Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt STOP #20


UPDATE! 
THE HUNT IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED.  THE WINNER OF A SIGNED COPY OF UNDER THE TULIP TREE WILL BE NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL.  
THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED!

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you’ve just discovered the hunt, be sure to start at Stop #1, and collect the clues through all the stops, in order, so you can enter to win one of our top 5 grand prizes!
  • 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, 10/18 at midnight MST)! So take your time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new authors/new books and learn new things about them. 
  • 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, back on Lisa’s site. Many authors are offering additional prizes along the way!

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I'm so glad you're here! I'm Michelle Shocklee, a fellow reader, but also a writer of historical fiction. As an admitted history nerd, I dearly love digging into the past through research and by visiting musty old buildings, forts, and battlefields, always imagining what it would have been like to live in bygone days. You can find out more about me and my books here on my blog, on my website, Facebook page, Twitter, and Instagram. 

My newest release, UNDER THE TULIP TREE, is a time-slip novel based on the Federal Writers' Project Slave Narratives. It tells the story of two women, separated by age, race, and circumstance, who form an unlikely friendship in 1936. But will this bond of respect, admiration, and friendship be broken by a revelation neither woman sees coming?

"Shocklee elevates the redemptive power of remorse and 
the grace of forgiveness in this moving saga." 
~Publishers Weekly

"With its haunting message of forgiveness, this is a must-buy for 
any Christian or historical fiction collection."
~Library Journal

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If you haven't had an opportunity to read the word-for-word narratives of 1936, I highly recommend searching them out online at the Library of Congress. Reading them was life-changing for me. In the meantime, let me introduce you to a few of the people whose stories inspired some of the most unforgettable characters I've ever written.

Anderson and Minerva Edwards, Ages 93 and 87, Marshall, Texas
Library of Congress, 1936-38

Anderson and Minerva Edwards, a Baptist preacher and his wife, were slaves on adjoining plantations in Texas. Anderson was born in 1844, and Minerva in 1850. They were married after emancipation and raised sixteen children. The first "church" Anderson attended was under a big mulberry tree on the plantation. His master told him that if he was good and obeyed his master, he'd go to heaven. But Anderson felt there was more to it than that, and kept praying until "I felt the change in my heart. I was by myself down by a spring when I found the Lord."

I find their love story and their faith in God incredibly inspiring. The relationship between Frankie and Sam in UNDER THE TULIP TREE is loosely based on them.

Sam Jones Washington, Age 88, Texas
Library of Congress, 1936-1938

His smile is infectious. I can almost hear him chuckling at something the photographer said before snapping his picture. A picture that would, 82 years later, inspire the character of Sam in my novel UNDER THE TULIP TREE.

Sam Jones Washington was born a slave in Wharton County, Texas. He was sixteen years old when the Civil War ended. Like many slaves in Texas, he wasn’t aware of the war or its end until his master told him he was free and would now earn a wage for his work. After the war, he farmed and worked in a factory before retiring. I hope he doesn't mind that I borrowed his name and his smile for my character, Sam.

                                                          Unnamed Mississippi cotton sharecropper
Library of Congress, 1937

I'll never know her name, but her photograph changed my novel.

Her right hand, resting in her lap, looks different. Large and possibly disfigured. As I studied it, I couldn't help but wonder, "What happened to her hand?" That question--and the answer I eventually imagined--changed Frankie's story in UNDER THE TULIP TREE. It changed me, too. 

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Here's the Stop #20 Basics: 
  • If you're interested, you can order UNDER THE TULIP TREE on Amazon, B&N, ChristianBook, or at your local bookstore!
  • Clue to Write Down: that
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Before you go, be sure to become a Subscriber to this Blog for a chance to win a print copy of UNDER THE TULIP TREE (US only) or an eBook copy of one of my plantation novels! To become a Subscriber and be entered in this exclusive giveaway, just type your email address in the box on the top-right of this page! Easy and done! I'll notify the winner Monday, October 19.

Every blessing,

~Michelle 

70 comments:

Tashia Jennings said...

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Thank you for this wonderful chance.

Lynn Brown said...

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Natalya Lakhno said...

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MeganLee said...

Michelle, the scavenger hunt brought me here, and I'm so glad it did!! Loved reading the inspiration behind your new novel and excited to read it!!!

Sonja said...

Subscribed

Elizabeth Litton said...

I'm already a newsletter subcriber!

Sonnetta Jones said...

I am already a subscriber. Thanks for taking part of this great scavenger hunt.

Susie-Q said...

I am already a subscriber. Thank you for making a copy of Under the Tulip Tree available to one of us.

Lynette said...

Already subscribed 😊

ozarkharness said...

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Teri DiVincenzo said...

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Thanks for the chance!

Shelley B said...

I'm already a subscriber. Thanks for the chance!

Michelle Shocklee said...

Hey everyone!!

I hope you're having fun on the scavenger hunt!! Keep hunting through midnight Sunday!

Thank you to ALL of you who have subscribed to the blog so far!! Welcome!! I promise I won't inundate your mailbox with posts! I do try to share something inspirational or informative once or twice a month. Less if I'm deep in the pages of writing a new book. Ha!

Again, WELCOME! Have a fabulous day full of God's blessings!
~Michelle

Karen R said...

Your newest book sounds extremely interesting - I've put it on my TBR list! Thank you for participating in this scavenger hunt!

Phyllis said...

Subscribed under ptrollan7@gmail.com. Thank you. This book sounds so fascinating! Can’t wait to read it!

Books Looks by Lisa said...

Thank you for sharing the history behind your book. Have you ever read Up From Slavery? by Booker T. Washington? It is such a wonderful and insightful book. Please subscribe me to your newsletter: mrsmcafee17@gmail.com

Thank you for the chance to win a copy of your book.
Lisa

Ashley K. said...

Just subscribed! I am looking forward to reading this book!

Brittany said...

I subscribed. Thank you!

JMagers said...

Already subscribed. Thank you.

Grace said...

Subscribed, Thank you for the Information about this Book, and for Sharing the photographs.

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Caryl Kane said...

Michelle, Thank you for sharing about Sam Jones Washington. I live in Wharton County, TX.

Already subscribe to you blog with psalm103and138atgmaildotcom.

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Christianfictionandmore.blogspot.com said...

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arletta said...

Already subscribed! Arletta

Anonymous said...

I look forward to reading Frankies story. I’ve been following you and am intrigued with the story line. I’m a recent subscriber.
perrianne (DOT) askew (AT) me (DOT) com
Perrianne Askew

Susanne said...

Already subscribe. Thanks!

Unknown said...

I subscribed! Under the Tulip Tree seems amazing!

Martha said...

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Pam said...

I subscribed. I've been reading so many good things about Under the Tulip Tree that I plan to suggest it to my book club for next year (we plan our selections a year at a time). Thanks for the chance to win a copy of the book. It sounds so interesting.

Tighefan42 said...

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Sabrina said...

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Anonymous said...

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Michelle Shocklee said...

Happy Saturday, Hunters!

I hope you're having fun on the scavenger hunt! Aren't the posts on each author's site great? Like you, I've become more familiar with some authors I hadn't known before! Yay!!

Thanks to all my subscribers, "old" and new!! I'm excited to keep in contact with you through this blog. I promise not to fill up your email box with posts!

I can't wait to see which of you lucky hunters wins the Grand Prizes plus all the additional giveaways!! I'll let the winner of UNDER THE TULIP TREE know via email on Monday!!

Best wishes and many blessings,
Michelle

Trixi said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Trixi said...

I just subscribed to your blog via email! Thank you for the extra giveaway & participating in the scavenger hunt! I love these :-)

teamob4 (at) gmail (dot) com

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Jan H said...

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Amber - FAIRYnForest@outlook.com

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Courtney said...

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ebnccfnad@yahoo.com said...

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kaisquared said...

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Lisa Hudson said...

You are a new author to me. I’m very intrigued by your book because of the photo that inspired you of “Sam’s wife” (the she photo caption says a sharecropper from Mississippi). I’m from MS and unfortunately our state is just now voting to change our state flag which will remove “the stars & bars” from the corner. It is a Confederate symbol & MS was the last state to remove it from their state flag. Progress!
(lg.hudson@yahoo.com)

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starzine said...

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