ANNOUNCING THE SUMMER
YA SCAVENGER HUNT
AUTHORS!
This summer the Hunt will have two teams (RED & BLUE) of 27 authors each. We've added several new authors with some very exciting material. I'm really looking forward to not only getting to know these authors better but adding to my book collection! I will be on the BLUE team.
THE BLUE TEAMHEATHER ANASTASIU
JENNIFER L. ARMENTROUT
GWENDA BOND
TERA LYNN CHILDS
ANGELA CORBETT
GINA DAMICO
ED DEHORATIUS
LEIGH FALLON
MARLEY GIBSON
SHAUNA GRANGER
CYNTHIA HAND
NANCY HOLDER
COLLEEN HOUCK
TARA HUDSON
DENISE JADEN
MIRANDA KENNEALLY
SUZANNE LAZEAR
JODI MEADOWS
ALEXANDRA MONIR
E.C. MYERS
ERICA O’ROURKE
AMY PLUM
CARRIE RYAN
JESSICA SHIRVINGTON
J.A. SOUDERS
VICTORIA STRAUSS
DEBBIE VIGUIE
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THE RED TEAMJOSEPHINE ANGELINI
LEAH BOBET
LISA BURSTEIN
KRISTI COOK
JULIE CROSS
TRACY DEEBS
KIMBERLY DERTING
TARA FULLER
DAVID MACINNIS GILL
JANET GURTLER
RACHEL HARRIS
ELISSA J. HOOLE
AMALIE HOWARD
CORRINE JACKSON
STACEY KADE
JESSICA KHOURY
JONATHAN MABERRY
CLAIRE MERLE
COURTNEY ALLISON MOULTON
GREGG OLSEN
FIONA PAUL
LISSA PRICE
PETER ADAM SALOMON
JERI SMITH-READY
JESSICA SPOTSWOOD
TERI TERRY
LANI WOODLAND
Note from Colleen: I'm so excited about this hunt!
Leave a comment to tell me which books you are the most looking forward to.
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CRAFT CORNER
by
Suki Lotti
Email: Suki@colleenhouck.com
Relation to Colleen: Sister-in-Law
I recently reminded myself how to crochet and that naturally gave me the idea for a color scheme for this clutch. Clutches are easy and quick to make. If you added a strap, you could have a hand bag or wristlet. They are also easy to change the look of by varying the stitch you use, the type of yarn, and even the size of your hook.
I call this the Ren Clutch. Original, yes? I'm so glad the store was mostly empty when I was buying the blue yarn. I had pictures on my phone of cobalt blue and walked back and forth between 5 aisles of yarn to decide which blue was the closest. The blue photographed a little bit darker than it actually is.

The side edging is a single crochet stitching.

Isn't that button perfect? The clutch measures approximately 4" x 9.5" and the flap is 2".

My daughter found a few items to put into the clutch. We could have fit more in there without it being too bulky or heavy!

Speaking of my daughter, isn't she adorable? She was so willing to be my model. It is just pure coincidence that she chose to wear her tiger dress on this particular day!

And please, ignore the background in both these pictures. It is almost embarrassing but obviously not embarrassing enough for me to retake the pictures! Such is life. I know you understand.
I made this clutch with worsted weight acrylic yarn in black, white, as-close-as-could-be cobalt blue, and one button. I used a 5.0mm hook (I think) and a large needle to sew on the button and weave in the ends. You can find the directions
here.
Note from Colleen: Isn't my niece cute? I named the mermaid Kaeliora after her. The other nieces are jealous. They'd prefer to be mermaids too.
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COOKIE CORNER
Check out the video created by these Tiger fans making a batch of Ren's cookies. They look yummy!
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CREATURE CORNER
by
Heather Lotti
Email: Heather@colleenhouck.com
Relation to Colleen: Sister-in-Law
Bio: Heather is a lover of art galleries, young adult fiction, and has a forced appreciation of legos (thanks to my two young boys who are now finally old enough not to eat them). I am a former school counselor who currently focuses most of my energies on making sure all household members eat their vegetables and have clean laundry. In my free moments I enjoy period romance movies, painting, and going for walks with the fam.
Stymphalian Birds
Stymphalian Birds, according to Mr. Kadam’s writings are, “Terrible flesh-eating birds with iron beaks, bronze claws, and toxic droppings. They usually live in large colonies.” That should be enough to make any heroine want to avoid them… but through a series of quests Kelsey must again outsmart a creepy creature. In order to get the “Divine Weaver’s Scarf” Kelsey and Kishan had to roll Stymphalian Bird eggs off of the scarf.
According to Greek legend, Hercules was to drive away a large flock of birds by a city named Stymphalos
(see
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/Herakles... for more info).
He first had to use a rattle to drive them out of the brush and then shot them with arrows. "They are described in different ways, but most commonly as voracious birds of prey, which attacked even men, and which were armed with brazen wings, from which they could shoot out their feathers like arrows."
(Apollod. ii. 5. § 2; Paus. viii. 22. § 4; Hygin. Fab. 30 ; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. ii. 1053.)
Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Stymphalian Birds are later encountered by the Argonauts… so hopefully they are not a creepy creature that Kelsey has to encounter again!
Stymphalian bird by ~DwarvenArchitect on deviantART
dwarvenarchitect.deviantart.com
Huge man-eating creatures with claws and beaks of brass.
reypastor.org
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DESTINY PUZZLE
Put together the puzzle to reveal a picture that inspired me as I wrote TIGER'S DESTINY. When you are finished leave a comment on my blog with your time and be entered to win a bookmark! You don't have to be the fastest to win. My time was 6 minutes 10 seconds.
[Your web browser does not support frames or is currently configured not to display frames. However, you may visit <a href="
http://www.jigsawplanet.com/?rc=play&..." target="_top">the related page</a>.]
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That's it this week my friends. Have a great day!
Colleen