The Captive Princess Contest!

NO FOOLING!

Wendy Lawton, Artist and Author, Celebrates Release of Her Seventh Novel With Fabulous April Fools Day Contest !


(THE WOODLANDS, TX) What do porcelain, Pocahontas, and prizes have in common? Wendy Lawton, author, sculptor and literary agent is on a mission to find the next Daughter of the Faith for her highly successful middle grade series. In celebration of the release of The Captive Princess: A Story Based on the Life of Young Pocahontas, her seventh novel in the series, Lawton is offering a plethora of prizes for contestants who are chosen from among those who post suggestions on Crystal Miller's When I Was Just a Kid blog. (To be eligible, you only need to follow directions for posting a comment here.)

One lucky winner will receive all seven Daughters of the Faith novels ($49 value), while another will get all four books in the Real TV series ($44 value).

The grand prize--an autographed Courage to Run doll and book, (value $695.00) will be awarded if more than twenty people comment before April 1, 2008, with suggested Daughters of the Faith characters.

Keep in mind that each character in this series is a real girl from the pages of history who took a stand for her faith (usually at great cost) while she was still a girl. Nominees should not be someone who grew up to do great things or who married a great man, bur rather a girl like Pocahontas, the Captive Princess, who stepped out in faith.



The Captive Princess: A Story Based on the Life of Young Pocahontas
Is there an American student who doesn't know some version of the story of Pocahontas-- whether the fabricated Disney version or the equally fictitious but oft-told love story between Pocahontas and John Smith? Wendy Lawton digs into the history and tells it entirely through the eyes of the young Pocahontas. And though the romantic accounts are the stuff of legend and lore, Pocahontas' faith story remains one of the most beautiful love stories in history.


What others are saying:

"Pocahontas has long been a favorite character of mine, and Wendy Lawton brings her to glorious life in The Captive Princess. Through Lawton's excellent research and vivid writing, walked out of the dense forest and into my heart. This book is a treasure!"
Angela Hunt, author of Uncharted

"I jumped at the chance to read Wendy Lawton's latest book, The Captive Princess, because of her previous stories. Again, she wove her literary magic. Always true to historical facts and able to infuse spiritual truths naturally, Wendy Lawton is a master storyteller."
Donita K. Paul author of popular Christian fantasy including The DragonKeeper Chronicles

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WENDY LAWTON feels equally comfortable on a computer, at a writer's conference or with a cool lump of clay in her hand. She's been an artist, a writer and now, a literary agent with the respected literary agency, Books & Such.

No stranger to the literary market, Lawton has written seven books in her middle grade Daughters of the Faith series. These books were followed by a series of teen books The Real TV series and her nonfiction book, Impressions in Clay (Moody).

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Wendy Lawton is available for interview or blog appearance.

GRAND PRIZE OFFERED ONLY

if there are at least 20 comments, and a drawing from the comments will be held on April 1st for this doll:

Harriet Tubman, one of Wendy's dolls she created for this series of books she wrote.

Courage to Run Doll

11" tall, all porcelain

Valued at $695.00

The portrait doll of Harriet Tubman grew out of the character from Wendy's first book, Courage to Run.

"As I researched her life for this book, I fell in love with Harriet Tubman," Wendy says. "Her faith framed everything she achieved. By the time I finished writing the book, I couldn't wait to take clay and sculpt a portrait of Harriet as a child."

The historical Harriet Tubman epitomizes heroism for her life work in the Underground Railroad, but Courage to Run is the story of her girlhood when faith was born and courage discovered. The 11" porcelain doll wears a homespun, patched dress, tattered straw hat and much-worn leather work boots. Just as in the story, she carries her treasure, the quilt made for the homesick girl by her mother.

The doll was made in the Lawton workshops in California and was limited to an edition of 350.

CONTEST RUNS FROM MARCH 7 to APRIL 1st

Come on over and post a comment with your email contact and a suggestion for the next Daughters of Faith true life character.

Stories of Girls

Mickinock and His Daughters

My Great-grandfather, Bernt Thompson, knew this guy and his family and tribe. Mickinock used to come by Bernt's house and borrow his shotgun and coonskin coat to hunt for food for his starving people. Whatever he killed, he would bring an offering back to Bernt and his family and return the shotgun and coat. My Great-grandmother, Ane Thompson, would go with Bernt to bring the children buckets of milk and loaves of cheese and bread. It was a friendship and mutual neighbor society between the Thompsons and Mickinock (who was head of his tribe,) despite some of the local community's animosity and prejudice toward the reservation and their people.


Once, Mickinock came into the Thompson's house(he never knocked, just walked in,) saw the new baby sleeping Anna (my grandmother) on the bed, snatched her up and stole her away. Hours later he returned her to her mother, snug as she had been when sleeping on the bed. It seems he wanted to show off Bernt's blonde-headed offspring to his people and family--the daughter of his friend. She was very blonde--the blondest of all Bernt's children and that seemed to fascinate the Good Medicine Man. Years later, Bernt's great-granddaughter,Sally, met up with Mickinock's great-granddaughter a long way away from the Minnesota territory where their great-grandparents had coexisted. They were good friends, too.

Bernt and Ane Thompson with their family, including my grandmother, Anna, the tiny blonde girl on the front row between them. She's the one "borrowed" for an afternoon by Mickinock.



More stories....

Wendy Lawton tells stories. Sometimes she uses words. Sometimes she has used porcelain. Starting tomorrow I will run a story about her childhood on my When I Was Just a Kid blog. It's a good story about her, but she also has piles of stories that have been published and some that have been handcrafted into porcelain dolls. And here's the kicker--she wants to share them with 3 people in a unique drawing. I'm not fooling!

The "I'm Not Fooling" Contest
The contest drawing entries can be posted in the comments section and will run from March 7 to April 1st, 2008. You have this window to post a comment on Wendy Lawton's story on When I Was Just a Kid.

On April 1st at midnight I will draw three winners from the comments made on her interview. If you want to be in on the drawing to have a chance to win here's what you must do:

1. Come up with a suggestion to Wendy for her to use in her next Daughters of Faith book. It must be a girl who made a difference in faith and life as a CHILD, on whom Wendy can find plenty of historical evidence and story in order to write a full length book. She may not use it, but she will follow up all pertinent suggestions. She can be a part of official history (like Harriet Tubman) or if her story can be substantiated historically, it can be a girl who is not listed in history books.

2. Leave an email address on the comment for me to contact you.

3. If 20 posts/comments are made, all entries will be eligible to win Wendy Lawton's beautiful interpretation doll of Harriet Tubman, who was the main character in her book, Courage to Run. This doll is valued at $695. and was a limited edition collector's item.

So, see? Not so hard to do. And you will want to get all of your friends to post, because the doll will not be offered without 20 eligible comments.

First place winner will receive her entire collection of autographed Daughters of Faith books published by Moody Publishers. This includes the brand new Pocohantas.

Second place winner will receive her autographed teen book series.

Bonus will be the Daughters of Faith limited edition autographed Courage to Run doll, Harriet Tubman.

Tune in tomorrow to learn more about the books, the doll and Wendy, the author/creator/artist.

You won't want to miss this.