Shipshewana: Yoder’s Red Barn Anniversary My Amish murder mysteries series debuts in the fall, and you all know that I am excited about that! I had the good fortune of being able to take a trip to the lovely town of Shipshewana, Indiana last summer. It’s a great place, filled with warm, friendly people. I thought it might be fun to highlight …
Wednesday’s Spotlight: Falling to Pieces Today I’m so very excited to spotlight my first novel with Zondervan Press– Falling to Pieces: A Quilt Shop Murder. This book doesn’t release until September, but I’m highlighting it because it popped up on Amazon earlier this week, and is now available for pre-order. Yes, that’s a little crazy, but it’s the way of publishing …
The Amish View: Baseball When I first began researching Amish people and Amish communities I was surprised to find how much they enjoyed games. For instance, baseball–I had never imagined Amish kids playing baseball. Now why is that? Maybe I hadn’t seen it in the paper or on the news. Maybe I hadn’t read enough. But in fact, Amish families do …
The Amish View: Gotte’s wille Readers frequently comment on how peaceful the Amish seem, how they appear to have mastered this thing that stumps many of us–fighting against or submitting to Gotte’s wille. Is God’s will a set of orders that have been handed down from our commanding officer? And if the Amish SEEM to have an easier time accepting what comes …
The Amish View: First Christmas I’VE RECEIVED many letters responding to A Simple Amish Christmas, my debut book. Most readers appreciated the Amish way of life. How do they manage to keep things so simple? Wouldn’t it be nice to not have all the rush and stress around Christmas.? When I began my research for this book, I wasn’t aware …
Wednesday’s Spotlight: Amish Grace I would not have picked this book to read; however, my 72-year-old mother saw the movie on tv last week — said she cried through the entire thing. Of course I remember the Nickel Mines tragedy. It occurred before I began writing Amish fiction, but even then I was aware of the Amish presence within our country. …
Happy Labor Day weekend. I’ve been looking forward to this one–the school year started back up two weeks ago here in Texas. The first few weeks are usually the toughest. Labor Day comes at a perfect time for teachers (and probably students as well). Which started me wondering if the Amish take Labor Day off. So I consulted my notes (nothing …
The more I learn about the Amish, the more I learn I don’t know. I suppose that’s true with any new friend–and I do consider the Amish my friends. Recently I learned that there is an Amish community in Stephenville, TX. How cool is that? Stephenville is only 86 miles from me! I don’t think I’ll be ordering a …
I can’t think of two words that are more lovely and more lovely TOGETHER. As the fields around me fade to browns and grays, I look back over my Amish pictures and what jumps out? QUILT GARDENS. When we were in Shipshewana this summer we were delighted to discover the Quilt Garden Tour. Free, spread across 7 communities in …
Usually on Wednesday’s we talk about ANOTHER author’s writing, but this week I wanted to share a little of my writing. This week I had the opportunity to blog with Shannon Vannatter. MONDAY she had me relate some of my husband’s most romantic moments. That was fun (love you, honey). We’re a bit unconventional when it comes to romance. …