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Picturing a World

Summer Adventure: Katherine Keenum

10 Great Authors, 10 Unforgettable Adventures. With every “Today’s Adventure” post between August 1 and August 13, you can register to win the featured book and the grand prize of all 10 books. We’ll announce winners on August 14.

When I joined the Unforgettable Adventure giveaway, I thought I remembered my main character, Jeanette Palmer, actually using the word “adventure.” Yes! On p. 278 she has been forced to borrow money from an older relative and asks anxiously, “Has the adventure worked out for you, Cousin Effie? The whole thing, I mean—coming to Paris?”

Change the question: “Will the adventure work out for you, reader? The whole thing, I mean—going to Paris with Jeanette and Effie?”

Adventure means finding yourself somewhere new, facing unexpected challenges. It means not always knowing what you are doing or what comes next. If those are the criteria, then writing a novel is an adventure—and so is reading one from a new author. You can’t judge by past experience; you just have to take a chance. How might the chance pay off if you head to Paris with Jeanette?

From the company she keeps on this group blog tour, you can guess that romance will be part of Jeanette’s story, yet it is not what she sets out to find. Jeanette is a naive but determined young woman who crosses the Atlantic in 1878 to study painting. The last thing she expects is to meet an older man haunted by a war and fall in love with him. My hope is that you will fall in love with both of them—that you will be swept up in Jeanette’s talent and ambition, immerse yourself in her friendships with other women artists, experience Paris with all your senses, then feel achingly Edward’s attractions and sorrows. If you remember the characters long after you finish, I’d call the adventure a success.

But that leads to a last question: “What are you looking for in an adventure? What makes a book worthwhile to you?”

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY CONTEST BY MAKING A COMMENT TODAY!

Keep up with the latest adventures and get more chances to win through any of the participating authors: Alison Atlee, Jessica Brockmole, T. J. Brown , Sarah Jio, Susanna Kearsley, Katherine Keenum, Stephanie Lehmann, Kate Noble, Deanna Raybourn, and Lauren Willig.
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