Scavenger Hunt Stop #25

Oct. 16, 2014 • Posted in Blog

Follow the clues for a chance to win a Kindle Fire HDX or 30+ novels!

Welcome to the Autumn 2014 Scavenger Hunt. You have arrived at Stop #25. The hunt begins at noon (Mountain Time Zone) on October 17, 2014. You may have arrived here before the start which could mean all of the sites aren’t ready quite yet. Once the official start has begun, you should go to Stop #1 and then work your way through the sites, gathering clues and entering bonus giveaways, until you reach the final stop which will also be on the site of Robin Lee Hatcher.

The hunt ends on Sunday, October 19, 2014 at one minute before midnight (Mountain). That means you have all of the weekend to finish it, so take your time. Enjoy reading the exclusive content the authors have prepared for you. You will collect a CLUE IN RED at each stop. Write them down as you go. At the end of the hunt, you will enter the clues into a Rafflecopter form on Robin’s site. (The answer will make sense, even if you aren’t familiar with the quote.)

The hunt is open to international entries. The grand prize is a Kindle Fire HDX. Two runners-up will receive a new release from each of the participating authors.

IN CASE YOU FIND A BROKEN LINK: Robin Lee Hatcher has prepared a “cheat sheet” with direct links to each author’s post in case a site goes down or a link gets broken. We hope there will be no such issues, but just in case, please make note of the URL for the Participating Authors & Stops page so you can check back and be able to complete the hunt.

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Today I’m happy to host a prolific writer and wonderful woman, Gayle Roper, who has written more than FIFTY books to date and won many, many awards for her storytelling skills. Gayle says:

Gayle Roper“I never expected to become a writer. I come from a family of teachers, and I taught junior high English and social studies in the days pre-kids. I loved teaching.

“When the boys came along, I wanted to stay home, but I found myself bored. Little people are wonderful, but their conversation is limited. I began writing to challenge myself mentally. I loved writing.

“Then the Lord opened an unexpected door—teaching writing at writers conferences. I got to do both the things I loved and have fun doing it.

“’I don’t know,’ my husband used to say before I left for a conference where I was to be on staff. ‘Should I feel bad that you’re excited about leaving us?’

“’But I’m always excited to come home too,’ I’d say as I grabbed my suitcase and ran. Another few days with people who understood me and actually came to class to listen and learn. (Did I mention I’d taught junior high?)

“I know the door to teaching like this, traveling to conferences and sharing my love of writing in practical ways, is very narrow, and I’ve loved having the chance to slink through. I still do.”

Gale’s latest book is the Amish novel An Unexpected Match.

If Rachel were English, she’d be an academic.
What does she do in a culture that devalues and fears education?

Rachel Beiler loves her job as the teacher in her Amish community and she loves her People. She’s obedient, humble, and compliant and tries to keep the ordnung to the best of her ability. But Rachel has a dangerous secret, at least dangerous in her community. She loves knowledge and yearns for a college education.An_Unexpected_Match

After serving a dozen years in the Army, Rob Lanier is now home again where he’s constantly reminded of his family’s fall from grace. His father—once a highly respected and wealthy community leader—has disgraced the family, and Rob can’t find it in his heart to forgive him.

When Rachel and Rob meet, sparks fly. But when a series of frightening events surrounding Rachel’s brother Johnny brings Rachel’s world crashing down around her, this unlikely match between an Amish teacher and an Englischer ex-soldier seems to be God’s perfect answer.

Purchase An Unexpected Match at Amazon, B&N, or CBD.

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HARVEST TIME by Gayle Roper

It’s harvest time in Amish country where I live as it is in any farming community at this time of the year.

tobaccoStands of tobacco are being harvested by hand with sharp knives to preserve the leaves, then stacked in what look like little teepees to ripen. In years past there were fields of tobacco in our area, but now the tobacco crop is a matter of a few rows in fields dominated by corn.

My Plain friend Sally tells that several years ago she talked her father out of growing tobacco because “The body is a temple of the Lord and tobacco damages it.”

For years her family grew tomatoes in what had been their tobacco fields. They hand harvested the rich, red fruit, backbreaking work, and left flatbed wagons of full baskets stacked pyramid style at the edge of the field. Each night big trucks from Campbell Soups would come and gather the tomatoes.
corn cart

Today those fields are full of corn, much easier to harvest.

One man and his horses pull the machine that cuts the stalks off near the ground and sends them up the chute that spits out the stalks. The stalks are deposited on a flatbed wagon driven beside the harvester by another man and his team.

The next day one local farmer drives his team over the field, tilling the ground and turning the stalks into a kind of compost that will enrich his field over the winter. In the spring he’ll spread the highly fragrant manure he collects over the winter for further enrichment of the soil.Pumpkin wagon in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA

In another field four men bend to the task of harvesting pumpkins. In my car I follow behind another farmer taking his pumpkins to the market, his flatbed stacked with the orange rounds. I wonder at the labor of getting all those pumpkins on and off the wagon. Granted he’s got three of his kids along to help, but it’s still one gigantic task.

As I watch the harvest, it’s easy to understand why the farms are small and the fields like patchwork quilts. The work is physical and demanding, and one family can only do so much.

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The Scavenger Hunt Skinny

Thanks so much for stopping by my site and participating in the new Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt. Before you move on to Stop #26, which is Gayle Roper’s site, to pick up your next clue, be sure to write down this Stop #25 clue: THAN WE HAVE

But Before You Go

To be entered to win a three-pack of Erin Healy’s supernatural suspense novels, including The Baker’s Wife, Afloat, and Stranger Things, sign up for Erin’s monthly newsletter and complete the confirmation process. If you’ve already filled out the pop-up subscription form, you’re in! (United States residents only. Winners will be announced on this blog Friday October 24.)

 

 

 

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