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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 589: A Chat with Amanda Cabot
byChautona Havig

Most of us are used to Amanda Cabot writing in the late nineteenth century, but post WWII? Sign me up! Listen in and see what you can expect from Amanda’s Beyond the Melody.

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

I love jukeboxes, and a book with someone who knows all about them? Sign me up! EEEP!

Beyond the Melody by Amanda Cabot

Neither one is looking for love, But sometimes all it takes is one dance. By the spring of 1946, life in Sweetwater Crossing is almost back to normal after the war. Not Anna Finley’s. She lost her chance at happily-ever-after when the man she loved was killed in France. Anna does her best to hide her sorrow and a secret that haunts her as she works on the jukeboxes she inherited when her brother died in combat. There’s no point in dreaming about what might have been. Jim Smythe is also grieving a shattered life. His fiancee broke their engagement, reminding him that a respected magazine said it should take no more than three weeks for a veteran to forget the war. But Jim cannot forget the men in his platoon who didn’t return home, and he’s made it his mission to visit each of the fallen soldiers’ families, hoping to give them some small measure of comfort. Sweetwater Crossing is his final stop. After that, he’ll have to return to Boston and the life that holds no appeal. If only he could find an alternative, one where people saw him for himself, not his family’s name. He’s given up hope that anyone will understand what his parents and fiancee did not, but everything changes when he enters a small cafe and sees a woman whose eyes reflect his own pain standing next to a jukebox. Jim knows he’ll never see her again, yet it somehow feels right to extend his hand and say, “May I have this dance?” It’s a once-in-a-lifetime moment for two wounded people unless they can overcome their fears and find the courage to love again.

Learn more about Amanda on her WEBSITE and follow her on GoodReads and BookBub.

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Episode 589: A Chat with Amanda Cabot
Episode 589: A Chat with Amanda Cabot
October 5, 2026
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Episode 587: A Chat with Four Authors
September 30, 2026
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Episode 586: A Chat with Becca Kinzer
September 28, 2026
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Episode 585: A Chat with Jenelle Hovde
September 26, 2026
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Episode 584: A Chat with James Finke
September 23, 2026
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Episode 583: A Chat with Elizabeth Goddard
September 21, 2026
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Episode 582: A Chat with Terrie Todd
September 19, 2026
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Episode 581: A Chat with Bethany Crigger
September 14, 2026
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Episode 580: A Chat with R. T. Ward
September 12, 2026
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Episode 579: A Chat with Lauren Smyth
September 9, 2026
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Available on October 1st!!!
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A bunch of matchmaking book clubs? What could be m A bunch of matchmaking book clubs? What could be more fun? Grannies gettin' their gutsy on? Hunky cops protecting book clubbers from stalkers? Harvey Girls? Choosing real people over AI chat bot buddies? Friends working together to bring two book-loving hearts together? And more!
Available on October 1st!!!
https://amzn.to/4yjIMBH (#AffiliateLink).
#bookedforloveanthology
#bookclub
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A bunch of matchmaking book clubs? What could be m A bunch of matchmaking book clubs? What could be more fun? Grannies gettin' their gutsy on? Hunky cops protecting book clubbers from stalkers? Harvey Girls? Choosing real people over AI chat bot buddies? Friends working together to bring two book-loving hearts together? And more!
Available on October 1st!!!
https://amzn.to/4yjIMBH (#AffiliateLink).
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Available on October 1st!!!
https://amzn.to/4yjIMBH (#AffiliateLink).
#bookedforloveanthology
#bookclub
#Matchmaking
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