If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all 31 stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 3 grand prizes!
- The hunt BEGINS with Stop #1 at Lisa Bergren’s site.
- 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, 11/6)! 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 #31. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!
It is a huge privilege to host the very gifted Suzanne Woods Fisher. We both share the same editor and publisher, Revell. Her Amish covers are among my favorites in the genre and this night scene is particularly beautiful as is the title. Here’s a brief peek at her latest release:
The Devoted features Ruthie Stoltzfus, a bright and restless young woman who is on the cusp of leaving the Amish. She’s got a plan in place…and then Patrick Kelly, a non-Amish Canadian, arrives in Stoney Ridge. He’s got a plan of his own, with a perspective on life that turns Ruthie’s world upside down.
Joke’s on Me
by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Each spring, I plant a vegetable garden as if my family was dependent solely on its harvest for survival. Tomatoes, carrots, spinach, lettuce, sunflowers, corn, peppers, peas, beans, pumpkins, onions, garlic, a variety of herbs that includes lots and lots of basil (for pesto!). It’s a large area, fenced in, tucked in the corner of our yard, with eight raised beds, lined by two rows of grape vines. It’s my special spot—mainly because my husband and children don’t like to garden. (They do like to eat, though.)
So this garden has always been my happy place—a sweet refuge within shouting distance of my four children as they played in the yard. A happy place…until this year, when a certain buck-toothed furry creature moved in.
Gopher.
While Gopher looks adorable in the Winnie the Pooh cartoons wearing his little hard hat, he is much less appealing in person. Beady little eyes, big pointy nose, and I already mentioned his need for orthodontics. I can say such mean things because I have seen him, multiple times. In fact, we have had staring contests in my garden. He pops out of a hole (in a raised bed, despite tight galvanized wire lining its entire base!) and watches me. Chuckling, I think.
I’ve tried everything I could, humanely, to evict Gopher. Non-kill traps. Getting rid of my compost pile. Vibrating stakes that promise to scare him away. Chiles, coffee grounds, even dryer sheets, tucked into his tunnels (apparently gophers are fussy about smells). Owl boxes! (And a nesting pair did move in.) Nothing works. This little guy is a genius. I almost—almost—admire him.
Until yesterday.
I went up to the garden to pick my favorite pumpkin. I’d been carefully nurturing this particular pumpkin so that it would sit by the front door for October. I cut the stem, picked it up…and noticed it was extremely lightweight. Suspiciously light. I turned it over and…well, if I were a cussing woman, I would have cussed. Gopher had tunnelled to the base of the pumpkin and hollowed it out. Not a seed remained. Not one. From my above-ground view, the pumpkin had looked perfect. But it was empty! If I didn’t know better, it’s like he’s been playing a joke on me.
But the joke’s on him. All bets are off, Gopher.
Happy hunting, all!
Bio: Suzanne Woods Fisher is a bestselling, award winning author of fiction and non-fiction books about the Old Order Amish. You can find Suzanne on-line at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SuzanneWoodsFisherAuthor or @suzannewfisher on Twitter. Stay tuned to see who wins the garden battle—Gopher or Suzanne!
Here’s the Stop #23 Skinny:
You can order Suzanne’s book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD or at your local bookstore!
Clue to Write Down: can
Link to Stop #24, the Next Stop on the Loop: Suzanne’s own site!
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For my own personal giveaway item, I’d love to send you an additional Kentucky-crafted Christmas ornament. To enter, please:
Please like my Facebook Author Page
While there, please leave a comment that says, “ornament.”
Thank you! I’ll announce the winner on November 7th!