Beacon Street » northern california lighthouses http://beaconstreetbooks.com Author Showcase & Blog Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:58:00 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 CAPE SEDUCTION: Update! http://beaconstreetbooks.com/2010/05/cape-seduction-update/ http://beaconstreetbooks.com/2010/05/cape-seduction-update/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 09:09:31 +0000 Pam-Anne http://beaconstreetbooks.com/?p=959

JUNE 1ST!

COMING JUNE 1ST!

Set in an off-shore lighthouse perched on a deadly reef near the extreme northern California coast, “Dragon Rock Lighthouse” provides the eerie, dangerous background for CAPE SEDUCTION. The story takes us back to 1948, when a popular Hollywood starlet goes missing after the filming of a blockbuster movie set in the water-locked beacon. In 2008, the lighthouse begins to cause trouble for its present day owners, and the spirit of a troubled young woman makes her presence known to a group of seemingly unrelated people.

St. George Reef Lighthouse, the off-shore beacon that provided the inspiration for this mysterious tale, is located six miles off the coast of Crescent City, California. It is currently being painstakingly refurbished by a group of hardworking lighthouse lovers and is only accessible by helicopter. For the novel, I did extensive research on the lighthouse, even locating and interviewing one of the last Coast Guard keepers who lived out on “the rock” in the 1940′s and 50′s. This gentleman provided a great deal of information that helped me to add authenticity to my story. Fascinating details about storms,  accidents, and the day-to-day workings of keeping the light shining.

A little foreboding?

A little foreboding?

Late this summer, I plan to visit the St. George Reef Lighthouse Preservation Society and share with them the excitement of CAPE SEDUCTION. You, however, won’t need to wait that long. Fire up your nook, Kindle or other ebook reader and get ready to download the story of the lonely lighthouse, the sassy starlet and the devastating winter her promising life unraveled.

Look for an exciting contest soon! Details to follow! In the meantime, read the first two chapters here.

CAPE SEDUCTION by Anne Carter, coming June 1st from Echelon Press!

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]]> http://beaconstreetbooks.com/2010/05/cape-seduction-update/feed/ 1 Point Montara: A Moving Experience http://beaconstreetbooks.com/2009/08/point-montara-a-moving-experience/ http://beaconstreetbooks.com/2009/08/point-montara-a-moving-experience/#comments Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:56:00 +0000 Pam-Anne http://beaconstreetbooks.com/?p=447 montaraW

Point Montara sits on the northern California coast, about 20 miles south of San Francisco. I had the extreme pleasure of attending a wedding there several years ago. It’s a beautiful light, set on an oft-foggy cliff, warning mariners heading for the Golden Gate. While books on my shelf talk about the present, cast iron, thirty-foot tower being erected in 1928, it was recently discovered that this very lighthouse first stood guard over East Coast waters.

Yes, Point Montara lighthouse has a secret past, beginning in Wellfleet Harbor on Cape Cod 128 years ago. Hard to imagine, moving an entire lighthouse so far. Those who uncovered this surprising story still speculate on how the beacon was moved. Was it loaded onto a ship and sailed through the Panama Canal?

Point-Montara-LighthouseToday, the lighthouse is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and American Youth Hostels, Inc., operates a 50 bed hostel for bicyclists and budget travelers for as little as $20.00 a night.

I don’t know of any other lighthouse that can lay claim to protecting both East and West coastal waters. Just a little bit of intriguing lighthouse history!

The Point Montara Lighthouse Hostel is perched on the California coast, 25 miles south of San Francisco and 7 miles north of Half Moon Bay. The hostel is on coastal Highway 1 (also known as Cabrillo Highway) near 16th Street, between the towns of Montara and Moss Beach.   Phone:  (650) 728-7177

If traveling by car, please be cautious as the hostel driveway is hidden on a curve on Highway 1. If you are driving northbound on Highway 1, you are advised to continue past the hostel (on yout left), drive on to the town of Montara, then turn around so you can enter the hostel driveway with a southbound right turn at the end of the guardrail.

PS:  Don’t forget today’s stop on my blog book tour!  Writing & Life with  Nick Valentino, where I am “Taking the Mystery Out of EBooks!” Stop by!

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