Coastal Magic recap, ice baths, runway bump-draft, and lots of pics

Hi! I meant to post this earlier in the week, but writing plus other business stuff delayed it. I had SUCH a fun time at Coastal Magic Con this past weekend. Aside from being excited to see friends, family, and readers, I was glad to leave because the prior weekend, my hot water heater died. The thing was less than a year old, too! Thankfully, it was under warranty, so we got a new one at no cost, but it took five days for it to come in. Now, I used to live in Florida, where you could pretty much expect to bathe/shower without hot water a couple times every year when storms or hurricanes knocked the power out. So, it’s not like I’d never done it before. But trying to bathe/shower in Maryland with no hot water? In the WINTER? It felt like this:

Seriously, the water temp felt the same as my refrigerator water, so even after adding a big pot of boiling water to a very low level in the tub, it still felt like taking an icy bird bath. I found myself anxious to get to the convention just because I knew it meant I could take a hot shower again!

I arrived on Thursday, and speaking of arriving, I was really glad to, and not only for the hot showers. Some of you might remember that I hate to fly. Yes, I know the statistics. My father and BOTH my grandfathers were pilots, so I have stats coming out of my ears about how safe it is. Doesn’t matter. I still fight a panic attack every time I get on a plane. On one of the flights I took to get from Maryland to FL, my sister shared a plane with me since my layover was in Charlotte, which is her airport. This sister is NOT afraid to fly. Somehow, she enjoys it. Well. We were coming in to land at Daytona Beach airport, and my sister pointed out the window to say “Ohh, the Daytona 500 Speedway is right there!”

As you can see, it was. My sister snapped this pic from her plane window as we touched down on the runway. The landing felt a little rough, but I didn’t think anything of it until…

The plane sped back up. And up. And took off again.

Imagine every passengers’ head swiveling around while we’re all thinking, what is going on? Furthermore, my not-afraid-of-flying sister starts to say things like, “Oh shit, this isn’t good. Not good at all. Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong!” Soon, we were looking at the Atlantic Ocean instead of the airport. She snapped this pic during her “something’s wrong” exclamations.

And I DID NOT PANIC. Yes, I can’t believe it, either. My heart rate sped up, and God got several instant messages from me, but I felt oddly calm. Like, we’re stuck no matter what happens, so I may as well not freak out. I ended up comforting my sister, who was so shocked by that, she later told me she stopped saying anything because she thought my calm was going to crack any moment, and then I’d REALLY lose it.

She might have been right. Thankfully, the pilot came on after a minute or so (that felt like an hour) to say that he didn’t like how “bumpy” his landing had been, so he decided to fly back up, circle around the airport, and land again in ten minutes or so because hey, we were early, anyway.

No one believed that. Yes, we were right next to the Daytona Speedway, but I doubted the pilot had bump-drafted the runway and then taken off again just for kicks. Something went wrong. I don’t know what. Maybe the runway wasn’t clear. Maybe the plane came in too fast. Or maybe I’m paranoid and it was exactly like the pilot said. Either way, we landed safely, and that’s the most important thing.

So, you can imagine that I was REALLY glad to finally get to the convention. The hotel was beautiful, and located right on the beach. Here’s a pic of the view from my hotel room:

This is the third time I’ve been to Coastal Magic Con, and I’ve enjoyed it every time. Kudos to Jennifer Morris, Dolorianne Morris, all the volunteers, and everyone else who makes this events feel seamless when actually, it’s a lot of work. Coastal Magic Con isn’t a huge convention, and that’s part of its charm. You get to really spend time with readers instead of just hustling from one activity to another. The Author & Reader luncheon was one example. Readers got to select which author they wanted to sit with, and then we all chatted together while being served a lovely lunch. Here’s a pic from it:

In addition to the luncheon, there were panels, evening events, and of course, the main signing. During that, one person said to me, “You seem to really enjoy talking to readers.” Of course I do! As a writer, I spend 90% of my time talking to MYSELF about my books, lol. At events, I finally get a chance to talk to other people about them. It’s like dessert for the creative soul. If I haven’t said it lately, I love you, readers!

I also get to hear about other authors’ books at conventions, which is great. I was on two panels with the hilarious and witty Cynthia St. Aubin, and after listening to her talk about her books, I told my sister “Get her werewolf book at the signing! I need it!” Well, she did–and then she kept it! Here’s her gloating with it:

Speaking of sisters, I got to hang out with both of mine this weekend, which was a real treat. We all live in different states, so while I might see them separately every year, we don’t all get to be together at once very often anymore. Here we are enjoying the beautiful deck on the hotel before the convention started:

I also got to see someone else I don’t get to see in person very often–Ilona Andrews! In this case, it was both halves of “Ilona Andrews” (if you didn’t know, the name is a pseudonym for Ilona and Gordon since they both write the books together. Go on, ask Ilona what it’s like to write with her husband. She LOVES that question! *snerks*.) I talk to Ilona on the phone all the time, but we haven’t been together in person since 2019. It was a blast to get to hang out with them this weekend. Here we all are on the first night:

I also got to see other friends I haven’t seen for a while, (Hi, Debi!), and meet lots of people I’ve only spoken with online before. All in all, it was a wonderful time, and I hope to go again next year.

Finally, to close this long post, on Friday, I did something I’ve been saying I’m going to do for the past two years, but haven’t before now–I joined TikTok. I doubt I’ll be making the most innovative videos, but I’ll be chatting about my books, and probably posting a lot of dog videos, too. If you’re on TikTok, too, you can find me at @jfrostauthor.

Here is the direct link:https://www.tiktok.com/@jfrostauthor

@jfrostauthor