Welcome to the Rhode Island Authors Showcase! Each day in November, this blog will feature a different Rhode Island author. Read the post and leave a comment and you are eligible to win this day’s giveaway!
Leave a comment every day this month for over 30 chances to win either our Grand Prize (a $250 Amazon gift card), our Bonus Prize (a $100 Amazon gift card), or a Cheer-Up Prize (amount to be determined), just in time for holiday shopping!
A winner will be randomly selected one week after the publication of the blog post, and the Grand Prize and Bonus Prize winners will be randomly selected on December 7, 2021. For the daily giveaways, the author will contact you directly to coordinate delivery. Print books for delivery within the US only, please.
Belcourt Castle has been one of the crown jewels of world-famous Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island. Author Harle Tinney knows the house like the palm of her hand, because she resided there longer than any other owner including the Belmonts who built it, Harold Vanderbilt, Defender of the America’s Cup, and the Lorillards who began the Newport Jazz Festival. Harle is the last survivor of the Tinney Family who bravely saved Belcourt from the wrecker’s ball in 1956.
In Belcourt Castle, Milestones and Memories, take a private tour of one of Bellevue Avenue’s most famous, privately-owned mansions dubbed “Belcourt Castle” by the Tinney family. Packed with over 100 color illustrations, this book covers 100 years of the mansions history in Newport, Rhode Island. Your guide is Harle Tinney – the woman who lived there and nurtured the concept of “Belcourt Castle” for 52 years.
With some new stories and pictures, the third edition of The Ghosts of Belcourt Castle recounts stories of apparitions seen, heard, and experienced in Newport, Rhode Island’s gilded age mansion of the Belmont Family. Belcourt stood empty for fifteen years until the Tinney Family purchased it in 1956. A residence and showplace, the castle was furnished with antiques from thirty-three countries and some of them were haunted.
Harle has most generously offered to give away both books to one lucky winner! Print copies for US only, please. Both are first editions, and Harle will include an online chapter from the third edition of The Ghosts of Belcourt Castle called “August Belmont IV.” All you need to do to be eligible is answer this question: Would you live in a haunted castle if you had the chance?
Join us on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11, from 9:00am to 3:00pm at the CROWNE PLAZA in Warwick for the 9th Annual Rhode Island Authors Expo!
Martha Reynolds Writes 
No I would never live there!
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Live in Belcourt Castle, absolutely! Live with a confirmed ghost…
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Wow to have lived in such a noted and historical home! Can’t say I’m one for ghosts though.
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This sounds like a great book with RI ties .I can’t wait to read this !
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I love the mansions. They are so beautiful. I have been to many in RI. I love reading about them and especially about the haunting. I had a ghostly encounter years ago in the 3rd floor apartment I lived in with a friend. When I tell people the story, my hair still stands up in my arms and neck. I don’t like being scared, so I wouldn’t choose to spend the night in a haunted house.
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I would love to own these books. I am a newcomer to RI (just before the lockdown) and want to go to Newport as soon as is practical. these books sound like they will bring Newport to me.
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I remember touring Belcourt Castle many years ago. I loved the tour, and the books both sound interesting, but I’m not sure I’d want a ghost for roommate.
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Wow! What a remarkable life that I would love to be a part of through your book! And no I would not like to live in a haunted castle if I had the chance. Why take the chance I say?😅
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I love those Newport Mansions. I would love to live in a haunted castle–especially if I were the ghost haunting it!
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A great set for a movie. A gothic horror or a naughty French love story?
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Thanks to the Tinney family for saving Belcourt Castle, a gem of history! But no thanks on staying over with a ghost, friendly or unfriendly! I look forward to reading more about this landmark!
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Over 50 years ago I visited Belcourt Castle with my grandmother. I loved it. I remember having cookies. A great memory
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Would be fun to go back, especially after reading this book!
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I love old architecture. I subscribe to the Historical Preservation and love reading about places saved. I’d love to read her books. If I had the chance to stay in a haunted house, I think I would for a few days. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to live for long term.
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I hear you on that, Bonnie! Most of us here in Rhode Island are familiar with the Newport mansions, but this is a unique take from someone who has actually lived there.
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Certainly a lot of stories, some purportedly true, have been written about ghosts in certain houses who speak to the living residents to set the historical record straight. I suspect we all have experienced paranormal activity of one ilk or another. And like the residents of cemeteries, I have a hard time believing they all have evil motives. Most of them were regular folks, just like me.
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I think that’s spot on, Sally.
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I wasn’t aware of this book. I love the mansions and their “ghost” stories. This is a book I will pick up for my local history collection.
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I’m really interested in it, too, Paul.
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I live nearby in Portsmouth, so I’m ready for a tour! As for living in a haunted house, however; no thank you.
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I’m sure I toured the mansion as a child – maybe a school field trip? But I’d love to read Harle’s book and then take a tour!
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What an intriguing question! If the ghosts were friendly, I would be up for it! Easy answer I suppose. I have to believe that all apparitions are not evil and seeking vengeance. The books sound amazing. Thanks for the opportunity to read them.
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I’ll pass on the ghosts, but I love visiting old manor homes and palaces and have done so on every vacation I ever took as long as there was a home to visit. Sounds like a beautiful book.
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I agree, it does sound very interesting!
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As a history buff in general and a died-in-the wool native Rhode Islander, I would love to read about this piece of our state heritage.
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It does look interesting, doesn’t it, Connie?!
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I think it would be interesting to live in a castle in Newport with friendly ghost. So yes. I would love to read this book.
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Excellent! And I agree, as long as the ghost is a friendly one.
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No thank you. I’d be very uncomfortable living in a haunted house.
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Ha! Thanks, Helen!
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I hope they were friendly hauntings. I would definitely enjoy reading about a haunted castle (especially a Rhode Island haunted castle), but I think I’ll pass on living in one. I’m one of those people who are easily startled by my own shadow, but that being said, it would be kinda cool to maybe live with a friendly ghost or two.
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Love the historical aspect of it, Denise! But I agree, the ghost would have to be friendly!
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Thanks for the great post. I wish I could go.
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Thanks, Deb. At least you’ll get to meet a lot of authors through these posts. And plenty of chances to win, too!
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I love local history and especially ghost stories! This is a must read and I can’t wait! Of course, I’d love to live in a haunted castle and share the space with those who came before me. What better way to experience history?
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I do love your adventurous spirit, Barb!!
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