One of my favorite stops when we’re doing a road trip down South is Charleston, SC. It’s such a beautiful city with so much to see in the city and in the outskirts as well. During our stop in Charleston this year we visited the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. You know I love my gardens and this was a truly beautiful place. Besides the gorgeous South Carolina Low Country, there were amazing plantings of camellias. There was also a Japanese-influenced garden as well as a collection of azaleas. Unfortunately, it was the wrong season for azaleas but there were several camellias in bloom. Some of the wetland areas had once been for growing rice, which had been the plantation’s main crop and unfortunately, worked by slaves. An exhibit about the plantation’s slave past and laborers was also part of our tour. The hero in Darkness Calls, Southern vampire Ryder Latimer, had once owned a rice plantation but freed his people and instead devoted his life to being a physician. You can find out more about Darkness Calls at https://amzn.to/3S8mOhc.
A Visit to New Orleans and Temptation
I’ve been lucky to visit New Orleans several times for various conferences. One of the most fun visits was for a Romantic Times Convention many years ago. I loved being with the readers and other authors but it was also so much fun to visit so many interesting places in and around New Orleans. One of the highlights was a visit to Mardi Gras World where they keep many of the floats that are used during the Mardi Gras festivities. Another fun part was doing a “vampire” tour with friends. It started off eerily as we waited for the guide at dusk and the bats started flying out of the church belfry in Jackson Square. Last but not least, a walk with friends through the French Quarter that started with beignets at Cafe du Monde and finished with Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s and roasted oysters at Felix’s. Today I’m sharing some photos from that trip! P.S. – Temptation Calls, the third book in The Calling is Reborn vampire novel series is partially set in New Orleans. Temptation Calls is the story of a woman who is abused and turned into a vampire but still finds the courage to help other women escape the same fate. The story also features an origin story for a villain who is a take on a chupacabra! Temptation Calls is free on Kindle Unlimited at https://amzn.to/424MKij.
Lovely Visit to Longwood Gardens Christmas Light Show
My sister and I love going to Longwood Gardens, especially for the Christmas Light show and holiday decorations. It’s always amazing to see how they illuminate the many acres of gardens as well as the conservatory. We did a girls’ night this time and stayed overnight so we could really enjoy our time at the gardens. Dinner at their fabulous 1906 restaurant. We had some amazing mushroom soup, steaks, and incredible desserts! If you’re ever in the Kennett Square/Chadds Ford area, be sure to drop by the gardens. They are fabulous at any time of the year. P.S. – Like me, the heroine in More than a Mission is not only a kick-ass chef, she also grows much of what she features in her restaurant. Did I mention that the hero suspects she used poisonous plants from her garden to murder a prince. You can read more about More than a Mission at https://amzn.to/47hCjZN.
Behind the Scenes Aztec Gold and The Fifth Kingdom
I was very lucky to be able to visit Mexico numerous times while I was working. Even though I had business things to deal with, I always made a point to spend any free time learning about Mexican culture. I was also lucky to have a fabulous client who shared so much of their history, foods, and culture with me.
I used what I learned to craft two of my stories — Aztec Gold and The Fifth Kingdom.
In Aztec Gold I worked in various aspects of Mexica culture, things like the games they played, food they ate, and the Aztec gods. The villain in the story is a demon demigoddess Eztli Etalpalli, Blood Wing. In the story, the demigoddess is descended from Izpapalotl, the Clawed Butterfly.
The research for The Fifth Kingdom took me to Chapultepec Park and the nearby National Museum of Anthropology. I was like a kid in a candy shop as I strolled around, looking at so many fascinating items but the highlight was when I got to stand right in front of the sun stone!
The sun stone, or should I say a copy of it made of black obsidian, plays a major part in the romantic suspense plot in The Fifth Kingdom. The sun stone is probably the most famous piece of Mexica culture. Scholars believe that the four segments of the stone’s artfully carved surface represent the four eras of their history. Each era was ended by some calamity, but the Earth and humans came again for the next era. The Aztecs believed that when the last kingdom arrived – The Fifth Kingdom – all life on Earth would cease and not be resurrected. It’s possible the Aztecs believed that the arrival of the Conquistadors signaled the beginning of the Fifth Kingdom.
I took lots of photos as I strolled around Chapultepec Park, much like the heroine’s mom in The Fifth Kingdom. I also took photos in the museum, including one of the sun stone, and I’m sharing those with you today!
Exploring the Korean DMZ
There were so many interesting sights to see in Korea but I knew there was one place that I absolutely had to visit: the DMZ. I had to go both as research for the new romantic suspense book and also because of the uniqueness of the area. I never imagined that it would impact me as emotionally as it did as our tour guide explained about the division of the Korean peninsula and the families who could never return home or see and speak to loved ones who remained trapped in North Korea. It hit me because of the similarity to my family’s story of escape and exile from Cuba. As you see the photos in the video, you’ll notice a stone monument that is actually a temple at the site of the DMZ where older Koreans visit and mourn the hometowns and people they can no longer visit. But more on that later.
We started the tour by having to turn over our passports for inspection by the guards at the entrance to the DMZ. They were given a list with our names and the passports were checked against the list when we entered and also when we left since the area is actually a military area and heavily guarded. Our bus had to pass not only the security gate, but there were also barricades blocking the road, and we had to zig-zag around to reach the tourist areas.
Once we arrived, we walked to the closest spot to what is known as the Civilian Control Zone. This is a buffer zone around the actual DMZ and it is patrolled by the military. We were prohibited from taking pictures of that area and many others for security reasons. The few things we could photograph were a rusting and bullet-ridden hulk of one of the last trains to leave North Korea, a fence festooned with ribbons with wishes and hope for those left behind in North Korea, and a bridge that was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the war. The bridge was called the Bridge of No Return since any prisoners who were returned to North Korea would never see South Korea again.
The bridge also leads to the Joint Security Area where North and South Korean soldiers face each other across a short distance and guard various buildings where diplomatic meetings are held.
After that, we did a short walk to an observation tower that let us see across the Civilian Control Zone and into the actual DMZ and North Korea. Our tour guide even pointed out areas where it was possible to see the North Korean guards patrolling. Kind of crazy to think North Korea was right there but out of reach.
Next up on the tour was a visit to one of the tunnels that North Korea had built to try and infiltrate South Korea. South Korea has actually found four such tunnels built since the ceasefire between the two countries and has created interceptor tunnels to stop the infiltration. It is believed there may be many more such tunnels and South Korea continues to look for them.
We were able to walk down the interceptor tunnel, but we were not able to take pictures or video as the tunnel is a military facility and guarded by the South Koreans. The tunnel was so long and steep that we only went part of the way down as it was getting a little claustrophobic and we were worried about making it back up the intense incline.
You might be wondering if we weren’t ready to leave the DMZ already! Well, there was one last thing to do: take the gondola ride over the Civilian Control Zone and into an area surrounded by land mines. Yes, land mines. Both sides placed land mines in the area to protect their borders and some say it could be as many as 2 million land mines. In recent years, North and South Korea have started to remove the landmines, but it is uncertain whether they’ll be able to clear all of them. That’s why there are bright red and yellow warning signs in various areas to tell visitors of the risks of the land mines. The area surrounding the gondola is one of the areas cleared.
It was amazing to see the area from the gondola ride. We even saw one of the South Korean guard posts as well as a bridge that was once used for rail service between the two Koreas. The area in the Civilian Control Zone and by the Han River is used primarily to grow rice and since the area is overseen by the UN which has stringent standards about fertilizers, etc. the rice is prized for being so organic and it is available for purchase only by those visiting the DMZ.
Touching down from the gondola ride, it was finally time to head back to Seoul which was only about an hour away from the DMZ. During the ride, I reflected again on the pain of the Korean people who had to leave their homes and even their families to be free of the communists who had taken over North Korea. It was much like what my family had to do when Castro came to power in Cuba. My heart knew their pain because it was so similar to my pain. It’s a pain I wrote about in The Family She Never Met which has quite a few of my family’s real-life stories about our experience in leaving Cuba and coming to the United States.
I feel for those people and much as I hope I will one day be able to visit Cuba, I hope that they will be able to return to see their towns and the family and friends they had to leave behind.
Magical Houston Botanic Garden Lights
Picture this: Thanksgiving week in Houston, visiting our son-in-law’s family, was non-stop giggles and finger-licking food, plus some exploring around town. A must-see on our list was the Brazos Bend State Park (stay tuned for more tales!), but the real showstopper was the Houston Botanic Garden Light Show. We stepped into a wonderland with gigantic wire sculptures lit up from within, some even moving to the rhythm of the music piped into the gardens. We were lucky to have clear skies and the sculptures were a feast for the eyes. Check out the highlights in this throwback video! If you’re in the area, the light show runs until February 25!
Happy Anniversary to a Wonderful Couple
Four years ago our daughter married an amazing young man. We are so happy he is now part of our family! Happy anniversary to this wonderful couple!
