Follow the clues to win a Kindle Fire HDX, free books and more!

Welcome to the Spring Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt, which begins on April 4, 2014 at noon, Mountain Time, and ends on April 6 at midnight, Mountain Time. The hunt includes 33 stops that will introduce you to authors with new or soon-to-be released novels. If you are finding the hunt for the first time here on my blog, youโ€™ll want to go back to Stop #1 on Robin Lee Hatcherโ€™s blog. Each stop on the hunt will include a clue. Collect all the clues, and then at the end fill out the Rafflecopter form back on Robinโ€™s site at Stop 33. If your name is drawn as a winner, be ready to provide the complete quote within 24 hours of being notified by e-mail at the end of the hunt or another winner will be randomly drawn.

Grand prize: a Kindle Fire HDX plus $100 Kindle gift certificate.

2nd and 3rd prizes: a print copy of every book on the hunt with a total value of over $300.

Note: If at any point you encounter a broken link and get stalled, never fear! Robin Lee Hatcher put together a handy-handy list of all the participating authors and links to their sites. Here it is: http://www.robinleehatcher.com/scavenger-hunt-participating-authors-stops/

tricia-looks-up-2-2209And now, for Stop #9. Please welcome with me a guest post of exclusive content from Tricia Goyer. She has written more than thirty-five books, including both novels that delight and entertain readers and non-fiction titles that offer encouragement and hope. She has also published more than 500 articles in national publications such as Guideposts, Thriving Family, Proverbs 31, and HomeLife Magazine. Find out more at her website, or connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Hereโ€™s the rundown on Triciaโ€™s new book, The Kissing Bridge.

As hearts are opened and secrets are revealed, Rebecca and Caleb find they have much more in common than just their Amish background. But can this runaway find love with a risk-taker who has lost his faith in God? All it will take is one week in the wilderness to find out โ€ฆ

Pinning My Way to a Heartwarming Novel

Doodle frame. Chalkboard.In 1996 at the Mt. Hermon Christian Writer’s Conference I attended a workshop on โ€œWriting a Novelโ€ by Robin Jones Gunn. Robin showed us the notebooks she created for her characters, bits of clippings organized and pasted within notebooks. I loved the idea, and for years I flipped through JCPenny catalogs, cutting out my characters, their clothes, and even their living rooms. It was like grown up paper dolls and it helped my characters come to life!

Now, nearly twenty years and forty books later I still enjoy envisioning my characters, their clothes, and the setting, only now I don’t use magazines, scissors and glue. Instead I pin items on Pinterest.

Who did I pick for Rebecca in The Kissing Bridge? You may recognize Alexis Biedel. Why? Gilmore Girls was a favorite of mine for many years. (My daughter got me hooked on it!) I picture Rebecca with the same strong belief in herselfโ€”even though Rebecca’s Amish.

And how about Caleb Fisher? Cam Gigandet will work fine, thank you)! I don’t know much about Cam, but who could say no to those blue eyes!

18224926Do the characters of my book look like these people? Sort of. Itโ€™s hard to find models that fit the images perfect … and I donโ€™t think my publisher could have afforded to get the real Alexis and Cam in for the shoot.

And of course just as beautiful as these people is the place of West Kootenai, Montana (insert link:http://www.pinterest.com/pin/108156828522879133/)! I’ve been to West Kootenai many times, and I was happy to capture some of the beautiful images of this place on Pinterest. Is this setting amazing or what? Yes, it was hard to write about such a beautiful place and not camp out there for a while!

Another location in the book is Kootenai Falls. How beautiful is this place! I was able to go to West Kootenai a few years ago on a research trip. I can’t wait to go back!

Finally, my last favorite thing about creating virtual research boards via Pinterest is the ability to share them! My old character notebooks got thrown away or lost years ago, yet with a click of a button readers can view my online research boards! I can care the images that captured my attention and the people I picture as I write.

It’s fun to share this world beyond the books. And hopefully readers can connect with the images the way that I do โ€ฆ or at least see what first spurred the ideas that led to my heartwarming stories!

You can buy Triciaโ€™sโ€™s book on Amazon, barnesandnoble.com, Christianbooks.com. Of course, you can check out your local bookstores as well.

Now, before you go: Write down this information. Youโ€™ll need it to complete the quote that could win you big prizes.

Stop #9โ€ฒs clue: –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Bonus Prize (US only): Complete set of Valley of Choice series: Accidentally Amish, In Plain View, Taken for English.

To enter the drawing for this bonus prize, Like my Facebook page and leave a comment there. If youโ€™re already following, just leave a comment on Facebook that youโ€™re doing the Scavenger Hunt.

Your next stop is Triciaโ€™s own blog.Make sure you make the rounds to all 33 stops and then enter the Rafflecopter form at Stop #33 back at Robin Lee Hatcherโ€™s site to be in the running for the big prizes!