One thing I love about going to other parts of the country is sampling the local food. At the Coastal Carolina Writers Retreat, we had some delicious meals. The first night there we had a seafood boil, the seafood consisting of these creatures with really long antennaes. Someone told me they were crawfish, then someone else told me they were shrimp. I had to ask one of my table partners how to get the heads off. The shrimp were absolutely delicious–the best I’ve ever head. Being from Pennsylvania, I’ve only ever had headless shrimp.

Some interesting tidbits I learned from the retreat…now that I’ve written and published one book I was asked what I’m working on now. That totally took me by surprised. I didn’t have an answer at the time, but now I do. Stay tuned. I have the topic, I need to fine-tune the angle of it, but I’ll give you a hint—it’s a non-fiction, how to, type book. I’ve done my background research, there’s not much on the market that is written about the topic, but I think there is a demand for it within a niche market and I already have ideas on advertising and promotion. I’ll update you as time goes on.

A thought on networking from the retreat…I’m getting better at it. As Dick Bruso suggested, don’t try to collect as many business cards as possible, rather concentrate on developing relationships with a few key people. I found this so much more effective. Find common points of interest. One thing that made networking easy for me at this event was, since I was a presenter, and had the “star” on my nametag, I could introduce myself to other presenters and we had a common bond right off the bat. This was great because I was able to meet authors, agents, editors, keynote speakers, etc., easily, simply introducing myself, asking what they were presenting about, how their flights were, etc.

A final thought for today. A tidbit I learned from the retreat was that 80% of published books today are non-fiction. 80%. Wow. I guess that makes sense. I know most of the books I buy are purchased because I need to learn or improve a skill. I guess I’m not alone.

I only purchased one book at the retreat (that’s all I had room for in my carryon). It’s called Death on a Cellular Level by Vicky Hunnings. When I told Vicky I was looking for a book to take on the airplane, she asked me if I liked mystery or suspense. I guess I gave her a blank look because she asked if I even knew the difference, that someone had to explain it to her (I think she was just being gracious!). So she told me that with mysteries you are wondering “who done it” and with suspense, you know who did it, and you’re thinking to yourself “don’t open that door!” when the character is about to. Since I prefer suspense (now I know that!) she suggested I purchase Death on a Cellular Level. I’m only on page 21, but so far, so good.

I’m planning to start a book review section on my website, so if you’d like your book reviewed, please send me a copy!

Until next time…