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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

If I Were Looking for Great, Exciting, and Unconventional Date Ideas…

by Chautona Havig · Leave a Comment

Stranded on Sparrow released this week, and Tabitha has us digging deep for fun, unconventional date ideas. What's yours? via @chautonahavig

A friend recently asked my best idea for an unconventional date. Now while Rachel didn’t ask for my actual unconventional dates, that’s where my brain went, and I’ll be honest. I had no idea how to answer the question.

You see, my husband and I never dated. Not only that, but I never went on “dates” before I met him, either.  The closest was probably my friend taking me to Disneyland for my birthday when I turned fifteen. With his mother and grandmother.  And… yeah, there wasn’t anything remotely romantic about it, okay?  Not what I’d call a date.  Just sayin’.

And for the curious, no. I didn’t like Disneyland.  I didn’t like it a year or so later when I went with a friend and her family, either. It’s just not my thing.

Where did that leave me? Dateless, for one thing, but then I got an idea.

You see, once upon a time, my husband and I got married.  (Talk about stating the obvious). After the wedding (several months after said marriage), we went on a honeymoon to Lake Tahoe.  Okay, that was the idea, but we got a room at the Circus Circus in Reno for fourteen bucks a night! FOURTEEN! I’m sure it will shock you to learn that we stayed in Reno instead of Tahoe.  We drove around the lake, checked out the sites… did all the touristy things.

Not only that, we even played penny slots at this tiny little slot machine place on the street down from our hotel.  We went to the movies and even saw a timeshare presentation in exchange for $200 in chips.  We took those chips, cashed them in, and voila!  That paid for our hotel and then some.  Woohoo!

So there you have it. My perfect, unconventional date idea.  A honeymoon.  Anyone up for the challenge?

stranded on sparrow

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What’s this all about?

Of course, that “Rachel” who asked was Rachel Skatvold, and she asked because there are a couple of super-cool, unconventional dates in her recent Independence Islands release, Stranded on Sparrow.  So, definitely check out the book, but please!  Tell me about your unconventional dates (or ones you’ve heard about).  And don’t forget to enter all the giveaways–mine and the other authors’).

stranded on sparrowStranded on Sparrow by Rachel Skatvold is AVAILABLE!

If His eye is on the sparrow, where does that leave her?

Lia Diaz’s life has become an illusion. Fired from her perfect job, she’s living a lie to avoid censure from her critical family. So when Lia gets a call about her nana’s recent fall, she heads to Nana’s house to help out and regroup.

Things are looking up until she discovers that her childhood refuge, Nana’s home on Sparrow Island, has been condemned in the wake of Hurricane Arley. Time to regroup—again.

Getting stranded on Sparrow Island while visiting the house was not in those revised plans.

After “rescuing” his niece and a motley crew of animals, some might say Zachary Nolan has a hero complex. Zachary never thought that he would live life as a single dad. However, as a web designer, he is able to spend lots of time with Violet, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. A call for help when Lia gets stranded there sends him rushing to the rescue. That hero complex thing again.

A hero and his niece offer new hope to Lia—maybe God’s eye is on Sparrow Island after all.

Read the next Sparrow Island novel in the Independence Islands Series featuring five islands, six authors, and a boatload of happily-ever-afters.

The Independence Islands Series: beach reads aren’t just for summer anymore.

Check out the other authors’ posts for their fun dates, too!

  • Rachel Skatvold (April 26)
  • Tabitha Bouldin (April 27)
  • Carolyn Miller (April 28)
  • Chautona Havig (April 29)  This one!
  • Melissa Wardwell (April 30)
  • Kari Trumbo (May 1)
  • Celebrate Lit (Sandy Barela–May 2)

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The Because Fiction Podcast

The Because Fiction Podcast
The Because Fiction Podcast

Taking the pulse of Christian fiction

Episode 581: A Chat with Bethany Crigger
byChautona Havig

YA Christian fiction set in Israel? Come on, that screams, “Sign me up!” Listen in as Bethany Crigger and I chat about her book, Sunshine for Yofi.

note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

Love this different setting in particular. Seeing Jewish culture and a Christian set in it and seeing everything. through that lens? Yeah. This is unique, fresh, and still relatable.

Sunshine for Yofi by Bethany Crigger

After Yofi bombs her big opportunity to share her music, she spirals into a pit of self-doubt. Who is she if she doesn’t have what it takes to play in front of other people? Didn’t God put music inside her to speak to others through it?

Giving up isn’t an option, but Yofi’s nerves promise one thing: failure. So she does the only thing she knows to do. She cries out to God.

His answer is puzzling—a verse containing lilies, paired alongside a new friendship with Ori—the boy who sees what Yofi is painfully blind to. But even if Ori’s got her perfectly pegged, both the lilies and the captivating boy remain a mystery to Yofi.

With her curiously intuitive cat by her side, Yofi weaves herself into the beautiful community of Yerushalayim (Jerusalem). But just as her playing improves, Yofi’s world flips upside down. Nothing is coincidental; it’s all a part of the plan.

But whose plan? Is the burning in Yofi’s heart to play and share her music God’s leading, or is it merely her own selfish desire heading her straight for the deepest pitfall of all?

Sunshine for Yofi is a uniquely crafted and heartfelt novel by Bethany Crigger. This wholesome coming-of-age story is a breath of fresh air, awakening the sleeping soul to dreams of hope long buried. If you enjoy clean, faith-filled themes, you’ll pine for this story of perseverance, friendship, love, generosity, and community attuned to God.

Learn more on Bethany’s WEBSITE and follow on GoodReads.

Like to listen on the go? You can find Because Fiction Podcast at:

  • Apple
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  • and more!
Episode 581: A Chat with Bethany Crigger
Episode 581: A Chat with Bethany Crigger
September 14, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 580: A Chat with R. T. Ward
September 12, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 579: A Chat with Lauren Smyth
September 9, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 578: A Chat with Carolyn Bourke
September 7, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 577: A Chat with Denise M. Colby
September 5, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 576: A Chat with Ann Swindell
August 31, 2026
Chautona Havig
A Chat with Dante Lupinetti
August 29, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 574: A Chat with Laura DeNooyer
August 24, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 573: A Chat with Cheryl Weber
August 22, 2026
Chautona Havig
Episode 572: A Chat with Kari Trumbo
August 19, 2026
Chautona Havig
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When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his firs When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his first year out of prison, he hadn't counted on prayer-singing, guitar-playing nurse Kelsey. Oh, and he hadn't counted on a matchmaking florist (not to mention said florist's obsession with daisies!). When a floral fiasco says all the right things to the right woman at the wrong time, Reid has to decide if his decision was God-directed or if romance was part of His plans all along.
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When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his firs When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his first year out of prison, he hadn't counted on prayer-singing, guitar-playing nurse Kelsey. Oh, and he hadn't counted on a matchmaking florist (not to mention said florist's obsession with daisies!). When a floral fiasco says all the right things to the right woman at the wrong time, Reid has to decide if his decision was God-directed or if romance was part of His plans all along.
Available FREE from 9/12-9/16/2026. Always "Free" on Kindle Unlimited.
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When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his firs When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his first year out of prison, he hadn't counted on prayer-singing, guitar-playing nurse Kelsey. Oh, and he hadn't counted on a matchmaking florist (not to mention said florist's obsession with daisies!). When a floral fiasco says all the right things to the right woman at the wrong time, Reid has to decide if his decision was God-directed or if romance was part of His plans all along.
Available FREE from 9/12-9/16/2026. Always "Free" on Kindle Unlimited.
https://amzn.to/4yslLfs #affiliatelink
#Christfic
#ContemporaryChristianRomance
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A family legacy so deeply rooted in the soil of Ca A family legacy so deeply rooted in the soil of California's Napa Valley that it stretches back a hundred years.
Avelino Carrillo is home from the Pacific Theater and wounded in more ways than one. Determined to earn back his family's vineyard, despite the underhanded machinations of a local "land baron," his new life home is everything he could've hoped for and nothing like he expected. It's heartache and joy, love and acceptance, and rejection and disdain. As he shares his family's stories with the people living in his family home, he's even more determined to succeed than ever. If not for himself and his family, then for the young woman who has stolen his heart.
Deepest Roots of the Heart is available on Kindle, "free" through Kindle Unlimited, and also as an audiobook narrated by the fabulous Thom Rivera @thomriveraofficial. His ability to flip between accents is astounding.
When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his firs When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his first year out of prison, he hadn't counted on prayer-singing, guitar-playing nurse Kelsey. Oh, and he hadn't counted on a matchmaking florist (not to mention said florist's obsession with daisies!). When a floral fiasco says all the right things to the right woman at the wrong time, Reid has to decide if his decision was God-directed or if romance was part of His plans all along.
Available FREE from 9/12-9/16/2026. Always "Free" on Kindle Unlimited.
https://amzn.to/4yslLfs #affiliatelink
#Christfic
#ContemporaryChristianRomance
#SmallTownRomance
#KindleFree
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When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his firs When Reid decided on "no girlfriends" for his first year out of prison, he hadn't counted on prayer-singing, guitar-playing nurse Kelsey. Oh, and he hadn't counted on a matchmaking florist (not to mention said florist's obsession with daisies!). When a floral fiasco says all the right things to the right woman at the wrong time, Reid has to decide if his decision was God-directed or if romance was part of His plans all along.
Available FREE from 9/12-9/16/2026. Always "Free" on Kindle Unlimited.
https://amzn.to/4yslLfs #affiliatelink
#Christfic
#ContemporaryChristianRomance
#SmallTownRomance
#KindleFree
#KindleUnlimited
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