I just returned from eight days on the iconic Queen Mary II of Cunard fame, the Grand Lady of the seas, the end-all, be-all of cruising, the quintessential sailing experience…you know the one…where Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant fall in love and vow to meet at the Empire State Building, but she gets hit by a car, and her legs are all shriveled up, and he sees the painting, and…

Give me a break. I write romance.

Anyway, it wasn’t exactly like that.

My Queen Mary adventure began a year ago when I went to a writer’s workshop on Madeline Island in Lake Superior, on the tippy top of Wisconsin. My amazing instructor was Allison K Williams, a writing coach, author, editor, etc. At the end of the week, we were chatting about travel (she lived in Dubai at the time) and I mentioned cruising, and she mentioned that she was putting together an intensive workshop onboard the QMII. I was hooked…line and sinker.

So I finished my WIP (Work in Progress), the “Ireland Book” many of you have heard me wax rhapsodic about. I polished its exterior, whipped its interior into shape, put lipstick on it, and prepared to pitch it to the agent who would be onboard and with whom I had booked a thirty-minute meeting.

I packed notebook, pens, laptop, hard drive, some copies of my two books, bookmarks and business cards. I believe in taking copious notes. And shameless self-promotion.

I also packed half my wardrobe and way too many scarves. I was unsure of the weather as a hurricane was approaching Great Britain. I packed an umbrella.

I flew to London. Travelmate Pros had handled all our arrangements and had booked a car to pick me up at the airport. I’m 73, traveling alone overseas with enough luggage to sink the QMII. I didn’t want to schlep my way to the train. I was taken to the Radisson Blu Bloomsbury Hotel. Very chichi. All the group were staying there–44 of us in all. 35 writers and a handful of spouses and one daughter.

I immediately met Anne, a fellow writer, who had a career as a public speaking coach. We went out for fish and chips and became fast friends. She divides her time between Miami and Portugal. This was a very international, very interesting group of writers, mostly women (three men), at various stages in their writing journeys. Some were just starting a novel or memoir, others were into their third book, others somewhere in between. All were devoted to the craft and business of writing.

We left London on a big bus the next day, toured Manchester Cathedral, and drove to Southampton where we boarded the QMII and got settled into our staterooms. My roommate had to cancel the trip for health reasons, so I had a room to myself, which was a blessing. It was also a curse, because it meant I was on my own, and those of you who are aware of my crippling shyness (quit laughing) know how hard that would be for me. But Anne and I sought out each other for meals, and I made many travel buddies as the days went on, as everyone was curious and supportive of each other’s projects.

Classes began early the next morning, two in the morning and two in the afternoon. Our team of instructors led them: the indefatigable Allison; Jessica Berg, author and principal of the Rosecliff Literary Agency; Jane Friedman, author and publishing and marketing guru; and Andromeda Romano-Lax, multi-published author, writing coach, and woman with the best name ever. They put us through our paces with lectures, writing prompts, live editing, discussions, Q and A, you name it. I filled an entire spiral notebook. It was glorious.

Sadly, I missed that first session with a wave of seasickness that two doses of Dramamine did not eradicate for a while. I know I am prone and took all the precautions, but the choppy seas were overpowering. My cabin was in the very front of the very prow of the pointy part of the boat, and it was up and down like a seesaw. The classroom was directly below my cabin, so I was not the only one who suffered at first.

The other issue was the time. We lost an hour every day coming back across the Atlantic, hitting a new time zone every night. We manually updated our smartphones and watches because they wouldn’t receive the updates on the ocean due to the limited number of cell towers. Anyway, I’m fairly tech-savvy, and I changed mine the first night, but was an hour late the next morning and missed breakfast with Anne. The following morning, the same thing happened in spite of my staying up half the night worrying about it. Allison and I put our heads together and determined it was my phone, which had not picked up the change. And weirdly, it popped to the correct time while we were staring at it. After that, I didn’t always depend on the phone and checked with the far more reliable cabin steward to find out the time.

My one-on-one meetings with the instructors were very fruitful. No, I didn’t get a zillion-dollar book deal (or any book deal) since Jesssica, the agent, is not taking new fiction clients. Still, she was a font of knowledge about the industry, and I have a decision to make about how I am going to proceed with Windshadow (the Ireland book).

I spent time with Jane, the marketing and business expert, and have more ideas for getting the word out about my books and other avenues for writing and teaching, too.

My time with Allison and Andromeda was the most encouraging. They were warm and fun and made me feel like my book and my career is ready to move forward.

Mostly, no one changed my first page, which is a victory of momentous proportions!

The trip was a whirlwind of delicious, beautiful food served in a gorgeous dining room with impeccable service, session after session of brain-stuffing knowledge, conversation with people of a like mind, who came from all over the world to share this experience, lasting friendships, a gala masquerade ball, and twice as many steps as I usually get every day. The ship was really big.

And I never stepped foot outside on the deck.

My voyage continued with a 5 a.m. view of the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge as we pulled into NYC. Waiting in the lounge at the airport, I looked around to see Anne sitting nearby. Her flight to Miami was leaving from the same gate as mine to Dallas. The last in a series of serendipitous connections.

My flight was delayed an hour after we got on board, but I made one more new friend on that flight home, talking the entire time. A special moment on a trip full of special moments.

Then I pulled my huge suitcase off the baggage carousel to discover one wheel missing. It promptly fell over.

Maybe I’ll stay home for a while.