A fellow writer
Georgina Young Ellis, a great writer of time travel novels asked me if I would
take part in a blog chain where writers post what they are working on now for
the Next Big Thing. Her third novel, The Time Contessa will be published in Jan.
I am working
currently on a blog about everything that has to do with travel I
have been focusing lately on travel destinations around Southern California. One posting I especially liked writing focused on my hometown
and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Next week I will be posting a
blog about Slab City, a very interesting community just east of the Salton Sea.
Every wondered what a post apocalyptic world would look like. This place will
give you a glimpse of a possible future. I have started writing a novel about a
future society.
How did you come by the idea for your blog?
I had so much fun writing about my adventures working on a cruise ship in
my novel Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships and I got so
much good feedback from my readers that I just wanted to share more. Also my novel
will be featured as Bargain Book of the Day at E Reader News Today on Dec 2.
What genre does your book fall under?
My book is a funny novelization of life aboard a cruise ship, with travel
and romance thrown in. I find it really hard to place it under any one genre.
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| Who could play these people in the movie? |
Which actors would you choose to play your characters if it were a movie?
Well I wouldn't go for big stars, because mine is a story about ordinary
people that anyone can relate to. I would choose Judy Greer for Sarah, she
currently plays Ashton Kutcher's ex-wife in Two and a Half Men. My choice for
Paul is a bloke named Aaron McCusker, he has been a bar owner on the original,
British Shameless for years. In my opinion the best television show in the
world. He also has dreamy eyes like my husband.
What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
I wish I could take credit for this but a
reader, Janis in Oregon wrote the perfect description on my novel, "This
novel is really a travelogue, a narrative, a romance, a self-help manual for
gambling and cruising, and a real-life story all rolled into one funny,
obsessive, and entertaining story of two people whose separate life journeys
meet at a crossroads."
What inspired you to write your book and how
long did it take you to write it?
I have
always loved to travel. Ever since I was a little girl my favorite hobby was
reading novels about far away places, on a hot summer day I would be Mary Queen
of Scots locked in the chilly London Tower. When I was in college I studied in
Mexico for a semester and after that there was no holding me
down. There is a German word for that feeling -- torschlusskpanik the fear of missing the boat. In my case,
literally.
While in Boston
I was offered the opportunity to join Princess Cruises as a croupier. Jumping
at the chance, I spent the next five years circling the globe. Sometimes life
exceeds your dreams. I was awed by the wonders of Venice, the fjords of Norway,
and the Northern Lights in Leningrad but on the downside I also watched
glaciers melt at an alarming rate in Alaska, snorkeled to coral reefs killed by
pollution in the Caribbean, and witnessed the devastation as the Amazon burned.
It was the best education I could ever have had. Taking advantage of every
opportunity to be a tour guide, I soaked in as much history as I could.
Since I had studied writing at
Emerson I knew that when I went to sea I would write about my experiences.
Every night spent in the crew bar I chalked up to research. I learned so much
about my fellow crewmembers that I just wanted to tell our tales. The fact that
my novel turned into a love story surprised me most of all.
I left ships with a handsome Scotsman who became my husband.
We moved to Palm Springs and got a
job in the casino industry and it is here that we wrote our novel. It is based
on our true story only the names have been changed to protect us! So the very
long answer is that it took years!
What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I don't know if I can compare my book to any other but I do think I like
to play romance a bit like Nick Hornby. Men seem to be able to really relate to
the characters. But I feel like our travel writing is unique to Ray and I.
To further the chain I will introduce you the Revita Horowitz the author of
Daughter's of Iraq, a wonderful story about a family who immigrated to Israel from Iraq. Her new novel
Hope to See You Soon, deals with the immigrant experience in the U.S. But just follow this link and she can tell you all about it.
Click here to visit Revita's blog about The Next Big Thing
And if you want to learn more about time travel -
Here is the link to Georgina's blog Nerd- Girls Romantics and Time Travelers
Cara Bertoia is the author of the critically acclaimed Casino Queen, a new suspense novel published by The Wild Rose Press. She has drawn from her years in the casino industry to create a fascinating thriller. It is all true although the names have been changed to protect the guilty. It had been featured at The Big Thrill and Women Writers Women's Books and at many other sites. Read the blurb here.
Caroline Popov, alone, heartbroken, and deeply in debt ends up in glamorous Palm Springs, California where Native casinos have just opened, offering employment to thousands. She lands a job at the Palm Oasis Casino and is mentored by the charismatic tribal chairman, John Tovar.
Embraced by casino culture, Caroline works her way up to casino manager of the Night Hawk, in the High Desert town of Joshua Tree. There, she is responsible for managing multicultural team members, satisfying the demands of challenging guests, growing revenue while rooting out corruption.
In the process of rediscovering her inner strength, she learns, you have to gamble like your life depends on it. With her life on the line can she pull out a win?
About the author:
Cara Bertoia is the author of Cruise Quarters - A Novel
About Casinos and Cruise Ships. Her novel is really a travelogue, a narrative,
a romance, a self-help manual for gambling and cruising, and a real-life story
all rolled into one funny, obsessive, and entertaining story of two people
whose separate life journeys meet at a crossroads. Kindle
Fire Dept. says, "This novel is a gem that is nothing short of a vacation
in a book!"
Below is the links to Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships
