The Joy of Cruising: Passionate Cruisers, Fascinating Stories By Paul C. Thornton

7/25/2020

Award winning, multi-genre author, Paul C. Thornton, introduces us to his newest book, “The Joy of Cruising”:
The Joy of Cruising is about passion. Award-winning author Paul C. Thornton profiles travelers from all over the world with a passion for cruising and who act on that passion in creative and fascinating ways. (Just announced as medal winner Florida Author & Publishers Association President's Book Awards!) From a Grammy award winner, Poker Hall of Famer, winner of the TV series Last Comic Standing, to "ordinary" cruisers doing extraordinary things, The Joy of Cruising will fascinate anyone who has ever cruised, aspires to take a cruise, or just loves travel. The Joy of Cruising is an anthology that takes a look at the magic of cruising from the vantage point of travelers passionate about travel--a compendium of anecdotes, stories, and profiles of cruisers who have some unique or interesting perspective. It is not cruise-line specific, nor an industry overview, cruising guide/how-to, exposé or behind the scenes. The Joy of Cruising is a positive examination of why cruisers do what they do in the pursuit of their passion.

Ready to “skydive” on Royal Caribbean Anthem of the Seas.

I have never been on a cruise. I am now wishing that wasn’t the case. The author has a relaxed and comfortable writing style that I enjoyed a great deal. He taught me how passionate so many are about cruising. Observing their passion and enjoying their story through their eyes, has imparted a great deal to me.
I didn’t understand how much fun is available on a cruise. The activities onboard and ashore are plentiful and quite exciting at times. I am that guy that loves museums and learning more about history, I like to read all the descriptions and plaques for displays. The lecture series on a cruise is right up my alley. Some of the themed cruises call to me a great deal also. Being on a cruise with a couple thousand people who share a similar enthusiasm sounds ever so interesting. A wonderful way to meet and make new friends.
I award “The Joy of Cruising” 4.6 stars! The score would have been higher except for a handful of spelling errors.

You can buy this book:
https://smile.amazon.com/Joy-Cruising-Passionate-Cruisers-Fascinating-ebook
https://www.goodreads.com/-the-joy-of-cruising
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/the-joy-of-cruising-paul-c-thornton
Available at many of the other major platforms also

You can follow the author:
https://twitter.com/joyofcruising
http://www.thejoyofcruising.net
http://www.facebook.com/TheJoyOfCruising
http://www.instagram.com/thejoyofcruising
http://www.amazon.com/author/paulthornton
I have reviewed the second book here: www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/cruising-interrupted

Copyright © 2020 Mark L. Schultz except for the author’s introduction

33 Comments

Paul Thornton link

7/26/2020 03:54:36 pm

Wow, you’re good. I proofread the book a zillion times and you still found spelling errors! Seriously, thanks for the kind words. The book was a blast to write and it always pleases me when readers seem to find it as fun to read as it was to write.

Mark

7/26/2020 05:18:16 pm

You are very welcome, Paul. Spelling is my specialty. I did enjoy your book a lot.
First question.
Please, tell us more about yourself. Perhaps something a little bit beyond your bio.

7/26/2020 05:44:09 pm

I wrote my first book at 58 years old. It had nothing to do with cruising. When I woke up on the day I started the book, I had no plans to be an author. It was my daughters wedding day and I had to give a talk at the reception. She told me to just talk about memories of her growing up. In the process of doing so I shared things I had hidden for 30 years. The more I shared, the better I felt--it was liberating. When I was done there wasn't a dry eye in the room.I wanted to hold on to that feeling, so when I returned to my hotel I started writing my memoir. It is provocatively titled "White Man's Disease" but is not about race. It is about trauma I endured when my daughter was only 6, and she helped save my life. To understand the title you have to read it, haha! I won awards with that book and it made me want to be a writer.

7/26/2020 06:49:44 pm

Wow! That is a powerful story! What an amazing way to start a writing career! I love it.
New questions.
Are you a full-time or part-time writer?
Are you in the writing business for love of writing or for money?

7/26/2020 07:00:22 pm

I have a day job as an administrator at a university. Yet I consider myself a full-time writer because I carry an iPad with me every waking hour so I am always writing—or thinking about what I am going to write. I write because I love it but any writer would want to sell enough books to make $. I would tell any aspiring writer that if you want to write primarily to make $ you need to research the business thoroughly before taking that leap of writing a book. As the saying goes: don’t quit your day job...

7/26/2020 08:14:46 pm

I think you are in the company of most writers, especially fiction writers. Most do it for the love of the art or, as some put it, to keep the voices in their head mostly quiet. It seems that some writers have stories that demand to be told. I think others find the outlet ultimately satisfying for a variety of reasons.
That is good advice for a beginning writer. There are so many that have the thought of writing a book, few of those actually start. Many of those that start writing a book quit after a few chapters, for any number of reasons. A few of those keep plugging along, they actually complete a manuscript, many of them get cold feet and use the excuse of more editing to never have to finish the book. A few of those actually get all the editing and rewriting done, and they publish a book and are so devastated when publishers and agents are beating the door down, they never write again. Despite all of that, a million books or more are published each year on amazon.
New questions.
Does your work have any influence on your writing?
Who designed the cover of your book? Feel free to drop a link if appropriate.

7/26/2020 08:24:20 pm

No my work really doesn’t influence my writing. Given that my first book was a memoir, my various work settings and situations were integral throughout my life and reflected in the book. My cover is a photo a friend took in Venice when I was writing the book. He posted the photo on Facebook and I asked if I could use it. Got a little criticism in that there is no cruise ship in the photo!

7/26/2020 08:55:02 pm

You could have photoshopped a cruise ship in, but maybe cruise ships aren't allowed that close, you would know better than I.
My wife has been to Venice, I have not made it to Italy in my three trips to Britain and Europe.
New questions.
Was it hard to come up with the title? What was the process?
This is your second book on Amazon. What is the status of your next book and what is it about?

7/26/2020 09:12:11 pm

The title was inspired by an iconic 70’s bestseller called The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort! My next book is called Cruising Interrupted. It is a sequel to The Joy of Cruising; started off as More Joy of Cruising and then the pandemic hit and decimated cruising. It will still be fun and upbeat but obviously will reflect the pandemic’s influence on cruising. It is dedicated to the hundreds of thousands who’ve died due Covid-19, included several dozen on cruise ships.

7/27/2020 09:56:47 am

Cruising Interrupted is certainly an appropriate title. The world has been interrupted.
New questions.
Has it been tough to keep it fun and upbeat as you write it?
Do you think the cruising industry will survive? What is the worst case scenario in your mind? What is the best case scenario?

7/27/2020 12:07:23 pm

It is not hard to be fun & upbeat when it comes to cruising; it is hard to write with “Joy” in the title when there is so much death and misery in the world. Cruising will survive; for awhile I was worried. I was reading too many articles like “ Meet the Insane People Still Planning Cruise Ship Vacations!” But the spirit of passionate cruisers on social media helped lift my own spirits. I believe worst case is cruising won’t be totally the experience we are used to until 2022.

7/27/2020 03:18:01 pm

It's very true, you cannot believe everything you read on the internet. I appreciate your optimistic outlook and I share it. When there is a demand for a product or service, people will find a way to satisfy that demand. The cruise ships may be idled, but they will sail again. I have no doubt about that. It's basic human nature.
New questions.
What other books and genres have you written?
Have you entered any writing contests?
Have you won awards of any kind for your writing?

7/27/2020 08:51:41 pm

The Joy of Cruising is my 2nd book. My first is called White Man’s Disease which is a memoir about trauma, recovery, and resilience. It won several awards, as has the The Joy of Cruising. I am most proud of White Man’s Disease winning the grand prize in the North Street Book Prize in creative nonfiction/memoir. It was a judged, rigorous competition (with a decent monetary award🤓)

7/27/2020 09:21:10 pm

Congratulations on those awards! That doesn't happen to but a few and not everyday.
New questions.
Have you thought about writing fiction short stories or a novel?
What genre do you think you would start with?

7/28/2020 12:12:27 pm

Funny thing is I used to read mainly fiction; among my favorite books are The Firm, and Misery. As a student I loved creative writing and was told I was good at it. But as I have gotten older for some reason I have gravitated to nonfiction; that is all I read and my 3 books I have/am writing are nonfiction (although I write in the genre known as creative nonfiction.)

7/28/2020 01:37:18 pm

That is quite interesting. I think we all go through phases and seasons in our lives. The one thing for certain is that they change for the most part.
I was an avid and total sci-fi fan when I was young. That was all I read, until a relative gave me a set of The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit later. That introduction to fantasy blew me away. I read LOTR three times before graduating from high school. Now, sci-fi and fantasy are my favorite genre to read.
New questions.
I noticed that you didn’t put your book in Kindle Unlimited. Why is that?
Have you ever gone through the query process, seeking an agent or submitting directly to publishers or did you go straight to indie publishing or self-publishing, and why?

7/29/2020 12:16:29 am

Didn’t go the agent/querying process because I didn’t start writing until I was 58. So, I felt “time was of the essence” and went straight to the self-publishing route. KU was not something that appealed to me but I didn’t know a whole lot about it. I will consider it going forward.

7/29/2020 09:51:52 am

I can appreciate your thoughts about time. The querying process can go on for a long time. Amazon has altered the publishing world so much. The traditional publishing industry has suffered a tremendous contraction. It remains to be seen how small it will get. Their profit margins have shrunk so much, they don't take very many chances on an unknown author any more. There is no large advance for the unknown author, also little to no promotional efforts are made on the author's behalf. Plus, the unknown author loses control of their book and intellectual property rights for a period of time.
Some authors do well in KU, many don't. Amazon requires a period of exclusivity for being in KU. Thus, the book cannot be placed on other platforms.
There is a lot to be said for going wide. Many blogs have been written about that topic.
New questions.
In your opinion, what are the main advantages of being self-published as opposed to getting a book deal?
Do you think independent publishers can produce a book as good as mainstream publishers?

7/29/2020 01:08:42 pm

I think the two biggest advantages of self-publishing are: 1. As alluded to earlier, self-publishing can significantly shorten the time from writing to getting your book in the hands of readers; that was critical to me starting to write so late in life; 2. Purely speculative having never been traditionally published; I believe that as a self-publisher you will work much harder to market your book. For one thing you have to try to recover whatever investment you made to get your book self-published and that can be significant. I think self-published books can the same quality as traditional, but it depends on a writers willingness to do the work to make that happen, and their financial resources (you get what you pay for), i.e. editing, cover design, proofreading, print quality, etc.

7/29/2020 01:19:02 pm

Sometimes a traditional publisher will wait a year or longer to release a book. You make a good point.
In either case, most of the marketing falls on the shoulders of the author. Some indie publishers will ask for more money to help promote a book. That publisher bears careful research before signing a contract.
There is website devoted to uncovering the scam publishers, it's called Writer Beware.
New questions.
If a new writer asked you for one piece of advice to be a good writer what would you say?
Is using Twitter and other social media part of your marketing strategy?

7/29/2020 10:18:42 pm

The one piece of advice I would have for a new writer is: ensure that you are passionate about you are writing. If so, instead of struggling to find time to write, you will make time to write.

Twitter and other social media is a huge part of my marketing strategy. On Twitter there is engagement; for instance with the writing community about topics of mutual interest, or the cruise community. So I strike a balance between trying to be additive regarding some topic, and straight up promotion which I may just initiate or post in reply to a post asking for book links, covers and info. I use Instagram a lot; cruising is a very visual pastime and my book has a ton of great photos, so IG is an ideal social media platform. And I have a Facebook author page. Even if you are not a FB fan, an author page is almost like a free website. When you post on your book website/blog you can crosspost on your author page--a great way too expand your reach at no cost. Also when I post phots to IG they can easily be shared to your FB page. All those those are free options. I have also tried paid IG and FB ads; reached a lot of people but I can't tell if it generated many book sales. A lot of people swear by Pinterest; I have an account but I am not up to speed yet--need my daughter's help!

7/29/2020 10:46:02 pm

Good advice for a new writer. Write the story that wants to be told the most.
You are doing well on the big social media platforms. That has to pay off in at least a few sales over time.
My time is limited on social media, I invest most of it on Twitter. That is why I have my largest following there, also because I have been on Twitter longer than the other platforms.
New questions.
When you decided to indie-publish how did you pick a publisher?
What is your publisher doing, if anything, to market your book?

7/30/2020 03:56:46 pm

For White Man’s Disease, I chose Book Brokers of Florida, based on a referral. They were very helpful to me as a first time author: a major editorial recommendation regarding ordering of the narrative was powerful, and their cover design was killer. For The Joy of Cruising, I used Bookbaby, a major self-publishing firm. I won a book award for my 1st book, and among the prizes was a few hundred $ off a self-pub package at Bookbaby. More importantly, I needed global distribution/printing as TJOC had more of a global scope (a third of the book’s features were from UK, Australia, and New Zealand.)

7/30/2020 04:30:50 pm

That was a great prize you won! Not all writing contests are so well funded. A few of them are downright shady in one way or another. The worst grab an author's intellectual property rights and never let go. Anne R. Allen writes one of my favorite blogs. She has list of honest and worthwhile contests at the end of a lot of her blogs.
You have had good experiences with two different publishers. I am glad to hear that. So often, only the bad ones make the news. I know there are many excellent independent publishers out there of all sizes.
Wide distribution is important to many authors for different reasons. It was certainly necessary for you. Many authors don't like to put all of their eggs in one basket, no matter how big it is.
New questions.
There are many unethical practices in publishing, which one is the most unbearable in your mind?
Have you thought about offering a large-print edition of your books?
Have you thought about doing an audio book?

7/31/2020 08:09:46 am

As a fledgling self-publisher (which means self-marketer!), winning book contests can help in marketing. But as you alluded to earlier there is a whole cottage industry of shady contests designed to separate eager writers from their money and enrich the contest organizers. They don’t provide judge feedback, rewards with any value, and exorbitant entry fees. That would be the biggest unethical practice for me.

Audiobooks, large print books, coffee table books loaded with color photos all are things I aspire to but the financial model just doesn’t work for most independent authors.

8/1/2020 09:32:54 am

You are right, being a self-publisher requires you to wear many hats or rent the hats you don't have.
You do have a nice voice, You might be able to make your own audio books with a modest investment in equipment. A number of blogs and videos have been made about this subject. If you search for audio on my website you will find quite a few posts. Joanna Penn might have the most and she did a blog about how to make your own recordings.
Plus, I interviewed a audio narrator in a recent interview with the author: https://www.wordrefiner.com/book-reviews/heir-to-a-prophecy-by-mercedes-rochelle-narrated-by-kevin-e-green.
New questions.
Do you have a favorite book by another author or just favorite authors?
Did you have a favorite book as a child?
Does writing have a spiritual or healing component for you, does it energize you or make you feel tired?

8/2/2020 11:50:43 am

My favorite two books are both nonfiction and by the same author—Alex Haley: Autobiography of Malcolm X, and Roots. FDR by Jean Edward Smith, Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, And the Band Played On by Randy Shilts each left a lasting impression on me. I know they’re all heavy nonfiction but I have enjoyed several fiction books by Stephen King, John Grisham, and in my first own first book, the medical thriller Coma by Robin Cook had a brief but significant storyline.

Didn’t read much as a child—but wrote a lot. I did pick up from my dad, who was busy getting his GED—reading the dictionary!

Writing definitely is uplifting, healing, and energizing fro me.

8/2/2020 01:18:44 pm

I recall reading Roots as a young adult. It blew me away on multiple levels! Coma was quite good also.
As a young boy growing up on a non-working farm, I didn't have any playmates except for my younger sisters most of the time. I did a lot of reading and got lost in our big, unabridged, Webster's dictionary more times than I can count.
New questions.
Why is it important for writers to tap into the emotions of the characters?
Has your life turned out differently than expected or planned?
Have you ever done NaNoWriMo?

8/3/2020 12:52:26 pm

I’m probably not the best writer to answer the question about tapping into the emotions of characters because I write nonfiction. However, that certainly was important in my first book which was a memoir with the inciting incident having occurred over 30 years ago. It was important to tap into the emotions of the main character, me, so that readers would care about reading the story. My life turned out differently—mainly because of that aforementioned inciting incident!

No I have never done NaNoWriMo

8/3/2020 02:50:59 pm

You certainly stirred some of my emotions while reading your book. I really want to go on a cruise now.
A lot of non-fiction relies on an emotional connection to get a message across. We are creatures with emotions and use them throughout every day in our lives.
NaNoWriMo stands for the National November Writing Month. It's a contest where you compete against yourself only. To win you write 50,000 words of a first draft of a book. That is it. A lot of writers join groups for mutual support and encouragement. 50k words spread out over a month is less than 2,000 words a day.
Last questions.
Are you an under-writer or an over-writer? When the first draft is done, do you need to add more to flesh it out or do you have to cut material because there is too much?
What is your writing routine when you sit down to write?

8/4/2020 10:19:38 pm

The Joy of Cruising was a bit long at 352 pages so I guess an over-writer, and I am consciously trying to edit out superfluous narrative as I go along on my work-in-progress, Cruising Interrupted.

I do not have a routine; because I carry an iPad virtually every waking hour, I write anywhere anytime when thoughts occur to me. I”ll have more of a routine when I retire from my day job.

8/4/2020 10:27:26 pm

You profiled quite a few cruisers in Joy of Cruising. It did not feel long to me. I enjoyed it to the end.
Retirement does allow you to set your own pace and schedule. I love being retired and doing what I do all day long.
Thank you, Paul for writing a book that brought me pleasure and knowledge. I did not know much about cruising before reading your book. Our discussion has been a lot of fun. I look forward to doing it again.
I have another promotion in progress so I must end our chat and say farewell until our ships meet again.

8/5/2020 07:46:28 am

Thanks Mark. This was a lot of fun. I love talking about my books and discussing writing. I am glad a non cruiser found some fulfillment in The Joy of Cruising. I have actually used that theme in promotion before, I.e. you don’t have to be a cruiser to enjoy TJOC. It’s just fun, fascinating stories. Stay safe all!

The Joy of Cruising: Passionate Cruisers, Fascinating Stories By Paul C. Thornton

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