2013 Fall Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt - Stop 17

Welcome to the 2013 Fall Scavenger Hunt! This hunt (which begins at noon Mountain Daylight Time) has 25 stops and runs October 18 through October 20, 2013. You can make the loop, reading unique content from 25 different authors, and after you complete the loop and fill out the Rafflecopter form at the final stop, you’ll be in the running for the prizes. And what prizes! Two runners-up will receive all 25 books in their mailboxes, and the grand prize winner will get an iPad Mini 16GB! Besides those great prizes, many of the authors taking part are offering additional prizes. Check below to see my added prize. Collective prizes total well over $1000! What do you have to do to qualify for those prizes? Just have fun going around to all the stops, read some great never before published posts from the authors taking part and gather the clues. Great news for our international readers. The contest is open to you too!

If you’ve JUST discovered the hunt, you might want to start at the beginning, Stop # 1, Lisa Bergren.com. This is Stop #17. But you can also begin here, and then backtrack to the first stops to gather all the clues so you have the complete secret phrase. You'll need that to enter for the big prizes at Stop #26.

Ready? Let's go!  Here at Stop 17 I'm hosting the award-winning and multi-published Lyn Cote. Lyn has visited here on One Writer's Journal in the past and I've been a guest over on her wonderful blog, Strong Women. Lyn writes contemporary romance, romantic suspense, historical romance and family sagas and has nearly 40 titles to her credit. She lives in a lake cottage in the northwoods of Wisconsin with her real life hero and four cats. Find her at her website; on Twitter or  Facebook. Lyn's newest release and the book you'll have a chance to win in the Scavenger Hunt is The Baby Bequest.  

Let's see what Lyn has to say about her research for this book. Welcome, Lyn. So good to have you here. Tell us about your research for The Baby Bequest.

Historical Research is Fun

It is always so interesting to research the language of a time period. For example, I had wanted to use the phrase “the real thing,” in my latest book, The Baby Bequest, but after some research, I discovered that phrase came into use much later than when this story takes place. I don’t like to use phrases that aren’t historically grounded.

The Real McCoy

So I substituted “the real McCoy,” and discovered that this phrase came into use because of Elijah McCoy, an African-American born in Ontario, Canada, in 1844, the son of runaway slaves. Educated in Scotland as a mechanical engineer, Elijah McCoy settled in Detroit. Unable to get a job as a mechanical engineer because of racial prejudice, he worked for the railroad as an “oiler.”

You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down

While working there, he invented a cup that would regulate the flow of oil onto moving parts of industrial machines, first the train engine. This invention distributed oil evenly over the engine's moving parts. He obtained a patent for this invention, which allowed trains to run continuously for long periods of time without pausing for maintenance.

The term “real McCoy” refers to Elijah’s oiling device. It became so popular that people inspecting new equipment would ask if the device contained “the real McCoy.”

How about that?

For more information, go to http://www.biography.com/people/elijah-mccoy-9391300

Lyn's newest release, The Baby Bequest, is available in bookstores or online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook.com, or wherever great books are sold. 

On to the Next Step in the Scavenger Hunt:

Write down this clue: you are

Now you're ready to head over to Lyn Cote's blog, Stop #18 for the next great author post from Judith Miller and to find your next clue.

My Bonus Giveaway

As a bonus, I'll draw 3 winners who can then have their choice of one of my Shaker titles, The Outsider, The Believer, The Seeker, The Blessed, or The Gifted. Just leave a comment here on this post telling me what you like best about taking part in a Scavenger Hunt. Get an extra entry by "liking" my Facebook page. If you already "like" the page, thank you. Just tell me you have, and you'll get that extra entry in my bonus drawing.

Lyn Cote and Why She Writes About the Quakers

Lyn Cote

Hi, everybody.
Occasionally I have the privilege of welcoming another author over to write in my writer's journal. Today I'm especially pleased to welcome Lyn Cote, multi-published, bestselling author of books that tell brave stories about strong women. I've been fortunate enough to visit her blog a few times so today she's returning the favor. As a bonus she has a special offer for all your readers about some free or discounted books. Read the links and titles at the end of her interview and be sure to let Lyn know how much you appreciate her generosity.  

First, welcome, Lyn. As you know I have several books about the Shakers, who have a few similarities to the Quakers that you have used as central characters in books you have written. What caught your interest and started you writing about the Quakers or Society of Friends?

I've never analyzed before why I have always been drawn to Quakers. I know that like Ann who writes about the Shakers, I'm going against the current "Amish" flow. :-)

I think that the Quakers or Friends strong moral stands which ran counter to the prejudices of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries is what attracted my crusading spirit. My brand is expressed as "Strong Women, Brave Stories" since my heroines are usually crusaders who are at the forefront for change in their times.

According to Wikipeida: "Historically, Quakers have been known for their use of thee as an ordinary pronoun, refusal to participate in war; plain dress; refusal to swear oaths; and opposition to alcohol." Indeed in our history, they were instrumental in settling our nation and in the 19th century were the Christians who pushed for the rights of women, abolition and the temperance movement.

I've always admired the Quakers and wanted to know more about them. Sounds like your stories will help me there. Tell us about the series you just finished.

I just finished the Gabriel Sisters series which portrayed three Quaker sisters who try to bind up the wounds of our nation after the Civil War. One goes to teach at a Freedman's school in the South; one established an orphanage for the many orphans left by the war and the third who was a nurse in the war becomes a doctor in the West. Recently I agreed to write another Quaker series which will dramatically portray the Quakers' part in establishing the Underground Railroad and working toward abolition.

All those books sound really exciting. I love reading about women who made a difference in our country's history. Definitely all these ideas sound as if they easily fit into your brand of brave stories about strong women. What else have you been working on?

Last year, I had time to revise and polish my very first manuscript, La Belle Christiane. This book never sold because it didn't follow some of the unwritten rules of Christian fiction. I still thought it's a good story and now it's FINALLY available in digital and print. I did this because I didn't want it to sit ignored in my files forever. Interestingly I find that La Belle Christiane included my fascination with the Quakers (I have an older couple of Friends) and I have a crusading heroine. Here's a short blurb:

In the 1770's, after her mother's violent murder, Christiane Pelletier flees France. Daughter of a French courtesan to frontier wife to companion of Lady Washington, Christiane moves into the heart of the American rebel elite. But one man in her life can never be forgotten. Once he was her friend. Now he is her enemy. Will he become her destiny? Only God knows.

What fun to have that very first book that you've always loved finally available to readers! Thanks for telling us about it. And thanks for these special offers to my blog readers.

Okay, everybody, here's your chance to get some great reads downloaded on your e-readers for free or to get a discount on a print book. Instead of offering one free download (not print copy) of this book, Lyn is offering a free coupon to anyone who wants it today. Go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/92021  and enter this discount code VM67X . This offer is good for today only. To buy a print copy, go to https://www.createspace.com/3669135.

For a discount code for $3 off $15.99 print edition, go to http://LynCote.net and click Contact and email Lyn.

And as an additional offer, you can get Lyn's Autumn's Shadow free on Kindle through Monday March 5, 2012.

http://amzn.to/y9PY6Q
The first book in the series is priced on sale at 99 cents on Kindle the same days.http://amzn.to/v8BqEz

Now Lyn has a question for you.

Did you know much about Quakers before today? And does a heroine using "thee" bother you as you read?

Lyn, thank you so much for coming over to visit and letting us know more about the Quakers and your books. And thank you, readers, for dropping by and for answering Lyn's question. We'll look forward to you sharing your thoughts, and Lyn will be back over to talk with you too.

If you want to know more about Lyn and her books, please check out her website, http://booksbylyncote.com.

One Last Chance to Make It Right

"Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in outline, but that every word tell." (William Strunk)

I got the pages for my next Shaker novel, The Gifted, dropped at my front door yesterday. I wrote the book months ago and sent it in to the acquiring editor. Then I had to sit on pins and needles a few weeks until she had time to read it and say, "Yes, the story works." Or words to that effect along with some "but you need to fix this or that" suggestions. Once those edits were done, the book headed on to the next editor in the publishing company. 

This second editor read through the book, caught more problems with the way I told the story, discovered my pet words. I seem to have some in every book. I run through a variety of them. Just. Still. Of course. Comfort words for me. Words that help me transition my thinking while I'm writing, but words that can be repetitious and often unnecessary when noted with an editorial eye. Here, with the galleys, I could fix things, rewrite things, make the story better after the discerning eyes of the copy-editor spotted weaknesses. I could also fix the things my own editing eye was able to see after a few months away from the story. 

Now, I have the pages - the stack in the photo above. At this stage of the editing process, I can't do major rewrites. I shouldn't need to do major rewrites. But if I did go crazy with my red pen, it wouldn't be good because edits and corrections are harder to make once the editorial process has gotten this far along. With the pages, I got a list of queries from the editor. Things are noted that both of us missed in the first few go-arounds. Proofreaders have read the book and their sharp eyes have noted a few mistakes here and there and have questioned this or that. Things still need fixing. I need to make every word right. 

Perfection is rarely possible. At least for me. There's always something with each reading of any of my books that I think might be worded better or presented in a fresher way. This book will be no different. But I will read through it. I will pay attention to the suggested improvements. I'll tweak a word here and there. I'll do my very best to write the story so that when you, the reader, opens it up and begins to read that the words will disappear and the story will play out in your imagination - not as words but as images. 

That's why writers edit and polish and try to make every word tell as William Strunk advises in the quote above. Words can be beautiful. The way they're put together can thrill the mind. And they can tell a story. That's all I'm trying to do - tell a story. And so, I'll read through these pages and do my best to make my words sing so that my readers will be carried away by the melody. Not perfect, but the best I can do with the help of my editor friends.

What things pull you out of a story when you're reading? Have you noted editing or writing mistakes in the books you've read?
 
On another note, all the entries are in for my Louisville contest to celebrate Words Spoken True. The blog tour for the book was last week and reviews are popping up all over the net. I'll be using Random.org to draw for the winners later today. I'll let everybody know either in a newsletter or with a special post here. 

Sunday, I'll have a special guest here on One Writer's Journal. Well known and popular author, Lyn Cote, will be sharing about her books and why she started writing about the Quakers. She'll also be offering a free download of one of her books, so come back on Sunday to see what Lyn has to say. 

Thanks for reading. Now if I can keep from sneezing long enough - I've caught a nasty cold - I'll get to work on those pages.