Tag: Orlando

Leu House Museum

The Leu House Museum is located inside Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando, FL. Overlooking Lake Rowena, this stately residence is on the National Register of Historic Places. Although we’ve been to the botanical gardens many times, this was our first tour of the house.

 

The original owners were the Mizell family who claimed the land in 1858. There they grew sugar cane, cotton and corn. David Mizell was the sheriff of Orange County. He got killed in an ambush in 1870. Duncan Pell, the next owner, hired David’s son to add two more wings to the house. He made this a weekend getaway for him and his second wife, silent screen star Helen Gardner.

The Woodward family came next in 1906, adding on to the house to make it the present size. They used the house for a winter retreat.

Finally, Harry P. Leu and his wife Mary Jane bought the property in 1936. They traveled widely and brought back seedlings and plants for their garden. They donated the acreage and house to the City of Orlando in 1961.

Inside, the rooms have been restored with a mixture of original furnishings and donations. The lifestyle reflects turn-of-the-century living. The first families lived without plumbing and electricity, which were later additions.

       

Through the front door, we entered the living room. There’s a pleasant parlor to the left and a dining room straight ahead, with a staircase next to a bookshelf I’d like in my home. Most of these rooms had fireplaces.

       

              

    

The kitchen has been modernized in some ways but still has a wood-burning stove and an old-fashioned refrigeration unit. Originally, it was a warming room while the food was cooking in an outbuilding accessible from a breezeway. But then the kitchen moved indoors.

   

The upstairs held several bedrooms that looked bright and airy. They appear easily habitable.

     

 

A screened porch out back would have been a pleasant place to relax during temperate weather.

  

On the paths back to the garden entrance, we viewed some of the glass and steel sculptures by Alex Heveri for a special exhibit. Otherwise, try to time your visit to include a tour of the house. Go to https://leugardens.org for more information.

 

Leu House Museum is worth a trip to Leu Gardens in Orlando #Florida #history Share on X

We enjoy touring botanical gardens and historic homes. Are there any near you?

December Doings 2023

Recently, we’ve enjoyed social events revolving around—what else?—eating. This being December, we had a Hanukkah celebration where we ate latkes and brisket and exchanged gifts. We’ve visited the Disney Parks, joined friends for a wine dinner at Carrabba’s and celebrated our anniversary. Here are a few photos to highlight these events for you.

Disney Dining

Since our last visit to Epcot with lunch at the Coral Reef restaurant that I’d reported on HERE, we’ve visited the three other main theme parks at Disney World.

Tusker House in Animal Kingdom offered a character buffet. Their African-themed food was delicious. I wish I’d had room to eat more than one plateful! We saw Mickey and Minnie and other favorites while we dined. The Lion King show in a nearby theater was amazing and we enjoyed the tropical foliage as we strolled around.

     

Next, we visited the Magic Kingdom, where we ate burgers at Starlite Café, rode the train, had ice cream on Main Street, and soaked in the magical atmosphere.

     

Most recently, we celebrated our 47th anniversary at Disney Springs. We began with lunch at Wolfgang Puck and finished with dessert at the Cookie Bar in Summer House on the Lake. It’s always fun to walk around among the shops and restaurants in this lively venue. Dining reservations are a must for the full-service eateries.

   

Around Town

Around town, we enjoyed the Caymus wine dinner at Carrabba’s with friends. This was a pre-fixed four-course meal. Each dish was accompanied by a different wine. I must gain several pounds each time I attend one of these events.

         

Our anniversary night found us at Christner’s, an elegant steak place where we dressed to impress. I had to get the filet mignon accompanied by asparagus, cheesy potatoes, and sauteed mushrooms. They gave us a slice of chocolate cake for a complimentary dessert. It was lovely and we look forward to eating the leftovers for several days.

         

All this eating isn’t good for the weight, so my first New Year’s resolution will be to get back on a healthy diet. These desserts are killing me, but who can pass them up? How are you faring food-wise this holiday season?

Chocolate Emporium

For my birthday this year, I wanted to go somewhere new and different. When I read about the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium in City Walk at Universal Studios, I thought it sounded like fun. I enjoy themed restaurants and my mouth drooled for a chocolate sundae.

 

We arrived at City Walk after paying the $30 parking fee and traveling through the extensive parking garage. City Walk leads to the two Universal theme parks so it’s a busy place. A series of restaurants and shops circle around a lake and offer plenty of choices for everyone. There’s also a movie theater and an escape room for entertainment. As you can see, our grandson enjoyed Voodoo Doughnuts.

 

    

 

 

At the appointed hour, we got seated at the restaurant that has a cool steampunk theme. There’s even a costumed guy in a robot outfit that roams around greeting children. Milkshakes are a popular item here, but I passed. Getting dessert was more important to me.

  

 

 

We ordered a chocolate almond bread as an appetizer. It tasted like chocolate cake. Then Richard and I split the Monte Cristo sandwich with chips so we’d have room for dessert.

 

Dessert was a brownie sundae that came with a lit candle for my birthday. With two scoops of chocolate ice cream, it was enough to share.

  

I loved my gifts, like this figure of a woman reading a book, cookies with my book covers, and a cruise companion book, among other items. The best gift of all was the company of loved ones and merely being here to celebrate this birthday.

  

After our meal, we entered the gift shop filled with souvenir mugs, tee shirts and hats along with cotton candy and unique jars of colored sugar and other sweets.

    

An array of artisan chocolates and macarons tempts visitors in display cases.

 

Outside, we walked around the lake until we made it to the exit.

 

It was a wonderful day spent with family in a memorable setting. Put this restaurant on your list if you want a fun experience while in Orlando.

 

Living with the Land

On our most recent visit to Disney’s Epcot theme park, we headed over to the Living with the Land ride in The Land pavilion. This is probably my favorite attraction in this park. I miss the old “Listen to the Land” song that still plays in my head as the boat winds through various displays. This tour teaches about the role of agriculture in our lives and alternative methods for growing fruits and vegetables and for farming seafood. I wish our plants would grow so perfectly like these.

         

     

It’s a very soothing ride, first inside through a series of dioramas, then outside to see the hydroponic plants and through the fish tank section. It’s always an inspiring ride and made me want to research tilapia which ends up being in my book, Body Wave.

 

Next we went to lunch with Sue and Mark Bernstein at the Coral Reef Restaurant in Epcot’s Living Seas pavilion. Loved their specialty bread, the hearty New England Clam Chowder, and the grilled mahi mahi with jasmine rice. The views of the aquarium were remarkable. For dessert, we headed outside to the Swirled Showcase where I got a salted caramel soft serve ice cream in a cup. No pix – I ate it before it melted. Clear skies and sunny, warm temps made for a perfect day.

   

   

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here to win two free books at Booklovers Bench in our monthly giveaway!

PODCAST

Go Here to listen to my author interview on Episode 126 of the Sisters in Crime Writers’ Podcast.

Club Lake Plantation Fall Festival

Club Lake Plantation is a 43-acre site in Apopka, FL that serves as a wedding venue and fall festival site. The owners call it Agritourism, where farmers and ranchers host weddings and other events. The lakeside vista is graced by moss-draped oaks and tall pines. It looks more like a tree farm, with rows of potted trees shown during the hayride.

 

We went to their Fall Festival and our grandson had a blast. Admission costs $16.95, although the country store and pumpkin patch out front are free. The store had more pumpkins for sale along with jams and honeys. Concession stands sell hot dogs, chicken wings, and burgers so you won’t go hungry. This place has real restrooms, too, rather than portable ones.

  

Our grandson was amazed by the number of slides and bounce houses for kids. Various games abound around the site, too, like ring tosses or get the ball in the hoop type of contests. From this site, we strolled along the lake.

  

The lakeside setting was lovely with clever Halloween decorations scattered throughout.

     

There’s a corn maze for the adventurous. We chose to do the hayride. This journey took us past rows of potted trees. We laughed during the Cow Wash, which was like a car wash with a spray of water, as we ducked to not get too wet. Otherwise, it’s a tranquil ride and not very bumpy.

     

We each selected a pumpkin at the pumpkin patch after browsing in the store. This completed the day with perfect blue skies and balmy weather.

 

 

DEALS OF THE DAY

Booklover’s Bench
What’s the difference between bisque and chowder? Check out my post at Booklovers Bench and leave a comment there for a chance to win my Halloween novella, Haunted Hair Nights. 

Giveaway
Oct 1-22 Booklover’s Bench
Enter Now to win two free books at Booklovers Bench in our monthly giveaway. Also check out our new puzzle feature while you’re there.

BOGO
Oct. 1 – 31, Kobo Paranormal Romance BOGO
Paranormal Sci/Fi Romance Sale at Kobo Oct. 1-31 – Buy One Get One Free! My book, CIRCLE OF LIGHT, is included. If you don’t own a Kobo e-reader, you can download the free app. Start Reading Now 

Booksweeps
Oct. 16 – 25, BookSweeps
I’ve teamed up with 45 authors to give away a collection of Paranormal, Sci-Fi & Fantasy Romances from Booksweeps to two lucky winners! AND the Grand Prize winner gets a brand-new eReader. My book, WARRIOR PRINCE, is included. Enter Here

 

Carrabba Wine Dinner – Orin Swift Wines

We attended the October wine dinner at Carrabba’s Italian Grill featuring Orin Swift wines. It was a fun evening with too much to eat! Here is the 4-course menu:

   

          

Shrimp Mandola paired with NZ Sauvignon Blanc

Shrimp, asparagus, roasted red pepper and herbs topped with lemon butter sauce and served with garlic toast. The sauce was so good we couldn’t help dipping the toast in there. The white wine was light and fruity and made the perfect accompaniment.

Rigatoni Amatriciana paired with Department 66 Others Red Blend

Rigatoni pasta with crushed tomatoes, bacon, parmesan, and Romano cheeses topped with grilled chicken. This full-bodied wine was a deep burgundy color and the best of the reds, in my opinion.

Filet and Scallop Florentine paired with 8 Years in the Desert Zinfandel Blend

Wood-grilled filet accompanied by seared sea scallops with spinach and tomatoes in a cream sauce that tasted a bit salty to me. This came with mashed potatoes.

Chocolate Torte with Fresh Raspberries paired with Abstract Red Blend

Chocolate torte with chocolate sauce and fresh raspberries topped with whipped cream. All in all, it was a delightful evening.

GIVEAWAY

Enter to win two free cozy mysteries at Booklovers Bench: https://bookloversbench.com/contests/win-two-free-books-oct-2023

 

BOOK SALE

Buy One Get One Free at Kobo’s Paranormal Romance Sale Oct. 1-31. My book, CIRCLE OF LIGHT, is included. If you don’t own a Kobo ereader, you can download their free app. https://www.kobo.com/us/en/p/paranormal-bogo-us

Journey of Water

This past weekend, we attended a passholder preview of a new attraction inspired by Moana at Disney World’s Epcot theme park. Journey of Water is located in World Nature, which is to the right past Spaceship Earth. It’s an educational and interactive exhibit that relates the cycle of water on our planet.

  

In a garden-like setting, you walk through various sections. You’ll see dancing waters, can move your arms under a falling stream to make music, or raise your arms and make water jump. It’s fun for kids as well as adults and is a very pleasant path surrounded by trees and plants.

  

  

Flowers provide splashes of color along the easy-walking trail. Toward the end is a topiary representation of Moana in a peaceful setting.

 

  

I felt the entire exhibit was well done and was sad when it came to an end. I like nature trails anyway, and this one is a delight to explore and to learn about our water cycles at the same time.

Epcot Food & Wine Festival

All this scenic wonder roused our appetites, so we headed to World Showcase to sample the dishes at Epcot’s Food & Wine Festival. Our first stop was Australia for the lamb chops. The meat was very tender and tasty, but I found the seasoning too salty for my palate.

We enjoyed the food at Kenya. Richard and I shared the coffee barbecued beef with mashed potatoes while Sue & Mark Bernstein, our companions, said the shrimp skewers were very good. Those are definitely on my list for next time.

     

I tried the mimosa flight at Shimmering Sips. I liked the berry one in the middle, but the other two choices didn’t have much taste.

The crab cake at Coastal Eats was delicious. Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, it had mostly crab meat with no shells and I didn’t taste any filler. Very good and so was the slaw that accompanied it.

All in all, we had a great day except for the heat. It’s time for Fall already!

 

A Flight on the Millennium Falcon

Earlier this week, we visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios along with our friends, Es & Rick Cohen and Sue & Mark Bernstein. We rushed there early to try and get on Rise of the Resistance in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Unfortunately, the ride was closed. We moved on to the only other ride attraction in this area. With trepidation, we asked a passing guest how it was. He said it was great and not as rocky as Star Tours. I knew this one was a flight simulator and I’d tended to avoid those types of rides. But his reassurance persuaded us, and we got in line.

         

      

Indoors was comfortably air-conditioned as we snaked through the line and climbed up several ramps to the boarding station. Along the way were several interesting scenes.

 

Finally, we got to the boarding area. Two of us were assigned as pilots, two as gunners, and two as engineers. The attendant described our roles and what we had to do. We piled inside the craft in that order. I was a gunnery officer. I was to look for a flashing button by my station and push it when I wanted to fire weapons. Did our actions have any effect on the scene? Who knows? It was fun to think so. The craft held six seats in rows of two, so it worked out perfectly for our crew. We fastened our seatbelts and prepared for liftoff.

      

What followed was an awesome thrill ride as we zoomed through space, down into canyons, and across planetary landscapes and jumped into hyperspace. Enemy fighters shot at us and we fired back. I was too dazed to follow the story, if there was one, but the ride must be called Smuggler’s Run for a reason. I would agree with the assessment that this experience isn’t as jarring as Star Tours. It was great fun if you don’t mind a little jostling around. I’d love to watch the video by itself to see the scenes that went by so fast.

  

Once done here, we headed over to the “Frozen” singalong show. We relaxed inside in a comfy chair and listened to a retelling of the Frozen story along with music. It was a very pleasant interlude with a rousing grand finale that included a surprise snowfall. This one is a great feel-good experience.

After eating burgers at the Backlot Express, our crew headed next door for the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. Loud booms and explosions accompanied this exciting demonstration of movie magic.

We tried to get on Micky & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, but that ride had technical issues and shut down. Meanwhile, Rise of the Resistance was up and running again but had too long of a wait. By now we were hot and ready to leave before the afternoon thunderstorms arrived. I’ll still have to come back for the Star Wars ride I keep missing but our next Disney trip will be to Epcot.

Orlando Reads Books – Workshops Part Two

Orlando Reads Books Convention in Altamonte Springs, FL offers advanced writer workshops for two days prior to a public booksigning. These are my notes, and any errors are due to my misinterpretation. This is a summary of what I learned. 

Tackle the Trifecta Touch – Email, SMS, and MMS with Dana Claire

Newsletter Optimization – Create an automation sequence, such as five sequential emails with a welcome message, reader magnet, reviews, author events, birthday gift. Or talk about different aspects of your book.

Connect with your readers where you can find them. Write. Click. Engage.

SMS stands for Short Messaging Service (i.e. text messages). MMS stands for Multimedia Service.

Average 20% open rate for emails and 98% open rate for texts.
Average 2% clicks for emails and 30% clicks for texts.

There are SMS marketing platforms such as Simple Texting, Attentive and others.

Get readers to subscribe via website, forms, popups, QR codes, superfans, social media. Entice subscribers with a reader magnet, discount codes, swag items, or an audiobook freebie. Collect opt-ins and provide an opt-out. You must provide a means for them to unsubscribe.

Give value to get value. With each message, introduce yourself. Use short keywords such as “free” or “book.” Content can include updates, pre-orders, book sales, new releases, review links. Make it about them, not you. Send a birthday gift. Present an inner circle vibe. Include a call to action with links. For texts, there’s a character limit. Make sure you respond to each message. Vary the content for email and SMS.

Elevating Your Author Business with Aria Bliss

Set Goals.
Branding and packaging to market.
Build a backlist.
Core marketing/advertising focus

GOALS should be prioritized.
Production and Publishing – word count, timeline, publication schedule, production
Marketing and Advertising – Set a sustainable monthly income then raise it. Like, start at $500/month then raise it to $1000, $5000, and 10k a month.
Reader Engagement via social media and newsletter.
Superfans/Reviewers/Bloggers

Review sites – BookSirens and Booksprout. She limits copies to 100 arcs. Check how long each site keeps your book up for review.

BRANDING

What is the look and feel of comp authors?
Subgenre packaging
How should your brand look?

WRITING TO MARKET

Evergreen Tropes – Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance, Fake Dating, The Chosen One
Trending Tropes – Reverse Harem, Age Gap, Bully Romance, Stalker Romance, Taboo

See The Trope Thesaurus and TV Tropes

Book One to Book Two 50% sell-through is good. Should be higher for Book 2 to Book 3.

Stay in Your Lane. Stick to one genre and keep your promise to the reader.

Readers love Easter Eggs. Use crossover characters and interactive maps between books.

MARKETING PLAN

Define your goals and set a budget.
What are your desired results: To make money? To revive a backlist? To increase traffic to a series? Promote a new release? Gain new readers? Get Facebook ads to work? Raise your book’s rank on Amazon?

Utilize stacked email promos, Facebook and AMS ads. Skip ads on preorders and start them the day before release.

Writing Action/Fight Scenes Realistically with L.E. Perez

Utilize the five senses.
Set the tone.
Determine how you want the reader to feel.
Avoid gratuitous violence.
Use your own experiences.
Be aware of slang terms, i.e., a whooping versus a beating.
Violence differs upon location, i.e., urban setting versus the suburbs.
Self-Defense is blocking, not attacking.
Break away when you can and run.
Watch the movie “The Forbidden Kingdom” for good fight sequences.

GIVEAWAY

Enter Now to win two free cozy mysteries from Booklovers Bench.

Orlando Reads Books – Social Events

Thursday at the Orlando Reads Books Convention in Altamonte Springs, FL focused on writer workshops. Friday morning had several more workshops, followed by lunch with sandwiches, pasta salad, chips and cookies in the ballroom. After this meal came a Mastermind session where authors could ask questions of industry guests.

Friday night was a Masquerade VIP Reader and Author Dinner. Many attendees wore costumes and/or masks, but others did not. Some authors had reserved tables to sit with their fans. Otherwise, you could sit wherever you wanted. Dinner was a salad, chicken with sides, and cheesecake. I sat with author Corinne Kenner and her husband. Since the dinner started at 8:00 pm and I was commuting, I left early.

Saturday morning had a Book Panel with Elite Authors, a Reader Café for New Releases only; and then Author-Reader Speed Dating. For the speed dating, authors were assigned tables. Our table had six authors and four empty seats. There was little guidance as to how this was supposed to work except someone in charge yelled out every five minutes that it was time for readers to switch tables. We each gave our spiel, and I handed out postcards. It was a good way to meet readers but it would have been better with fewer authors per table and more readers. Also, the moderator could have used a whistle or bell to sound the time.

The Book Fair was Saturday afternoon. I shared a table with cozy author Natalie Palma. Saturday night was a pajama party, but I did not attend.

    

Note that this hotel was warm, not chilly like other places. But it was also undergoing remodeling with some doors left open to the hot air.

Here are authors JoMarie DeGioia and Jessica Baker:

 

Coming Next: Writers Workshops

GIVEAWAY

Enter Here to win two free books from Booklover’s Bench in our monthly giveaway.