THE CHRISTIAN FICTION SCAVENGER HUNT HAS BEGUN!!!
• The hunt BEGINS on 3/18 at noon MST
• 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)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books through this.
• 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 (#31), right back here on my site.
If you’ve never heard of me, I’m Lisa T. Bergren. Or Lisa Tawn Bergren. Or just Lisa. I’m a wife, a mom of big kids and a writer living in Colorado Springs, CO. Over the years, I’ve written more than 60 books in many genres, including historical, contemporary romance, YA time travel, children’s picture books and more. But I really, really love this supernatural suspense genre and the medieval time period, which are both showcased in The Gifted series, beginning with Begotten.
What’s Begotten about? Here’s the back cover copy: A portion of an ancient, beautifully illuminated letter–a letter believed to have been written by Saint Paul–has surfaced. The letter speaks of men and women with profound spiritual gifts and the illuminations bear a striking resemblance to those drawing together in medieval Italy. Their gathering will strike fear in the heart of a Church dedicated to maintaining their considerable power. But there is another enemy on the hunt for them and he is darker still…It was a blast to write and was a finalist for the Christy Award, back when it first released. (This is an updated, repackaged version of one of my favorite novels.)
Publishers Weekly called it a “classic battle between good and evil.”
Library Journal said it is “a full-bodied, absorbing tale…a gripping story that will have readers cheering…With crossover appeal for Tolkien and L’Engle enthusiasts.”
If that sounds like your kind of read, I hope you’ll check it out!
My Inspiration for The Gifted Series
Even though I’d been writing two to three books a year, God suddenly called me into a “fallow season.” I didn’t understand why he was asking me to back away from a successful career, but my husband and I agreed that I needed to obey. What followed was a three-year span in which I didn’t write a word! At the time, I was trying to build a business (which eventually had to close) and I got pregnant with my third child. God knew what he was doing when he asked me not to write. Had I been trying to meet deadlines during those years, it just might’ve killed me!
But when I started thinking about writing again, I read The Da Vinci Code. It was the first novel in years that I stayed up half the night reading. Now, I hated the heretical aspects of that novel, but I adored the intrigue and pacing and historical clues set in dramatic, ancient locations. So I set off to discover a mystery I could mine myself, and in talking with my pastor/scholar cousin, he mentioned the “lost letters of Saint Paul.”
“Wait…WHAT?” I said. Sure enough, there it was, right in my own Bible. References to other letters and previous letters to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 5:9; 1 Cor. 5:11; 2 Cor. 10:10-11). So my mind began spinning. I read and re-read Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and began to imagine what ELSE he might’ve written to them. What would have been the purpose? His content? And why would such letters have been lost? Or buried on purpose?
So began my process. Through it all, I strived to maintain true to the themes that Paul addressed without writing “new Scripture” myself.
Here are the Stop #1 Basics:
If you’re interested you can order BEGOTTEN on Amazon or your local bookstore! Or you can buy an autographed copy from my eStore for $3 off right now!
Clue to Write Down: In this
Link to Stop #2, the Next Stop on the Loop: Suzanne Woods Fisher’s site!
Before you go, if you’d like to win my bonus prize, be sure to sign up for my eNewsletter, and follow me on BookBub and Goodreads for even more chances to win my special candle pack! (This mini contest is USA only—sorry.)