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 30 stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!

• The hunt BEGINS on 3/1 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, 3/4 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 #30. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

I’m pleased to be hosting the AH-AMAZING Kristin Billerbeck.

If you haven’t read anything by Kristin yet, you’re in for a HUGE treat. Here’s more about her latest release, “The Theory of Happily Ever After.”

According to Dr. Maggie Maguire, happiness is serious—serious science, that is. But science can’t always account for life’s anomalies, like why her fiancé dumped her for a silk-scarf acrobat and how the breakup sent Maggie spiraling into an extended ice cream–fueled chick flick binge.

Concerned that she might never pull herself out of this nosedive, Maggie’s friends book her as a speaker on a “New Year, New You” cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. Maggie wonders if she’s qualified to teach others about happiness when she can’t muster up any for herself. But when a

handsome stranger on board insists that smart women can’t ever be happy, Maggie sets out to prove him wrong. Along the way she may discover that happiness has far less to do with the head than with the heart.

Brooding, Brilliant Heroes

For a romance writer, the hero of the story is of the utmost importance.  We all have our own preferences for what makes a hero attractive.  Some writers/readers love the nice guy next door.  The man who will carry your books home from school, open the door and yet still give you the confidence that he can take care of you in a crisis.

Take Almanzo Wilder from “Little House on the Prairie” for example.  Great, gentle but strong hero. I prefer my heroes a little darker and more brooding.  This started when I fell in love with David Rintoul as “Mr. Darcy” in “Pride and Prejudice.” On the outside, he is proud and quite arrogant, but there lurks a deeper character within who is willing to rescue our heroine without taking the credit.  That is so sexy!  Of course, Colin Firth came along and cemented the role. Jane Austen sweetened the pot by giving us Captain Wentworth in “Persuasion.”  Seriously?  A man who loves so deep and long from afar that he never marries, but waits for Anne Elliot?  Girl, sign me up!

So now, when I write a hero, I prefer them brilliant and a bit brooding.  Darn you Jane Austen! It probably doesn’t help that I live in Silicon Valley.  When I write a hero, I very rarely rely on looks or a picture, because it’s the character within that I’m focusing on, so when I use a photo, it is merely to describe physical features in my book.  In “The Theory of Happily Ever After” I used this photo for my hero. Although, it’s a historical photo, I think Aidan Turner as “Poldark” from BBC’s Masterpiece Series perfectly embodies the look of my hero.  Quietly attentive and heroic.

Kristin Billerbeck is the bestselling, Christy-nominated, two time Carol winning author of over 45 books. She lives in California where she pursues deep conversation and shallow entertainment.

Here’s the Stop #20 Skinny: You can order Kristin’s book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD, Lifeway, or at your local bookstore!

Clue to Write Down: our posts

Link to Stop #21, the Next Stop on the Loop: Kristin Billerbeck’s own site! 

Happy Hunting!

Elizabeth Goddard