If you guessed Mary or Dave as being responsible for the kidnapping, I put you into the random.org list generator. Bpratt818 came out in the first slot so she wins.
This is the way it happened:
Mary didn’t like Kyala writing Dave the letter and Mary was tired of Dave causing trouble, so Mary had two motives. She talked Dave into hiding in the barn loft (Ruth got so close to catching him!). She convinced Dave that if he went missing, then people would talk about it and he’d finally be taken seriously. Now, Mary didn’t believe for a minute that anyone would take Dave seriously, but Dave believed it so he went along with it.
Did the ploy work? Well, for Mary it did. Kyala has grown bored of Dave and has moved on to another man. Dave has also given up on the Characters for Better Treatment Union because Mary’s about to give birth to Jacob. (Jacob is born in 1885.) Dave is going to be too busy with the newest Larson member to worry about the union, just as Mary planned.
Did the ploy work for Dave? Nah. No one takes him seriously. LOL I know, poor Dave.
If you didn’t win this time, I’ll be having another giveaway soon. I’m still working on the idea for it. The books that will be up for it are my paperback books Loving Eliza, Bid for a Bride, Bride of Second Chances, and maybe a couple more. The other paperback books are from Rose Gordon, and they are Her Sudden Groom, Her Reluctant Groom, Her Secondhand Groom, and Her Imperfect Groom.
Below is a snapshot of the list of people who guessed either Mary or Dave and the winner picked by random.org. If you did guess Mary or Dave and I didn’t see your entry, please let me know. I think I got everyone, but there’s always the chance I made a mistake somewhere.
Ruth Ann Nordin's Author Blog 
Yay, I got them BOTH right! LOL. Congrats to the winner!
Yep. Most people got one or the other. It was fun to see whenever someone got both of them. 😀
Great plotting Ruth! Sorry I accused you.
For anyone who has not read Ruth’s other books, they are all so good but Loving Eliza, Bid for a Bride and Bride of Second Chances are … I can’t even find words but they were just…they obviously have left me speechless.
And Rose Gordon’s books are just as good with characters that you will want to visit again and again. Okay I’m slinking back in my cave to calm down. I just get excited over both of these gals books!
I’m excited that Rose sent me some of her books to give out as part of the giveaways I’m doing. 😀
My personal favorites are the South Dakota books of all I’ve written. I think it’s the tone and the characters.
There are times that I play John and Eliza’s story through my head if I don’t have a book…such as when I’m driving and it don’t seem safe to read at the same time. It was more than a story though as it opened my eyes to how someone treats people with a disability like deafness. A gal comes to Spring Training who is deaf. She told me (wrote) that she would love to work there, but with her hands showed me how could she…not able to use a phone, etc. I never thought about such things. Every year I wish I knew sign language when Brenda comes by. And in the 2nd book…Brian’s life makes you think about the day to day of being blind. Ruth you have such an awesome writing talent. It goes beyond fiction and hits the heart. Thanks for sharing that talent with us readers.
Well, you know my son is deaf, so I know the phone would be a challenge. Right now, we’re trying to get my son comfortable with writing as a way to communicate. He wants to use signs, and while we use those, too, we want him to also work on writing and eventually typing so that he can talk to people who don’t know sign language. When I wrote Loving Eliza, I wanted a hero who had something comparable to overcome so I could understand my son better. I thought by making John mute, I could get a better perspective on what my son had to deal with and it worked. I gained more patience with him and a better ability to communicate with him from writing that book. It helped to put myself in the hero’s shoes because in writing John’s point of view, I forced myself beyond what I’m used to. The same is true for Brian. I became more aware of my other senses during that time. It’s really an interesting thing to become the character when I write a book. It’s also why I love writing. I get to be other people and live out different adventures, and for me, the best adventure is falling in love. 😀
The book I’m reading is pretty heavy and based on a true life. The author was asked why he used a fictional name and it was too pull himself out of the story. The opposite of what you just said. Just found that unique as they are opposite sides of the spectrum.
I can see why he made the character fictional. In a case like that, I would, too. It’s also a neat way to approach writing a book. 😀
And I really appreciate how much Loving Eliza and Bid for a Bride means to you! 🙂 It means a lot to me.
Ruth,
Thanks so much!! I am so excited!!!!
Brenda
I’m glad you won! Did you get my email?