First, I’d like to say that this is my 1500th blog post!
How cool that such a landmark falls on such a fun event!
And now, on with the show…

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 25 stops, in order,
so you can enter to win one of our top 3 grand prizes!

  • The hunt BEGINS with Stop #1 at LisaBergren’s site.
  • 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, 10/22 at midnight MST)! So take your
    time, reading the unique posts along the way; our hope is that you discover new
    authors/new books.
  • 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 Stop #25. Many authors are offering
    additional prizes along the way!
~*~
It’s my
pleasure to introduce you today to Cara Putman! Cara was one of the first
authors I met and spoke to when I joined the Christian writing scene—and she’s
always been gracious, sweet, and energetic. Here’s a bit about her new release, Beyond Justice.

Hayden McCarthy knows
firsthand the pain when justice is not served. It’s why she became an
attorney and why she’s so driven in her career. When she’s handed a
wrongful death case against the government, she isn’t sure if it’s the
lucky break she needs to secure a partnership—or an attempt to make sure
she never gets there. She keeps the case alive through sheer
determination and more than a little creativity, but then she’s fired by
a partner with a vendetta.

And now here’s Cara!

Why Relationships Matter in Our Novels

This summer I had the opportunity to serve on a panel at a
readers conference. Let’s just say the topic was way outside my comfort zone,
and as my fellow panelists talked about positions, I talked about
relationships. That experience reinforced to me the importance of having real
relationships in our novels. As an avid reader, I know it’s often the
characters that stay with me long after I close the book, not the intricate
plots we spend so much time crafting.
That’s one reason I’ve spent so much time in my new series
Hidden Justice, creating a web of characters that overlay each of the stories. Take
a group of young women who became close in law school. Put them each in a
different area of the law confronting different issues. Require them to lean on
each other for friendship, help, and faith. Mix in some heroes and you have the
ingredients for these books.
Typing the list, you’d think it didn’t take me long to
develop the idea. The reality is it took months of thinking. First I needed the
group of women. I wanted them each to be unique and different. Then I needed
jobs that weren’t cookie cutter. Fortunately, the law is a field that allows
you to take on many different roles, so that will keep me and readers from
getting bored. What I found interesting was how hard the heroes were to craft.
Yes, the heroes.
When I started writing Imperfect
Justice
, the book that releases in December, I realized I’d poured my
effort in Beyond Justice into
developing the relationship between the women. Readers love that, but it left
Emilie woefully lacking of a potential hero. Shouldn’t be a problem to craft
the perfect guy for her, right?
Wrong.
Emilie demanded a hero who strong, but I didn’t want a law
enforcement hero, at least not yet. I’d asked my readers and they were looking
for what I wanted to write: a hero who looked a lot like their husbands: an
average guy living a big life. In many ways, I’d had years to develop Hayden’s
hero Andrew Wesley, because I’d fleshed them out for an earlier proposal. But
Emilie’s? Not a clue.
This conundrum reinforced the importance of having the right
people in place for relationships. So whether it’s a group of girlfriends or
it’s developing the perfect hero and heroine, I’ve learned the relationships
are the heart of the story.

~*~






Cara
Putman is the author of over 25 books in WWII and romantic suspense genres. She
lives in Indiana with her family, but spends most of her free time thinking
about her characters and dreaming up trouble for them. For more info, see CaraPutman.com.






Be sure to pop by Cara’s post where
she is giving away a set of the Hidden Justice series!













Here’s the Stop #3 Skinny:

You can order Cara’s
book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, CBD or at your local bookstore! 



Clue to Write Down: that


 



Link to Stop #4, the Next Stop on the Loop: Cara Putman’s own site!




BUT WAIT!




Before you go, I’m offering a giveaway! If you’ve already read about the library at Kensey Manor on Robin Lee Hatcher’s site, then you’ll know that libraries are a big theme in A Name Unknown. And they’re the theme in this giveaway too!











I’ll be offering one lucky winner with a US mailing address a signed copy of my novel PLUS a Library card tote bag!  
 


 

a Rafflecopter giveaway