Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt Stop #9

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

• The hunt BEGINS with Stop #1 at Lisa Bergren’s site. Click HERE, but not till Oct 19th, 12:00pm MT
• 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!

Welcome to you fine readers! Allow me to introduce you to my sister author, Ann Gabhart. Ann's works sing with authenticity through her many historical novels and series. Her latest novel, These Healing Hills, has just the right amount of landscape, relationship, spirituality and work that thread together an amazing story of healing and hope. Enjoy Ann's discussion of her novel and the unique rhythm of story.
 

Capturing the Rhythm of the Mountains 

by Ann H. Gabhart

“The bridge ain’t shaking. It’s dancing. You gotta dance with it, girl. Let your feet find the rhythm. If you pay some mind, there’s rhythm nigh on to ev’rything.” …Granny Em in These Healing Hills

An old mountain granny gives Francine, my main character in These Healing Hills this advice while Francine stands frozen on a swinging bridge, afraid to move on across. There’s rhythm nigh on to ev’rything. That’s perfect advice not only for my character to get across that bridge, but also for me as I followed my story trail up into the Appalachian Mountains.

The right rhythm in a song, a dance or a story can make all the difference in the world. When writing a novel, a writer has to be in tune with the characters, the setting, the history, and what’s happening. Then that writer has to keep all that in the right rhythm to keep the story flowing along. Sometimes that can be like a canoe ride down a gentle meandering river while other times a crashing flood of water carries the story along toward a thundering falls with seemingly no escape.

I liked settling into that mountain rhythm for These Healing Hills where I mixed the beauty of the mountains with the challenge of life lived on hardscrabble land. My characters know both notes of disappointment and of joy in their walk along their story paths the same as we all do in real life. The background history of the Frontier Nursing Service added a rhythm of childbirth with the midwives helping the mountain women bring their babies into the world.

The cadence of the mountaineers’ voices and unique expressions such as the edge of dark for night falling gave the dialogue between my characters a rhythm I hoped would make it sound like you just happened up behind them and started eavesdropping.

Since music lives in the hills with plenty of folksongs, a few songs helped along the rhythm of the story. “Froggie Went A-Courting” is an old rhyming song threaded throughout the book right to the end. I even let my midwife nurse, Francine, sing a verse I made up. I’m no songwriter, but with some rhymes and the rhythm of the tune in my head, it worked.  

I enjoyed capturing the rhythm of the mountains in These Healing Hills along with the pulse of life a nurse midwife surely feels each and every day. Each person’s life, real or imagined, has its own unique rhythm and that’s what I try to capture each time I put my fingers on my keyboard to share a story.

Do you agree with Granny Em that there’s rhythm to everything in life if we just take time to listen?

Ann has shared a rhythm of her writer's voice in addition to the cadence of her character's journey. I hope you've enjoyed the journey she prepared for you. Thank you Ann for your insights and this terrific novel.  Consider Ann's question above and say hello in the comments below.  We really enjoy hearing from our readers.

Here’s the Stop #9 Skinny:
You can order Ann’s book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CBD or at your local bookstore!
Clue to Write Down: and discovered
Link to Stop #10, the Next Stop on the Loop: Ann Gabhart's own site! Click HERE

Before you go.... I've got a little something you could win, and it sure is cute!!!!  Simply subscribe to my monthly Story Sparks (or indicate you already are subscribed with your email) and that is it!  Fill out the Rafflecopter form below when you are done. Curious what's up for grabs?  Check out this little guy!

A hand knitted hedgehog Jennie Pickett (main character in All She Left Behind) might have knitted; and a signed copy of my newest, All She Left Behind. I tried to find a knitted porcupine...but his brother the hedgehog won me over!

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