Smoky Mountains near Cherokee, NC
Photos of the Mountains, the Wildfire, the Bear and the Buck are by yours truly…
View from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Looking Glass Falls
My wife and I just returned from a little mountain road trip that included driving the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville, North Carolina into Cherokee, NC. From there we drove over the top of the Smokies on Highway 411 down into Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The mountains were beautiful in some places, but much of the scenery was enveloped in a smoky haze from the numerous wild fires burning in the area.
Wildfire on Chimney Tops, Smokey Mountain National Park
I took this shot of a fire burning at the crest of the Chimney Tops in the Smoky Mountain National Park. The entire mountaintop was enveloped, giving the impression of a giant campfire.
A Chinook Helicopter was dropping water on the fire with apparent little effect. The smoke plume rose thousands of feet into the air.
Apparently we have a guardian angel, because we stayed the night in Gatlinburg and departed peacefully the next morning, only to learn a little while later the town was becoming surrounded by more wildfires. Only when we arrived home did we learn of the total devastation that began a few hours after our departure.
Black Bear in the Smokies
The big Black Bear pictured here was turning logs and looking for grubs only a few miles down the mountain from the Chimney Tops fire. I hope he survived.
Whitetail Buck in Cades Cove
The Whitetail buck pictured here was in a field in Cades Cove. There were no fires in that area, but the buck was so enamored with a doe that came and hid behind us, he probably wouldn’t have fled anyway.
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Rick DeStefanis
You may also enjoy: Valley of the Purple Hearts and Life in the South
Howdy:
I am thinking of using Book Buzz to promote my Wings of War historical fiction 5-book series about how politics affected us in the Vietnam War (I did three voluntary tours). See: http://www.vietnamwarpolitics.com
There are several expensive packages and I was wondering if you would be so kind as to tell me which package you used and how successful it is.
Thanks in advance,
Mark Berent
mberent@aol.com
Hey Mark,
Thanks for your service. In all fairness to both you and Book Buzz, I can’t remember which package I used. I remember paying them something in the neighborhood of $295.00. It seemed they did an okay job, but the results were minimal with only a few minor spikes in sales. I’ve done a poor job (read as “minimal effort”) with marketing and it shows. You might check out Google, Facebook and Amazon advertising with “click-based” charges. These have to potential for a better response ratio for the dollars spent because people normally will only click on something that might interest them. I also recommend you check out Bookbub.com. At some point, if I want to sell more books, I will need to begin giving more time to the marketing end of the business. I am sorry I couldn’t be more help. Good luck with your marketing, and let me know if I can help with anything else.
Rick