Dawn Brookes

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Could you find Love on a Cruise?

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While sun, sea and sightseeing are enough for a lot of cruisers, 14% of holidaymakers say they have found romance on the waves, with almost half of those staying with their nautical darling for several years. Many marry and start a family, so who knows? 

A balmy night in the Caribbean, a ship in the middle of a sparkling sea beneath twinkling stars, live music to dance to, arms entwined, hips swaying, a first kiss … 

It doesn’t have to be a scene from the old TV show “The Love Boat”. It might just be possible you could meet the love of your life on a cruise ship.

Cruises are a popular style of holiday for many people, with plenty of single people choosing to cruise, either on their own or with friends.

A multitude of cruise lines are responding by encouraging single people to take cruises and many offer single staterooms. Norwegian Cruise Line was the first cruise line to build staterooms and common areas specifically for the single cruiser. These studios are the perfect sized room for solo cruising and the Studio Lounge is a great way to meet other single cruisers.

So if you’re single and ready to mingle a solo cruise might be for you. Safer than backpacking, less stressful than air travel, and certainly more luxurious, a cruise allows you the opportunity to travel in elegant surroundings, enjoying the company of like-minded travellers. And it’s so much more fun than using a dating app!

Meeting people face to face, you can tell right away if there’s a spark.

The key is to meet and speak with lots of people, introduce yourself, be open to new experiences and enjoy the multitudes of activities on board.

Mr or Miss Right isn’t going to appear just because you book a ticket, but they could be waiting for you at a relaxed meet and greet, in the gym, at a cocktail party or listening to a talk. Cruise ships are full of venues and activities, so you can get out there. You never know where you might bump into your ideal mate. Following your own interests, such as going for an early morning run, like Rachel Prince does, could lead to more than you bargained for, but in a good way! 

Taking an excursion ashore, you might spot the person you had your eye on the previous evening in the bar. In a crowded market, or an art gallery, it could be that fate is on your side when you bump into each other ‘accidentally’ and start a conversation. Who knows where it could lead? 

A cruise ship is like a floating city, contained, busy, lively. You will sometimes see the same faces for the duration of your holiday. Especially if your interests coincide with others going to the same venues. This means you are more likely to get talking to people, as everyone is in the holiday mood, relaxed, happy and friendly.

A couple of cocktails, if you drink, and the conversation flows easily. A chat about the following day’s excursion can lead to making plans with new friends to attend an art lecture or an on board show the next evening. If someone is interested it is natural to chat more closely, to make plans to spend time together. It is altogether possible to meet the love of your life at midnight, in the middle of the ocean, beneath a canopy of stars. Or to realise that a growing friendship could well turn into something more.

Perhaps you might take a themed cruise; running, food, gardens or history perhaps. This way, anyone you do meet will have similar interests, making it easier to strike up a conversation naturally. Themed cruises also have the advantage that, should you fail to meet anyone you feel romantically inclined to, you can still have an interesting, fun time seeing beautiful places and meeting new friends.

Just as on land, a shared interest makes it easier to chat to your companions. Friendships forged on a cruise can last a lifetime and, if you are looking for love, or at least open to finding a partner, then you could well find someone special while you’re both ‘all at sea’.

The easy, relaxed atmosphere encourages intimacy and lowers the barriers between fellow travellers. You know you are all heading to the same destinations, you are all here for the same reason, this naturally gives you something in common. Dancing, dining and being entertained in such an enclosed environment, albeit with up to 4,000 other people, means that friendships spring up more readily. 

As you are enjoying such luxurious surroundings on the ship and magnificent views from the deck, it is natural, perhaps, to fall for someone. If it happens for you, I’m sure the cruise will add that little bit of extra sparkle to a special relationship as you drink in the atmosphere together.

Enjoying all that a cruise has to offer with someone special by your side makes it more exciting. The fluttering in your stomach when you see them, the enjoyment of each other’s company, getting to know one another in such glorious settings, knowing that, on a cruise ship, you are in a very safe environment. You can really relax and allow the magic to happen. 

If you do meet someone you can connect with, let the gentle waves and starry skies work their magic.

With cruising, anything is possible!

Will the Real Rachel Prince Step Forward Part 3

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Will the Real Rachel Prince Step Forward? Part 3

Rachel Prince Mysteries

Name: Rachel Laura Prince

Clothes: Prefers casual clothes, jeans and t-shirt as she has to wear a uniform to work

Grooming: Long blonde hair reaches mid shoulder blades, tied up for work but usually free-flowing when on cruises. Always washed and brushed.

Demeanour: Confident, walks tall but with casual posture, open stance, relatable, kind eyes

Eye level: Looks people in the eye, discerning, sparkling, always moments away from laughter but can be wistful

Personality: Open, genuine and friendly but not always easy to read. Trust issues remain from broken engagement

Childhood: Brought up in a vicarage and has strong sense of right and wrong. Parents remain close and she has kept her faith

Regrets: Falling for Robert and having her heart broken, feels she should have been able to see through him. Leads her to self-doubt, feels guilty that she might never be able to commit in the same way again

Memories: Saddest memory: death of her grandfather when she was five-years-old.

Happiest memory: making friends with Sarah, her best friend

Childhood Secrets: Once got drunk on cider at a friend’s house as the friend’s older brother convinced her it was a soft drink. She was sick but managed to sneak home to bed and didn’t tell her parents as she felt guilty. Rachel has never drunk cider since that day

Enemies: Criminals she has testified against in her work as a police officer. The Tansley brothers who are still involved in organised crime behind bars can’t wait to get even with Rachel. 

New Year, New Decade

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Reflections on 2019

With every New Year comes new optimism for what lies ahead, but first, I thought I’d look back at 2019.

In many ways the year in the UK was marred by a new type of toxic politics that did nothing to make us a proud nation. On top of that was and is a real concern about the impact that global warming is having on our planet. Whilst the first has had some sort of resolution, the second will remain a deep concern over the next decade and we can only hope that world leaders act soon and that we each do our bit to help turn the tide.

On a more relaxing note, I enjoyed a Baltic Cruise in August, taking a well-earned break from writing. I couldn’t resist doing a little bit of cruise research, though!

Now back to me and my life as an author! I had a productive 2019, releasing four books throughout the year:

April: Killer Cruise book 3 in the Rachel Prince Mysteries was launched

August saw the release of Dying to Cruise book 4 

November was celebrated as I finally fulfilled a promise for a final nurse training memoir. Hurry up Nurse 3: more adventures in the life of a student nurse

December completed a marathon year when A Christmas Cruise Murder book 5 in the Rachel Prince mystery series was released

In September, I started an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Derby and felt pretty exhausted by Christmas. Having recharged my batteries, it’s time to look forward to 2020.

Plans for 2020

Continue Writing

Rachel Prince Mysteries

Dawn Brookes, author

My main focus for the coming year will be to continue writing. I hope to publish three more Rachel Prince Mysteries throughout 2020. The next book, I am already working on, Murderous Cruise Habit will be released in March.

Children’s Books

With the environment in mind, and plastics in particular, I have just written a children’s book called Suki Seal and the Plastic Ring. This book is currently being illustrated and I hope to launch it towards the end of January.

Memoirs

I will be starting a vocational memoir of my district nursing years but can’t promise a 2020 release at this stage.

Studying

I start semester two of my MA towards the end of January so no doubt will be studying hard. I also hope that my writing will improve as a result of the MA, who knows?

Radio/YouTube Channel

I have been wanting to host a book-themed local radio programme for some time now and hope to be working with my local community radio station to achieve that goal. Until that happens, I will be spending more time developing my YouTube channel to focus on all things writing.

Audiobooks

I will continue to make my work available in as many mediums as possible with more audiobooks to be released throughout 2020.

Dying to Cruise will be released in audiobook format in early January.

Audiobooks are expensive to produce as well as being time consuming. I realise that not everyone can read and that many people now prefer the audio medium so I am working with Alex Lee, narrator of the Rachel Prince Mystery series to produce audiobooks that coincide with book launches, rather than four months later. 

I intend to narrate my third memoir myself and will let readers know when this is available.

Foreign Rights

I will be looking into translation or sale of foreign rights of my Hurry up Nurse and Rachel Prince mystery series in 2020 as there are large parts of the world where English is not the first language. Initially, I will be thinking about German and Spanish.

Keeping in touch with readers

Readers of my books are the most important part of my growing business and if you’re one of them, I can’t thank you enough for supporting my work by buying my books and reviewing my work. I am especially grateful to beta readers who give their time to read and comment on early drafts.

I almost forgot! I adopted a rescue dog in December from the RSPCA. Molly has had a difficult life and comes with many issues but I’m pleased to say that she is responding to love and attention.

All that’s left for now is to wish you a very Happy New Year with health and happiness! May your dreams come true in 2020.

Will the Real Rachel Prince Step Forward? Part 2

Rachel Prince Mysteries

Name: Rachel Laura Prince

Job Title: Detective Constable, recent job change. Now looking for DS job.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in history from University of Leeds; Police Officer recently passed sergeants exam

Physical: Tall, long blonde hair, blue eyes, described by others as beautiful.

Favourite Food: All things healthy, particularly fond of her mum’s coq au vin

Favourite Drinks: Strong coffee, martini and lemonade

Lifestyle: Runs every day, regular gym goer, enjoys reading, lives in a Knightsbridge flat thanks to her friend Lady Marjorie Snellthorpe who lets it for a steal.

Significant Others: Father Brendan Prince (vicar) of a church in the fictional village of Brodthorpe, Hertfordshire.

Mother Susan Prince.

Fiancé Carlos Jacobi (private investigator) works in London but travels abroad for investigations

Best Friend Sarah Bradshaw, cruise ship nurse works on the Coral Queen where Rachel becomes embroiled in murder investigations.

Life Goals: Loves police work, wants to be a chief inspector.

Motives: Tenacious advocate of justice. Will always protect the disadvantaged and those she feels are oppressed or bullied.

Conflict: Broken engagement that occurs in A Cruise to Murder has left her with trust issues, she finds it difficult to completely commit.

Strengths: Tenacity, faith, energetic, sense of humour, sees the good in people.

Flaws: Finds it difficult to say no, puts herself in danger, stubborn.

Growth: Maturing through books but police work causes tensions when her beliefs are challenged. Truth is important to her and she struggles when she has to deceive others and lie in order to solve crime.

Crime Writers’ Daily Writing Habits

Crime Writers’ Writing Habits

I thought it would be fun to select a few crime writers and discuss their writing – or not – habits! Much emphasis is placed on ritual and routine when it comes to art, but as these few examples show, every writer is different.

Ian Fleming (1908-1964)

Ian Fleming described himself as a writer rather than an author and writing in an article on the topic or writing he suggested that writing 2,000 words per day, five days a week for six weeks enabled him to produce his first draft for his Bond novels.

The novels he produced were around 60,000 words which is acceptable in series writing even to this day.

Agatha Christie (1890-1976)

Agatha Christie didn’t have a special room to write in and carried notebooks around and jotted down plots, labelling her notebooks. She wrote longhand and then typed it up later. In later life she dictated her books. She never had a daily routine of writing and would nip off to write when the opportunity presented itself it.

Strangely, it appears that Agatha Christie was the only one of these four to admit to having difficulties writing with the process causing her much stress at times. And yet it is Christie’s works that are among the world’s top bestsellers with her estate claiming she is third only to Shakespeare and The Bible. Her books are still enjoyed today with Miss Marple and Poirot being crime mystery staples. I remember seeing The Mousetrap on stage in London, the longest running play in London still enjoyed by so many readers today.

Dorothy L Sayers (1893-1957)

Dorothy L Sayers wrote at night as she worked full time for a London advertising agency.

I couldn’t find  anything written about her habits but would assume that as one of the first female graduates of Oxford she was methodical.

Sayers moved away from crime writing after WWII, her last being published before the war’s outbreak. She later concentrated on writing Christian drama for which she was well regarded.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)

Arthur Conan Doyle, one of the earliest writers to use an agent claimed not to have much of a routine once money wasn’t an object.

In an article, he explained he would spend a whole day on a work if he was engrossed but less time if he wasn’t. He seemed to intimate spending less time writing his short stories (Sherlock Holmes novels seemed to be short stories to him), and was also less concerned with their accuracy as they were a product of what he termed, fantasy.

Conclusion

It seems from just these four examples that routine isn’t everything and yet so many writers today swear by it.

I personally set myself a goal of 2,000 words when writing but don’t write every day. I’m perhaps more akin to Ian Fleming at this point in my career although I will be much more like Arthur Conan Doyle as I develop I think. It pays to remember there is no such thing as one size fits all.

If you would like to read more about writer/artist rituals, the two books listed here might be worth a read. Daily Rituals: how artists work seems to be out of print but is available as an audiobook.

Dawn Brookes is author of the Rachel Prince Mystery series of cozy mysteries and the Hurry up Nurse series of memoirs.

An author’s take on reviews

Bad Reviews: Do they make or break authors?

I’ve recently come across a number of posts by authors on social media feeling hurt by negative reviews. The temptation is to want to hit back, have the reviews removed (not going to happen), or be reassured by others that the reviewer is the enemy which is not the case. 

When I received my first one-star review, like so many authors before me, I was devastated. How can someone dismiss my work out of hand when it took months and months to create something decent enough to put out there? It turns out, quite easily in fact because mostly it’s not personal. It was amazing how, in spite of loads of positive reviews, all I could see was that one-star – I read it over and over – it was almost like self-mutilation. Many authors respond in the same way because we are seemingly programmed to focus on the negatives!

I have since realised that bad reviews are quite acceptable and the one and two star reviewer is entitled to his/her opinion, after all that’s what the review process is all about. Not only that, but when I got things in perspective, I realised I had arrived as an author. Every author has one-star reviews at some point.

The reality is that not everyone is going to like your book. Once an author puts their work out there, its in the public domain and someone, somewhere is not going to like it. Some reviewers will be just plain rude about it. 

Since that first low star review, I have developed a thicker skin in terms of reviews but if the reviewer offers any useful nuggets of information as to why they didn’t like the book rather than comments like, ‘utter drivel’, I will try to improve the next book. 

Thankfully, the good reviews far outweigh the bad which means that the majority of readers enjoy my work and I assume that’s the same for other authors. On balance, if someone has taken the time to write a review, I am pleased they felt strongly enough about the book to do so, no matter what the star rating. I have read books that are bestsellers with hundreds of five star reviews and hated them so why shouldn’t someone be entitled to dislike mine?

There are trolls out there, and some unscrupulous competitors or friends of competitors who might leave a poor review because they misguidedly believe it helps their own or a friend’s book but these people are few and far between, and pretty obvious. It only takes a minute to look at their reviews and discover that all books in the genre receive one-star reviews except for one! 

Some reviewers are just plain negative with a reviewing average of one to two stars, perhaps they have exacting standards or perhaps they are unhappy people, who knows? Whatever the reason, it’s not my problem and I will go on seeking to improve my craft.

I have occasionally discovered a flaw in my writing if a consistent theme pops up in the lower star reviews, this makes them helpful. I would be distrusting of any book that only has high star, good reviews because it’s just not possible to please everybody.

When I see a one-star review these days, it’s less of a dagger through the heart and more of a sigh moment, sometimes I have to laugh at the comments! One thing I never do is to respond or engage with the reviewer. Firstly because it would look like sour grapes and secondly, it could also seem like I’m stalking reviewers. Neither do I contact Amazon or other platforms and request the review be removed. Why should it be? I think the only time I would do this is if the review was in breach of Amazon’s terms and conditions. 

Instead of focusing on the negatives, we need to read all the positive reviews of our books and realise that the majority of readers appreciate and enjoy our work. This is what motivates me to write more and to put my work out there for criticism and for praise. 

Don’t let bad reviews break you, let them make you a better author and a stronger person.

Dawn Brookes is author of the Rachel Prince Mystery series and the Hurry up Nurse series of memoirs.