2019 ACFW Carol Award Winner
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!
- The hunt BEGINS on 11/7 at noon MST with Stop #1 at LisaTawnBergren.com.
- 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, 11/10 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!
Hi! I’m Kimberley Woodhouse and I’ve been doing this writer thing for about two decades now. And I just celebrated ten years of being published this year! So much fun. You can learn more about me here on my website and through all of my social media. For me it’s all about the story. That’s why my tagline is the JOY of story. Can you remember the first time a story grabbed you and you fell into the pages? It’s a beautiful thing. My latest release is THE EXPRESS BRIDE. Here’s a little bit about it:
The Wilderness Is a Great Place to Hide
Jacqueline Rivers manages a Pony Express station in 1860 Utah territory after her father’s death. The Express riders are young but have become her family and she loves nothing more than running her station. But when two men come to her station asking for her help–one a government official asking for her assistance in sniffing out counterfeiters, the other on an exhausting quest to find his boss’s heir–her world is turned upside down. Caught in the crossfire of the territory’s criminal activities, can she remain strong when secrets of the past and present are finally unearthed?
Researching this unique piece of American History was amazing. But, it also made me decide that there should be:
NO MORE COMPLAINING AT THE POST OFFICE
Ever. Not even if stamps reach $1.00 each. Now, you’re probably thinking that I must be out of my mind. But I assure you, I haven’t lost my marbles. At least not yet. So how did I come to this conclusion? It’s a simple answer. The Pony Express.
Did you know that in 1860 when the Express began that it cost $5.00 to mail a 1/2 ounce piece of mail? That is equivalent to $154.67 today. Did you see that? ONE HUNDRED FIFTY FOUR dollars and some change. To mail 1/2 ounce. The Express covered some 1840 miles, with around 120 riders and many more horses. The riders would ride at top speed for around seventy-five miles a day! All for pieces of mail to arrive in ten days!
As an author, I send out a lot of packages. Prizes for giveaways, books to readers and bloggers, etc. Even if I sent everything Priority Mail – I would have nothing to complain about, because I can’t even comprehend paying $154.67 per half ounce. I tell you what, I’d never mail anything. Ever again. And to think that when I got married, stamps were $0.20 a piece. I thought that was high! To only be able to send five invitations out for one dollar. I’m smacking myself in the forehead now every time I think about it. I’ve complained a lot (in my head) about the cost of stamps and shipping. And how it keeps going up. But now, all I need to tell myself is “at least it’s not a hundred and fifty bucks for one piece of mail!”
So I’m determined that there will be no more complaining at the post office from me.
Here’s the Stop #4 Skinny:
If you’re interested, you can order The Express Bride on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Christian Book, or at your local bookstore!
Clue to Write Down: turned
Link to stop #5, the Next Stop on the Loop: Elizabeth Goddard’s site!
But wait! I’m offering an ADDITIONAL PRIZE opportunity for two lucky entrants! One will be a “Professional Reader” T-shirt by All Things Bookish Tees (check out the AMAZING shop and plethora of reading/writing themed tees!) and two of my books from the Daughters of the Mayflower Series, the other will be a set of my Heart of Alaska series from Bethany House written with Tracie Peterson! Enter below!
Comments 34
That makes the thought of letters from family members all the more precious! I’ll appreciate my USPS more next time, when I’m standing in a long line…I hope!
Interesting research tidbit! You made me rethink the “high cost of postage,” too. 🙂
Your book looks really interesting. Heading to the link now!
I’d love to win the cute Reader’s t shirt and the books!
Thank you
I loved the article about the Pony Express. They were only in existence for a short time, right? Loved the picture too. Thanks for sharing this bit of our history.
Hello! Looking forward to reading your books!
Enjoyed exploring your website and even jumped over to The Writer Nook as well. I also found the article on the Pony Express interesting. Thank you and God bless!
I couldn’t find you on Instagram!
She’s there under @kimberleywoodhouse. 🙂
Reading is fun!
I’ve really enjoyed your Daughters of the Mayflower novels and collaborations with Tracie Peterson. I just picked up Out of the Ashes from the bookmobile yesterday!
Sheesh, I won’t look at going to the post office the same way again. lolM
Cute shirt!
Makes you appreciate the Post Office a little more thanks for the history I always learn so much from you
i would love to show off your shirt and read books
Interesting stuff. I love how much research you do for your books. Looking forward to the next one
Thank you for participating!
You make me think twice about complaining about the cost of mailing a letter at the post office.
Wow!! Love learning new things.
I used to be a substitute rural mail carrier and it pays good but it’s a very hard and trying job. You get fussed at a lot more than praised.
Thank you for the opportunity!
Thank you for the opportunity! Have started following on Amazon too!
What a great giveaway!! Thank you!!!
I would love to win the t shirt and books.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!
The Pony Express riders truly put their life on the line, rushing across all varieties of terrain for deliveries in all weather. WOW! Thanks for reminding me and for the perspective change of cost!! 😮
The Pony Express Riders had a rough job! Thank you for the chance and Thanks for the amazing Scavenger Hunt!
Thank you for the fun
Boy .55 cents doesn’t seem all that much for a stamp after knowing that lol. Thank you for the research lesson and for participating in the hunt. Keep up the good work – your readers appreciate it.
It’s hard to believe that it cost that much to send a little via the pony express and like you I’ll never complain about the cost of stamps again. I fascinated by the pony express as a child. Do in part to a show I used to watch with grandpa called Young Riders about the pony express.
Hard to imagine having to pay so much!
I love my Maillady 🙂
That shirt😍 My Dad, Uncle, & brother have worked for the USPS. So we grew up studying the history behind it(perks of homeschooling). It was very interesting.
That shirt is wonderful for someone like me who reads as though I’m an athlete in training for the Olympics! Thanks for the opportunity!
Post Office Story – We live in a city of 25,000. I physically walked into our Post Office & bought stamps to mail about 10 invitations to a party. (We had run short on the first mailing.) I stood beside the counter & put the stamps on the invitations & gave them back to the Postal Employee. I mailed them 8 days prior to the party. I found out later that most people didn’t receive their invitations until AFTER the party! I even mailed one to a P.O. Box in THE SAME POST OFFICE & it didn’t arrive until after 8 days!!! UNBELIEVABLE!! I should have ridden my own horse & delivered them!