Christian Fiction Back-to-School Scavenger Hunt!

Summer's coming to a close, but that doesn't mean there isn't an awesome, ginormous Christian Fiction Back-to-School Scavenger Hunt with a massive  ECards and Book Giveaways going on! I'm so glad you're getting to know so many authors on this scavenger hunt, because let's face it, reading is the BoMb! Be on the lookout for my "key phrase" to help you solve the scavenger hunt sentence puzzle. HINT: It's my favorite color.



         My Fav and Not-so-Fav School Supplies

My favorite back-to-school item? Ticonderoga pencils, especially the black ones. As a former teacher, I highly recommend these pencils for less waste in the pencil sharpener. And, they always sharpen to a
fine point.
Worst back-to-school item? Fancy school boxes. You know the ones, (maybe you have even given in to kid pressure and bought one already???) They have metal corners, they're fuzzy, or leather, or dimpled, are covered in unicorns, hearts, kittens, etc, and maybe even have a lock with a key. Yikes. That is an attention stealer, way too high on maintenance, and won't even fit in a child's desk. A simple plastic box with a good latch is much more practical. Boring, yes, but practical. (And your child might not be playing with it while long division is being explained. So yay.) Maybe jazz up that plain box with some stickers?



My Fun Back-to-School Story

As a teacher I'd gone to extra lengths on this particular first day of my second grade class. I loved my students and wanted to put my best foot forward, or in this case my best hair. I have wavy hair, (though I often force it to be straight, hence the profile pic) and I'd squirted tons of gel and sprayed massive amounts of hair spray to make it exceptionally full and curly. I thought it looked amazing. I patted it in satisfaction as I stood by my door to greet my new students.

"Good morning," I smiled at one of my super cute girls with sparkling brown eyes and a spunky ponytail.

She gave me the once over as if she smelled something sour. "What's wrong with your hair?"

Needless to say, her mother was appalled. But I laughed. You can always trust an eight-year-old to be fully honest!



Want to know more about my book? Well, here's the pretty cover:

Click for the buy link

And the catchy blurb:


Pansy Jo Sutcliff’s reformed and she’s not going back. That’s right. No rendezvousing under the name “Miss Ruby” ever again. With her rusted shotgun, she’s willing to discourage any man who comes knocking. Until Wylen Jenks stutters out a wedding proposal. Never in her fondest dreams had she ever imagined she might be a bride. The man may be desperate with half a dozen kids, yet it’s the best offer she’s ever received.


Wylen Jenks knows he ain’t worthy to wed such a rare beauty. And as far as sordid backgrounds go, well, he had his own to wrangle. But when an old customer shows up, roughhousing and itching to relive the past with his new wife, Wylen must not only reach deep to defend not only what is his, but to battle off the lifelong condemnation and shame of the community.
With a bold prayer on each of their lips, Wylen and Pansy Jo charge forth into a new life of marriage.
But will their old lives let them go?


~~~


Look at all the books that are up for grabs for this giveaway! And you could be the big winner, someone even who has never won a giveaway! (and don't forget to collect your "phrase" to complete the puzzle :)

For more info click here.

So many amazing books! To complete the next part of the Christian Fiction Back-to-School Scavenger Hunt phrase go here:

https://jenniferchastain.com/2023/08/29/welcome-to-the-inaugural-back-to-school-christian-fiction-scavenger-hunt/


Don't forget to enter my Rafflecopter giveaway for a $25 Amazon Card!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

~~~

P.S. Find me everywhere:

New Christian Historical Series!

New Release Tattered Blossoms Rise

 My newest book has hit the shelves and is available just in time for Christmas! Tattered Blossoms Rise is the first book in the Up From the Miry Clay series. Please sign up for my newsletter now as I always have some giveaway or sale going on. Sign up on peggytrotter.com.

Click pic for Amazon link.


The Spellbound Schoolmarm is Released!

 The third book in a series (don't worry, you can read one without having read the others!) The Spellbound Schoolmarm is NOW available! It is also on KU! Follow this link to learn more about getting your copy:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B145J8S6/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0 

(Don't you just love the expression on her face??!!)
 

Rigidity, rules, and reason. Simple concepts that strict schoolmarm Sissy P. Eberlin utilizes to maintain classroom stability and whip her pupils into shape. Yet, internally she quivers in fear, dreading someone will uncover her scandalous past. Or even worse? Sissy’s even more malevolent present. No one, absolutely no one, must break beyond her carefully constructed boundaries. Ever. Better to be lonely than hated. So, why does the widowed blacksmith, Heaker Thomas tug at her heart?

Careworn and exhausted, Heaker rustles every bush to find a mother for his five daughters. But with his youngest at death’s door, no woman seems willing. Instead he’s become the laughing stock of the community. To still the rumors, he swears off his search and vows to remain single. Yet, when his elderly nursemaid abruptly departs, leaving him in a desperate situation, he turns to the prickly new schoolmarm for help. After all, how can he resist a woman whose eyes betray a need for love as deep as his own?


The Lowborn Lady Share-a-Thon! Share to Enter Giveaways!

 

Share my book to enter to win the prizes below!




Simply share The Lowborn Lady on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., to enter to win the prizes below! More shares means more chances to win!

 
https://www.amazon.com/Lowborn-Lady-Society.../dp/B09LRF3PS9


Winners announced 12/20/21!



Great Multi-Book Giveaway!


 

Don't miss this great multi-author book giveaway! Just click the link and enter to win. The grand prize is $500! Can you believe that? Enter to win today!

https://promosimple.com/ps/11e3d/2021-we-are-thankful-for-our-readers



Here's my book that will be included with the giveaway. Best of luck to win!!!


The Misfit Bride Hits the Shelves!

My Newest Release! 

(and don't miss the Book Bling Swag and $25 Amazon Card Giveaway!) click here: The Mommy Island


Click Cover to Buy

Blurb:     

     Zero. That’s how many suitors Cora “Too Tall” Taggart’s entertained in her nineteen years. That is, until her father corrals a man nearly twice her age needing a mother for his children. However, Cora’s heart aches to find true love with a man who would embrace all of her misfit qualities.

     When Trigg Gentry discovers Cora in a back alley, using his horse as her own personal writing desk, sparks fly between them. While he searches for his runaway sister, Trigg crosses paths once again with Cora on a steamer bound for St. Louis, and neither Trigg nor Cora can deny their blossoming relationship.

     But Trigg’s unexpected exit from Cora’s debutante cotillion comes under suspicion. The guests’ jewelry is missing, and he’s linked to a murder case. Cora fears these accusations will make it impossible to avoid her father’s arranged marriage. And to make matters worse, her heart belongs to the man now pegged as a criminal. How can Cora convince her father that Trigg isn’t involved in either crime when all the proof points straight at him?

Want to chase me around a bit? You can The Misfit Bride on these websites:

My Wahm Plan

Zombie Parenting

Homeschool on the Range


Come and join me!

peggytrotter.com

peggytrotter.blogspot.com

diamondsinfiction.blogspot.com

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My bio:

Peggy Trotter is on a continual quest to find one of her many pairs of glasses. Once those readers are parked on her nose, she‘s immersed in a story scene of some sort, always pushing toward that miracle, ransomed-ever-after, happy ending. On a dusty shelf lies a couple of writing honors like the prestigious ACFW Genesis Award, Novella category, even though she writes full-length historical and contemporary Christian Fiction.

She has two amazing grown children, two terrific children-in-laws, and three unbelievably fantabulous grandchildren, who deserve way more than the average amount of adjectives and adverbs. Her Batman of 36 years, whose cape is much worn from rescuing his wife from one scrap or another, is the delight of her life. She’s a smoldering pot of determined discombobulation who, by the grace of God, occasionally pulls it together to appear in public as a normal confident woman while privately craving a few hermit hours to woo the printed word.





Looking Up to Find My Mellow


“Take time to be…mellow, cease the mindless craze…”

Abide in silence, maybe count to ten? (To the tune of Take Time to be Holy.)

Recently I actually Googled, how to be mellow. Because, really, that’s where I want to be. Calm, peaceful, and mellow. I read a blog on the subject where the writer observed that the only people who seemed to  capture this elusive concept was men. I’m inclined to agree, for the most part.  We women, or at least me, tend to have the mindset that if I only work harder, I can fix the whole world and accomplish my dreams. Despite the last fifty years’ constant spanks denying that warped little idea.

I’ve made moves in that last few years to try to make my life more mellow. More…simple. I quit my full time job, which at the time was very stressful. My plan was to free up more time to write and therefore, blow a raspberry at a half decade of nay-saying.  Now however, sometimes writing stresses me out. It is a job, after all, a very fickle one with an undependable CEO, namely, me.

This has led me to realize that stress for the most part starts in my very own gray matter. I allow things to bug me, so they do. I push harder, so I feel pushed. I cycle issues in my head and they grow and spin in continual turmoil. I refuse to resolve issues and therefore they become a large bucket of unresolved problems on which I stub my toe on multiple times a day.

And, you know, they have such helpful suggestions to help you attain a more relaxed life course. Like, take deep breaths. Exercise. Drink water. Close your eyes. All good suggestions. Not always helpful when you’re sweating bullets with a ball of frustration the size of a buffalo on your neck. Like I have time to stand up and walk for fifteen minutes. Trust me, if I start walking, I won’t be stopping until my feet reach a beach.

But I will continue to chip away at this concept of being more mellow. Try to be calm and at the same time avoid being uncaring. (It’s a lot easier to be mellow if you don’t even care.) Because after all, how many times has my life not worked out? I’m still alive. I’m still striving. Sure, it didn’t always work out the way I wanted, but things mostly resolved one way or the other.
And that’s the rub. I want it my way.

But God says, And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you. Psalm 9:10 NIV.

It’s so true. I’m not so full of my own plans to fail to notice how hard is to apply the very words I believe with all my heart. In short, I’m not in charge, so chill. Take those deep breaths, pace to the beat of relaxing harp music and close my eyes and remember this verse. Lean into that verse and trust.

Perhaps I’ve just made a turn into a more mellow direction. Kneeling with my eyes up.

Third House on the Right~