The hunt is afoot for wicked sweet treasurements of books and bookish bliss!

Posted Friday, 17 May, 2013 by jorielov 0 Comments

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt hosted by Lisa Tawn Bergren

17th of May – 19th of May, 2013
{annual event! 2012 was the début!}

Hosted by: Lisa Tawn Bergren

A curious little blog hop whereupon you can visit or meet authors who pen the inspirational fiction stories that captivate us as they endear our hearts to their characters and stories. I cannot remember exactly which blog I regularly read that alerted me to this Hunt, which is why I gave credit to “The Cross and Cutlass”, MaryLu Tyndall’s blog as I do remember visiting her blog this week, and seeing the reminder of the Hunt posted! Although, it could have readily been read on “Writes of Passage” which is an author group blog that features Robin Lee Hatcher, who is also taking part of the Hunt!

The Grand Prize: 31 books by 31 authors! Ooh, my how I would find it incredible to win such a smashing piece of scavenger hunt treasure! I’d have to opt for the ‘printed’ copies, as anyone whose read *My Bookish Life* knows which types of books I read! I’d not hesitate to pass the ‘win’ on to someone else if perchance my name is drawn to receive these in e-book format on an iPad mini! Afterall, it’s a game, err, hunt of chance!  Estimated value is: $300! for the 31 books in printed format!

The 31 books are as follows:

  1. Grave Consequences by Lisa T. Bergren
  2. Trouble in Store by Carol Cox
  3. Rosemary Cottage by Colleen Coble
  4. The Face of the Earth by Deborah Raney
  5. Captives by Jill Williamson
  6. Fall State Legends by John W. Otte
  7. Adoring Addie by Leslie Gould
  8. Love At Any Cost by Julie Lessman
  9. When Love Calls by Lorna Steilstad
  10. A Lady of Quality by Louise M. Gouge
  11. When A Secret Kills by Lynette Eason
  12. All in Good Time by Maureen Lang
  13. Forsaken Dreams by MaryLu Tyndall
  14. Scorned Justice by Margaret Daley
  15. Once Upon A Prince by Rachel Hauck
  16. King by R.J. Larson
  17. Georgia Sweethearts by Missy Tippens
  18. A Bride for All Seasons by Robin Lee Hatcher
  19. Mountain Homecoming by Sandra Robbins
  20. Stress Test by Richard L. Mabry, M.D.
  21. Talon by Ronie Kendig
  22. The Message on the Quilt by Stephanie Grace Whitson
  23. Moonlight Masquerade by Ruth Axtell
  24. So Shines the Night by Tracy L. Higley
  25. No Way Out by Susan Sleeman
  26. Truth Stained Lies by Terri Blackstock
  27. Tiny Dancer by Patricia Hickman
  28. Whispers on the Prairie by Vickie McDonough
  29. The Bride Next Door by Winnie Griggs
  30. Lydia’s Hope by Marta Perry
  31. Dragonwitch by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

The Hunt Hop Route: {32 stops to complete the loop of the hop!}

Each blog along the Hunt , features the next author to be found as you make your way around the stops! Therefore, each blog you visit is hosted by a different author than the one being featured, yet the one being featured is a bit of a clue of what you will find on the next stop you will click-through too! It’s a bit like an unsuspecting rail ticket to chart through sleepy hamlets and rambling scenery as you shift through the countryside in the comfort of your seat by the window!

{NOTE: I began this hunt on Friday, the 17th of May 2013 and completed it forty minutes shy of midnight, Sunday, the 19th of May 2013, being inches of minutes still on the Saturday, the 18th of May side of things! Whilst I made my rounds to each blog, I must confess, that initially I could only gloss over and make my extra entries as I jotted down the words in order to have built the winning phrase in time before the deadline! There simply wasn’t enough time for me to drink in the content as I normally would prefer whilst visiting blogs, which is why I went back as I formulated this listing!}

  1. Lisa Tawn Bergren* – Where the hunt is happily underfoot! The Hunt begins with an introduction to Rachel Hauck
  2. Rachel Hauck* – One of the authors who has residency on Southern Belle View Daily, and of whom, I enjoy conversing with through their weekly topics of conversation! Similar to the other Belles, I have not yet had the pleasure of reading her novels. She is featuring the author: Stephanie Grace Whitson, of whom I haven’t realised pens books on quilting in a similar vein as Jennifer Chiaverini, as she writes my beloved Elm Creek series!! I was so engrossed into the interview today, that I promptly started to write a lengthy email to accompany the request to receive the poem, “The Patchwork Quilt” which she offered to give to those who personally email her! I was quite enthused with everything that I learnt, that I promptly subscribed to her NL as well!
  3. Stephanie Grace WhitsonAs you may have noticed the next author on the blog hop is the one that is featured on the previous stop! Ms. McDonough shared a scene from her July 2013 release Whispers on the Prairie. She was attempting to sort out how to give a character a severe asthma attack given that they didn’t have the same treatments in 1873 as they do today to make the attacks easier to manage!
  4. Vickie McDonoughOne of the authors I was enjoying getting to know through the Society+ {February, March, and part of April 2013}, until of course, due to needing to make a reduction in spam, the Name/URL option was removed. I could not start to use my blog through OpenID, until I was ready to ‘launch’, so I’ve been reading from the sidelines! Oh, how I miss making comments!
  5. Colleen Coble{unfortunately I took too long to compose my thoughts and the posting was already down!}
  6. Julie LessmanMs. Lessman hosted Ms. Raney, who spoke about her book “The Face of the Earth”. Ms. Raney shared a link for her Pin(terest) board of inspiration for the novel.  I can understand where she is coming from by creating fiction settings anchored in reality, as I tend to do that myself!
  7. Deborah Raney{unfortunately I took too long to compose my thoughts and the posting was already down!} I can say, that I loved the look of her blog/website, and the fact she’s a fan of Tom Selleck’s Jesse Stone was alright by me!
  8. Maureen Lang* – Ms. Daley spoke highly of the Texas Rangers which she focuses on in her series: The Men of the Texas Rangers. Ms. Lang offered an additional prize but I think it was one that I couldn’t enter. I have appreciated the Texas Rangers ever since they came alive in the series: Walker, Texas Ranger as well as The Lone Ranger.
  9. Margaret DaleyMs. Tyndall is one author I’ve been following for most of the year, as in late Winter 2012 and early Spring of 2013, she was on blog tours for her latest release “Forsaken Dreams”. I sort of garnished a proper sense about the novel due to all the conversations that sparked out of the tours! Including, how would it feel to leave everything that you had ever known behind to embark of an incredible change of lifestyle as you emigrated to a new country!
  10. MaryLu Tyndall* – Ms. Axtell spoke about the difficulty in writing about spies and deciphering codes. She even provided a code sampler which would reveal the names of her characters in “Moonlight Masquerade”.
  11. Ruth Axtell* – Ms. Sleeman spoke about how characters are conceived and written into stories. Focusing on her Love Inspired Suspense “No Way Out”. I haven’t picked up a lot of Love Inspired stories in the past, although I have a few on my shelf that I found at a used book shoppe!
  12. Susan Sleeman –  Ms. Blackstock shared her process for building a new series, focusing on her Moonlighter series. She talked the process of attaching which character to which book in the series and how using pictures helps her paint the characters features in her mind’s eye.
  13. Terri BlackstockMr. Mabry spoke about his hero from Stress Test, who suffers from a similar condition as writers where he never feels as though he’s worthy or succesful in life. About how our inner voices can play havoc on our overall well being and that we need to learn to silence them in order to realise our full potential. Having doubt is one thing, but to allow ourselves to be talked out of doing something OR out of believing in our abilities is quite another!
  14. Richard MabryMs. Larson delved into the complexities of creating an entire world out of a writer’s imagination borrowing on cartography that is available of ancient worlds. She had an artist render her world on parchment set in ink to give it a more realistic touch.  Adding in fantastical creatures and beasts set the stage for the characters that would populate the newly created world. Everything she spoke about is how she pulled together the setting behind “King” her Biblical-fantasy release.
  15. RJ LarsonMs. Higley spoke of a first-hand account of travelling to conduct research to bring a pulsing realism to your story. She travelled to Ephesus for her book “So Shines the Night”. She provided written commentary as well as a video!
  16. Tracy Higley* – Ms. Eason talks about how you can go from short sentences to a full-on novel! This is something I can directly appreciate because one of my last manuscripts was based on five short plot directing points of interest! You’d be surprised how far you can go with only a little bit of inspiration to carry you forward! She was asking for people to email her directly after they had the chance to read “When a Secret Kills”. The title to me should be a forewarning not to hold secrets!
  17. Lynette EasonMs. Cox spoke about how you can unexpectedly dip into a well of creative musings that lead you down a writing path you might not have thought you’d take OR at the very least, have the ability to uncover a piece of your travels that might have eluded you!
  18. Carol Cox* – Ms. Seilstad posted an article about the operator girls in the 1900s, including facts about the industry. Her novel “When Love Calls” is one of the ones I am looking forward to reading one day!
  19. Lorna Seilstad* – Ms. Perry shared a scene from her new book “Lydia’s Hope”. She’s on my 70 Authors Challenge due to the fact that I am attempting to branch out into more Amish & Mennonite fiction!
  20. Marta Perry* – Ms. Gould cross referenced Shakespeare with the Amish., where she proposed the question if you thought your favourite Shakespearian play could be turned into an Amish story?! She gave examples of how “Courting Cate” is based on “The Taming of the Shrew” and how “Adoring Addie” is based on “Romeo & Juliet”!! I am a Shakespearian scholar, so I must say, this perked my interest!
  21. Leslie Gould* – Ms. Hatcher bespoke of what she would have carried with her whilst travelling as a mail-order-bride! I must confess, that mail-order bride stories are some of my most favourite to read! There is something about the freedom of attempting to direct your stars and better the life you’ve been given.
  22. Robin Lee HatcherMs. Kendig writes military fiction stories that not only involve soldiers who are deployed but the MWDs as well! {ie: Military Working Dogs} Being a volunteer with Soldiers’ Angels, giving back to deployed servicemen and women each year by sending uplifting mail, I can attest to the need for inspiring and positive stories about our dedicated men and women who serve!  I think the best thing that I learnt by her post was that you can *adopt!* MWDs!!
  23. Ronie Kendig* – Ms. Stengl wrote about how you can take a seemingly normal and unextraordinary plot and turn it into something rather fantastic!
  24. Anne Elisabeth StenglMr. Otte’s post I must admit did not captivate me as much, because I do not read comics. Although I do appreciate comics and the readers who enjoy them! One thing I can say, is that I appreciate the art that is set between the words to bring the worlds alive!
  25. John OtteMs. Williamson spoke about the intricacies of creating a ‘future’ setting whilst building the world by which your writing. Complete with cartography, and the realistic issues of making it a fully lived world realised for the reader who finds your stories.
  26. Jill WilliamsonMs. Hickman introduced us to “Tiny Dancer” which was releasing in mid-June.
  27. Patricia Hickman{unfortunately I took too long to compose my thoughts and the posting was already down!}
  28. Sandra RobbinsMs. Tippens shared an essay entitled: Meaningful Gifts.
  29. Missy TippensMs. Griggs shared a sneak peek of “A Family for Christmas”.
  30. Winnie GriggsMs. Gouge wrote an essay about Regency romances and why they have such a hearty following. Considering that I duck into the Regency quite often myself, I can attest that there is something that pulls a reader into that era!
  31. Louise M. GougeMs. Bergren wrote about what to do whilst in Venice, complete with a video! Her “Grave Consequences” novel has me most interested!
  32. Lisa Tawn Bergren – The Hunt ended where it began!

{*KEY: * denotes the authors who are listed in my *70 Authors Challenge 2013-14. It was quite exciting in the end after I had participated to realise how many of the authors I had chosen were taking part in the Hunt! + denotes my endearing name for the Christian Fiction Historical Society; ie: the Society! NL refers to ‘newsletter’ that an author promotes to keep readers in touch about their latest releases and bookish news. Unless I said the post was taken down, you can still read and view the stops along the Hop!}

Whilst your visiting each blog, you were meant to ‘pick’ up a clue to reveal the *secret phrase* by which you give to Ms. Bergren if perchance your name is drawn at the conclusion of the Hunt! Being that my blog will not go ‘live’ until well after the winner’s circle is announced, I am safe to relay to you that this is the phrase that was collected by each entrant:

 * to be added*

The only discerning complaint I could express: Is that along the route, I discovered that some of the authors’ blogs were blocked to Name/URL comments, which I respect as I know spamming is a *big* issue for blogs, but I would have loved for this one event for more capture codes to be enacted to allow hunt participants the ability to either drop a comment OR engage in an extra giveaway. The main vexation though wasn’t this issue, as foresaid, I honestly understand the issue that pertains to it — no, what bothered me more than this is that several of the giveaways that were extra to the hunt were dependent on social media participation!! I frown on this because if your actively involved in the blogosphere and you keenly enjoy blog hops, blog tours for authors/books launches, and regularly support the blogs you read either through regular readings, commenting on posts you enjoy, or even subscribe to RSS feeds,…

I am not sure I understand the point to making clicking the ‘like’ button on Facebook or a following feed on Twitter as an enhancement to a “scavenger hunt” hosted on “author blogs”!? Or, is it just me!? Meanwhile, a few offered an extra entry if you signed up for their newsletter — yet, why not make that an either/or option!? What if you already were signed up for their author’s newsletter because you had recently discovered them!? Some of the authors are listed in my personal challenge to read 70 Inspirational Authors in 12 months — therefore, I have already started to sign up for newsletters to maintain a knowledge of their latest releases or bookish news.

I am becoming more vocal about my stance on this, because I do not understand that if you choose to become active through the platform of blogs {which is very socially inclined}, why suddenly that that is not good enough!? It’s fine and dandy for those who wish to participate in social media outlets outside the blogosphere, but I am not sure why it’s become so dire that everyone jumps on a bandwagon that not everyone is as readily enthused to belong too!?

{ *UPDATE*: Ms. Bergren responded to this very question which I decided would be best served as a reply after I clicked through the last Rafflecopter to enter for the 31 books! She maintained that Facebook/Twitter will always be present as it’s a social media age we live in (sighs), but she agreed with me on my newsletter opinion! She even mentioned she’d remember that bit about being able to mark the newsletter option if you’re a new/old subscriber for the next scavenger hunt! Thankfully, she appreciates honest feedback!!}

The extra bits that I marked myself down to enter: Most of these ‘extras’ were submitted through Rafflecopter entries OR a combination of Rafflecopter, blog commentary, and newsletter sign ups. Uniquely, I am finding Rafflecopter to be working for me throughout the Hunt, yet previously, I have found those widgets to vex me something fierce! Oy.

  • Love At Any Cost by Julie Lessman OR a slightly hopeful wish of winning a spiral bound copy of “A Light in the Window”, yet I do not believe I’ll come up with the ‘winning’ amount of entries, but having 10 impressed me! You simply followed the prompts through Rafflecopter, and I was quite chuffed that you could rack up entries without being social media inclined! Julie Lessman, rocks!
  • Glamourous Illusions OR Grave Consequences by Lisa T. Bergren. You simply had to come up with a “royal cypher”, for which I supplied this answer:  a wolf – strength, courage, and adventurous spirit! Wolves have always held a special place in my heart, and I cringe whenever I hear updates on their plight to survive!
  • A special magnifying glass to celebrate ?
  • Moonlight Masquerade by ? and a $25 Barnes & Noble giftcard! How choice, eh?
  • A book for me, a book for a ‘sister’ friend given by Lorna Seilstad. Which was a bit difficult to choose, as I have quite a few sisterhood friends in my circle, but I choose to focus on the original friend I felt I shared this special bond with as it began a ripple effect to find other women that I connect with on a sisterhood level!
  • Home by Dark by Marta Perry, which is an Amish suspense novel! I first learnt of this sub-genre of Amish fiction several months back, which at first I thought, huh? Yet, the more I read about it, the more plausible it became!
  • A Bride for All Seasons by Robin Lee Hatcher
  • *ENTIRE SET*: {Discarded Heroes series} Nightshade, Digitalis, Wolfsbane, & Firethorn by Ronie Kendig! I was quite gobsmacked to see this bonus giveaway, and although her blog played up on my screen, I attempted to post the comment needed anyway! We had to disclose who our favourite Patriot would be either historically, active-duty or veteran,… aside from naming my favourite historical patriots, I pointed out that I tip my hat to all currently deployed Chaplains, as I volunteer through Soldiers’ Angels and give them support from the homefront.
  • *4 books in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series*: Heartless, Veiled Rose, Moonblood, Starflower by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, which I also found impressive! We had to answer what was our favourite series of novels, and since the Daughters of Boston series is forefront on my mind of late, I lamented about my reasoning for being wrapped up in the saga of the O’ Connor family!
  • Angel of the Cove (Smokey Mountain Dream series, book 1) and Mountain Homecoming by Sandra Robbins.
  • A choice of 3 backlist books by Winnie Griggs, chosen from the following: The Heart’s Song, Once Upon A Thanksgiving, The Hand Me Down Family, The Proper Wife, Handpicked Husband, A Baby Between Them, Second Chance Family, or The Christmas Journey. I originally thought I was already subscribed to her author newsletter, but finding that I wasn’t, I quickly signed up to receive it which entered me in the bookaway! The ones in ‘bold’ are the ones I would have selected!

Sadly, despite entering in earnest and nearly not completing the route for the Hunt itself, I did not yield a win! I find that I have never once won a bookaway OR giveaway through Rafflecopter entries! I muse it’s due to the fact I do not use social media outlets that are generally how you rack up extra entries!! Not that I minded, as I enjoyed getting to know each of the authors featured on the route as I went along, and I must say, it was quite the treat to sort out the code!!

As an extra surprise I was not expecting, I received a booklet on Pennsylvania Dutch cooking filt with recipes that I am looking forward to experimenting with, along with a signed bookmark by Marta Perry!

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

read more >> | Visit my Story Vault of Book Reviews | Policies & Review Requests | Contact Jorie

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Posted Friday, 17 May, 2013 by jorielov in 70 Authors Challenge 2013-19, Author Blog Tour, Blog Hop, Blog Scavenger Hunt, The Cross and Cutlass, Writes of Passage




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