Scavenger Hunt Winners!

I hope you all enjoyed participating in the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! I just drew a winner for my extra prize, which was a paperback copy of A Viscount's Proposal, one of my Regency Spies of London stories. 

And the winner is . . .

. . .

Laurie Thames!

Congratulations! 

I will also announce the grand prize winners a little later. Stay tuned . . .

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #18

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #18

http://lisatawnbergren.com/2017/10/christian-fiction-scavenger-hunt-stop-1-3/

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 25 stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 3 grand prizes!

·         The hunt BEGINS with Stop #1 at Lisa Bergren’s site.

·         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, 10/19 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books.

·         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 Stop #25. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

My guest is the talented Angela Hunt. 

Angie is the author of more than 140 books for children and adults, including novels about the Biblical women Esther, Bathesheba, and Magdalene. Her newest is a fascinating story called Egypt's Sister. 

Here's a short summary of the book: Five decades before the birth of Christ, Chava, daughter of the royal tutor, grows up with Urbi, a princess in Alexandria's royal palace. When Urbi becomes Queen Cleopatra, Chava vows to be a faithful friend no matter what--but after she and Cleopatra have an argument, she finds herself imprisoned and sold into slavery. 

Torn from her family, her community, and her elevated place in Alexandrian society, Chava finds herself cast off and alone in Rome. Forced to learn difficult lessons, she struggles to trust a promise HaShem has given her. After experiencing the best and worst of Roman society, Chava must choose between love and honor, between her own desires and God's will for her life. 

Angie has a treat for us, a fun quiz to test your Cleopatra IQ. So, without further ado, here is my lovely guest, Angela Hunt: 

Why, hello there!  I am very happy to be a guest on Melanie’s blog today. I’m featuring my new release Egypt’s Sister,  which features Cleopatra as a principal character. 

We all think we know Cleopatra—after all, didn’t we see Elizabeth Taylor play her in the movie? But while the old movie Cleopatra was pretty accurate historically (and if you haven’t seen it, you really should!), we have still picked up some false ideas about Egypt’s most famous queen.

So here’s a quick and easy quiz for you to test your knowledge about Cleopatra. Ready?  Go!  

The Cleopatra Quiz

True or False?

1.  Cleopatra was descended from a long line of Egyptian kings and queens.

2.  Cleopatra was reported to be one of the most beautiful women in the world.

3.  Cleopatra had one son by Julius Caesar and none by Mark Antony.

4.  Cleopatra was married to both of her brothers.

5.  After Alexander the Great’s death, Cleopatra was the only Egyptian queen who spoke Egyptian.

6.  Cleopatra ruled her kingdom from Memphis, a great city on the Nile.

7.  Cleopatra lived for a time in Rome, where she was celebrated and adored.

8.  Cleopatra was an outcast when Caesar first arrived in Rome, and she had to be smuggled into the royal palace in a carpet.

9.  Cleopatra died after being bitten by a poisonous snake.

10.  Many Egyptian queens have been named Cleopatra.   

Bonus question: Is Cleopatra mentioned in the Bible?

And here are the answers! 

Answers:

1.       False!  Cleopatra was descended from a long line of GREEK kings and queens. When Alexander the Great died, his generals divvied up his kingdom. Ptolemy took Egypt, and his descendants ruled Egypt until Cleopatra, the last queen before Rome made Egypt a province.

2.      False! Cleopatra was known for her intelligence and her charm, not her beauty. She spoke many languages, she read and wrote, and she could speak to anyone about practically anything. She knew how to charm men . . . but her beauty was not her strongest asset. 

3.      False! Cleopatra did have a son by Caesar, and was reportedly pregnant with another child at the time of his murder. That pregnancy probably ended in miscarriage. Later she would have three children, including a set of twins, by Mark Antony.

4.      True! In order to avoid “contaminating” royal blood, royal heirs frequently married their siblings and/or cousins. Cleopatra was married to both her younger brothers at different times.

5.      True! None of the others ever bothered to learn the Egyptian language. The language of the capital was Greek. 

6.      False! All the Ptolemies ruled from Alexandria, a thoroughly Greek city.

7.      True and false. Cleopatra did follow Caesar to Rome after the birth of Caesarion—but the Romans did not like her or trust her, fearing that she and Caesar planned to set themselves up as rulers. When Caesar was murdered, she hurried back to Egypt, where she and her son would be safer.

8.     True. Cleopatra the movie got this right.

9.     Probably false. That’s the story commonly told, but it’s far more likely she took poison. Her handmaids were also found dead or dying with her, but no snake.

10.    True. Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt, was the seventh of that name—unless there were others we don’t know about. It was a common name for Ptolemy queens.

Bonus question answer: Cleopatra is mentioned inadvertently.  One Cleopatra (not Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt) was the mother of tetrarchs Herod and Philip (Luke 3:1). And yet another Cleopatra is mentioned in the Apocrypha, 1 Maccabees 10:57-58.

Thank you, Melanie, for allowing me to write for your blog today!  On to your next scavenger hunt stop! 

~~Angie Hunt

 Dr. Angela Hunt is the author of more than 140 books for children and adults, in fiction and nonfiction. For more information, please visit her website, www.angelahuntbooks.com.

Here’s the Stop #18 Skinny:

You can order Angela’s book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD 

or at your local bookstore!

Clue to Write Down: friend

Link to Stop #19, the Next Stop on the Loop: Angela Hunt’s own site! 

***

But wait! Before you go, I’m offering a paperback copy of A VISCOUNT'S PROPOSAL. To get your name in the drawing, all you have to do is ONE of the following things: Follow my author page on Amazon by clicking the Follow button under my picture, OR follow me on Instagram, MelanieDickerson123, OR "Like" me on Facebook, OR follow me on BookBub, OR subscribe to my mailing list to get my newsletter, sign up form located on the left side of my website home page.  Then, please tell me in the comments that you did so, and include your email address so I can contact you if you win.

Happy Scavenger Hunting!!! And reading!!! 

Second Annual British Blooms & Books Giveaway

Hello, gentle reader, and welcome to the second annual British Blooms and Books giveaway! This week, we’d like to celebrate the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea FlowerShow. After enjoying this post, please visit each of the other five authors’ blog posts (links provided below) and, after a bit of reading fun, follow one simple instruction and then leave a comment on each blog. You’ll be entered to win a fabulous, British Blooms and Books prize. (US winners only, please, due to shipping the petit fours.) Enjoy, and thank you for stopping by!

Here is an excerpt from my newest romance in my Regency series, A Viscount’s Proposal:

      One glance down at her splinted arm reminded Leorah that Lord Withinghall had acquitted himself well the day before, on the whole, showing great courage, generosity, and even compassion toward her—which was difficult to assimilate with how much animosity had existed between them.

      Leorah dressed quickly with Becky’s help, being careful of her wrist, surprised that she hardly felt any pain in it, and hurried down to breakfast. After a hearty plate of her favorite breakfast foods, she wandered outside and headed for the rose garden.

      The bushes were mostly bare, but one had a few stray roses. Leorah picked a dark-pink one and held it against her cheek. The soft coolness of the petals against her skin made her close her eyes and sigh. How good it was to feel safe and to know her mother, brother, and sister-in-law were inside the house just behind her, relieved to have her home, her mother and Julia even crying a few tears of joy when they’d hugged her. They would never force her to marry Lord Withinghall simply out of fear of a ruined reputation.

       But would she be harming them if she did not marry him?

       To think of becoming Lord Withinghall’s wife . . . to endure his glowering looks, his irritation and control, his opinions of what a proper wife should do and be and think . . . He’d probably force her to read Hannah More’s treatises on proper religion and morality and forbid any sort of fiction reading.

       She pressed the flower against her lips, breathing in its soothing scent and exhaling all her fear.            

      “Lord, help the woman, whoever she turns out to be.”

I hope you enjoyed this excerpt from A Viscount’s Proposal and will read the book to find out if Leorah ends up changing her mind about the viscount, Lord Withinghall.

Now, to be entered in the drawing, please leave a comment on this blog and either sign up to receive my newsletter at the top right of this blog, OR click Like on my Facebook author page.

Giveaway Rules:

One grand prize winner who comments on each of the six authors’ blogs and agrees to the one boldfaced condition posted at the end of each post will win a signed copy of each of the books plus delivery of six English hat petit fours to enjoy while you read! Name will be drawn via random.org

Photo from Divine Delights

Finished? Well done! Please visit these other fabulous authors of England-set historicals to see what flowers mean to them and their heroines.

LINKS TO PARTICIPANTS:

Melanie Dickerson’s Post [You are Here]

Melanie Dobson’s Post link

Julie Klassen’s Post link

Carrie Turansky’s Post link

Roseanna White’s Post link

Sanda Byrd’s Post link

Like Contemporary Romance? You'll Love Securing the Handyman's Heart!

Hi, Readers! I really want to introduce you to a friend and fellow writer--well, we used to be critique partners until life got crazy--Katie Clark, who has written a lovely contemporary romance called Securing the Handyman's Heart.

I am confident that you will love this sweet romance between a rather shy but conscientious handyman and a sweet and slightly clumsy bakery owner who specializes in cupcakes. My 15-year-old daughter and I both loved it! And it just released TODAY! So get it while it's hot! (So to speak.) 😊 Also, just as a warning, you may have a distinct craving for strawberry lemon cupcakes after reading it! 

ABOUT KATIE:

KATIE CLARK started reading fantastical stories in grade school and her love for books never died. Today she reads in all genres; her only requirement is an awesome story! She writes inspirational romance as well as young adult speculative fiction, including her YA supernatural novel, Shadowed Eden, as well as The Enslaved Series. You can connect with her at her website, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

Katie Clark

Hi Melanie! Thank you so much for hosting me. I’m so excited to introduce Securing the Handyman’s Heart to the world, and I’m looking forward to sharing all about it!

Q. What inspired you to write Securing the Handyman’s Heart?

            A. This might sound a little cooky (is that a word?!), but I get a LOT of my ideas from dreams. One day I dreamed of this girl who was so frustrated because her longtime, on again-off again boyfriend wouldn’t commit already. The more I thought about the dream, the more real the idea became—and I could see the hilarious potential in the story!

Q. What, if anything, do you and your heroine have in common?

            A. Kayla, my heroine, has lots of things in common with me. We both love to bake. We both love fantastic and hunky handymen (yes, my husband can fix anything!). And we both really just want to do what’s right by the world.

Q. Which character in your new release did you most enjoy writing? Why?

            A. Lou Ann, Kayla’s best friend, was a hoot to write! She is quirky and crazy and fun. In fact, book 2 will be all about her!

Q. What smell do you love most, and why?

            A. This will come as no surprise, but I love baking scents. Vanilla, cinnamon, cookie scents, fruity pie scents…you get the point!

~Katie, please share a verse of scripture that is especially meaningful to you, and why it is special.

Life it tough. Very, very tough. I like how Securing the Handyman’s Heart isn’t the typical “head over heels” romance (though there’s definitely lots of romance!), because sometimes in real life things just don’t work that way. We don’t always get our happy endings exactly the way we’d thought they would happen, you know? My favorite verse these days is Psalms 121:1-2, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” Our help and our hope is in God alone—not relationships, not jobs or presidents or money. Only God.  He is our help (and I’m so thankful, because He is faithful!).

ABOUT THE STORY:

Local cupcake queen Kayla Dobbs is feeling the heat—just as her bakery is finally taking off, her retired parents start pressuring her to move to Florida. Determined to prove her success, she takes on extra work at the bakery and fibs a little about the depth of her love life. When her mother announces an upcoming visit to meet the lucky guy, Kayla makes a pact with her friends to get a proposal from George Marks, town handyman extraordinaire. The problem is, George seems totally indifferent.

George Marks has enough on his plate with running his business, taking care of an ailing but feisty grandmother, and the possibility of a new business venture on the horizon. But when bumping into Kayla becomes a strangely routine thing, he’s surprised to realize it has also become the highlight of his days. As business spirals out of control and Granny takes a turn for the worse, he’s sure he made one too many commitments.

With a dash of matchmaking granny and a pinch of secret cupcake recipe, Kayla and George find themselves in one messy kitchen. But will they find themselves in love?

*Buy it now on Amazon, iTunes, Kobo, and more!