE LEG HOME had it’s own highlights. Besides the memorable scenery flashing by, esp. in Utah and Arizona, we met and dined with a great half-uncle and his wife that I didn’t know existed until I joined Ancestry.com last February.  (A long story that feeds a future mystery in my growing novel agenda. Chuck Seider has 2 sisters as well, one of them a redhead born just weeks before me.  Two great aunts !  :)  

WE ALSO CHECKED OUT  five Arizona snowbird communities for seniors. Weather and facilities were great. Lack of green and no lack

of traffic gave us pause.  Shortening a MN. winter appeals; an annual road trip—not so much anymore.  Stopping for a couple hours in Dodge City was fun and finding not one, but two Cracker Barrels to eat & shop at on our last day was a treat. Regular meals, aside from snacks or fast food and comp breakfasts, allowed our itinerary of 600+ mi. per day—before dark. Hannah Banana was elevated to "Hannah the Easy Rider,"never once  whining “Are we there yet?” She loved multi daily walks and left the barking to our driver, who had some disputes with Ms. Garmin.  At home, Hannah  helps me post her day-by day journey on FACEBOOK.  Note her favorite Kansas souvenir!  

FREEBIE HALLOWEEN BONUS!  For the first time ever I'm offering  my RONE special, "THE ACCIDENTAL STRANGER" FREE only in October and ONLY on SMASHWORDS   for a click and a grin! As  always, a review is also appreciated. 

ROYAL READER/FAN BIOS will continue next month with Jennifer Querry, a nurse I met in a Wyoming ER  after a  Denver WC/research trip to Wyoming in 2015. Nurse Jennifer, Dr. Hawley—AND the hospital are in The ACCIDENTAL STRANGER!  That thin line between fiction and reality works!  (Well, maybe not in politics!)