Treasure Quest: Discovery Lies Between the Covers

It's that time again! YIPPEE. First, let's cover a few rules.

TOUR RULES:

1)  HAVE FUN!!!

2)  INVITE ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS!!! SPREAD THE WORD!!!

3)  THIS TOUR STARTS:  Monday, July 18, at Midnight (Arizona Time)

     THIS TOUR ENDS: Monday, July 25, at Midnight (Arizona Time)

4)  MEET AND MINGLE WITH ALL THE AUTHORS! EXPERIENCE A NEW DESTINATION AT EVERY STOP! PARTICIPATE IN EVERY BLOG CONTEST AND BE ENTERED FOR CHANCES TO WIN MULTIPLE PRIZES! EVERY BLOG VISITED IS ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO WIN!! YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT TO BE ENTERED IN CONTESTS. PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS OR CHECK BACK May 24, to see if you were a winner.

5) PARTICIPATION AT EVERY BLOG IS RECOMMENDED. BUT REMEMBER: THE MORE YOU HOP, THE MORE CHANCES YOU HAVE TO WIN. EVERY AUTHOR IS WAITING TO MEET AND INTERACT WITH YOU, SO PLEASE BE SURE TO SHOW EVERY AUTHOR SOME LOVE!

6) DID I MENTION TO HAVE FUN?  WHOO! HOO!! HERE WE GOOOOOOOOOOOO!

THE QUEST FOR CAGE



I decided to make this Treasure Quest a bit personal and talk about a hunt for a priceless treasure that my husband and I spent years on.

When Tony and I got married in August of 1999, we embarked on a journey for the most precious treasure of all. Although we had three wonderful children from Tony's previous marriage, we desperately wanted a child together to complete our family.

This is definitely like finding a needle in a haystack. We were soon being treated for infertility and our excitement and joy at the prospect of becoming parents together started to fade.

Sadly, as weeks turned into months and months turned into years, our attempts were all in vain. It seemed our infertility was a mystery that no one could solve.

Tony and I decided that we had already been blessed and we were fortunate, so we got our two wonderful dogs, Tess and Derby, and together with Todd, Tye, and Jaci, we devoted our time to us.

A few years go by and our oldest son Todd graduated from high school, our beloved Tess was killed when she ran onto the road and was hit by a car, Tye was getting ready to graduate from high school and go to college, and Jaci was busy with her friends and planning on where she would be going to college in a year and a half. So...it was going to be just me and Tony.

I'm not going to tell you that we didn't get depressed and start talking about how we'd have a kid in elementary school still if we'd only been able to get pregnant. But, we didn't dwell on that. Instead, we focused on how great the kids were and how cool it was to watch them planning for their future and we decided to plan for ours as well.

We bought a Harley and started thinking about all the places we wanted to ride to.  We also planned on several vacations and visiting friends and family we hadn't seen in awhile.

THEN...

Well, I'll see if you can figure out what happened. Can you find our "Discovery between the covers" or stuffed animals as it is in this picture????

After almost 10 years, our Treasure Quest ended with the arrival of Cage Crit Bowman on November 20, 2008! He's amazing and he's the best gift in the world!

Hope you've enjoyed my journey. Have a similar story to share? I'd love to hear it.  What's the one treasure that means everything to you?

PRIZES!!

Speaking of treasure!! Here's the awesome treasure I'm offering! You have four changes to win on my blog. Here are the awesome prizes:

1st place: $10 coupon to use on the Astraea Press website plus a paperback copy of my novella Wayward Soul plus 2 awesome bookmarks

2nd place: a paperback copy of my novella Wayward Soul plus 2 awesome bookmarks

3rd and 4th places: a PDF copy of my novella Wayward Soul plus I'll mail you 2 awesome bookmarks

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed my Quest. Now head on over to the next blog for another exciting post with:

Jennifer Alli

BLOGFEST GIVEAWAY 2011

Welcome to BLOGFEST 2011! And thank you A Journey of Books for hosting!

I LOVE books. Reading is my favorite past time, aside from writing and playing with my kidlet. Of course, I certainly have my favorites. I thought I'd list my top five for you guys, in no particular order.

I still get chills when I think of Jessie Burlingame being tied to that bed in Gerald's Game by Stephen King. Even more so when she realizes she hasn't been imagining that she's not alone...

I know when most people think of Audrey Niffenegger, they think of her debut novel The Time Traveller's Wife. I have to tell you, as much as I loved that book, it pales in comparison for me next to her novel Her Fearful Symmetry. I read it, read it again, and then read it again a month later.

I'm tempted to say all of Jodi Picoult's books, but since I said I'd list five, I'll pick one of hers. I will tell you one of the funniest scenes ever came from her book Keeping Faith when Faith's grandma is on the stand and she's looking for her death certificate in her purse. HA! I love that scene. But...my favorite of her books is Mercy. Not only is it a tear-jerker that reminds me a lot of my very good friend Kay Springsteen's books, you gotta love a woman who gets revenge on her husband by selling all his stuff in a garage sale. including his favorite chair.

A book that might surprise some people is christian novelist Ray Blackston's Flabbergasted. What a hoot! I loved every minute of it and loved the sequels just as much.

This last book is near and dear to my heart. Yes, I'm a little biast since I wrote the story that's helping it make my list, but, hey, it's a good story:) I had the awesome privilege of working with five other great Astraea Press authors on an anthology titled Matrimonial Mayhem. I got to honor two very special people with my contribution. My mom and dad. My story The Ballad of Brenda and Willard is funny as well as near and dear to my heart. I love it and I'm so glad I wrote it for them. The proceeds from the sale go to benefit the tornado victims, so hop over to Astraea Press and for $5 get a great book and help a wonderful cause.

So that's a few of my favorites. How about you? Leave a comment telling me what your favorite book is and why and I'll enter you in a contest to win a paperback copy of my novella Wayward Soul plus your pick of FIVE ebooks from the list below. I'll also have a second, third, and fourth place prize of an ebook copy of Wayward Soul. Winners will be randomly chosen using randomizer.org

~Jean (Sunny Days, Moonlit Nights)
~Bri Clark (Cafe Seduzione)
~Stephanie Taylor (Lucky For Her)
~Stephanie Taylor (The Picture)
~Kay Springsteen (Heartsight)
~Lisa Kumar (Through the Rabbit Hole)
~Stephanie Smith (Lizzie and the Rebel)
~Monique O’Connor James (The Keepers)
~J. Gunnar Grey (Deal with the Devil, part one)
~Felicia Rogers (The Perfect Rose)
~Kristine Cheney (Spartan Heart, part one)


Also, don't forget about the grand prize and make sure to stop at the other blogs in the fest! Here are links for other participants.


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