Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #22

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 3/18 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, 3/21 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!

Why, hello there! My name is Kara Swanson and I write whimsical contemporary YA Fantasy. I'm a lover of coffee and heart-chats, listening to the roar of the waves at the beach as I sink my toes into California sand, and working with teens both as an author coach and in ministry. I'm passionate about reminding weary souls that they are not alone, and that there is hope and breath and light even in the darker places.

I love to connect with readers over on Instagram, as well as Facebook and Twitter.

I've written a Peter Pan retelling dulogy, so here is a bit more about this two book series DUST and SHADOW:

The truth about Neverland is far more dangerous than a fairy tale.

Claire Kenton believes the world is too dark for magic to be real--since her twin brother was stolen away as a child. Now Claire's desperate search points to London... and a boy who shouldn't exist.

Peter Pan is having a beastly time getting back to Neverland. Grounded in London and hunted by his own Lost Boys, Peter searches for the last hope of restoring his crumbling island: a lass with magic in her veins.

The girl who fears her own destiny is on a collision course with the boy who never wanted to grow up. The truth behind this fairy tale is about to unravel everything Claire thought she knew about Peter Pan--and herself.

(Mild spoilers ahead for the sequel:)

Peter Pan has crash-landed back on Neverland. But this is not the island he remembers.

Desperate to rescue Claire and the fractured Lost Boys, Peter must unravel what truly tore his dreamland apart. But with each step, he is haunted by more of his own broken memories. Not even Pan himself is what he seems.

Claire Kenton is chained to a pirate ship, watching the wreckage of Neverland rocked by tempests. When she finally finds her brother, Connor is every bit as shattered as the island. Claire may have pixie dust flowing in her veins—but the light of Neverland is flickering dangerously close to going out forever.

To rescue Neverland from the inescapable shadow, the boy who never grew up and the girl who grew up too fast will have to sacrifice the only thing they have left: each other.

. . . . .

I hope you had fun learning a little more about my Neverland-filled novels! When writing Dust, I couldn't help but feature this CS Lewis quote at the front of the book:

“Some day you’ll be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.”

There’s something subtly profound about the idea that the very stories which captivate our imagination and shape our perspective on good and evil as children, will reveal more gems when we return to them later. When we’ve conquered some dragons of our own.

There’s something familiar and disarming about stories written for a youthful heart that shift aside our pride and allow the truth nestled beneath to settle in even deeper.

This was especially true when I wrote Dust and Shadow. These YA novels literally return to a fairy tale. I took a familiar story and dug even deeper, pushing Peter Pan himself to grow a little more and see what new bits of pixie dust and hope there may be in a familiar story.

But there is another reason why our hearts gravitate toward fairy tales.

I think GK Chesterton put it brilliantly in a quote that is actually at the very front of Shadow:

“Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”

Because even more than being reminded of the whimsy of a fairy tale, we need the reminder that even in a world filled with dragons – they can be killed.

We can conquer.

And that simple truth, told a hundred different ways, will always lift our hearts and our chins.

Because yes. No matter how young we are, we can strap on our armor, lift our swords, and fight for the light.

We are not overcome because our strength does not come from us.

It comes from our King.

And in the end, He will make all wrongs right, and there will be a happy ending to our tale.

Here’s the Stop #22 Basics: If you’re interested, you can order Dust and Shadow on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and so many other places! Clue to Write Down: into

Link to Stop #23, the Next Stop on the Loop: James L. Rubart's site!