You’re in for a special treat today because, for the next three days, my blog is also Scavenger Hunt Stop #28!
What does that mean?
Good things for you.
Follow the clues for a chance to win a Kindle Fire, gift certificates, 31 free books and more!
First, a very warm welcome to the Fall Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! I’m so happy to be participating and to welcome you to my site today. The Hunt begins at noon MST and ends on 10/28 at midnight MST so readers all have tons of time to make each of the 31 stops and discover authors with new novels or ones that will soon be released.
What do you have to do to participate?
- Visit all “stops” and collect the clue written in red on each “stop,” beginning at Stop #1 http://lisatawnbergren.com/2012/10/scavenger-hunt-stop-1-2/.
At Stop #32, fill out the Rafflecopter form. http://lisatawnbergren.com/2012/10/scavenger-hunt-stop-32/ Be ready to provide the completed clue quote, gathered from all 31 stops, within 24 hours of email notification or another winner will be randomly drawn. No need to email/submit it, unless you are notified on 10/29/12.
- If you’re asked for the quote, respond within 24 hours of email notification or another winner will be randomly drawn. No need to email/submit the quote unless you are notified on 10/29/12 the quote is needed.
- Grand Prize: A new Kindle Fire, plus 31 new novels!
- Please comment at every stop that allows for comments to be eligible for the Grand Prize. (On this site, Comments is at the top of the post.)
- Please comment at every stop that allows for comments to be eligible for the Grand Prize. (On this site, Comments is at the top of the post.)
- 2nd & 3rd Prizes: $50 Amazon, B&N, CBD or BookDepository.com gift certificate.
- This scavenger hunt also welcomes international entrants. If the winner lives outside the United States, s/he shall win the equivalent in gift certificate funds to the prize in US dollars.
Please welcome my guest, inspirational author
Janice Hanna Thompson
Janice invites readers into the wonderful, wacky worlds of romantic comedy, quirky cozy mysteries, light-hearted historicals and fun books for young readers. Her goal is to tickle your funny bone and make you laugh. Now that, in my humble opinion, is a worthy aspiration!
Janice’s New Novel: QUEEN OF THE WAVES
Even an author anchored in humor gets serious now and then, and Janice did. But how did a comedic author “Queen of Denial” come to write a serious Titanic-themed novel? In Janice’s own words, she tells us it happened just this way…
I was born with an overactive funny bone. If you’ve read my Weddings by Bella series, you know that I like to add as much wacky humor to my comedic tales as possible. Keeping my readers giggling is front and center in my ministry.
How then, did I end up writing an overly serious novel about the sinking of the Titanic? Trust me, I fought the idea, convinced it would never work. Though I’d written nearly eighty novels at the time, I wasn’t sure I could pull off a story with the necessary depth and emotional pull. In fact, the day my agent, Chip MacGregor, called to ask if I would consider the idea, my knee-jerk response was a typical Janice-ala-humor-writer quip: “Only if I can throw in a song and dance number involving an iceberg.”
When he responded with, “Nope. We have to play this one straight,” I gracefully declined. Well, I might’ve said, “I’ll think about it.” Strangely, that’s exactly what happened. I thought about it. And thought about it. And thought about it some more. For about five or six hours, I could focus on little else. My heart said, “Go for it!” but my logic/mind said, “No way! Are you nuts?” Strangely, in the middle of pondering the what-ifs, a story idea came. An intriguing, compelling story idea, complete with a title I loved: Queen of the Waves. Who knew?
Still, I had to face my denial head-on. Could I really numb my funny bone long enough to pen 90,000 serious words? I wrote a sample chapter, just to check. Weirdly, I liked it. A lot. In fact, it tugged at my heart and gave me reason to hope as never before. So I wrote a second chapter. I liked it, too. . .so much that I decided to put together a proposal. My agent shopped it around and Summerside/Guideposts bought the story at the 2011 ACFW conference in St. Louis. I could hardly believe it! Of course, this meant that I had to actually write the book. With my heart in my throat, I set out to do just that. . .and ended up loving the story!
So many amazing things happened while writing Queen of the Waves. It would be impossible to cover all of them in one post. Above all, I learned that stepping outside of my comfort zone, while scary, proved to be an amazing experience. No longer “Queen of Denial,” I’m now truly convinced that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Queen of the Waves exists because I dared to lay down my denial, my insecurities and my doubts, and trust the Maker of the Waves.
Janice and I share an agent, Chip MacGregor of Macgregor Literary. I know exactly what she means. He’s persuasive! Janice didn’t mention it but Queen of the Waves has a blog.
If Queen of the Waves has captured your imagination as it has mine, I want to mention that it’s available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christianbook.com.
I know many of you will want to connect with Janice and you can do so here: Website, Facebook, Twitter
THE SCAVENGER HUNT BASICS:
Before you go, write down this STOP #28 clue: Henry.
Your next stop is Janice Hanna Thompson’s own blog at http://janiceathompson.com/blog/scavenger-hunt
Don’t take off just yet. There’s one more thing…
A BONUS FROM VICKI
If you’d like to be in the random drawing for one of TEN copies of SURVIVE THE NIGHT, my new Lost, Inc. series, Book 1:
1. Like me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/vicki.hinze.author
2. Sign up for my occasional newsletter and/or “Remind Me,” a “new releases only” alert. (If you’ve already done that, just leave a comment here (at the top of the post, just under the title) saying you have and you’ll be entered.)
Enter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Now remember your Stop #28 clue (above in red) and scoot over to Janis’s. She’s Stop #29 in the Fall Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt at http://janiceathompson.com/blog/scavenger-hunt.
Good luck!
Blessings,
Vicki