Friday, September 28, 2012

The Final Frontier...Alasksa (last post)

 This will be my last post on Alaska.  I figure you guys are getting tired of my photos. 
 I've only posted a fraction of the ones I took...
 Our third stop in Alaska was Ketchikan.   These little islands were everywhere.  It was so beautiful!
 The port was so small we had to take lifeboats to shore.  
 Many of the little islands were owned by people!  They had houses and private docks.  They got their water from cisterns.  Their power is from generators.  We didn't hear about ....um... their septic systems????

You could actually rent some of these homes.  The government built cabins on some of the islands and you can rent them very reasonably (less than a hotel) for a week at a time.  How cool would that be? Renting an island for a week!!!
 We went on a wildlife tour and saw rafts of sea otters.  They were sooooooo cute!

 Our next stop was in Sitka. I went on a crab excursion.  The bus ride to the crab boat was amazing.  Sadly, most of the photos were blurry because they were through the bus windows.   We did see lots of eagles.  What was surprising was how many were sitting together in trees.  There were probably a dozen in one tree.  They were near an area with lots of fish.

 If you look closely you can see some very colorful starfish on this rocky bank.
 That big glob of sticks at the top of the center tree is an eagle nest.  I've never seen one before.  Eagles go back to their nest each year and add more branches and sticks to them, so they get pretty big.  This photo was taken from quite a distance.
 This is one of the crab pots they pulled up on the tour.  The crabs were beautiful. 
 I didn't hold one though.  I figured I'd have bad dreams....
 This is the splash of the porpoise I saw....the only one in the whole trip.
 This is an old crab canning plant that was along the tour route.  
 The tour ended with a fantastic crab feast.  I've never had crab that was this good...it was fantastic!
 I tried a little local flavor....(not bad)  
AND
some pretty desserts from the cruise ship...



 AND
some monkey business...


I hope you have enjoyed my Alaska photos.  I am so glad I went with my husband on his company trip this year.  It was an amazing opportunity to learn about "The Final Frontier"...ALASKA.

Happy writing, blogging, and reading my friends....

Thursday, September 27, 2012

RECAPTURED DREAMS Winners...


Hilary Melton-Butcher--ebook


Cynthia Chapman Willis and The Golden Eagle won the bookmarks.

Hop over to Justine's blog to see what she and Sarah Fine are doing...it's big...really big.  They have united for a cause: Suicide Prevention.  If you have been touched by suicide this is a great way to help out with a donation or joining in on the auction.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Recaptured Dreams Blog Tour and Giveaway

 Don't you love it when one of your bloggy friends has a success?  Today, I want to introduce you to Justine Dell, and to share her good news...


Author Bio:
Justine lives in the Midwest, happily catering to her family, which consists of a horse-obsessed teenage daughter and four crazy dogs. She’s never moved from her hometown, but hopes to grow old in a much warmer climate.
During the day she works a normal job with college students who try their best to keep her young. They’ve done a good job thus far.  At night, said teenage daughter and her horse require mounds of love and attention. The weekends belong solely to her and her writing. That’s when she morphs into a sticky bug, unable to leave the confines of her computer chair.
She started writing three years ago after seeing a movie that set off a chain reaction she couldn’t have stopped if she’d wanted. It’s not a hobby for her; it’s an obsession. One she loves and one she loves to share.




Here's the blurb...
Ten years, the Atlantic Ocean, and several rungs in society have kept Xavier Cain from having Sophia Montel. Now twenty-seven, he’s spent his entire adult life building a fashion empire that could finally prove his worth to her family. When fate reunites him with Sophia at London’s premiere fashion show, one problem lodges in Xavier’s path: Sophia doesn’t remember him.


The only obstacle that has kept Sophia from Xavier is a horrific car crash that erased her memory at seventeen. She’s spent the last ten years fighting to reclaim a sliver of her past that her mother refuses to help her remember. When Sophia meets Xavier at the London show, however, all her fantasies come to life in one night of passion. Discovering he is the missing link, she is determined to find all the pieces to their love story and her memory.



Xavier wants forever. Sophia wants her memory. If they take this chance, they’ll have to start over. How far are they willing to go get what they want? And when the past catches up to them, can they handle the truths it has hidden?
******

 Justine's favorite line from the book:
 Xavier had thought he was in paradise before. He’d been wrong. Sophia was more than paradise. She was the very reason he breathed. 

Here is contact info (where to find her, the book, etc). 

 The book is currently available for preorder on Barnes and Noble, but you won’t find it on Amazon or Omnific until Sept. 18th.

Contact Justine by email: dell.justine@gmail.com

Recaptured Dreams on Goodreads.
Recaptured Dreams on Facebook.
Friend me on Facebook
Check out her Blog.
Find her on Twitter.
Find Recaptured Dreams on Goodreads Profile

And don't forget to check out Omnific Publishing. Romance ... without the rules.


Here’s the link to the trailer:
Or, if you prefer, here’s the embed code:


If you are intrigued...there is a chance to win a copy of Justine's book on Goodreads...so hop over and enter! And if you haven't checked out her blog, she's having a huge giveaway all month!  PLUS...Justine is going to giveaway one e copy of her book on my blog today!  So check back tomorrow to see if you are the winner.

Monday, September 10, 2012

Bigger-Than-A-Shopping Mall Giveaway! Three Cheers for Sheri!



I'm sure you know Sheri Larsen...She's everywhere in blogland.  Well, she's one of my critique partners and when she got the call, I couldn't wait to help her celebrate.  So hear are the details on an awesome giveaway celebrating her recent agent signing....



*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Today, I invite you to celebrate with me!! I've signed with Literary Agent Paula Munier of Talcott Notch Literary! And because our literary community is so freaking fabulous and generous, I'm having a Bigger-Than-A-Shopping-Mall GIVEAWAY!! The giveaway consists of:

  •      two separate Rafflecopters with multiple giveaways 
  • and one grand prize Rafflecopter giveaway - to enter for the grand prize, you must enter either giveaway #1, #2, or both. 
There's only one mandatory entry. Everything else is up to you!! I know Rafflecopters can be a pain, but it was the only way to organize such a huge giveaway. The giveaway is open until September 27th. WINNERS will be announced on September 28th. (Entrants may win more than one prize!)

Thank you so much for entering, spreading the word, and celebrating with me!!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
If you haven't met Sheri, hop over to her blog and congratulate her on her good news and enter her awesome giveaway!


Giveaway #1:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Giveaway #2:

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Grand Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Glacier Bay...(and a winner) updated

 This what we awoke to...We had arrived at Glacier Bay.
 We saw some smaller glaciers, but the ship stopped at this one.  On the TV they asked that you not talk while we were viewing the glacier.  It was beautiful.  The silence of the people aboard the ship allowed you to hear the cracking of the glacier and eventually the calving and splashing.
 It really was this color...

 I started watching this cathedral style hole in the glacier...

 The ice began making the cracking sounds and you could see a little of it flowing through the "window."



 When the ice breaks of the glacier it is called calving.  I had no idea as I snapped away if I was getting any good pictures.  I was super pleased when I got home and downloaded them.
 We didn't see much wildlife in Glacier Bay.
 Believe it or not, this is a black glacier.  It is black because as it has receded it takes the soil with it.  (or something like that)
 A close up of an iceberg.
 Just to put the size of the glacier into perspective...The boat you see here holds around 200 people.

Glacier Bay was exceptionally beautiful and hearing nature working was amazing.

If you missed part one or part two of my trip, click on over and check them out.  


And the winner is Miss Mooty!  Miss Mooty if you will email me your address I will put your gold flake earrings from Alaska in the mail.  
When you are out in nature, do you like silence?