Colorado Hauntings – Mines, Mountains and Mysteries!
Full of old mines from the Gold Rush Days, Mountains and Mysteries, no wonder Colorado has an abundance of paranormal sightings. From the famous Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, to the Cliff House in Manitou Springs spirits abound. As we learned in previous weeks, Cripple Creek, Colorado with its wild and turbulent past has a history of unexplained, supernatural occurrences earning it the reputation of one of the most haunted towns in America.
Let’s take a quick look at a few:
The Cliff House in Manitou Springs was built in 1873, before Colorado was even a state. Through it’s many renovations, paranormal experiences remain, including disembodied footsteps, ghostly voices when no one is there and white orbs floating through the hallways late at night. Could these be spirits of the old American West? The Cliff House was known as only The Inn was a popular stagecoach stop in route from Colorado Springs to Leadville? Hmmm….
How about Emma Crawford Coffin Races in Manitou Springs?
The story goes, that Crawford moved to Manitou in the 1800’s to heal her tuberculosis. She succumbed to the disease and was buried on Red Mountain. A favorite spot of hers. Construction on the mountain forced relocation of her coffin to the south slope in 1912. Unfortunately, heavy spring rains washed her coffin down the side of the mountain, where her ghost is said to still roam today. Participants of the race, held in downtown Manitou Springs, claim they feel her presence every year. See for yourself, this year the coffin races are October 26, 2019. See you there!
The ghost of Maggie, haunts the Colorado Grande Casino & Hotel and Maggie’s Restaurant in Cripple Creek, Colorado. At night, voices (Maggie’s lilting Irish soprano) and music can be heard from the ballroom, slots clinging and clanging after hours. The hotel’s security cameras have caught Maggie in her turn-of-the-century clothing, only to have the tapes mysteriously disappear. The scent of her rose perfume lingers even if she chooses not to make an appearance.
Want to know more about the Ghosts of Cripple Creek Mining District?
Speaking of Ghosts, if you are looking for a fun Halloween read. A Witch’s Journey has meddling ghosts, shifters, stolen magic and a handsome Navy SEAL who has a dark secret. Available at Amazon.com, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble.
Every Tuesday throughout the month of October I will have Colorado Hauntings we’ll take a look at The Stanley Hotel and the Halloween traditions. Mark your calendars, you don’t want to miss any of these Halloween Celebrations!
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Posted in For Fun, Holidays, My Say What Blog, The Pikes Peak Region and tagged A Witch's Journey, Colorado, Cripple Creek, ghosts, Halloween, Haunted by Tena Stetler with 9 comments.
WOW! Christmas in July 99 cents Sale!
I am so excited to tell you about my CHRISTMAS IN JULY Sale! First time two of my best selling books are on sale at the same time. Yippee!!
Click on cover to read more or buy!
Pepper McKay comes from a long line of powerful witches. Unfortunately, magic brings her nothing but trouble. She learned the love of wildlife rescue and rehab from her Aunt Ashling. After graduating from college, Pepper works for Salem Wildlife Sanctuary and lives from paycheck to paycheck until she inherits the McKay property in Lobster Cove. With the family land and resources, she dares to dream of starting her own wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center.
Lathen Quartz, a former Navy SEAL turned handyman maintains the enchanted McKay property for the McKay estate. But someone is trying to steal the McKay magic. Lathen offers to help Pepper achieve her life-long dream of building a wildlife center. During the long hours spent together on the project, their mutual attraction can’t be denied. But each harbors a deep, dark secret. Will they overcome their demons and give love a chance?
Click on cover to read more or buy!
Years ago, a sacred ceremony at the Dragon’s Moon Coven turned deadly. Son of the high priestess, Tristian Shandie’s life changed forever. With a price on his head and revenge in his heart, he has no choice but to follow in his father’s footsteps to a profession shrouded in secrets. Now his skills as an enforcer for the Demon Overlord are second to none. But dangerous secrets he harbors are a liability he can no longer afford.
A chance meeting with a woman he finds irresistible flips Tristian’s world upside down. Hannah is a cyber security specialist with secrets of her own. Bad boys never appealed to her until Tristian, who changes everything. In his darkest hours, she is dragged into his magical world.
If they survive, is she strong enough to heal his heart and tame the warlock? Or will their secrets destroy them?
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you use my Christmas in July Sale to leave your ordinary world behind. Be swept into a magical, fantasy romance you’ll never want to leave! Join the adventure, download your copies today!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged A Warlock's Serets, A Witch's Journey, Paranormal Romance, Tena Stetler by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
Favorite Book Covers &Why #L&SR #Wednesday Blog Challenge 6.12.19
Here we go Favorite Book Covers and Why!
At the risk of appearing self-promoting (okay I admit it), I’ve picked a few of my own books as my Favorite Book Covers. My cover artist is Kristian Norris. She does a fantastic job. Kris gets me, if you know what I mean.
Let’s start at the beginning with A Demon’s Witch. This is the first book in A Demon’s Witch Series and also my debut novel, best seller and award winning book and series!
Why I love the cover: I explained to Kris that this was my first novel, the first in my series and I needed a logo to tie them all together. I picked out the models and explained the background. Kris turned my words into a beautiful cover and created A Demon’s Witch logo which appears at the bottom of each of the five books. Tell me what you think and do you have favorite book covers?
Next would have to be A Warlock’s Secrets. The male model on the cover is exactly how I imagined Tristian and his blue eyes stare right into you from the cover. The female model was perfect for Hannah. While I picked out the models, Kris performed the magic to make the cover pop.
A Witch’s Journey cover embodied the tale of Pepper and Lathen. Their wildlife rescue center in Lobster Cove, Maine. Kris even added Kaylee, the osprey, in the upper left corner.
A Magic Redemption cover was absolutely beautiful. The mystic image of the couple, imposed over the background of an Irish castle, cliffs and sea in a green hue fits the feeling of the Irish tale perfectly.
Finally a book that isn’t mine. The Cauldron Stirred by Judith Sterling. I bought the book because of the cover. The heroine imposed over the background castle hinted of magic and Ireland. I was right and enjoyed this book.
Well there you have it. My Favorite Book Covers and Why. Now this isn’t to say these are the only ones. But, I need to get back to my WIP, so let’s see what the other authors in this blog challenge claim as their favorite book covers and why: L&SR
Pssst… While you’re here, don’t forget to check out my paranormal romance/mysteries click here.
See you next week when I set out my Favorite Things To Do in The Summer. See you then!
Views: 527
Posted in My Say What Blog and tagged A Cauldron Stirred, A Demon's Witch, A Magic Redemption, A Warlock's Secrets, A Witch's Journey, Book Covers, Favorite Book Covers &Why #L&SR #Wednesday Blog Challenge 6.12.19 by Tena Stetler with 8 comments.
A Witch’s Journey the Beginning
In the continuing Sunday series of the behind the scenes look at my books, A Witch’s Journey, available in e-book, print and audio book has center stage today. I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Kate Tyler the gal that narrated A Witch’s Journey. She is a hoot and a talented artist!
Take a moment to sit back and relax, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about A Witch’s Journey, Kate Tyler and what it take to turn a book into an audio book.
A Witch’s Journey is not only about magic and love between two people, but the dedication of a witch – wildlife rehabilitator and a compassionate former Navy SEAL with physical and psychological scars of his own. Their journey begins with building a wildlife rescue and rehab center, her life-long dream. Along the way, they discover the healing power of love and family.
Wildlife rescue and rehab are causes close to my heart. Incorporating them into this book was my way of bringing attention to the needs of those people dedicated to preservation of wildlife for future generations. Weaving magic into the story added and fun and intrigue to the plot. Remember the magic to happily ever after.
The title was meant to convey Pepper’s journey of redemption from being outed as a witch in Salem, where she’d worked at a wildlife sanctuary, and had to leave town. To creating her own wildlife rescue and rehab in a Lobster Cove, Maine, where the town embraced her.
Breaking news! A Witch’s Journey saga continues! I am hard at work on the third book in the series. This one will encompass the journey of Gwen (Pepper’s best friend) and Brock (who we met in A Witch’s Holiday Wedding) and their adventure in Salem, MA. Stay tuned!
Buy Links:
Amazon, The Wild Rose Press, Barnes and Noble Itunes Kobo
I own a copy and have listened to the audiobook, A Witch’s Journey, a paranormal romance. I am participating in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions in support of Kate Tyler the sponsor of this tour. She’s the fantastic narrator of A Witch’s Journey. I can honestly say that Kate’s narration of A Witch’s Journey brought the book’s characters to life. A story of wildlife rescue and rehab, magic, second chances, and the love of family and friends. What better way to forget your trials and tribulations than relax and listen to a feel good audiobook? A Witch’s Journey will whisk you away from your ordinary world into a romantic fantasy adventure that you’ll never want to end. Pepper and Lathen’s journey begins with building a wildlife rescue & rehab center in the small town of Lobster Cove. Along the way, they discover the healing power of love and family. I highly recommend this book!
Best-selling author, Tena Stetler, has an over-active imagination and writes award-winning paranormal romance novels. She wrote her first vampire romance as a tween, to the chagrin of her mother and the delight of her friends. Colorado is home; shared with her husband of many moons, a brilliant Chow, a spoiled parrot and a forty-five-year-old box turtle.
Her books tell stories of magical kick-ass women and mystical alpha males that dare to love them. Well, okay there are a few companion animals to round out the tales. Travel and adventure flourish in her novels. Any winter evening, you can find her curled up in front of a crackling fire with a good book, a mug of hot Chocolate and a bowl of popcorn.
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Kate Tyler is an audiobook narrator and producer with several published audiobooks available on Audible, iTunes and Amazon. A background in drama and a successful career in voiceover, Kate lives with her family in San Diego and enjoys swimming, running, cycling and stand up paddleboard.
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- How did you wind up narrating audiobooks? Was it always your goal or was it something you stumbled into by chance?
- Great question! My son, Drew, was 15 and ½ last summer. That’s a tough age for a kid entering summer because it’s a little too young for a summer job, and a little too old for a summer camp. We wanted to come up with something that we could do together during the summer to keep him busy, that would be fun and interactive, where he could earn a little side-money and something that might look good on a college resume! We searched Google for something he could do and among the suggestions we found narrating audiobooks. Since he and I both have a background in stage theater and improv, we thought it might be fun. I’m an avid audiobook listener and thought it would be fun! We ordered some equipment online and it came on a Saturday from Amazon. Drew had everything set up that night and we were off and running the next day, auditioning for books!
- A lot of narrators seem to have a background in theatre. Is that something you think is essential to a successful narration career?
- Yeah, that’s what most people think. Yes, I’m in theater and so is my son. It definitely helps, but it’s absolutely not essential. Since I’ve been in this world, I’ve gotten to know a lot of narrators and many of them would describe themselves as introverts. I’m an extrovert so I found that funny. But when you think about it, you’re all alone in a small room when you work, so it works well for people who are naturally introverted. Kind of cool, right?
- Are you an audiobook listener? What about the audiobook format appeals to you?
- Oh yes. I love audiobooks. I listen every week if not every day to something awesome on audio. I re-listen to stuff. I even follow a few narrators when I really like their voice. If I love a voice, I’ll check out everything they’ve done and if it appeals to me, I’ll grab it. I travel a lot for business and pleasure and I listen in the car, on trains, on airplanes and so on. I definitely listen when I’m working out. Nothing can make five miles go faster than a few good chapters of a zombie thriller!
- Is there a particular genre you feel unsuited for? Have you ever declined a project because you didn’t think you were right for it?
- So, yes. I’ve declined projects. Most people think it’s all acting, but there are some things I just don’t want to narrate because I just don’t believe in them. If there is a self-help book that gives advice I just disagree with, I’d turn it down. Narrating self-help is different from acting in that it’s your voice trying to convince someone of something. If you don’t believe it yourself, you’ve got two problems. One, you won’t like saying it. Two, it will come through as fake to the listener. All bad outcomes. So it’s best they find someone else. That could be true for other narrators with other touchy subjects like politics or religion too.
- How closely do you prefer to work with authors?
- I like to get to know the authors and what they are looking for. It’s the dream in their head we’re trying to make happen, so I want to try to get as close to that as possible. And, selfishly, I’m a sucker for applause and encouragement. So if my author loves my voice and they are telling me how much they enjoy how I’m doing a certain character, that’s a huge bonus for me. I love working with an author who is not shy in telling me when they are loving what I bring to the book!
- Has anyone ever recognized you from your voice?
- Um. No. A big no on that one. I guess it could happen, but I’ve actually gifted some of my audiobooks to friends and family and they’re like: “Are you sure that’s really you?” I think they mean it as a compliment, but with family you never can tell!
- Have there been any characters that you really connected with?
- Oh sure! You spend a lot of time with a book and voicing the characters. So a lot of what you bring to it is your own personality. It happens more often than not that you are feeling the emotions right along with the character. In Witchs’ Journey there were some exciting parts and some scary parts and some dreamy parts. You end up feeling all of those as you bring voices alive.
- Do you read reviews for your audiobooks?
- Absolutely! Reviews can be very important for the success of an audiobook. I encourage listeners to leave reviews. Whenever I see a book with one or two reviews I check out the reviewers page. Does it have one review or many? If there’s only one review, I tend to wonder if it was just the author’s mom who wrote something nice. Reviews from reviewers who read 30+ books a year are key. They really know what they like and the reviews are more deep than “I liked it a lot.” It’s been fun to get reviews that say things like: “I will definitely listen to Kate Tyler again!” That way I know I’ve done my job right.
- What type of the review comments do you find most constructive?
- I like reading reviews that give a taste of the story. Some sort of recap of what they thought the book was about. Once they’ve done that, then I want to see their impressions about how well the story was put together, and how well the narrator did the voices or characterizations.
- Who is your “dream author” that you would like to record for?
- Well, gee, I’d say Brene Brown, because I love her, but she usually does her own stuff which makes a lot of sense. If you know her, you know you want to hear her voice reading her material. And she’s very captivating to listen to. Not all authors can read their own material, but she is very talented and makes the book come alive.
- What do you say to those who view listening to audiobooks as “cheating” or as inferior to “real reading”?
- Oh, no. I think listening is equally as valuable as page turning. In fact, there are statistics that show that people who buy a book has about a 10% chance of reading it cover to cover. Audiobook listeners generally listen end to end about 80% of the time. If your goal is to get your story or message into a person, audiobook wins hands down. Not only that, page-turners are usually different people than listeners. If you want to reach a larger audience, you have to consider that. Making it available in different formats makes it accessible to a larger group of people. And after all, isn’t that the point?
It was wonderful having you with us today Kate. I loved your narration of A Witch’s Journey. It was spot on with the dream I had in my head. Please feel free to stop by anytime. A Witch’s Journey Audio book a must listen in your audio library!
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Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged A Witch's Journey, Audiobook, ghosts, Kate Tyler, Lobster Cove, magic, Paranormal Romance, Shapeshifters, Tena Stetler, wildlife rescue, Witch's by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.
