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Covenant
Communications |
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In This Issue:
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| Pursued:
A Maggie McKenzie Mystery By Lynn Gardner 
In an
attempt to discover the truth about what really happened to her
two brothers who were declared dead at birth, newspaper editor
Maggie McKenzie has signed on for more of an adventure than she
bargained for. What begins as a much-anticipated fact-finding trip
to England quickly turns into a dangerous escapade as Maggie is
forced to run for her life after she inadvertently gains
possession of an innocent-looking flash drive. The tiny device
contains details of a terrorist plot to destroy major London
landmarks. When she realizes that someone she knows is involved
with the malevolent plot, it becomes time to make her solo mission
a family affair-even though it seems that most of the family
members she has met in England would like to see her gone. Hold on
tight with sleuth Maggie McKenzie in a pulse-pounding thrill ride
through the United Kingdom as she discovers that when it comes to
long-lost relatives, what you see isn't always what you get. |
Q&A
with Lynn Gardner
1)
What caused you to begin writing this book? This is a sequel to Vanished: A Maggie McKenzie Mystery. I left readers hanging at the end of Vanished, thinking I would get the next book out within a few months. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But now they will have the rest of the story. 2) Did you have any interesting experiences while writing this book? Yes. I plotted the book while in England and Wales on a family history research trip, and thought I knew pretty well how things would play out, but as I was writing, a wonderful old Gothic mansion appeared in the story. Totally unplanned, but apparently it needed to be there as it would have been a completely different story without it. And the one place that I just knew was the perfect place for the climax ended up being cut in the editing process. Too bad. I totally fell in love with that wonderful ruin in Wales. I spent two hours taking pictures there and they are some of my favorites of the whole trip. 3) What do you most enjoy about being an author? Knowing that I've given someone some measure of enjoyment, or given them a new bit of knowledge that they didn't have before, or made them feel good about the ending of the story. I've had people tell me my books let them escape into another world for awhile so they could forget the pain of their cancer treatments or problems they were having. That's very rewarding. I love helping budding authors get motivated, or giving them tips on how to get published. We need more writers, as well as more readers! I also had a fan tell me that just after reading one of the book in the gem series, she was having angst over a problem and didn't know what to do. Then she remembered that Allison, my character in that series, had prayed when she had problems, so she got on her knees and turned her problem over to the Lord. That's very rewarding, knowing that such a simple thing as following the good example of my fictional character has helped someone. 4) What do you hope people come away with after reading your book? My intent is to entertain, educate and edify. Everyone should enjoy getting out of their sphere and into another world for a while. When I read, I don't want something depressingly real. I want escapism and I hope I can provide that. I hope after reading one of my books, people will learn something they didn't know before about someplace in the world. I believe we should learn one new thing every single day. And I truly hope that in the end, their time with the book has left them feeling good. There is enough depression and unhappiness in the world. I don't want to contribute to that in any way. 5) Share something with us that most people don't know about you. Fun things I have done: . Ridden the barrels in a rodeo; . Been boosted onto a piano and sung to on TV; . Danced on TV; . Been a DJ at two different radio stations; . Flown in a T-6 and done figure eights; . Driven across the U.S. and back by myself; . Written and published twelve books; . Climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa; . Climbed the Great Wall of China; . Touched Michelangelo's Pieta; . Ridden an elephant; . Been to the top of Pike's Peak; |
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Trivia Questions
 1) What is the most identifiable landmark in England? 2) What side of the car is the steering wheel on in English cars? 3) Which side of the road do cars drive on in England? 4) What is Big Ben? 5) What was the town in which William Shakespeare was born, what was the year he was born, and how many plays did he write in a 20 year period? Answers: 1) One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge, is a 5,000 year-old double ring of large standing stones and sits at the center of the densest complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds. The earliest stones in the structure came from Wales, 200 miles away. 2) Right 3) Left 4) Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the NE end of the Palace of Westminster in London. The nickname is often used to refer to the clock and the clock tower. It is the world's largest four-faced, chiming clock and the third largest free-standing clock tower in the world. It celebrates its 150th birthday in 2009. 5) William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon on April 23, 1564. In a 20 year period, he wrote 37 plays-plus dozens of sonnets. |
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Recipe: English Trifle
 Ingredients: ½ of large baked angel food cake or 1 small angel food cake 1 (4 ¾ oz) pkg Danish Dessert, raspberry flavor 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries 1 5.9-oz pkg vanilla instant pudding 2 ½ cups milk 1 12-oz pkg frozen whipped topping, thawed 3 bananas Directions: 1. Cut angel food cake into bite-sized squares and set aside (easily sliced with a sharp bread knife). 2. Prepare Danish Dessert according to pudding directions; allow the dessert to cool, then add crushed raspberries and set aside. 3. Prepare the instant pudding according to pkg directions and fold in the sliced bananas. To assemble the trifle, repeat the following three times: 1. Layer a third of the cake pieces in the bottom of a trifle bowl (or use a large hurricane dish). 2. Drizzle a third of the raspberry dessert over the cake. 3. Spoon a third of the vanilla pudding over the raspberries. 4. Spoon a third of the whipped topping over the pudding. Number of servings: 10 - 12
Pursued is available at Seagull Book, Deseret Book or your
Favorite Independent LDS Bookstore!
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