I recently got to go on another cool adventure. No there wasn’t a really awesome toilet with a remote control and heated seat, but an awesome time was had without it. This weekend I got together at the beach for writers retreat with friends. It was nice to get away, enjoy the beautiful weather, and focus on our manuscripts.

With all of the responsibilities and distractions of day to day life it’s nice to have some time to recharge the creative batteries with other writers. Conferences are a terrific way to do this, but conferences can be exhausting. However, this weekend Kiersten Krum, Caridad Pineiro, Nisha Sharma gave each other a creative boost in a relaxing environment. It was a lovely change of pace. Who else could you lounge around having conversations about demons eating entrails and ways to increase the gore factor without getting looked at as though you were insane? We also had some great brainstorming sessions It’s fun playing what if with other creative people and seeing what kind of story ideas come up. I know I got some nice feedback which helped me plug some holes in my plot for the third story in my series. I appreciated getting the prospective of people who weren’t as familiar with my stories they can come up with something better then you’d come up with alone or that wouldn’t have even occurred to you. In between writing sessions we took breaks to walk along the boardwalk, to get dinner at a wonderful Cuban restaurant in Asbury Park, and stop for dessert.

It was a wonderful weekend with great friends. We critiqued, we laughed, we got all manner of writing /writing related projects accomplished. Thanks for a lovely weekend, ladies! I had a great time.

~Rayna

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Mystery Author Rhys Bowen

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GIVEAWAY

Royal Blood

by Rhys Bowen

(A Royal Spyness Mystery #4)Penniless and thirty-fourth in line to the throne, Lady Georgiana Rannoch finds herself in a truly draining state of affairs. To escape her hateful brother, Georgie accepts an invitation from the Queen to represent the royals at a wedding in Transylvania. But at the macabre-looking castle, Georgie finds the bride with blood running down her chin, and a wedding guest is poisoned. Now it’s up to Georgie to save the nuptial festivities before the couple’s vows become “to love and to cherish, till ‘undeath’ do them part…”

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About Rhys Bowen

Rhys Bowen is the Bestselling Author of the Royal Spyness Series, Molly Murphy Mysteries, and Constable Evans. Awarded the Agatha Best Novel Award and nominated for the Edgar Best Novel Rhys’s titles have received rave reviews around the globe.Rhys Bowen is a transplanted Brit who now divides her time between California and Arizona. She currently writes two mystery series, the Molly Murphy novels, about an Irish immigrant in 1900s New York City and the lighter Royal Spyness mysteries about a penniless minor royal in 1930s Britain. Her books made bestseller lists, garnered many awards, nominations, and starred reviews.

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Back in August my good friend, Caridad Pineiro, asked me to road trip with her to Boonsboro, MD. Why? Because she wanted to have a fan girl moment and attend a Nora Roberts book signing at Turn the Page Bookstore. Of course, I was game. I’m always up for a road trip with friends, throw Nora Roberts into the mix and a good time is guaranteed. I figured if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right and book a room at Inn Boonsboro on the Square. So a few weeks ago we loaded up the SUV and followed the GPS south.

Boonsboro isn’t in the most highly populated of areas so as we got close I got a little nervous because we were driving along a mountain, in the dark, in deer crossing territory. I was constantly on the watch for Bambi to dart out in the street. Despite my worries, we got there safe and sound, the last guests to arrive. The minute we stepped into the inn all we could do was ooo and ahhh!.The place was gorgeous, homey, warm, and welcoming. We were giving a tour of the first floor which held most of the guest gathering areas and we were enthralled by everything. Then we were shown upstairs the Nick and Nora room. Nick and Nora Charles, if you aren’t familiar, are from the book by Dashiel Hammet and the movie series that began in 1934 entitled The Thin Man.

We entered the room and the gasping and amazement ramped up even more. The scent of diffuses green tea and ginger filled the room, so calming and relaxing. Fabulous retro decor filled the room, and then there was the bathroom. Bathrooms are a big thing with me. especially in hotels. If the bathroom is not good I just can’t deal, but this bathroom rocked. It held a glass enclosed multi-head shower, a tub that I regret not having the time to use, heated floor tiles, and other furniture pieces that fit the retro theme perfectly. Oh and let’s not foget the towel warmer. However, the best part for me though was the toilet. How much better can it get then to have a toilet that was controlled by a wall mounted remote and had a heated seat, amongst other cool features. However, as much as we wanted to keep turning in circle to take in all the sights like tourists in Time Square, it was late and we had a big day ahead of us.

The next morning we were up bright and early enjoying the fabulous shower and partaking of a delicious breakfast in the inn dining room. Then off to get our tickets for the signing. They have a ticketing system in place so that things stay orderly and keep moving forward without having to contend with a huge crush of people. We eagerly purchased our copies of New York to Dallas then went back to the inn to relax until the signing began. The signing was so much fun. Everyone was so excited to be meeting Nora and the other authors that were signing with her. Nora was too cool. Her and Charity talked Buffy as she signed the collection of books and t-shirts that we place in front of her. From there we went to Vesta, the pizza parlor owned by Nora’s son, where we had a terrific pizza and chatted with other signing attendees one of whom made the coolest lamp from copies of three of Nora’s books. After lunch we explored some of the other shops on Main St. Boonsboro. We ended our day with tea and desserts at a lovely little bakery across from the book store.

We had a terrific time and can’t wait to make our next trip down there which, yes, we’ve already book. This time around we’ll have the Eve and Roarke Room. I know I’m looking forward to going to another signing as well as going to explore Antietam battlefield.

Here’s a few more photos from my pilgrimage to Turn the Page.

Has anyone else been down to Boonsboro? Stayed at the inn?