Home Renovations Can Be Murder

Nearly everyone who has done a home renovation has a tale of woe. It seems nothing can ever go smoothly or finish on time. Hiccups occur along the way that obstruct progress. Meanwhile, homeowners suffer the inconvenience of their bathroom or kitchen being out of order.

We had our bathrooms and kitchen done in our old house where we lived for forty years. I remember the disruption to our lives and the aggravation of dealing with a job manager who had poor communication skills. He would fail to respond to calls or texts, plus he would tell us someone was coming to do the work when nobody showed up. We stayed home for days waiting for plumbers, electricians, tile people, etc. My blood boiled and my helpless rage surged. Things were a mess. How would our house ever be put back together again?

Here’s where the seeds of my latest story were born. I could murder off the foreman in a book. Certainly, he deserved to be fired at the very least, but my solution would be more permanent. I began reading about renovation scams to fuel the story. When a critique partner suggested copper thefts as another angle, I was off to the races! Except this time, it was hairstylist Marla Vail’s mother, Anita, who had the remodeling woes.

When our jobs were done, we were highly satisfied with the results. It could have been an easier process, but things turned out all right. Not so for Marla, whose investigation is about to begin in STYLED FOR MURDER, a Bad Hair Day cozy mystery.

Read an Excerpt

Hours later during a break at the salon, Marla headed into the back storeroom to grab a cup of coffee and to do more research on the case. She’d decided to reach out to the company’s customers via social media. For this purpose, she signed into her neighborhood app. A quick search found someone who had asked for recommendations on bathroom remodels.

This request had garnered a number of responses including several mentions of Amaze Design Center. She sent off a series of private messages to the commentators of those posts.

By the end of the workday on Friday, she had a load of replies. People were descriptive in their tales of woe.

“The company cuts corners by sending unlicensed workers to do their electrical work. I almost had a fire in my kitchen due to improper wiring behind our oven.”

“This company doesn’t provide the products they promise. I’d ordered sliding glass doors for my shower. The installers came and put on a fixed door instead. When I said it was wrong, the foreman tried to convince me this type of door was the popular choice. I insisted they change it to the ones specified in the blueprints.”

“The mirror guys were awful. They didn’t remove the label. We have a smear now because we had to scrub it off.”

These all happened to us. Have you done any renovations in your place? What did you like or dislike about the process? Were you happy with the results?

Home Renovations Can Be Murder #cozymystery #newrelease Share on X

STYLED FOR MURDER by Nancy J. Cohen
A Bad Hair Day Mystery

When hairstylist and savvy sleuth, Marla Vail, gets a frantic call from her mother that there’s a dead body in her shower, Marla realizes this wasn’t part of the home renovation plans. The victim turns out to be the project manager, who had an untrustworthy reputation in town. Disgruntled customers, unpaid suppliers, and the design company’s staff are among the suspects, but Marla is more concerned about her stepfather’s connection to the victim. Can she flush out the clues and nail the killer before he strikes again? Recipes Included!

View the Book Trailer

GET YOUR COPY HERE

Amazon Kindle – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DYN9YG6
Apple – https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1583387985
BN – https://bit.ly/3jF7Uz7
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/styled-for-murder
Google Play – https://bit.ly/3m2bJiJ
Books2Read – https://books2read.com/StyledforMurder

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BookBub – https://bit.ly/3BDjBfw

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Timetable for Upcoming Events

November is my birthday month, and we have a lot to celebrate! Here’s a rundown of upcoming events. More detailed posts will follow in the next few days.

Nov. 12 – 24 Virtual Book Tour https://nancyjcohen.com/appearances

Nov. 16 Book Launch Party 7:00 – 8:30 pm EST https://www.facebook.com/NewReleaseParty

Nov. 16 – STYLED FOR MURDER Release Date https://books2read.com/StyledforMurder

Nov. 16 – 30 “Permed to Death” (book #1 in my series) on sale for 99 cents https://books2read.com/PermedtoDeath

Thanksgiving Weekend – Happy Birthday to me and Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Happy Birthday Happy Thanksgiving

GIVEAWAY

Enter to Win a free book Nov. 1-18 at Booklovers Bench
https://bookloversbench.com/win-a-free-book-november-2021/

Styled for Murder Book Trailer

Watch this fun and enticing Book Trailer for STYLED FOR MURDER, a Bad Hair Day cozy mystery coming on Nov. 16th!

Share the book trailer with your friends – https://youtu.be/yT95QwTzT58

Order Your Book Here:

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DYN9YG6
Apple Books – https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1583387985
BN – https://bit.ly/3jF7Uz7
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/styled-for-murder
Google Play – https://bit.ly/3m2bJiJ
Books2Read – https://books2read.com/StyledforMurder

Watch the Book Trailer for STYLED FOR MURDER, a Bad Hair Day #cozymystery #booktrailer Share on X

Want to learn how to Create Your Own Book Trailer? Go here: https://nancyjcohen.com/create-your-own-book-trailer/

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here to win a free book Nov. 1-18 from Booklovers Bench cozy mystery authors

Create Your Own Book Trailer

Would you like to create your own book trailer? Various companies will do trailers for you, but their work may be similar to what you can do on your own with a slide show. Wouldn’t you rather pick out the photos and music that best suit your story?

You may already have a program on your computer if you have an older version of Windows. See if you have Movie Maker installed. If not, you can do the same type of trailer on PowerPoint or Animoto (https://animoto.com/). Even BookBrush now has a section for Book Trailers (https://bookbrush.com/video-creator/).

If you’re a big moneymaker, then you can do a full cast production using real actors or voiceovers. But if you’re the average writer who wants to give your readers a taste of the story without breaking your bank account, this may work for you. Or check out Fiverr at https://www.fiverr.com/ to see what they have to offer for less cost.

Do Your Homework

Go to author sites on YouTube and find trailers for books in the same genre as your work. Note the text on each slide and the type of image that accompanies it. Listen to the music. How does it make you feel? Does the story move quickly while giving you an idea of the plot and main characters? What elements don’t work for you? How long is the trailer? What do the credits say at the end?

Write Your Text

Now write your own text in verse form, one line per slide. Be brief, offering your story points in as few words as possible. The text should give viewers an idea of what your story is about, the tone of your work, and an introduction to your main characters. It’s not an easy task. Try to keep your video under two minutes.

Insert Images

Register for the royalty-free photo site of your choice. Most of these allow you to purchase a package of credits. In the Search feature, put in keywords for the type of picture you want (i.e. romantic couple, beautiful redhead, angry businessman, gloomy castle). Scroll down until a photo catches your fancy. Click to add it to your Favorites or Lightbox.

Match an image to each verse in your text. Be sure to check the licensing agreements before you make your purchase. Then buy the ones you want. I usually buy the medium or large size, depending on the features at that site. Download and save each image to your computer.

Add Music

Decide upon the tone of your video and put keywords into the search feature on the music site of your choice. Is your story dark and scary? Light and funny? Upbeat and bouncy? Intense and mysterious? The music is important because it elicits an emotional response in your viewers. Check the length of the music clip against the length of your trailer, and make sure it’s long enough. Again, download and save the clip to your computer.

Now What?

Open a New Project in your program of choice and then Add Photos one per slide. If you want a blank slide to add text only, click the Credits button.

Once you have your pictures laid out as slides, add Captions for each one. This is where your text goes in the text box. You can drag this box to wherever you want it placed or resize it. You can also change the color of the text. If it’s a light background, choose a dark text. If you have a black or dark background, make the text white. Alter the font as needed.

You’ll now see Video Tools and Text Tools, at least in the program that I use. Here you can alter the Duration of each slide. I try to have the duration of my text shorter than the video. So a video slide might run for 5 seconds, and the text for 4.50. Under Text Tools, choose Effects. This gives you options for how you want your text to scroll or appear on the slide.

Under Video Tools, click on Animations. Here you can add Transitions between slides. Keep in mind that these transitions cut some of the time out of the slide before and after. Each time you want to view the effect, put the cursor in front of a slide and click the Play button. Next do the same for Pan and Zoom. Make choices there so your pictures aren’t static.

When you have arranged your pictures and text to your satisfaction, add the Music. You can adjust the track as needed, like timing it to start further in by changing the Start Point. Also, hit Fade In at the beginning or Fade Out at the end if desired.

Add credits at the end by clicking Credits. This will be a text only slide. Here’s where you put the credits for your images and music plus another slide for your book cover and publishing details. Remember to Save your project often as you work on it.

When you are totally done, Save the Movie as an HD version. Your trailer is ready to upload to YouTube and elsewhere. Sign in to your YouTube account and upload your file from there. Once it’s live, copy the Embed code and add it to your website. Use the link to entice readers to watch the piece on your social media sites. It’s another tool in your arsenal to excite viewers about your upcoming release.

Places To Post Your Book Video

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/
Amazon: https://author.amazon.com/home
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/
Book Goodies: https://bookgoodies.com/advertising/authors-tell-us-about-your-book/

Remember to add your video to all your social networking sites plus your website and blog.

Create Your Own Book Trailer #bookpromotion #indiepub Share on X

WATCH MY TRAILERS

Mysteries

Styled for Murder: https://youtu.be/yT95QwTzT58
Trimmed to Death: https://youtu.be/AHwKfK-vTIY
Facials Can Be Fatal: https://youtu.be/6OTw5232Eeg
Peril by Ponytail: http://youtu.be/T2Vao7yDIVY
Hanging By A Hair: http://youtu.be/gv5ldn9uw7I
Shear Murder: http://youtu.be/ePpShWy3Wbw

Romances

Warrior Lord: http://youtu.be/91cdYSftbmU
Warrior Rogue: http://youtu.be/cjV-PRVGoVs
Warrior Prince: http://youtu.be/aVm2FIumw0o

Dining Around the World

We had a wonderful day at Disney World’s Epcot Food & Wine Festival as we strolled around World Showcase to sample the foods. My writer pal and critique partner, Ann Meier, accompanied us. It was a trek from the parking lot without the trams running and around the new construction obstacles past Planet Earth. We detoured to go on one of my favorite rides at The Land pavilion. I love the boats that glide through the plant and hydroponics gardens where you learn about new growing techniques.

Our first stop was for the Beer-Braised Beef with Smoked Gouda Mashed Potatoes at Belgium. This was a tasty dish, although the meat could have been more tender.

The Griddled Cheese with Pistachios and Honey at Greece was delicious. The flavors were unusual and reminded me of melted Brie with jam on top. The honey and chopped pistachios were inspirational.

Who wouldn’t like the Wild Mushroom and Truffle Tart at the Rotunda Bistro in the American Adventure? It was a perfect melding of sauteed mushrooms atop a puff pastry shell.

At the Alps, Richard had a wine flight, and I had the Blueberry and Almond Frangipane Tart. Since I love marzipan, this was a yummy dessert. The portion was large enough for us to share.

And how could I pass up the Traditional Macaroni and Cheese with Herbed Panko at Mac & Eats? If you’re a mac and cheese fan, you’ll want to make a stop there. Creamy with a slight crunch from the topping, this dish is the ultimate comfort food.

We were lucky to have perfect weather, partially cloudy in the low seventies, before a cold front came through the next day with heavy rain. It wasn’t terribly crowded at Epcot, which made for almost no waits in line anywhere. There were still other foods I might have liked to try but I got too full to eat anymore. The lower temperature and drier air made walking pleasant as we strolled around World Showcase. I achieved over 12,000 steps this day but counteracted it with all the extra calories consumed.

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here to win a free book Nov. 1-18 at Booklovers Bench

A Treat for Halloween

When I was asked to participate in a multi-author anthology five years ago, I had to think quick about what to write. With the theme being autumn, my thoughts turned to Halloween. At the time, I’d written fourteen novels in the Bad Hair Day mystery series, but not one of them highlighted this holiday. An idea hit me that would be the perfect fit for a shorter story. Each book in my series can be read as a standalone so no worries if you start with this novella.

The Premise – Hairstylist Marla Vail hopes to win her stepdaughter’s approval by helping to decorate a school haunted house. All goes well until Marla stumbles across a real dead body on the spooky estate grounds. It’s the teacher who is loaning his estate for the project. Marla sets off to investigate with the goal of keeping the kids safe.

I’d only written one other novella (“Three Men and a Body” in Wicked Women Whodunit), and I knew this form of fiction didn’t have room for subplots. Instead, I had to focus exclusively on the crime and suspects. Who would have reason to want the teacher dead? A kid in his history class? One of the overprotective parents there that night? The mysterious school janitor? Or perhaps the greedy principal?

Once I had the suspects and their possible motives in mind, I was ready to start writing the story. It flowed naturally, and I didn’t have to do a plotting chart or chapter outline like for a longer novel. Shorter chapters were the norm, and I kept writing until I reached the end.

How do you feel about novellas in a series? Love them or leave them?

I hope you’ll enjoy this story and that it will put you in the mood for a spooky fall season. It also would make a great addition to your holiday gift bags. In the meantime, Happy Halloween!

HAUNTED HAIR NIGHTS
A Bad Hair Day Cozy Mystery Novella

Copyright © 2016 by Nancy J. Cohen
Published by Orange Grove Press
Digital ISBN: 978-0-9970038-3-3
Print ISBN: 978-0-9970038-4-0
Cover Design by Boulevard Photografica
Digital Layout by www.formatting4U.com

A haunted house turns into reality when hairstylist Marla Vail finds a dead body on the estate grounds in this spooky Halloween cozy mystery novella.

When history teacher Bill Ripari offers his property for a Halloween school haunted house project, hairstylist Marla Vail volunteers to help put the scare factor into the place. She joins her stepdaughter along with other students, parents, and teachers to transform the wooded estate into a creepy attraction. She’s busy creating decorations when a splash of red on the estate grounds catches her eye. Upon a closer look, she realizes the dark stain isn’t fake blood meant to be part of the scene. The trail leads to the history teacher’s dead body.

Worried about the kids, Marla puts on her sleuthing hat to investigate. She discovers that every one of the volunteers present that night had a possible motive. Between slacker students, helicopter parents, unexpected heirs, and a stonewalling school administration, Marla has her hands full in solving the murder and keeping her stepdaughter safe. Can she sift through the suspects and unmask the killer before Halloween fright night turns into reality?

Third Place Winner in the IDA Contest in the Suspense Short category
Finalist in the IAN Book of the Year Awards in the Novella category

Haunted Hair Nights is the perfect treat for Halloween! #cozymystery #novella Share on X

“I enjoyed this Halloween cozy mystery set in South Florida. Between the scary ‘gifts’ left for Marla’s family and the mysterious murder at the school’s haunted house, you are bound to get some chills. Grab some hot apple cider and read this Halloween tale!” Ms. Loves to Read

“It was gratifying to observe Marla, Dalton and Brianna’s family dynamic mature. This is a good cozy mystery that can be enjoyed by young adults on up.” 5 Stars! Readers’ Favorite

“A haunted mansion is the perfect setting for a Halloween read.” Socrates Book Reviews

“Loved the story! Halloween, mystery, dead body, oh my! This novella, although short, was filled with lots of twists and turns, interesting complex characters and a great storyline!” Charlene’s Reviews

Order Now

Amazon Kindle – https://amzn.to/3B1xvrr
Amazon Print – http://amzn.to/2d3jK0C
Apple – https://books.apple.com/us/book/haunted-hair-nights/id1150699875
BN Nook – http://bit.ly/2eBOWcf
Kobo – http://bit.ly/32NjIot
Books2Read: https://books2read.com/HauntedHairNights

Setting – Real or Imaginary?

Welcome to Lois Winston, my bestselling author friend who writes the hilarious Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. If you like wacky characters, clever plots, and interesting settings, you’ll love her series.

Setting – Real or Imaginary? by Lois Winston

When Nancy invited me to guest blog here, she mentioned that she was enjoying the setting of my latest Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Stitch Bake, Die! The book mostly takes place at an exclusive country club that’s hosting a conference. Nancy asked if I had based the setting on an actual place. I had.

In November 2019, months before Covid shut down the world, my husband and I were invited to a wedding held at one of the most exclusive private venues in the country. Along with weddings and other social and corporate events, the site is often used as a movie and TV location, as well as for fashion photography shoots. It’s located on some of the priciest real estate in the country, which might surprise those of you who only think of strip malls, The Sopranos, and Snooki when it comes to New Jersey.

The centerpiece of the estate is a Norman-inspired chateau, originally built as a home for a New York City industrialist in the early days of the twentieth century. Along with the chateau, there are various outbuildings, including a conference center, horse stable, helipad, and both formal gardens and woodlands, complete with ponds, streams, and meandering footpaths. However, unlike many over-the-top estates built by the Robber Barons of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this one is elegant rather than ostentatious, featuring hand-carved mahogany woodwork and handmade Spanish and Portuguese tiles. The moment I stepped foot inside the chateau, I knew I’d eventually use it as a setting in a future book.

That opportunity arose when I came up with the plot of Stitch, Bake, Die!, my tenth Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery. However, given that I set a murder in the chateau, I’ve given it a fictitious name.

This is not the first time I’ve used a real-life setting in my books. All my books are set in locations familiar to me. The Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries take place in an actual New Jersey town. Many readers have told me they enjoy reading about places they know. Others have expressed interest in one day traveling to a location I’ve described, like when Anastasia accompanied boyfriend Zack Barnes to Barcelona in Mosaic Mayhem. Unfortunately, Anastasia wound up kidnapped at Parc Güell during her visit. As a result, she didn’t have much time to experience the grandeur of Antoni Gaudi’s whimsical mosaic masterpiece. Then again, I am writing mysteries, not travelogues!

Have you ever read a book set in a location familiar to you? Do you enjoy the special intimacy of having been to the town or city where the story is set and to various places within that setting?

Stitch, Bake, Die!

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 10

With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the New Jersey chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.

The sweet little old ladies Anastasia is expecting to meet are definitely old, and some of them are little, but all are anything but sweet. She’s stepped into a vipers’ den that starts with bribery and ends with murder. When an ice storm forces Anastasia and Cloris to spend the night at the Chateau, Anastasia discovers evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and a bevy of suspects.

Can she piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?

Crafting tips included.

Buy Links
Paperback https://amzn.to/2YiodcR
Kindle https://amzn.to/3ylMivw
Apple Books https://books.apple.com/us/book/stitch-bake-die/id1582066729
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/stitch-bake-die
Nook https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stitch-bake-die-lois-winston/1140036766?ean=2940162610267

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USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

Website: www.loiswinston.com
Newsletter sign-up: https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/z1z1u5
Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog: www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/anasleuth
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Anasleuth
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/722763.Lois_Winston
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lois-winston

Cover Reveal – Styled for Murder

STYLED FOR MURDER, #17 in The Bad Hair Day Mysteries, is available for preorder!

When hairstylist and savvy sleuth, Marla Vail, gets a frantic call from her mother that there’s a dead body in her shower, Marla realizes this wasn’t part of the home renovation plans. The victim turns out to be the project manager, who had an untrustworthy reputation in town. Disgruntled customers, unpaid suppliers, and the design company’s staff are among the suspects. Which one of them wanted the foreman to pipe down about their shady dealings?

Meanwhile, the lead investigator sets his sights on Marla’s stepfather, Reed, who’s keeping secrets from his family. Reed has a past connection to the victim and won’t come clean about what he knows. As Marla drills deeper, she’s showered with suspicions, but nobody’s willing to leak any information. She needs to hammer down the prospects, or time will drain away and the murderer will strike again.

To flush out the culprit, Marla taps into her pipeline of resources. Can she assemble the clues and demolish the alibis to nail a killer? Or has someone designed the perfect murder? Recipes Included!

Cover Design by The Killion Group, Inc.
Digital Layout by Formatting4U.com
Cover Copy by BlurbWriter.com

View the Book Trailer – https://youtu.be/yT95QwTzT58

PREORDER YOUR COPY NOW
Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DYN9YG6
Apple – https://books.apple.com/us/book/id1583387985
BN – https://bit.ly/3jF7Uz7
Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/styled-for-murder
Google Play – https://books.google.com/books/about?id=y69FEAAAQBAJ
Books2Read – https://books2read.com/StyledforMurder
Indiebound – https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781952886225
Print Editions are also available from Ingram.
BookBub – https://bit.ly/3BDjBfw
Goodreads – https://bit.ly/3DIuAGm
Pinterest Board – https://www.pinterest.com/njcohen/styled-for-murder/

Netgalley Reviewers – This title is available upon request at Netgalley – http://netgal.ly/C88Nt9

Preorder STYLED FOR MURDER, #17 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries! #amreading #cozymystery Share on X

99 Cents Sale – Limited Time Offer!

PERMED TO DEATH, #1 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries, is on sale for one week only!
Hairstylist Marla Shore has a bad hair day when she’s suspected of poisoning her client’s coffee creamer.
Buy now at Kobo or Amazon

Get one for yourself or send as a gift!

Permed to Death Kobo Deal

On Sale! For a limited time only, get a copy of PERMED TO DEATH, #1 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries, for only 99 cents! Special deal on KOBO for Canadian and U.S. readers Oct. 1-6 so hurry and place your order at https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/permed-to-death-3

Hairstylist Marla Shore has a bad hair day when she’s suspected of poisoning her client’s coffee creamer.

Hairstylist Marla Shore is already having a bad hair day when one of her clients dies in the shampoo chair at her salon. Then Detective Dalton Vail accuses her of putting poison in the woman’s coffee creamer. Grumpy Bertha Kravitz might not have been Marla’s favorite customer, but she wouldn’t have murdered the lady. With her reputation at stake, Marla decides it’s up to her to unmask the killer.

Combing the woman’s privileged world for clues, Marla discovers the town is crawling with potential suspects. Bertha’s son is resentful about being written out of her will. Her shady business partner has secrets to hide, and then there’s the niece, who inherits Bertha’s fortune. But Marla might have to look closer to home for the culprit. Her janitor has vanished without a trace, and one of her stylists leads an upscale lifestyle that doesn’t match her income.

As the case grows more snarled, Marla determines to unravel the clues. She’d better hurry before the smart detective discovers her scandalous secret, or he’ll pin her with a motive and lock her away in a place where a bad hair day will become permanent.

“Marla the beautician is a delight!”—Tamar Myers, author of the Pennsylvania Dutch Mysteries

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Or go here instead for Kindle Readers – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CUHSFPC

Please remember to leave reviews on these sites! The only way for me to gain new readers is if you leave a customer review to recommend my book, whether you are reading it for the first time or if you’ve read it before.

Kobo Readers – Get a copy of PERMED TO DEATH, #1 in the Bad Hair Day Mysteries, for only 99 cents! Limited Time Offer. #Kobo #BookSale http://bit.ly/1TDZxRH Share on X

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here Oct. 1-18 to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench

Epcot Experience

We had the opportunity as WDW Passholders to preview Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure ride at Disney World’s Epcot theme park. Getting there was a hike. The trams weren’t running in the parking lots, presumably due to Covid changes, and so we had to make a trek in the heat to the gate. The entire front part of this theme park is being renovated, leading to long detours to get to World Showcase at the rear. Wear your sturdiest walking shoes if you plan to come. Here I am geared up. Besides my sun hat, I have on a rechargeable portable fan around my neck to keep me cool in the heat and a water bottle holder purchased at the Animal Kingdom.

On our way around World Showcase, we stopped at the Noodle Exchange to sample a bowl of Shrimp Coconut Curry Rice Noodles with Shitake Mushrooms and Thai Basil. Basically, we got three shrimps and a bowl of spicy broth with noodles. I didn’t care to fill up on a bowl of what was essentially chicken noodle soup, so I ate the shrimp and took a few spoonfuls of the broth. This satisfied my stomach until later, but by then it was too hot under the sun for me to have an appetite. I’ll come back to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival when it’s cooler out.

Since it wasn’t time yet for the ride, we stopped into the Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along, a new attraction in the France pavilion. In a quiet, air-conditioned auditorium, you sit and watch an abbreviated version of the animated film unfold for approximately fifteen minutes. Closed captions encourage you to sing along with the characters, or you can sit back and relax and enjoy the music. It’s definitely worth a stop to experience this happy, feel-good experience. Here is Belle outside posing for photos.

At our appointment hour, we headed to Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure to check in. We still had to snake through a line for about twenty minutes to enter the building. We noted a new Crepe restaurant next door that was bustling with customers. Once inside the Ratatouille ride, we wound through darkened corridors with these scenes.

Then we were herded into mouse cars. A safety bar lowered, and we swerved away from the dock on our trackless vehicle. Here we donned 3-D glasses and became part of the film. It was awesome how the effects were done. You really felt you were inside this house and careening through the kitchen, even scooting under the ovens with a hot blast of air. Twice we got spritzed with water as part of the action. All too soon, the ride was over. It swirls around a bit but it’s not jerky. If you keep your eyes on the visuals, you’re fine. It’s really an amazing technology, and I hope we’ll see more experiences like this one.

As we strolled through the rest of World Showcase, several Disney heroines made their appearances. Besides Belle above, here are Snow White, Princess Jasmine, and Alice in Wonderland.

We heard a mariachi band by the American pavilion. Back in Future World, we ducked by the new Space 220 Restaurant, which is already booked out 60 days in advance. You don’t need a reservation for the Lounge but be prepared to wait in line for an indeterminate time if you plan to visit the space station restaurant.

Gold statues of various characters are spotted around the park to commemorate Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. A long trek back to our parked car ended the day. We were happy but tired. I’m hoping the trams are running again by our next visit.

Category: Blog

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