Book Review: Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia & The Tri-Cities Area by Pamela K. Kinney

Paranormal Petersburg, Virginia, and the Tri-Cities Area
by Pamela K. Kinney September 30, 2015

Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Schiffer
Travel to Petersburg, Virginia, and the surrounding areas of Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Prince George, Dinwiddie, and nearby Ettrick-Matoaca, Enon, and Chester to discover what spirits, monsters, UFOs, and legends await the unwary. Why are the Union and Confederate spirits still fighting the Civil War in the battlefields? Who is the lady in blue who haunts Weston Plantation House? Learn what the phantoms at Peter Jones Trading Post will do to keep from being photographed. Drink tea with runaway slaves still hiding on the top floor above the Blue Willow Tea Room. Are Edgar Allan Poe and his bride still on their honeymoon at Hiram Haines Coffee and Ale House? Why does the Goatman stalk young lovers? Meet the ghosts of Violet Bank Museum that greet guests at the house. Hauntingly active as they share space with the living, the dead refuse to give up their undead residency.

Schiffer Publishing-Amazon-Barnes and Noble

I've read a couple of Pamela Kinney's non-fiction books about haunted places in Virginia and they are really interesting and fun. I am not a believer of ghosts, but if I personally experienced something I might be swayed. But that doesn't mean I don't love reading about all the history, tales and first-hand accounts about paranormal events.

This book focuses on Petersburg, VA and the surrounding areas. I had no idea about all the history of this area. Pamela does a great job of giving detailed facts about the cities and specific buildings. I can't even imagine how much research went into the book. She also includes folk tales associated with the areas as well as talking to residents about their knowledge.

She was only able to give histories and maybe some interviews about some of the buildings because they were private residences, but there are also detailed accounts of the investigations she was allowed to conduct. These were fascinating. Kinney used various instruments to communicate with possible spirits. A ghost box was used a lot and I would love to see this in action first-hand.

If you love history, the paranormal, and touring haunted areas, then this is a great book to have. Information about where to find each place and how to contact someone about it is included.

5 "GET OUT!" Sheep

SharonS

About the Author:

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Author of Haunted Richmond, Haunted Richmond II, Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths, and True Tales, and Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown, Jamestown, & Other Haunted Locations, Pamela K. Kinney has written fiction that enables her readers to journey to worlds of fantasy, go beyond the stars, and dive into the vortex of terror. One of her stories proved heart-stopping enough to be runner up for 2013 WSFA Small Press Award. As Sapphire Phelan, she also writes bestselling paranormal romance with dark heroes and heroines with bite!

Hog Island Sheep in American History!

A little American history involving sheep! Happy 4th of July from I Smell Sheep.

*Remember, wool and fireworks don't mix

The Hog Island Sheep in Red White and Ewe

Written by Eastern Shore resident Andrew Barbour and illustrated by artist Cameron Waff. 

The second book in the Hog Island Sheep series of children's books produced by the Barrier Islands Center, Red, White and Ewe highlights the annual 4th of July picnic and baseball game on Hog Island, while also introducing the Lyle Gun used by the Life-Saving Service to rescue victims of stranded ships. The Hog Island sheep once again serve as humorous protagonists. The original paintings used to illustrate both books masterfully capture the playful mood of the story as well as the beauty of the island.

Buy

http://www.barrierislandscenter.org/bic-productions/cococvqhvybfsu1ueyx9hfwocm25vt

American History lesson:

Hog Island sheep are a breed of sheep descended from animals first brought to Virginia's Hog Island in the 1700s. During the 1930s and 1940s, storm conditions forced the island's residents to evacuate, leaving some sheep behind. These sheep adapted to the environment free of human intervention, becoming feral.

The breed is preserved by various organizations because of its relevance to American history and its resemblance to historical American sheep. It also possesses some traits that have been somewhat lost in more modern breeds.-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hog_Island_sheep

Hog Island is a barrier island located in Northampton County, Virginia.

MystiCon 2014 recap and photos + giveaway

It was another year of fun and nerd-ery at the MystiCon

SciFi/Horror/Fantasy Convention in Roanoke, VA. Special shout out to Barbara DeBary-Kesner and Carl Kesner. I see them at all the conventions in my area promoting MystiCon and then running all over the place at MystiCon making sure things are running smoothly.

it isn't a con till someone sets off a fire alarm

About MystiCon:

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The original MystiCon, which took place over July 4th weekend in 1980 was considered a big party by most, but has recently been revived to take place in our favorite Roanoke, VA location, the Tanglewood Holiday Inn. The location and time of year that MystiCon takes place is one that fans, family and friends alike have come to rely on for an awesome weekend of SciFi, Fantasy and Pop Culture.

This convention was resurrected in 2010 by a collection of cool zany and passionatepeople that wanted to keep the family-friendly traditions of open gaming, enjoyment of different literature, arts, imaginations and camaraderie any Con-goer will surely enjoy!

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be sure to click to see all the pics and people!

MystiCon 2013

 Last year I attended MystiCon 2012 (recap here) and was thrilled when they ask me to attend MystiCon 2013 as a guest blogger! Bloggers and Reviewers are an important part of online promoting for authors and publishers and we are starting to get recognized as such. 

See the mountain?

MystiCon is a three day affair in the beautiful mountain town of Roanoke, VA and hosted at the Tanglewood Holiday Inn. It is a small con in size, but big in heart. A large percentage of people who attend dress up and this year Dr. Who was the theme! This might have something to do with the fact that Peter Davison who played the 5th Doctor from 1981-84 was a guest. You couldn't move without bumping into a Doctor, Dalek, Tardis or a Weeping angel.

It was so packed with convention lovers, they had to stop selling badges by lunch on Saturday because of the fire code rules. (I think that number was 1300.)

You can go here to see a list of all the guests like Orson Scott Card, Larry Elmore, and Peter Davison.
Here is the program

I Smell Sheep had a table set up from 9:00am-10:00am. I made this board to tell people about what we do and the blogging world in general. If you sent me swag I had it on the table for people to take! :)

Next, I taught a basic self-defense workshop for women. We had about 8 show up. It was the first time I taught this workshop by myself. I think all the ladies learned something and definitely had a good time beating up on the pads.

Afterwards I had a few hours to wander around and check out the vendors, buy some stuff for my kids, check out the Steampunk Dalek and the cool costumes. (pictures above)

At 1:00 I was on my first ever panel: 
Blog Much? 
James Fulbright (M) (blogger, convention expert), Brandon Blackmoor (gamer), David Halperin (author), John Hartness (author), Sharon Stogner, Steven H.Wilson (podcaster)
It was so much fun. We had quite a diverse group of panelists. I was the only "entertainment" blogger and only woman, the rest had personal blogs. We talked about how to make your blog/website successful and some nuts and bolts about websites plus answered a few questions from the crowd. We had a good number of people considering Orson Scott Card was doing a talk at the same time.

My next panel wasn't until 5:00 so I had the best turkey club croissant sandwich of my life at the hotel restaurant! Then off to my next panel.

Publishing on the Download
Stephen Zimmer (M), Richard Cook (author), John Hartness (M), Clare Sieffert (artist), Sharon Stogner, Steven H.Wilson, Scott Nicholson (author)
This was for people interested in e-publishing. I am not an author but I do help promote and that was one of the topics covered. Unfortunately, Stephen Zimmer got sick and couldn't make it. Fortunately, author Scott Nicholson showed up and stepped in to fill Stephen's spot. Now there is a man who knows about e-publishing. I was a little out of my league with these people but still managed to provide some valuable input. The ever funny author John Hartness moderated the panel.

John Hartness was wearing kick ass boots!

I am so glad MystiCon asked me to be a guest and I hope to do it again next year (hint,hint,hint) I was also excited to meet Scott Nicholson face to face for the first time as well as his wife. He gave me two signed books: October Girls (YA) and Dirt (graphic novel) that I will be giving away at a later date. I was so starstruck I forgot to get a picture with him!

The best thing about conventions is you can enjoy them no matter what your age!

Margerat Fowler from New Bern, NC and baby Grogan from Radford, VA

Book Review: Haunted Richmond II by Pamela Kinney + giveaway

Haunted Richmond II by Pamela Kinney Paperback: 176 pages 
Illustrations: 199 b&w images

Publisher: Schiffer Publishing (August 28, 2012) 
ISBN-10: 0764339648 ISBN-13: 978-0764339646 

Return once more to haunted Richmond, where no building is safe from supernatural happenings. Visit Stories Comics, which holds more than just comics within its walls. Step back in time at Henricus Historical Park where you'll be welcomed by dead colonists, Civil War soldiers, and other haunts. Discover that not only is the Richmond Vampire out for your blood, but the Werewolf of Henrico waits for you beneath the full moon. It seems that the War Between the States is still being fought between ghostly Confederate and Union soldiers at Cold Harbor, Sailor's Creek, Parker's Battery, and Petersburg Battlefield. All this… plus a sea serpent, a lost city, ghostly cats, Bigfoot, a UFO, and haunted churches, parks, and colleges. So be sure to plan your visit now to a very paranormal Richmond. The dead don't stay dead in this town! 

Everyone loves a good ghost story especially when it is about a real place or better yet… in your back yard. Pamela has spent a tremendous amount of time researching the paranormal happenings in her home state of Virginia. She is also a paranormal investigator as well as an author. I haven’t read the first book Haunted Richmond, Virginia but if it is anything like Haunted Richmond II then these are must reads for the ghost story lover.

There are 19 haunted Richmond sites in this book as well as many other places in nearby counties. Pamela did an amazing job of presenting detailed research on each site as well as the ghost stories associated with them. Not only does she give you historical information, but first hand experiences. She visited each site to make her own observations and to talk to people who have or have not, experienced any phenomenon. Sometimes she found some pretty cool evidence and sometimes she didn’t. There are also many pictures included for each site visited.

The book is a great guide for the haunted adventurer wanting to do a little ghost hunting or for someone who enjoys history. Pamela also includes the contact information for each site. Even though I live in NC, the book was entertaining and even had a skeptic like me doing a double take on some of the stories. The first site covered in the book is a comic book store and the first-hand account stories are pretty freaky. My only knock on the book is the font size, which was a publisher decision. It is too small for my tastes, but I didn’t factor that into my review because it isn’t the authors fault.

5 “woo-woo” Sheep

Sharon Stogner (edit Kalpar)

About the Author:

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Pamela K. Kinney is a published author of horror, science fiction, fantasy, and poetry, along with nonfiction ghost books published by Schiffer Publishing. Her first two ghost books were nominated for the Library of Virginia Award. Her third one, Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle, was just released July 2011. There will be a fourth one, Haunted Richmond II, being released late Spring. She also has a collection of short horror/dark fantasy stories, Spectre Nightmares and Visitations, published by Under the Moon, released June 2010, both in print and eBook. Under the pseudonym, Sapphire Phelan, she writes erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance. She also has done acting on stage and in films. And is a Master Costumer (as you can see from the picture to the left), costuming since 1972. She has even done paranormal investigating.

She admits she always at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cats sometimes suffer for it!

*Pamela also writes erotic romance under the name: Sapphire Phelan