Rebekah Lyn

BooktoberFest Recap

Last year I discovered the group, Authors in the Park, that put together events that focus on local talent. I was excited to have a chance to be a part of their most recent event, Booktoberfest, which was held in Mount Dora, FL on October 5. The idea was to combine the food and fun of Octoberfest with a costume contest based on characters from the books of the authors present.

I struggled with which of my characters to dress up as since they are regular, everyday people you might meet in the grocery store. Some of the other characters were pirates, race car drivers, even a flying horse. After lots of consideration, I decided to go as Michelle Burton, the muscian in Summer Storms and Winter’s End. I have to say, it’s interesting to take on the persona of a character I have been developing over the past two years. I even think it may give me a bit more insight into her as she appears in the next Seasons fo Faith book.

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I had the chance to talk with other authors and talk about trends in the publishing industry. I also met, Keith Rommel, who I’ve seen on Facebook and Twitter, but putting a real person to the profile was really nice. One of his books, The Cursed Man is being made into a movie and it was interesting to learn some of the details of the production process. All of the authors were obviously passionate about their books and being around them helped to rejuvinate my own muses.

I thought you might enjoy seeing authors dressed as the characters they create.

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Join Me at Booktoberfest~Authors in the Park

Join me and nineteen other author at Booktoberfest. Authors in the Park has put together this fantastic event. It will be held October 5, 2013 in Mt. Dora, Florida 2-5 pm. It’s a meet and greet that combines a Fall Festival with a Halloween theme, The authors will be dressed as one of their characters and you can choose a costume too! Visit Hidden Earth Series for all the details including a list of each authors characters and costume ideas.

Just in case the lure of books and authors is not enticing you, Mount Dora is renowned for its many antique shops. So make a day of it, come early to shop, have a lovely lunch in one of the restaurants then join the authors as we celebrate Booktoberfest. As for me, I can’t wait to visit Juliannes Coastal Cottage to get my all time favorite Kermits Key Lime Pie on a Stick.

Researching Jessie Has Been More Fun Than I Ever Imagined

Researching my current work in progress, Jessie, has been more fun and educational than I could have ever imagined. I grew up in the shadow of the Space Shuttle program. Nearly everyone I knew had a family member working at Kennedy Space Center, and we were all personally touched by the Challenger disaster, and yet, there was so much I didn’t know about the early years of this amazing endeavor. I’ve read books and news articles, watched television specials and documentaries, but what really made the stories come to life for me was taking a tour of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where the first launches took place. (The tours have since been suspended due to sequester.)

For those of you who may not know, the original space missions took place on land owned by Air Force that was used as a long-range missile proving ground. These sites are not available on tours available through the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex.

My heart broke when we drove through the dilapidated blockhouses, cracked pavement spattered with weeds, and encroaching mangroves of launch sites one through three. However, the Launch Complex-26 blockhouse where misson controllers stood by breathlessly watching Explorer I, America’s first satellite rocket into orbit and nearby LC -5, the site of Alan Shepard’s triumphant race into space are better preserved. We even had the chance to walk through LC-26 and learned that our basic digital watch is more technologically advanced than all of the computers in that room combined. It’s pretty amazing how much the early pioneers of space exploration were able to accomplish.

The moment that nearly brought me to tears though, was when I walked out on LC-34, where the

Memorial Benches for Grissom, Chaffee and White

Apollo 1 fire killed Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffey. Gus Grissom plays a role in Jessie’s story and being in this place I felt a deep connection with Jessie, almost as if he was walking the site with me. Off to the side, there are memorial benches for each of these brave men, although I’m not sure how many other members of the tour even noticed them. I don’t know that I ever took the Space Shuttle program for granted, especially after the Challenger tragedy, but I can tell you that I have an even deeper respect and admiration for all those who have shed their blood, sweat, and tears to provide us with the advances in our daily lives that are by products of space exploration. Many of the crew at Kennedy Space Center had vehicle license plates that read “Doing what others only dream” I pray that the hunger to learn more, travel farther, and risk it all will take the baton passed by these leaders and push us to even greater things in the coming years.

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I Love Crime Shows

I love crime. CSI, Criminal Minds, Magnum PI, NCIS, The First 48, I find them all fascinating. I also love reading crime novels from David Baldacci, to Brad Thor. When I saw a Groupon for the CSI Experience, I gobbled it right up. Now, I’m supposed to be dedicated to completing the first draft of my work in progress. I’ve worked on nothing else in my few spare moments and I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I needed a break, and my Groupon was getting ready to expire, so I called up a fellow crime junkie and we went to check out this CSI Experience.

There were more people at the venue than I expected, but the staff processed them effectively and before we knew it, we were zipping up our “official” CSI vests. We were given a clipboard and assigned to one of three crime scenes, then we were off. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who might do the experience themselves so I won’t go into detail. We gathered our evidence, “ran” all of the forensic tests on computer simulators, and came to our conclusion who the killer was. Along the way there are videos with cast members from the original CSI series and when you think your know who did it, you file your report. I can’t imagine how you wouldn’t be able to solve the case, but it was still fun to have Gil Grissom tell me how well I did. There is certainly room for improvement in this experience, but I’m glad we did it and I even feel more energized in my writing quest after taking the afternoon off. You can find out more about this experience at CSI Crime Exhibit

Maybe one day I will even write my own crime novel, but for now, I need to finish my work in progress. What fun things have you done to take a break from writing?