The week of February 2nd through February 9th I went on a cruise.

It wasn’t for vacation, though I did get some time to relax and avoid human contact while I sat by a pool……….but it MOSTLY wasn’t for vacation.

I went to a writer’s conference on a cruise ship.

Was the timing ideal? No, but we booked the tickets long before the first cruise ship got quarantined because of the COVID-19 (or the Coronavirus).

AND we lucked out and nobody on the cruise ship got sick…..though we did have a medical emergency on board…but it wasn’t an illness.

ANYBUT!!

The Writer’s Cruise Conference was put together by author William Bernhardt, who’s become a sort of family friend to my dad.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I write stories? If I haven’t….here I am telling you about it.

My dad basically bought me a ticket saying I didn’t have much choice against going……even though attending the conference meant I would be missing the second week of rehearsals for Kinky Boots….and make it back literally the day before tech week…………..which would have made it extremely awkward if we had gotten quarantined…………………………..but we didn’t.

The conference was helpful. It was informative. I met other aspiring authors and some already published authors.

Overall, the cruise conference was a success and I know William Bernhardt is planning to do it again next year. Soooooooooo, if any of you are aspiring authors and want to go on a cruise and write, this is for you!

(MAJOR NOTE: I AM NOT BEING PAID OR SPONSORED TO PROMOTE THIS. I REALLY HAD A GOOD TIME AND A LOT OF EXTREMELY USEFUL INFORMATION WAS SHARED. SINCE THERE WERE ALREADY PUBLISHED AUTHORS ON THE CRUISE, YOU REALLY GET AN ACTUAL INSIDE LOOK AT ALL OPTIONS OF PUBLISHING; TRADITIONAL, INDEPENDENT, OR HYBRID PUBLISHING.)

If you don’t want to do a cruise, there’s also the WriterCon in Oklahoma. Here’s a link for more information.

I can’t speak for how well this conference is as I have not personally gone….though I am planning on attending this year. But again, not sponsored to promote ANY of this.

Fun things that happened during the cruise (not related to the conference):

• We couldn’t dock at our second port due to rough seas. That was the only port I actually scheduled an on shore adventure thingy, but we skipped it. This was also when the captain informed us that there was a medical emergency so we booked it to our final port, Cozumel. I did get off the ship when we docked to do some shopping for gifts for those who were covering me in rehearsal while I was gone.
• One of the shows on the boat (a musical staging of Saturday Night Fever) had to stop about a third of the way through due to “technical difficulties”. They canceled the show and moved it to our last day at sea. We went to see it then…..it was….meh.
• The median age of those on our boat (not including the crew or entertainment) was 65+……….and over half were Kansas City Chiefs fans. Did I mention we were on the ship during Super Bowl? There were a couple San Francisco 49ers fans….but not many. Also I was one of….4? Yeah, 4 people (including one teenager) who had unnaturally colored hair. There was green, orange, purple (me), and blue……that doesn’t include the senior citizens who think their hair color is passing for natural…..
• Since I didn’t go off boat for the 2 ports we did manage to stop at, I got a lot of free time to sit wherever I wanted by the pool (which is difficult on days at sea).