Month: April 2013

Spring Break Road Trip (Part 2 of 2)

Spring Break Road Trip (Part 2 of 2)

Or, A Photo Journal Of My Explorations Of Eastern Virginia

Our first night in Williamsburg, my daughter and I took a break from touring the Colonial city to find dinner. I had grandiose ideas of eating in a tavern, served by candlelight by actors in period costume. Those of you who have visited the city before could have warned me those reservations sell out days (possibly weeks) in advance. Our next best idea was to dine in a local establishment outside of the historical district. But by the time we found an Italian bistro, we had fifteen minutes to eat in order to make a variety show at the Kimball Theater. We ended up being ten minutes late and frazzled.

So, what did we do for dinner on night two? Rolled up to the Golden Corral. I love the south!

Stop 4: Art Museum, Williamsburg, VA

The folk art exhibit at the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum at Colonial Williamsburg was overflowing with beautiful and quirky works of art by untrained everyday artists. This bust is extremely lifelike and once graced the bow of a ship. It’s not exactly a mermaid, but I like it!

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This bust of an unknown man carved by an unknown artist was once attached to the bow of a ship in the Great Lakes region.

I fell in love with this portrait at first sight. Isn’t she creepy? Her name was Martha Payne. How perfect is that?

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This exhibit of non-traditional carousel animals immediately drew my attention for its whimsical and imaginative design. The cat with a fish in its jaws and a saddle on its back would be my first choice!

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Carved by Salvatore Cernigliaro between 1903 and 1928 in Philadelphia, PA.

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Stop 5: Tavern Ghost Tour, Williamsburg, VA

A night photo of the Brick House Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. Like almost every original building in town, it’s rumored to be haunted. See any ghostly faces in the windows?

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Stop 6: Jamestowne, VA

As a last minute stop, we toured Jamestown, the site of the first successful British colony in America. And I’m so glad we did!

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My daughter freaked out when she saw this crest inside the church. In her RevQuest there was a story about the lion and the unicorn.

I was jumping up and down to take my picture with this gorgeous statue of Pocahontas.

blog author 4The drive home

We ran into all sorts of traffic on the way home, including back to back accidents.

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So, my daughter took the opportunity to write in her journal.

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And I took pics of myself. :p

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<3 Anna

Coffee Time 5 Star Review of Spell of Summoning

Coffee Time 5 Star Review of Spell of Summoning

Or, A Great Book Blogger Review

Click here for the entire review.

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Wow! It has been some time since I read a book that kept me that on the edge of my seat! I loved Spell of Summoning. The paranormal world reflected in this book was obviously created with both imagination and good research making the story of Holden and Rebecca come to life. The author did an excellent job of dropping clues about who the evil necromancer could be without totally giving the game away. I had at least three people that I thought it could be but wasn’t really sure which is one thing I love about books like this. If I can figure out who the bad guy is in the first twenty or thirty pages I tend to lose interest, this was not the case with this book. The feelings between Holden and Rebecca are sweet, and sensual and the author does an excellent job of showing their budding relationship, and by the end of the book I was truly satisfied with how the ending came about. This is a wonderful, suspenseful love story and great feel good book! If you love happy endings, but like there to be turmoil and obstacles before you get to the end, as well as, story having paranormal paranormal elements, then you do not want to miss Spell of Summoning. I will definitely be picking up this author’s next book!

Regina
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

 

<3 Anna

Spring Break Road Trip (Part 1 of 2)

Spring Break Road Trip (Part 1 of 2)

Or, A Photo Journal Of My Explorations Of Eastern Virginia

I love history. There isn’t a historical marker I won’t swerve off the road to investigate. And American history is one of my favorites. The Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Colonies, Explorers, Native Americans… What’s not to love?

The past few years I’ve taken over Spring Break at my house and turned it into an annual history-seeking road trip. Two years ago we visited Roanoke Island (A lifelong dream of mine), Kitty Hawk, and Fort Sumter. Last year we explored the historical districts of Savannah, Georgia. This year we headed north to Virginia to learn more about the Colonial period in American history.

Stop 1: The Creepiest “Haunted” House in North Carolina

I don’t know who owns this house or why it fell into disrepair, but I can’t get enough of it. If I wasn’t afraid some Highway Patrol Officer would cart me away for trespassing I’d explore every dusty, cobwebbed corner. Doesn’t it spark images of antebellum ghosts, pale ladies in long gowns, and supper by candlelight?

 

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Beware! 
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Stay out!
Stop 2: Harriet’s Church, Kinston, NC

It started to rain as I trekked toward the Harriet’s Chapel historical site. It didn’t bother me. What’s a little rain when you’re standing on a Civil War battleground? But my daughter wasn’t as excited about this church (not the original) and stayed dry in the car with the iPad.

 

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Stop 3: Williamsburg, VA

One of the best parts of visiting Colonial Williamsburg with a kid was finishing their historical scavenger hunt called RevQuest. We followed clues around the village, solved a cipher, met a spy, texted clues to receive more clues, and solved a mystery.

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My little darlin’ texting RevQuest clues.
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Anna Abner 
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Bail me out! I haven’t made my daily word count! 

And because I’m a total dork I took a picture of this house because of its plethora of pleasing vertical lines.

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Check back next week for part 2!

<3 Anna

Tuesday Tease #8

Tuesday Tease #8

Or, An Excerpt From My Upcoming Novel, Spell of Binding

Dani shrank from David’s touch. “I’m not sure what’s going on. I woke up a few minutes before you did.”

Her rejection cleared his head like nothing else could have. For a moment he’d forgotten how cold she was. “You’re not sure.” He tried to shake off her obvious revulsion. As if she hadn’t made her feelings clear a year ago. “But you have an idea?”

Spell of Binding ms pg. 13

<3 Anna

Reading Cafe 4 Star Review of Spell of Summoning

Reading Cafe 4 Star Review of Spell of Summoning

Or, My Second Book Blogger Review

Click here for the original post.

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ABOUT THE BOOK

Holden Clark walks into Rebecca Powell’s life, a tall, blue-eyed stranger who stirs long forgotten desires. But nothing, including this man, is what it seems. A dark necromancer is targeting Becca for a full-blown demonic possession. She is thrust into a world she never knew existed—a world where dark casters create chaos and necromancers talk to the dead.

Holden has no faith in his power. A necromancer, he communicates with the dead, but he has never embraced his gifts. Now, he has no choice but to stop the dark caster attacking Rebecca, but accepting this mission means he’ll be delving into dangerous magics he’s never used before.

Under the protection of the damaged and mysterious Holden, Rebecca will question everything …

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Review:  Spell of Summoning is an interesting read of magic and necromancy. While I am a fan of paranormal genres, I have never heard of necromancy. When I first read the mention of it, I had a feeling I was reading out of my comfort zone. Despite that I found myself enjoying the book immensely and intrigued with the whole necromancy stuff. While I am used to reading about spells, spell weaving, shape shifting and magical healing; necromancy entails spell circles, cutting yourself and calling on spirits to help and draw energy from.

Spell of Summoning is about Necromancer, Holden Clark and Real Estate realtor, Rebecca Powell. The gist of the story is Rebecca has a demon trying to take over her and it is slowly but surely wearing down her defenses. The story is a race against time to rid Rebecca of the demon before the people responsible finish the spell. Of course this becomes an adventure but this adventure also helps both Holden and Rebecca face their inner demons and open their eyes to their trues wants in life. I do like how the chemistry between Holden and Rebecca builds slowly and that their lovemaking scene is very explosive. Though there are times I did feel like their chemistry fell a little flat at times.

This book kept me at the edge of my seat, guessing who the culprit who is trying to destroy Rebecca and unleash a scary demon out into the world. I liked how this story was a perfect balance between a plot that drags on and a fast- faced plot. I appreciated this very much. Out of five stars I would rate this a 4 for the reason that the plot, necromancy, and passion were spot on with me but with the background story of both Rebecca and Holden along with the twists and turns of the story; I felt sorry for them more than half the time.

Reviewed By Xtina

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<3 Anna

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