Welcome! If you have no idea what the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt is, check out this SCAVENGER HUNT BASICS post and then return here! There are 17 stops in this loop, and if you collect the clues at all 17 stops, you can enter to win all 17 autographed books and a Kindle Paperwhite (and be halfway toward the Grand Prize of all 34 books and a Kindle Fire HDX!) You’ll notice that some of the authors are also offering additional prizes, so be sure to fill out all their forms to be eligible for the max number of prizes.
My guest is Carla Laureano, a dynamo of an author and a new-ish friend. I love it that she lives just up in Denver and we get to cross paths and share a meal or a cup of coffee once in a while. Here’s her official bio: Carla Laureano is the author of the Celtic fantasy series The Song of Seare (as C.E. Laureano) as well as the RITA® award-winning romance Five Days in Skye. A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons.
Her new book/series looks so good! Here’s the official summary: Conor and Aine have barely escaped Seare with their lives. Conor knows he must return to find the harp that could end the Red Druid’s reign of terror, but in the midst of their escape, he and Aine are torn apart once more. Surrounded by despair and thrown into as much danger as they left behind, Conor and Aine must cling to the whispers of Comdiu’s plans for them and the homeland that depends on their survival. But at what cost? Will they learn to depend on Comdiu completely? Or will they give up hope?
Doesn’t that sound good? You can purchase XX at your local bookstore, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD, or your favorite retailer.
Carla’s exclusive scavenger hunt content is this great meditation on character development…Check it out!
Character Can’t Be Developed in Ease
by Carla Laureano
Ever feel like you just can’t take one more thing? Have you had those months of endless struggle that never seem like they’re going to get better…and when you finally do come out on the other side, more problems are waiting for you? Have you been tempted to relax and think “Whew, that’s over—at least nothing else crazy can happen!” but you don’t because it feels like asking for more trouble?
Yeah. Me too. In fact, my last few years have like that, where each blessing comes with a corresponding trial, and each breather is cut short by more of the unexpected. It was in the middle of some of that craziness that I wrote the second book in the Song of Seare Celtic fantasy series, Beneath the Forsaken City, which ended up influencing the direction of the story more than I realized at the time.
In book one, Oath of the Brotherhood, Conor and Aine were subjected to more danger, loss, and uncertainty than anyone should have to experience. For a time, it looked like things were looking up. But as we open into Beneath the Forsaken City, the happily-ever-after they were expecting is cruelly yanked away from them and replaced instead with more danger, more loss, more uncertainty. If anyone had the right to think that God had abandoned them, it would be these two.
Why would an author do this to her characters? No, not because I’m sadistic (okay, maybe I’m a little sadistic…I do write fantasy after all), but because I know the end of the story. I know what awaits them, and I know that they just aren’t strong enough to face it yet. There are bigger trials to come, bigger victories to be won, and unless they are tested and refined and come out stronger in the end, they’ll never accomplish what God has in store for them.
Isn’t that a bit like life? While we’re in the valleys, all we see is the darkness. We have no way to look ahead to what awaits us. We feel like there’s no reason for our suffering. But God knows what comes next. God knows what we need to experience for our personal growth and the
THE SCAVENGER HUNT SKINNY:
Thanks for stopping by on the hunt! Before you go, make sure you WRITE DOWN THESE CLUES:
Secret Word(s): “It
Secret Number: 48, a number I chose, because I just turned 48!
Got ‘em down?? Great! Your next stop is Stop #2, Carla Laureano’s site. Click on over there now. And if you get lost, a complete list of the Purple Team loop with links can be found HERE.
What? You’re still here? Reluctant to leave me? I love that, of course. FOR YOU, you can enter to win my own little BONUS prize offering of a Remnants T-shirt, sterling silver ring, and either SEASON OF WONDER or SEASON OF FIRE. Just be sure to sign up for my e-newsletter (or let me know you’ve done so in the past) and fill out this Rafflecopter below: