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Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #20

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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 3/18 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, 3/21 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 Cynthia Ruchti. You may already be a friend, or we’re just now being introduced. I write both fiction and nonfiction, always under the umbrella of this thought: “I can’t unravel. I’m hemmed in hope!” I’m the author of more than 30 books to date with more on the way, which might explain why I drink both tea AND coffee! Sometimes at the same time (two different mugs, of course). You can connect with me and find out more about the books I write here on my Books page, but also through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. My latest release is the women’s fiction Facing the Dawn (Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group). It’s brand new this month. Here’s a little about the novel:

facing the dawn

While her humanitarian husband Liam has been digging wells in Africa, Mara Jacobs has been struggling. She knows she’s supposed to feel a warm glow that her husband is nine time zones away, caring for widows and orphans. But the reality is that she is exhausted, working a demanding yet unrewarding job, trying to manage their three detention-prone kids, failing at her to-repair list, and fading like a garment left too long in the sun.

Then Liam’s three-year absence turns into something more, changing everything and plunging her into a sunless grief. As Mara struggles to find her footing, she discovers that even when hope is tenuous, faith is fragile, and the future is unknown, we can be sure we are not forgotten . . . or unloved.

Writing Facing the Dawn reminded me that when we try to “fix” grief or forget about our losses, nothing really works. Not even “Time heals all wounds.” Looking for a magic formula to resolve our grief is a fruitless effort. But we’re not left without hope, and—as Mara does in Facing the Dawn—we can lean on caring friends, explore the healing role of creativity and art, the soul-strengthening benefits of music and nature, and grab nuggets of stabilizing, refreshing, comforting moments where we can find them.

Mara’s friend Ashlee helped Mara discover the wonder of cyanotype. If you’re unfamiliar, check out the examples on my Pinterest board. Cyanotype is art the sun makes. As art, cyanotype is formed by the light of the sun creating a blueprint effect on paper or fabric treated with chemicals that combined produce a deep Prussian blue, leaving the original paper or fabric color unchanged where the sunlight was unable to reach it because of an object on the paper.

The process is fairly simple, especially for a new-to-the-idea artist who starts with paper already embedded with the chemicals. A piece of lace, a feather, an arrangement of weeds or flowers or leaves can become a stunning work of art as the sun does what it does best—shine.

cyanotype

Image courtesy of Barbara Anne Waite

This image was created by the grandmother of a friend of mine—in 1904, when her grandmother was 16! The image is as vibrant as it ever was, almost 120 years later. Its endurance speaks so beautifully to the storyline of Facing the Dawn. If you’ve ever experimented with making cyanotype art, I’d love to see what you’ve made. Feel free to connect with me through the Contact Me page on this website. If you’re willing to let me share your image on that Pinterest page, please give me permission to do so in your email.

 

 

 

 

Here’s the Stop #20 Basics: If you’re interested, you can order Facing the Dawn on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, christianbook.com or at your local bookstore!

CLUE to WRITE DOWN: too?

Link to Stop #21, the next stop on the loop, Pepper Basham: https://pepperdbasham.com/2021/03/17/the-stories-that-shaped-us/

But wait! I’m personally offering an additional giveaway to those who sign up for my newsletter (you’ll find the sign up form on the home page of this website) or note in a comment on this post that you’re already a subscriber. Extra credit for those who follow me on Goodreads or BookBub. This personal giveaway is USA only please. What is it, you ask? A box of 12 cyanotype notecards!

cyanotype cards

 

 


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