Friday Weekend Escape to Atkins, Arkansas, USA with Cynthia Hickey

Today we’re escaping for the weekend to Arkansas, USA, with my author friend Cynthia Hickey. Cynthia’s giving us a tour of her hometown of Atkins (great name!) and sharing her vacation with her family. Enjoy!

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In June of 2014, I visited my home town of Atkins to visit my family. While there, we attended Homecoming at the town of Appleton, where my father grew up. The church was built in 1912.

We also hiked my favorite mountain, Petit Jean, where I found my grandfather’s name carved into a rock. We estimate the year to be 1917, right before he shipped off to war. Me and my granddaughter are pointing out his name.

Here is a picture of my great grandmother’s name, carved the same year. I love history, don’t you? Many of my historical romances have a trace of my family history in them.

When we left the house cave where these photos were taken, I managed to fall and hurt my leg pretty severely, but that did not stop me from heading to one of the most beautiful waterfalls. This is also on Petit Jean Mountain.

This picture shows my son, grandchildren, and niece and nephew in front of the falls.

And the real reason we head home to Atkins, Arkansas … family. Here is my mother, me, and my two sisters.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this glimpse into my vacation.

Multi-published and Best-Selling author CYNTHIA HICKEY had three cozy mysteries and two novellas published through Barbour Publishing. Her first mystery, Fudge-Laced Felonies, won first place in the inspirational category of the Great Expectations contest in 2007. Her third cozy, Chocolate-Covered Crime, received a four-star review from Romantic Times. All three cozies have been re-released as ebooks through the MacGregor Literary Agency, along with a new cozy series, all of which stay in the top 50 of Amazon’s ebooks for their genre. She has several historical romances releasing in 2013 and 2014 through Harlequin’s Heartsong Presents, and has sold more than 160,000 copies of her works. She is active on FB, twitter, and Goodreads. She lives in Arizona with her husband, one of their seven children, two dogs and two cats. She has five grandchildren who keep her busy and tell everyone they know that “Nana is a writer”.

Visit her website at www.cynthiahickey.com

ANNIE ROLLINS LONGS FOR ADVENTURE

But her strict mother keeps her close to home, working as a Harvey Girl waitress. Until Dallas Baker shows up in town and takes the job Annie really wants—leading tours through the Grand Canyon. Annie’s frustrated, but finds it impossible to ignore the handsome outdoorsman.

With her split skirts and modern hairdo, Annie challenges Dallas’s old-fashioned notions of what makes a lady. To his surprise, he finds her delightful, until he learns she has no interest in settling down. Dallas is ready to win her heart, but is Annie willing to fall in love?