Cara Bertoia

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Ray and Cara have also produced the number one guide on walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
The Desert Woman calls it inspiring.
Click the link to find the DVD Camino de Santiago a Walkers Guide at Amazon

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Click the link to find at Amazon United Kingdom
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Growing up in a strait-laced Southern family, I was always fascinated with casinos. In my twenties on a summer hiatus from teaching in North Carolina, I drove to California and became a dealer at Caesars in Lake Tahoe. Well, I can tell you that after teaching high school, handling an unruly gambler was a piece of cake. My mother highly disapproved of my working in a casino, "a place so bad it has 'sin' in the middle." I wanted to write the first realistic novel about casino life from the perspective of an experienced table games dealer. I spent the next five years circling the globe for Princess Cruises. Sometimes life exceeds your dreams. I was awed by the wonders of Venice, the fjords of Norway, and the Northern Lights in Leningrad. I returned from ships with a very special souvenir, my Scottish husband Ray. We went to work in Palm Springs. We now live in Hollywood, Florida, where I write about my casino years while wistfully gazing out at the ocean.

THE BEST PART OF CRUISING - SAILING AWAY FROM IT ALL

Skeptics always ask me why I love cruising so much. What makes it so special? They ask me this because I once worked on a cruise ship. I love cruise ships because I love the ocean. But what make a cruise ship so special? Well, my favorite thing about a cruise ship is the sail away. I know that you also sail into a port but that usually happens when you are fast asleep in your cabin encased in your soft high thread count luxury sheets. But sail away is a time when most of the passengers gather on the deck to watch the ship leave a port, drink frou-frou drinks and wave at those unfortunates on the dock that won't be sailing with us. This week I will tell you about my favorite place to sail away from.

My number one place to leave is Venice, and not because I want to get away but because I love Venice so much. In fact, much of the first chapter of my novel Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships is set in Venice. One of most memorable experiences was planning a pizza party on the crew deck. Earlier in the day I had bought cheap bottles of red wine in town but I didn't have to bring the pizzas because onboard an Italian head chef made sure that the pizza was thin and crispy with just a smattering of sauce and cheese that is hard to duplicate in American but can be found in any town in Italy.

The most beautiful sail away in the world - Venice, Italy

The sail away from Venice was set in the late afternoon for the greatest dramatic appeal. The whole city takes on a golden glow. It is a balmy summer day, with the movement of the ship creating a soft breeze on deck. The ship meanders past medieval houses and cathedrals painted in muted earth tone colors. The harbor is crowded with water taxis, gondolas, and boats moving produce and goods through the canals. Commerce moving as it has for thousands of years. While the ship meanders past all of this splendor all the casino staff are lounging on the crew deck, sipping local red wine and chewing on crispy hot, fresh pizza that has just been delivered from the kitchen.

And then we sail past St. Marks Square, if there is a more beautiful place on earth show it to me. Thousands of tourists are gawking at the Doge's Palace and the Basilica waiting for The Moor to strike his bell. The music from the violinist playing in the square is barely discernable from the ship. The day is perfect, the chance for days like that are why I lived on ships for many years.

I know that some of you have been to Venice, some left by plane where long lines and customs awaited you. Some of you went by train and what a great way to see the countryside. But as for me, I will always cherish those sail aways from Venice.

About the author:

CARA BERTOIA INTERVIEWED BY AUTHOR MATT POSNER

This week I was interviewed by Matt Posner the talented author of School of The Ages.

What's your name, where are you from, where do you live?
My name is Cara Bertoia and I live in Palm Springs, Ca. It is a beautiful little town on the edge of a very big desert surrounded by chocolate colored mountains.

What do you write and why do you write it?
I write stories about my life, the lives of people around me and I try to write funny and romance is about the funniest thing I can think of.

Recommend to readers a book you have written.
Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos And Cruise Ships is the # 1 cruise ship and the #1 casino novel at the Kindle store. It was chosen as 'Read of the Week' at Tripatini.com.

The Review Girl blog raves, "Cruise Quarters is an amazing travel novel which is as much about romance as it is about travel (the novel is based on their real-life love story)."
It is a fun, fast paced tale of working in the casino aboard a Regal Cruises cruise-ship. It is based on a true story and was written by authors who have decades of experience working on luxury cruise ships and in casinos across the globe.

But a reader Janis from Oregon wrote a review that is so good that I think it is the perfect sales pitch for my book:
This review is from: Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships (Kindle Edition)
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. While I've been on many cruises, I am about to embark on a 2-week cruise and this book also is kind of a primer for setting sail. It is a fun read with interesting cruising tidbits. Go for it.

Recommend to readers a book by someone else.
I would like to recommend three books that address the torture that is dating. I like them because they made me laugh, and I could really relate to the characters. The first is Scratch by Danny Gillan, it is a funny tale about lost love set in Glasgow - my husbands hometown. I had been to so many of the settings in the book I felt right at home. Next is Suzanne Tyrpak, Dating My Vibrator because haven't we all dated our vibrator once or twice. And lastly Dreamboat (The Frisky Chronicles) by Frisky Dimplebums this is just a short read that makes you cringe but you shake your head and go I've been there. Don't forget to read Frisky's biography.

I have Suzanne Tyrpak's book on my Kindle. I could tell some funny vibrator stories, but I'm a young adult author, so....
Okay, just one. When I was in college, I went to a party in a dorm room where two girls lived. One of them (whose name, Tara, I will not reveal) had a vibrator which appeared in the midst of the party. Someone set it down on the tile floor and turned it on, and it spun around and around. You can imagine how funny this would be at a college party. I was sober and I nearly fell over from watching it. Okay, that's it for vibrator stories. Your stories are better than mine, anyway...

Tell an interesting experience from your life as a writer.
After I graduated college I got a job teaching high school in North Carolina. On a summer break I drove across country with two friends and we all got jobs in a casino in Lake Tahoe. Tahoe was a beautiful place and casino jobs were the best ones, especially dealing. They all went home and I stayed. I worked at Caesars Palace for a few years but then I moved to the North Shore of the Lake. The place I worked at was an old school casino it had been a rat pack hangout in the old days and even now autographed photos of movie stars adorn the walls. The casino sat right on the lake and as I dealt I looked out at a beautiful view of the crystal blue lake. The border between Nevada and California ran down the middle of the casino.

The owner was a plumbing contractor from Fresno. The head of security was an ex-Mossad officer and every few weeks we would be strapped down and given lie detector tests. They let porn movies be filmed in the casino and there were rumors that he rigged the slot machines. I’m not sure if that was true but he did manage to get his casino closed down by the Nevada gaming commission, no small feat. One day a sports agent with Hollywood connections played on my game and encouraged me to write down all my great casino stories. That was the day I became a writer, well my script got as far as HBO where it was promptly rejected but that didn’t matter, I was a writer.

Tell an interesting experience from a non-writing job you've had.
A year later I went back to the real world and became a systems analyst by day, writer by night. I lived in Boston, the home of perpetual students and so I was able to take writing classes and join critique groups and get better. After a few years I began working on an MA in writing at Emerson because it had connections in Hollywood. Well, just before I was scheduled to intern in Los Angeles as a script reader I got the opportunity to join Princess Cruises as a croupier. My choice was spend my dwindling savings on an internship or get paid to see the world. I wasn’t scared of going only staying. The Germans have a word for it torschlusskpanik, the fear of missing the boat.

I stayed at sea for five years and I would like to say that I wrote everyday but I didn’t. I spent those years soaking up all the history I could. The ship was my home and the crew bar was my living room and the nights I spent there were research since I planned to tell the story of all my crewmates someday. And then on my last contract I met Ray and my novel became a love story and that surprised me more than anyone.

If you had a brush with death, describe it.
One night after dinner a friend and I were walking on the sidewalk in Brookline, Mass. We paused to window shop when a car slammed into a pole just in the spot we would have been if we hadn't stopped to look into that shop. That car would have flattened us, so I feel like I really just cheated death by a few seconds.

What are your views about love?
In my novel Sarah Seldon writes her Basic Strategy of Love.
I will share number 10 with you.
The golden rule of love is this: always be with someone who likes you just the way you are, quirks and all. Always love someone just that way he is. You can change sheets, not people.

Give me a link to a funny youtube video.
This is a funny video we made about Christmas in Beverly Hills a few years ago.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZXbaGCjTmc

Where can readers look up more about your work?
The address for our blogs are:
http://casinosandcruiseships.blogspot.com/
http://tablegamesconfessions.blogspot.com/
http://carabertoia.blogspot.com

Below is the links to Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships
Click the link to find at Amazon.com
Click the link to find at Amazon United Kingdom
Click the link to find at Amazon Germany

Click to find Cruise Quarters at Barnes and Noble

Click the link to find at Amazon.com
Click here to find at Amazon Canada
Click the link to find at Amazon United Kingdom
Click the link to find at Amazon Germany

THE LADIES ARE NOT ONLY HOT IN CLEVELAND

To continue my post about going to see top entertainment in the Los Angeles area without spending a dime. As I said in my last post, to go see a taping, the best site on the Internet for free tickers is www.audiencesunlimited.com but in all my trips to the website I had never seen tickets for Hot in Cleveland, so when I saw them offered I snatched them up.

Hot in Cleveland is funny, silly and corny, just the humor I can relate to. My novel Cruise Quarters is all about dating and romance on a cruise ship so a show about four single women is right up my alley.

The list of actresses on this show is like a comedienne's hall of fame. Now I know my descriptions of these actresses will be redundant to most of you but I do have readers across the globe and they might have some catching up to do. These are the people we all grew up with. Jane Leeves, Niles crush on Frazier, sweet and pretty with that adorable British accent. Valerie Bertinelli, Americas darling from One Day At A Time, lived the rock star dream marrying and then divorcing Eddie Van Halen. Wendie Malick from Just Shoot Me, she gave narcissism a good name. She may not have married a rock star but Huey Lewis plays her on again off again lover on Hot in Cleveland. Then, we have the spectacular Betty White, Mary Tyler Moore where she played the tasty cook show host, to the Golden Girls where she was the hapless Minnesotan. She gets more action on this show than the rest of the girls because she is the immortal Betty White.

We arrived at the studio a few hours early to scope the parking situation out. We were going to return later but a line had already formed. We talked to some people in line and they advised us not to leave. Even though you might have a ticket to Hot In Cleveland, if you weren't among the first to arrive you might not get in to see the show. Apparently, this was the hottest ticket in town, so we parked the car and chatted with a diverse group who spend all of their time catching the latest tapings. One of the girls next to me was a script writing student from UCLA. Her assignment was to watch a real taping of a show.

Well, I am happy to report that two hours later we made it and took our spots as 'audience laughers'. The guests that night were a Jonas brother and Jennifer Love Hewitt. The Ladies did not let me down. They were beautiful, funny and sexy. They seemed to be having a great time, laughing at their flubbed lines the outtakes alone could have filled a blooper reel. But that is what makes a live taping so special. Ray and I couldn't decide who was funnier, Betty White or Wendie Malick, but lets fact it the narcissist delivers all the best lines.

Everything played out like our previous tapings. Before the show the warm up comic told jokes, the interns served sandwiches, and we laughed until our jaws hurt. The show makes all women want to move to Cleveland, where there seems to be an endless supply of available handsome men, that sure would have improved my dating life. But if you can't make it to Cleveland, you can visit the girls in Burbank.

About the author:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO 'CAMINO DE SANTIAGO A WALKERS GUIDE'

HIKE THE WAY WITH MARTIN SHEEN ON THE 'CAMINO DE SANTIAGO'

This weeks blog was written by Ray. I would like to add a disclaimer that we actually sell a movie Camino de Santiago a Walkers Guide a non-fiction account of our walk.

A movie review of The Way by Ray Bertoia:
I was very excited to finally see a movie that was set on the Camino De Santiago. I hoped it would give a good overview on the trials of walking the Camino while of course the narrative is moved along by the central characters necessary in any drama. Did it succeed? Well yes and no.

The storyline centers around a father walking the Camino in the place of his deceased son and the various characters he meets up with along the way. I'm not going to give away the actual plot here since I don't want to spoil the movie for those who have not yet seen it. As he travels along the Camino various aspects of life on the Camino are gradually revealed to the audience. We see inside a few Refugio's, walk through the forests and spend a little time in some of the towns along the way. Everything is pretty accurate even at the end when the Compostelas are awarded. For those who wish to see an entertaining movie, and also maybe learn something along the way, the film is on the money. An entertaining story and a look at a world you probably didn't know existed.

I don't think however that this film would actually inspire someone to start making plans to walk 500 miles. Perhaps it was the time of year, but to my mind everything looked very bleak. The real camaraderie of the Camino was also missing. Also lacking was the reality of getting up every morning and starting to walk, day after day after day. Where were the aching feet, the absolute exhaustion at the end of some days, even the problem of doing laundry? It seemed that these people never had any of those problems; every day was just another stroll in the park in fresh clothes for them.

I did enjoy all the philosophical discussions about what makes a true pilgrim. Can you go on a bike? Can you stay at a nice hotel? Why are you walking? The competition among the pilgrims from all over the world is always quite amusing. Also I enjoyed the history of the Camino a walk that has inspired people for over a thousand years. To wake up every day and walk the path taken by millions of other pilgrims is quite inspiring.Watching the movie I did get a thrill when I saw the sites I had seen along The Way.

There are plenty of scenes showing the various churches and cathedrals but very little showing the charming villages and the warm hearted locals. Even Pamplona is dismissed as a disappointment, just another town, let me tell you it was quite beautiful.

So overall, if you want an entertaining movie, this is just fine. If the movie peaks your interest then please check out the Camino and if you have a trip like my wife and I then it will be one of the highlights of your life.

Below is the links to our novel Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships
Click the link to find at Amazon.com
Click the link to find at Amazon United Kingdom
Click the link to find at Amazon Germany

Click to find at Barnes and Noble
Click to find Cruise Quarters at Barnes and Noble

HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD! HOW TO TAKE IN A PLAY, A MEAL, AND A COMEDY ACT ALL FOR FREE- AND IT'S NOT A TIMESHARE!

I have a confession to make. I love sit-coms. I'm a sucker for a sarcastic quip. I love anything that can make me laugh. I also live less than two hours from Hollywood, the epicenter of television and every once in a while I like to go all touristy and watch the making of a sitcom in person. So whenever I get the urge, I go to AudiencesUnlimited.com and book a taping. This is usually done late at night after a glass or two of wine, when wanderlust hits. So when I saw an opening for two of my favorite shows I grabbed them and it was Hooray for Hollywood!

My husband loves Puddy, everyone remembers the straight talking auto mechanic from Seinfeld and he is one of the animated voices from 'Family Guy,' the most beloved show of all post - adolescent males. On this show Patrick Warburton stars with Megyn Price an alumnus from one of the most underrated sitcoms of all times 'Grounded for Life.' Throw in David Spade from 'Just Shoot Me' and how can a show fail? Their show 'Rules of Engagement' films in Culver City and we were there at the appointed time, 4:45 p.m. our printed vouchers in hand waiting in line for the taping in a few hours. First you get checked out by the security guards; don't even think about bringing in a camera. In this line you meet interesting people from all over the globe, beside us were a couple that had flown over from London for a week just to attend tapings of their favorite American shows. The girl next to us was from Poland, and we took her under our wing.

The Cast of Rules of Engagement taking a break!

After a short wait you are walked through the studio and onto the sound stage where the sets you see every week on your television are right there in front of you. Oh, there is Jeff and Audrey's living room that looks so much larger on television, and to the left of it is the diner which is apparently the only restaurant in New York City. The stage is a jumble of cameras, and lights, which can partially obstruct your view while the filming is going on, but it's all part of the process.

Before the show a warm up guy greets the crowd and starts to perform a comedy act, sort of like an improv picking on foreign visitors and locals alike. The act is designed to rouse the crowd and work everyone into frenzy. Seated at the end of our row was guy wearing a Patrick Warburton celebrity golf tournament t-shirt. We later found out that this fellow was such a rabid fan that he had attended all the episodes for the last six years of the shows taping. We are given our instructions, no yelling or screaming allowed, just laughter. Followed by a short reel of the shows highlights played on televisions located directly over the stage. Then just before taping start the cast of the show appear to thunderous applause.

For the next few hours the cast and crew act out the shows script. It is like going to see a funny play. Writing comedy is hard, I know because my novel Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships is funny. Making that sit-com appear funny so effortlessly on your home screen is a lot of work. Each line has to be delivered with the right inflection, the lines can't be flubbed and the jokes can't fall flat. So each scene is shot multiple times, while the director searches for the perfect take. But that is the fun of a live taping you are there to witness the bloopers, and believe me sitcom actors are always flubbing their lines and cracking each other up. When the directors yell cut, the writers confer with the cast and the same scene can be re-shot several times with new lines added or old lines deleted.

Laughing can work up an appetite, and since a taping can run for over three hours, to control the crowd the interns fed us sandwiches and cookies. It is a small gesture but it makes you feel like they really appreciate you showing up and doing your bit.

The show was hilarious and for three hours we were in the Hollywood bubble making television. When the last scene wrapped, the cast graciously lined up to greet us as we left the sound stage. Then it happened, my husband Ray leaned over the railing that separated the cast from us, and Patrick Warburton shook his hand. I don't think he has washed that hand since.

So the next time you are planning a trip to Los Angeles make sure you catch a taping of you favorite show. Where else can you go see a play, dine and even catch a comedy show for free! And with plays coming in about $100 a seat, free is good.

Next time I'll tell you about Hot in Cleveland.

Click to find Cruise Quarters at Barnes and Noble

BOOKS TO MOVIES AT THE PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

Sometimes the best vacation is one where you don't go anywhere at all. For the last three years Ray and I have been spending a week in Palm Springs just like the other tourists going to the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Sonny Bono started the film festival 23 years ago and it keeps getting better every year.

The weather was warm and sunny, the relatives flew in from Florida to join us, and we got to do my two favorite things, go to the movies and eat out. As if that wasn't enough we got to see George Clooney. But this year he was just one of the stars who turned up. Brad and Angelina, Charilize Theron, Adrian Brody, Glen Close and Olivia Wilde to name a few all walked the red carpet. We even gawked as the limos pulled up depositing the stars at the convention center.

The picture my cousin Robert took of George Clooney

This is a great film festival because it features the best foreign films from across the globe and if you can't visit a country the best way to travel there is by watching a movie or reading a book. This blog is about great movies based on great novels.

All I had to do was go into the theatre, wait for the lights to dim and I was sitting in a cafe on a square in 1930' Belgrade. Montevideo, the Taste of a Dream is based on a novel by Vladimir Stankovic. This is a beautiful film, filmed with beautiful actors, which tells the story of a Belgrade soccer team trying to reach Montevideo to participate in the first World Soccer Cup. Some movies are so evocative of a time and a place. Slick and sexy the scene in a jazz club is one of the best I have ever seen.

We wrote our novel Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships after working aboard a luxury cruise ship. I loved the cruise to Scandinavia and Russia, so when I saw how many movies from that area of the world were showing, I bought tickets to many of them.

A great movie out of Norway is Headhunters. This movie is a thriller in every sense of the word. It is slick and sleek just what you would expect from a Scandinavian movie and the best thing is that the thrills and chills are created without the special effects of most Hollywood blockbusters. Even if you can't see the movie you can read the book. The movie is based on Jo Neb's novel, Headhunters.

The next movie on my list is Generation P out of Russia. There is a chapter in our novel devoted to Moscow; Ray worked there after the fall of communism, when it was just becoming the wild and wicked city featured in the film. This movie is a mixed bag. The first hour is one of the best examples of Russia's transition to capitalism through the eyes of a writer who gets a job in advertising. The second hour however is a bit of a mess. But maybe you just have to be Russian to get all the inside jokes and references, because this movie was a game changer in Russia. This book is based on the novel Generation P written by Victor Pelevin.

I much preferred My Father Baryshnikov which was centered on the school where the Bolshoi dancers are trained. It is a charming tale of a young man who doesn't know who his father is and so he pretends he is Baryshnikov. It was written about a time when all Russians lived in the same type of apartments, ate the same food and wore the same clothes. This movie is an uplifting tale that will make you see 1980's Russia in a new light. A Russian friend of mine agreed that the movie got it just right. Although it was based on the writers life there is no book.

A movie, like a book has the power to change your heart. I defy anyone to go see A Separation, and not come out of the theater with a new understanding of Iranian society. This is just a simple tale of two people going through a divorce, both with faults and problems, but the insights it gives us into modern day Iranian society are priceless.

I love my city and I hope all of you will one day have a chance to travel here during the festival. Where else in one week can you get the chance to see over 200 films from over 70 countries, and only have to pack your bags once?

Click to find Cruise Quarters at Barnes and Noble