Today, in coordination with Austen Variations, I have a scavenger hunt for you, complete with buried treasure! If you’ve already been to my post at Austen Variations, you have arrived here with a pocket full of words to solve the puzzle below. If you haven’t got the magic words yet, go find them and hurry back to play!

Okay, now you’re ready for part 2!

Before, you were looking at quotes from Jane Austen. Now here’s one of mine from For Myself Alone, but it’s missing some critical words. You just need to fill in the blanks with the words you brought with you from Austen Variations. Email your answers (the correct words in correct order) to me at shannon(at)shannonwinslow(dot)com to be entered in the drawing for today’s prizes as well as the final grand prize at the end of the month! Be sure to write “Scavenger Hunt” in the subject line. Extra credit (your name entered twice for today’s drawing) if you can tell me in what chapter of FMA this quote appears. Good luck!

To my dismay, I have ___1___ that most gentlemen do not wish their prowess in the ___2___ realm challenged, especially by anyone ___3___. I  remember once reading that a woman, if she have the ___4___ to know anything, should ___5___ it as well as she can. Perhaps I should have taken this ___6___ to heart, for I believe my ___7___ has proved a bit too ___8___ for some. Having once been cut by it, many a man has ___9___ to be put at peril of it again.

Did you notice the quote within the quote? Most of the second sentence is pure Jane Austen. That’s one of the features of this book – over forty direct Jane Austen quotes blended into the story.

When I began this novel, my goal was to create, not a sequel or tie-in this time, but a new story, one I imagined Jane might have written next. I didn’t intend any direct references to her work, only a nod to her style. With her words so deeply entrenched in my mind, however, I often found myself thinking of and alluding to various passages from her books as I went along. Rather than fighting the temptation to borrow some of her expertly turned phrases, I decided to go with it. After all, I couldn’t hope to improve on the master! I had a wonderful time tucking these little jewels in between the pages and trust readers have just as much fun discovering them there!

Meanwhile, back to our scavenger hunt. Did you solve the puzzle? Today’s three prizes are as follows:

• a signed Shannon Winslow paperback of your choice (US only)
• a Shannon Winslow ebook of your choice (international)
• an exclusive “bookbead” of my best-selling The Darcys of Pemberley (international)

Winners will be chosen by random drawing from those submitting a correct entry via email as directed above. Along with your answers, include your preference of the three prizes, which book you would like and in what format. Winners will be posted (here and on my post at Austen Variations) on 1/11/17 and also notified by email. Good luck!

Thank you for participating in today’s scavenger hunt! Watch for more games and prizes all this month at Austen Variations.

1/11/17 Update:  The lucky winners are Anji Dale, Sarah Brandon, and Zenaida Cook! I will be contacting you by email about your prizes. Here is the correctly completed quote from chapter one of For Myself Alone:

To my dismay, I have discovered that most gentlemen do not wish their prowess in the intellectual realm challenged, especially by anyone female. I  remember once reading that a woman, if she have the misfortune to know anything, should conceal it as well as she can. Perhaps I should have taken this advice to heart, for I believe my wit has proved a bit too sharp for some. Having once been cut by it, many a man has declined to be put at peril of it again.