Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 3/19 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 3/22 at 11:59 MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

I’m Roseanna M. White, author of a slew of historical romances, along with some contemporary mysteries from Guideposts. My real life is full (I spent the last 15 years homeschooling, and now they’re both done–how did that happen???–and my daughter is a junior in college) but also very … ordinary. So I offset that by writing about things like spies and nobility and war and mayhem whenever I can. And a recent addition for me comes in large part from the books my daughter and I started reading together when she was a teenager: fantasy romance, aka romantasy. I’m now celebrating the release of my second one, Aflame

In the frozen lands of Fjordlandi, the royal family rules with a fist of ice. Kyrja has always been the “extra” princess, too much like her commoner mother to ever please her father. But when tragedy thrusts her into responsibility and a falsely-accused commoner stirs her to look beyond her father’s rules, she learns that her kingdom is on the brink of revolution. Because control over the ice isn’t the only magic that has been Awakened. There are rebels living in the heart of the volcanos too, rebels determined to win freedom for the commoners treated as slaves. And they won’t stop until all of Fjordlandi is Aflame.

Unlike my historical romances, which all have photographic cover images with a woman on the cover, my fantasy covers demanded something different. I went back and forth with my patron group with tons of cover options, trying out various styles trending in the genre, but quickly learned that my readers still expect to see a person on there, not just text and icons. But photographic didn’t fit the trends, so we decided to go illustrated. And for that, I called on my friend Caroline, who’s a member of my patron group and a wonderful artist.

She’s doing the character art for the full-length novels in the series, and my daughter is creating the character art for the novellas. So let’s see how the cover for Aflame came together! First was Caroline’s part. She has a fun video that her design program allowed her to make. Get a load of how she created Kyrja!

Once I had Kyrja, I had to come up with a background. I wanted something that would pick up on the beautiful colors in her dress…and also bring some unexpected color to what could have been a frozen wasteland on the cover, just white and gray. But we do have volcanoes in this story, so…lava!

I tried a variety of backgrounds, playing with the idea of the aurora borealis in there, trying to find the one that would offset it well and also match the illustration well enough in style. Here are a few of the rejected ones. 

Eventually, the team and I decided what we liked from each variation and came up with one that got the approval of us all. The other elements on the cover are the “Awakening mark” design behind the character, that will be on every cover in the series in some form or another. Because in this world, ancient nano-technology has combined with a gift from God to grant certain people “magic”–control over an element. In Fjordlandi, their Awakened have control over water, including the ability to freeze it, and their Awakening mark is a ring of snowflakes. But the rebels have a mark too–one that’s a ring of flames. I decided to include both on the cover.

Here’s Your Critical Stop #7 Info:

If you’re interested, you can get a signed copy of Aflame from me right here (and shop for other fun bookish things too!) or order on WhiteCrown, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org now. If you order from me, you can get these beautiful printed edges!! Scroll down to see!

Clue to Write Down: to hit!

Link to Stop #8, the Next Stop on the Loop: Robin Lee Hatcher’s site! (She’ll be giving away something extra too!)

Special Giveaway!

But before you go, I’m offering a special prize!

One lucky winner with a US address will receive a signed copy of Aflame with printed edges! If you’re international, you’re entered to a win an ebook of Aflame.

(If the entry form is not showing above, you can enter here!)

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 10/23 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 10/26 at 11:59 MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

I’m Roseanna M. White, author of a slew of historical romances, along with some contemporary mysteries from Guideposts. My real life is full (I spent the last 15 years homeschooling, and now they’re both done–how did that happen???–and my daughter is a junior in college) but also very … ordinary. So I offset that by writing about things like spies and nobility and war and mayhem whenever I can. Many of my books have been set in the 1900-1920 range, but I’ve recently launched my first book set solely WW2…in Paris!

On a quiet street in Paris of 1940, there’s a quiet little library. A library filled with all the books that Germany banned and burned in the last seven years. A library whose key is turned over to the Nazis the hour they roll into Paris. But the Library of Burned Books has secrets stored within it–secrets put there by Corinne Bastien, who lives next door, yes…secrets the Allies need. And when Christian Bauer, the Nazi-appointed “library protector” arrives to dismantle Paris’s libraries, he sets up his headquarters in this quiet little library…hoping it can hide his secrets too.

Before researching for this book, my stance of book bans was kinda “meh.” I didn’t like them, but I also didn’t like the idea of “bad” books being readily available, especially for children. As I wrote The Collector of Burned Books and dove deep in the culture of censorship, my opinions got a LOT more defined. And while yes, we need to protect our children…we also have to prepare them to encounter ideas that are not their own. By the time they’re adults, they should be reading books that challenge their preconceived notions and stretch their mind–that’s the only way we ever come to understand our own beliefs in full.

As I looked up books banned by the Nazis, as well as books that have been banned in America through the ages, I was surprised to see some on the list. Because those books that were “too dangerous” before? Now they’re classics. Here’s a list of some that struck me. How many of these have you read? Answer in the comments for a chance to win my personal giveaway!

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

Relativity by Albert Einstein

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Ulysses by James Joyce

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbech

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Bambi: A Life in the Wild by Felix Salten

Here’s Your Critical Stop #6 Info:

If you’re interested, you can get a signed copy of The Collector of Burned Books from me right here (and shop for other fun bookish things too, including my Banned Books line!) or order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Baker Book House, or Bookshop.org now. 

Clue to Write Down: a fire

Link to Stop #7, the Next Stop on the Loop: Karen Barnett’s site! (She’ll be giving away a copy of Through Water and Stone, which I had the privilege of reading for endorsement–it is SO GOOD!!!)

Special Giveaway!

But before you go, I’m offering a special prize!

One lucky winner with a US address will receive a signed copy of The Collector of Burned Books AND a “read dangerously” mug with the design featured above! If you’re international, you’re entered to a win a copy of The Collector of Burned Books from the online retailer of your choice.

(If the entry form is not showing above, you can enter here!)

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 4/10 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 4/13 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

I’m Roseanna M. White, author of a slew of historical romances, along with some contemporary mysteries from Guideposts. My real life is full (homeschooling mom of two teens, one of whom is now in college, need I say more??) but also very … ordinary. So I offset that by writing about things like spies and nobility and war and mayhem whenever I can. And with my next book, I decided to break out of my traditional writing mold even more than usual and explore another of my favorite genres: romantasy! (That’s romantic fantasy/fantasy romance, for you uninitiated.)

Arden Bleu has always known that her stepsister, Jade, was special–so special that she’d likely be shown to be magical when they undergo their Awakening Ceremony in a month. But when a dangerous contingent of mer kidnap Jade on the eve of the king’s birthday ball, they suspect she has something more than ordinary water magic. Something that called to King Seidon the moment her blood spilled into the water during the kidnapping. Arden always feared the king, the one man in all the world who could order her father away–but if they have any hope of rescuing Jade, it will take both of them working together, before the war boiling beneath the waters spills onto land as well.

I’ll admit it–The Little Mermaid was always my FAVORITE movie as a kid. Anyone else try to imitate that push onto the rock with the water spraying behind you? Anyone? (Spoiler alert–it does NOT work in a pool!) So when, on vacation a couple years ago, I decided to play with a fantasy idea, a mermaid story sounded like a lot of fun. I shared it with my husband as we took a walk along the beach, and he did what he always does. He asked questions that flipped my thoughts on their head.

“What if the mermaids are still fully human, legs and everything?” he asked. “What if they can just hold their breaths a long time, like whales, and have adapted to life under the pressure of the sea? What if their tails are just things they put on, like our swim fins or flippers?”

And then, “And what if this ‘magic’ isn’t traditional fantasy-book magic? What if something like nanotechnology is at work?”

One thing I’ve always loved about fantasy books is that the author gets to totally create the world and decide what role things like technology will play. So…why not?? I decided that my “magic system” would indeed be a combination of technology (“ancient,” lost technology) and gift from God, which have combined to create something new. Because if Jesus delays His return, who’s to say what God might do in the future?

So in Awakened, we have a new spin…or fin?…on mermaid lore, where the mer and still 100% human, just able to put on a tail to swim faster than any land-dweller, to hold their breaths for at least an hour, and who can surface from the depths without the need to decompress. “Magic” is just a shorthand word for “ancient technology plus miracle from heaven.” And we have a love story that might just melt you into a puddle, and a faith element as deep as the sea.

Have you ever pretended to be a mermaid? Share in the comments for an entry into my giveaway!

Here’s Your Critical Stop #11 Info:

If you’re interested, you can get a signed, SPECIAL EDITION copy of Awakened with PRINTED EDGES (!!) from me right here (and shop for other fun bookish things too!) or order a normal version on Amazon now. Other retailer links coming soon! (Printed edges will be available ONLY from me or the publisher!)

Clue to Write Down: Sometimes

Link to Stop #12, the Next Stop on the Loop: Robin Lee Hatcher’s site!

Special Giveaway!

But before you go, I’m offering a special prize!

One lucky winner with a US address will receive a set of sea glass jewelry in the color of your choice (based on availability at the time of the win). Available colors are aqua, sapphire, and purple.

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 3/14 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 3/17 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

I’m Roseanna M. White, author of a slew of historical romances, along with some contemporary mysteries from Guideposts. My real life is full (homeschooling mom of two teens, one of whom is now in college, need I say more??) but also very … ordinary. So I offset that by writing about things like spies and nobility and war and mayhem whenever I can. And with my next book, I not only have a pair of private investigators who are clearly at odds, one of them is London’s most popular gossip and fashion writer for the (fictitious) London Ladies Journal! Here’s a bit about A Beautiful Disguise:

Gemma Parks will count herself happy if she can continue to avoid Graham Wharton and all the pain he caused her…difficult on a good day, given that they’re both members of The Imposters, an elite private investigation firm run by her best friend, who is also Graham’s distant cousin. But when a boy is kidnapped–mistaken for his aristocratic cousin–and the authorities won’t help, Gemma can’t turn down the case…even if it means working with Graham. He’s determined to win her back, but she’s just as determined to write him our of her story for good. Will all their scheming restore a broken family? Can their own frozen hearts ever thaw again?

Gemma is a columnist for London Ladies’ Journal, where she writes about the aristocracy–what they’re wearing, who’s seen flirting with whom, and who showed up at what ball or fete. She’s the one who made her best friend, Lady Marigold, into a fashion icon, with her write-ups and features. But until now, Gemma has never accepted an invitation as her alter-ego, G. M. Parker. Instead, she’s posed as servants and maids and occasionally as Marigold to get the information for her column.

For this case, though, she needs an in to a house party so accepts an invitation that had been sent to her pseudonym. Which means that for the first time, Gemma actually has to develop a character to go along with her name.

So for fun, let’s come up with our OWN Edwardian-era nom de plume! We’ll follow Gemma’s very simple method.

1. Take the first letter of your first name (hers is G)
2. Use a middle initial that is your mother’s maiden name (hers is M)
3. For your last name, take the first few letters or syllable of your name (maiden or married) and then add a different ending to it.

So for me, I’d be R.M. Whitson

4. Now…pick a different first name to go with that initial. (Gemma chose Gabrielle)

And voila! There you have it! Your own nom de plume, ready for all the columns you write (because of course you don’t want the duchess whose dress you insulted to know who you really are!).

Share your new name in the comments below for a chance to enter my extra giveaway!

Here’s Your Critical Stop #16 Info:

If you’re interested, you can get a SIGNED copy of A Noble Scheme from me right here (and shop for other fun bookish things too!) or order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook, Baker Book House, or at your local bookstore! 

Clue to Write Down: few novels

Link to Stop #17, the Next Stop on the Loop: Misty M. Beller’s site!

Special Giveaway!

But before you go, I’m offering a special prize!

One lucky winner with a US address will receive a box full of bookish merch, valued at $50!
These items will come from my Box of Bookish Things selections so could include things like book-themed games or puzzles, bookish jewelry, bookish socks, stickers, bookmarks, keychains, notebooks…whatever fits in the box from my overstock!

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 6/15 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
• Hunt through our loop using Chrome or Firefox as your browser (not Explorer).
• There is NO RUSH to complete the hunt—you have all weekend (until Sunday, 6/18 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them.
• Submit your entry for the grand prizes by collecting the CLUE on each author’s scavenger hunt post and submitting your answer in the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, .back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

I’m Roseanna M. White, author of a slew of historical romances, along with some contemporary mysteries from Guideposts. My real life is full (homeschooling mom of two teens, need I say more??) but also very … ordinary. So I offset that by writing about things like spies and nobility and war and mayhem whenever I can. And with my next book, I not only have the start of England’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, I also have (cue all the music) some circus themes! Here’s a bit about A Beautiful Disguise:

Five years ago, Lady Marigold Fairfax and her little brother, Yates, discovered a horrible truth: the circuses and acrobats and theater troupes that had filled their childhood had also bankrupted their estate, and when their father dies, he doesn’t just leave Yates the earl. He leaves them absolutely strapped. So they do what any enterprising young people with unexpected acrobatic skills would do: open a private investigative firm to spy on their peers…for their peers. Dubbed The Imposters, Ltd., their firm promises “discreet disclosures for the most discerning.” But when Sir Merritt Livingstone hires them to help him root out who is betraying their agents in Germany, the answer will take them uncomfortably close to home. And Sir Merritt himself, with his noble soul and ability to see beneath Marigold’s carefully stitched disguises, has her asking all sorts of impossible questions about the future.

 Though there isn’t an actual circus in A Beautiful Disguise, a family of circus performers retired to the Fairfax estate…with some of the non-human stars of the show!

Did you know that the menagerie was one of the biggest draws of a circus in the early 1900s? Just take a look at some of the exotic animals advertised by one of the leading English circuses of the time!

The “modern circus” as we know it today was actually begun by Phillip Astley in 1768, when he and his wife, both skilled riders, established an equestrian school in London, where they taught lessons in the morning and then performed in the afternoons. They did trick riding and speed riding in a circle…which is how he discovered that the ideal size of a circus ring is 42 feet in diameter, because it allows one to use centrifugal force to keep one in the saddle! Astley soon put a roof over his stadium so it could remain open all year…which set the stage for the traveling Big Tops.

It wasn’t long before Astley and his competitors drew in other popular performers from fairs and festivals–acrobats, aerialists, jugglers, clowns, mimes, and so on. Some circuses in the Victorian and Edwardian eras were permanent fixtures, but most traveled not only in their home country, but throughout Europe too.

I can’t wait for readers to meet my retired circus family, the Caesars…and a few furry friends like Leonidas the Lion, Penelope the Monkey, Peabody the Peacock (who kindly donates some loose feathers to Lady Marigold’s wardrobe), and the rest of the crew!

Here’s Your Critical Stop #14 Info:

If you’re interested, you can get a SIGNED copy of A Beautiful Diguise from me right here (and shop for other fun bookish things too!) or order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBook, Baker Book House, or at your local bookstore! 

Clue to Write Down: the right

Link to Stop #15, the Next Stop on the Loop: Gabrielle Meyer’s site!

Special Giveaway!

But before you go, I’m offering a special prize!

One lucky winner with a US address will receive a signed copy of any of my books, plus a tote bag of their choice!
If an international winner is drawn, they’ll receive a book sent via their usual online bookseller. =)