5/31 noon –– 6/4 midnight EST
Scavenger Hunt STOP #6
Welcome to the first ever Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! Make the loop to discover 23 new or upcoming novels, and write down the clue at each stop. When you know what the clues say, fill out the Rafflecopter form by June 4, 2012 (midnight EST) at www.LisaBergren.com, and you could be in the running for the grand prize of 23 new, autographed books (if you live in the USA; unsigned if international). Note: if you're the winner, you must email the complete statement within 24 hours of notification in order to claim the Grand Prize...so don't miss a stop! Be ready with your answer if you're the lucky winner! No need to email it unless you receive the good word on June 5, 2012.
I'm delighted to host Rachel Hauck for this scavenger hunt. Rachel was born to write. She wrote her first story in a spiral notebook when she was ten––a story about a girl and her pony. She's been writing pretty much ever since, but never fast enough for her readers! With the help and encouragement of writing friends she met through ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers, where Rachel is a past president and serves on the advisory board), she is now an award-winning, best-selling author of more than a dozen novels. "My desire is for my readers to find hope and escape in my stories, and to inhale a bit of the fragrance of Jesus' love," says Rachel. Her faithful readers would say that she has succeeded wonderfully on all counts! Find out more about Rachel at www.rachelhauck.com.
I'm delighted to host Rachel Hauck for this scavenger hunt. Rachel was born to write. She wrote her first story in a spiral notebook when she was ten––a story about a girl and her pony. She's been writing pretty much ever since, but never fast enough for her readers! With the help and encouragement of writing friends she met through ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers, where Rachel is a past president and serves on the advisory board), she is now an award-winning, best-selling author of more than a dozen novels. "My desire is for my readers to find hope and escape in my stories, and to inhale a bit of the fragrance of Jesus' love," says Rachel. Her faithful readers would say that she has succeeded wonderfully on all counts! Find out more about Rachel at www.rachelhauck.com.
The Wedding Dress
by Rachel Hauck
April 2012
Four brides.
One Dress.
A Hundred Years.
A tale of faith, redemption, and timeless love.
Buy The Wedding Dress on:
Amazon
Amazon
"The story of four loveable women, miraculously bound by one gown, whose lives span a century . . . will take your breath away."
~Beth Webb Hart, bestselling author of Love, Charleston
***
Below is a cut scene, the opening scene, of The Wedding Dress. I’m not sure it’s even a complete scene. The opening is not complete sentences!
Tim Rose was originally Mick Rose, but I’d already had several “M” characters from other books, Mitch and Max, and even I was getting confused with Mick. So I changed his name to Tim.
Originally, I saw the opening scene like a movie with Charlotte running her hand along the beautiful silk and satin skirts of her gowns. But in the end I changed the scene because I needed her to be confronted with the “wedding dress” of the story much sooner. Here’s my first attempt at the opening:
Tulle, satin, silk, organza, taffeta and lace flowing all around. Radio playing, “When the moon hits your eye… that’s amore.”
New shipment of dresses just arrived and Roxanne is “playing” in them. Charlotte walks into the store room. “Rox, are you in here?”
“Dreamily so.”
“Get out of the dresses, you’ll ruin them.”
“Charlotte, how can you can resist. It’s like standing naked a white sand beach with no one around with a pure blue green ocean stretching in front of you, the waves lapping against the shore, inviting you in, the sun high and hot in a perfect blue sky, and you go, ‘Aah, the water’s salty and I just shaved my legs.’”
“You get naked in my dresses and you’re fired.”
“I can’t believe you don’t dream about getting married. Come on, not even with Mick?”
“We’ve only been dating for five months. I’ve only known him for five months.” Charlotte had never lived in a house with men. Never seen a real marriage functioning. It was as foreign to her as… the Ali baba or rocketing to the moon.
“You cannot tell me you don’t close your eyes at night and dream of being married to that man. He’s gorgeous for one, with a successful business for two, he’s gorgeous for three, has a great family for four, he’s gorgeous for five, and he’s wild about you. That’s six, seven, eight, nine and ten with a half pike double twist.”
“What ever that means.” Charlotte worked through the inventory, recovering the invoices Roxanne haphazardly tossed on the floor.
“It means, gorgeous man with a big loving family and a successful architecture firm, boy that’s a mouthful, adores you, is crazy about you and worships the ground you walk on.”
“Ha, and hardly! I’m just his latest fascination. Mick has dozens of women waiting in the wings.”
“He’s clipped those wings. He doesn’t care about them.”
“And you know this how? He’s told you.”
“I see him when he looks at you. I watch him. And I’ve read about him some, in the paper, when he was last year’s Ludlow winner. He was nominated for Alabama Bachelor of the Year, but girl, you took him off the market.”
“Whatever. He’s hanging with me because I’m uncomplicated. I don’t demand much. If he calls and wants to go to dinner, I go. If I’m busy, I don’t. If I call to do something and he’s busy, then—“
“Is he every busy?”
“Well, no, but —“
“Forget it, you can’t convince me he’s not head over heals in love with you.”
“You can’t convince me he is.”
***
Here are some pictures I used for characters and setting:
Interesting to note that Charlotte was originally going to own a book store!
This was my inspiration for Charlotte, Zoe Malone, daughter of my good friend Tami Heim!
How I imagined Emily might have looked. Isn’t she lovely?
Now mosey along, Hunters, to STOP #7: Gail Gaymer Martin, to pick up your next clue. But before you go, write down this STOP #6 clue: classic
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