Category Archives: haunted houses

#amwriting, Authors, Book Titles, Books, Contests, haunted houses, King Park Press

There’s still time to enter! #CONTEST ~ Help me choose a title… you could win…

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My Title #Contest

 

There’s still time to enter in the Help me choose a title #Contest. Don’t be disappointed. Enter between now and midnight March 31, 2016, Eastern Time.

Fancy your title on the cover of a book, your name mentioned in the acknowledgements? It could happen! For the month of March, I’m running a book title cover contest.

Not to worry, I am giving you some help starting with the image that will grace the cover. Are the creative juices starting to flow?

#contest

Here’s what the book is about…

Sometimes there’s more to a house than bricks and mortar.

Hillcrest House is one such place. Perched on a cliff in the picturesque town of Angel Falls, there is more to this Victorian mansion than meets the eye. When referring to the house, the locals use the word haunted on a regular basis. Strange visions appear in the windows, especially the second-floor ones over the side porch. Even stranger events take place within its four walls.

Rumour has it, the original owners, Asher and Maggie Hargrave, never left their beloved home. They claim the couple and their family are responsible for driving people away. Over the years, Hillcrest House has changed hands numerous times. No one stays long. Renovations begin then stop and the house is once more abandoned. The latest in this long line of owners is Jessica Maitland.

Will Jessica be the next one to succumb or will she unravel the mystery of the haunting of Hillcrest House?

How about now?

How does it all work, I hear you ask.

Contest details…

Contest opens March 1, 2016 and runs until March 31, 2016.

Come up with a title and leave your idea in the comments. And for those of you who would like to take your chances but aren’t comfortable leaving a comment on a blog, send an email to Title Contest.

At the end of the contest, one lucky entrant’s title will be chosen. He/she will receive an e-copy of the book (Mobi, epub or pdf – their choice) and their name included in the acknowledgements.

Another winner will be chosen at random from the non-winning titles.

Enter as many times as you like but be sure you do before the deadline for your chance to win.

Good luck!

#amwriting, Authors, Book Titles, Books, Contests, haunted houses, King Park Press

#CONTEST ~ Help me choose a title for your chance to win…

39 Comments

Fancy your title on the cover of a book, your name mentioned in the acknowledgements? It could happen! For the month of March, I’m running a book title cover contest.

Not to worry, I am giving you some help starting with the image that will grace the cover. Are the creative juices starting to flow?

#contest

Here’s what the book is about…

Sometimes there’s more to a house than bricks and mortar.

Hillcrest House is one such place. Perched on a cliff in the picturesque town of Angel Falls, there is more to this Victorian mansion than meets the eye. When referring to the house, the locals use the word haunted on a regular basis. Strange visions appear in the windows, especially the second-floor ones over the side porch. Even stranger events take place within its four walls.

Rumour has it, the original owners, Asher and Maggie Hargrave, never left their beloved home. They claim the couple and their family are responsible for driving people away. Over the years, Hillcrest House has changed hands numerous times. No one stays long. Renovations begin then stop and the house is once more abandoned. The latest in this long line of owners is Jessica Maitland.

Will Jessica be the next one to succumb or will she unravel the mystery of the haunting of Hillcrest House?

How about now?

How does it all work, I hear you ask.

Contest details…

Contest opens March 1, 2016 and runs until March 31, 2016.

Come up with a title and leave your idea in the comments. And for those of you who would like to take your chances but aren’t comfortable leaving a comment on a blog, send an email to Title Contest.

At the end of the contest, one lucky entrant’s title will be chosen. He/she will receive an e-copy of the book (Mobi, epub or pdf – their choice) and their name included in the acknowledgements.

Another winner will be chosen at random from the non-winning titles.

Enter as many times as you like but be sure you do before the deadline for your chance to win.

Good luck!

haunted houses, Hogmanay, New Year, Niagara Falls, Novels, Paris, Quebec City, Shadows from Her Past, Tradition, Travel, Writing

Saying goodbye to 2014

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fireworks

And to all my Scottish friends and family…

Happy Hogmanay!

I’d share the wordpress helper monkeys stats for my blog here for 2014 but since I went most of the unable to connect to Jetpack, it hardly seems worthwhile. Besides, I have some other things I’d rather share about this past year and not the cheesy thing that Facebook puts together.

So, here we go! Fasten your seatbelts, we’re ready for takeoff!

April, Easter to be exact, my husband and I spent 10 days in beautiful, romantic Paris.

april 2014
Don and me at the Arc de Triomphe
at the trocadero
“Able” and me at the Trocadéro
Don at the Trocadéro
Don at the Trocadéro

Then in September, another romantic destination was on the cards – Niagara Falls, Ontario. Okay, there are the tatty, touristy places but overall, it’s a lovely place.

Niagara 2014
Horseshoe (Canadian) falls at night

While we were here, we decided to take a horse-drawn carriage ride. We’d seem them on previous trips and have always wanted to do it…

IMG_3076
sitting in the carriage before our ride

… so we did.

Our horse and carriage
Our horse and carriage

We even did a wine tour while we were in the region and came home with at least 4 bottles of wine – including a couple icewines!

2014
Don and me wearing our silly hats before our wine tour – photo by Grape and Wine tours

Before the year was out, we spent a week in Quebec City. It was close enough to Christmas that the decorations were in the process of being put up. In hindsight, second week of December might be a better time to visit this beautiful city so that the baubles and lights and everything are in place.

Quebec City 2014

And again, we did a horse-drawn carriage ride. Our driver, Philippe, was amazing and made the ride extremely fun.

Quebec 2014
in front of the Chateau Frontenac
2014
Me at the tree with a cannon ball in its roots

No trip to Quebec City would be complete without a short drive further east to see my ‘haunted’ house which is between Quebec City and Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.

IMG_3433
The “haunted” house

Sadly it’s more run down since the last time I was down in this part of Canada but it’s beautiful nonetheless. And doesn’t being in a state of disrepair add to the mystery and the possibility of it being home to ghosts?

And when we weren’t gallivanting here, there and everywhere, I managed to write over 74,000 words in one of my works in progress (the first draft of the sequel to my debut novel)! While it was with my beta readers, I plotted and started another project and have some cracking ideas for even more writing projects.

So before I get all sappy and sentimental, I’ll finish this post with a little Auld Lang Syne.

SHOULD auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus.—For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint stowp!
And surely I’ll be mine!
And we’ll tak a cup o’kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

We twa hae run about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a
weary fit,
Sin’ auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

And there’s a hand, my trusty fere!
And gie’s a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie waught,
For auld lang syne.
For auld, &c.

Robert Burns

What will you do to see out 2014 and see in 2015? Any traditions you take part in?