I’d like to welcome the fabulous Wendy Neugent to the blog for #ThisorThatThursday.

Things you need for your writing sessions: Tea and my cat, Apurrham Lincoln.

Things that hamper your writing: Arthritis in my hands.

Favorite music or song: “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me” by Taylor Swift is my new favorite song to sing loudly in my car when I am alone.

Music that drives you crazy: Any songs that have police sirens.

The last thing you ordered online: The book, Buried in the Backwater by Drew Strickland

The last thing you regret buying: An inflatable hot tub.

Things you’d walk a mile for: Really good gluten free donuts. I’ve been gluten free for over a decade. Yeast raised donuts are the food that I miss the most.

Things that make you want to run screaming from the room: When someone has the TV and everyone talks loudly to be heard over it.

Things you always put in your books: Vacation destinations.

Things you never put in your books: Graphic violence.

Favorite places you’ve been: Tahiti. It was the most amazing place I have ever been. Everywhere you turn, it looks like something out of a travel magazine. I got to swim with sharks, pet a sting ray, and kayak surrounded by dolphins. I’d love to spend a year there.

Places you never want to go to again: Twice I ended up in cities, Key West and Milwaukee, where they were having a Harley Davidson conventions! The cities were awesome, but the noise was not!

Besides writing, what’s the most creative thing you’ve done: Working as a headliner entertainer on ships for a decade. I was a magician and got to build my own illusions, do my own choreography, design and sew my costumes, and train my parrots. I started out with just a 10 minute set in the middle of a the revue show and grew my show until I had enough material to perform 2 forty five minutes shows. It was a lot of fun.

A project that didn’t quite turn out the way you planned it: Oh, so many! But sometimes the best things come from a plan that doesn’t go the way you expected.

Some real-life story that made it to one of your books: I worked on cruise ships for a decade so many things that happened to me during my years on ships are in my books, including a shipboard fire, a concussion, and the ship crashing into the dock. Thankfully, there weren’t any actual murders on any of the ships while I was there!

Something in your story that readers think is about you, but it’s not: Because I worked on ships as an entertainer like my character, readers think that everything that happens to Olivia is something that happened to me. A lot of Olivia’s adventures are pulled from my imagination or from things that happened to my co-workers.

The first 8-track, record, cassette, or CD you ever bought: The soundtrack to Grease!

A type of music that’s not your cup of tea: Rap music isn’t my cup of tea.

My favorite book as a child: Anne of Green Gables. I was lucky enough to get to visit the real Green Gables on Prince Edward Island when I was working on a Canada/New England cruise.

A book I’ve read more than once: Many of The Cat Who books. They are such a comfort read for me. Fun to visit Moose county and hang out with Koko and Yum Yum.

Your favorite movie as a child: Grease. I wanted to be Olivia Newton John when I grew up.

A TV show or movie that kept you awake at night as a kid (or as an adult): The Wizard of Oz. The flying monkeys were terrifying. Flying monkeys are still terrifying!

About Wendy:

Wendy Neugent spent a decade as part of an award-winning magic act performing on cruise ships all over the world. She traveled from Alaska to Venezuela, Bermuda to Tahiti, and many exotic ports of call in between.

Now, Wendy uses her insider knowledge of cruise ship life to write fun and entertaining cozy mystery books set on cruise ships.

Wendy’s Cruise Ship Mysteries are the perfect books to read while taking a cruise or when you wish you were on a cruise.

Wendy Neugent’s debut mystery, Murder Takes a Bow was a Cozy Mystery Indie of the Year Finalist. All her books feature adorable pets, strong female protagonists, and riveting mysteries.