Hubby and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary earlier this month. Bob is retired, but he is very busy with his volunteer duties in our town. I have a rather tight writing schedule. Sometimes life needs to slow down a bit–and this seemed like one of those times. We both felt it was super important to pause and celebrate the day. …
Have you ever wondered how an author goes about writing a book? I thought today I’d share my process. Of course there are as many different ways to write a book as there are different authors, but this process has worked for me for 12 years, so I’ll probably be sticking with it. 1.) If you’re writing for a traditional …
I consider myself very fortunate as a writer. I’ve had a literary agent since my first days of writing back in 2009. Of course, I went through a lot of rejection before that agent and I found one another. Still, it was a good experience, and I learned a lot from her. A few years later, I felt that I …
I wanted to give my webpage a new look for 2021. It’s taken a few months, but here we are! I’m so excited with the improvements. (Yes, this is a current picture of me in the snow, in Texas–it’s crazy). So what exactly have we done to the webpage? –The look is simpler and cleaner. –The buttons at the top …
Howdy friends. If you’re wondering why it’s been a while since you heard from me, I’ve been having major website problems. Ack! I’m hoping you receive this, but it would help me tremendously if you commented below so that I know it’s going out to everyone. So what’s this about a new release? Yes! The Amish Christmas Secret released earlier this month, …
With school starting back in most areas, I thought I’d share with you a few things I’ve learned about Amish schools. School are still mostly one-room schoolhouses. A local farm will donate a corner of the property and families within 1-2 miles will help to build the structure as well as pay for the teacher’s salary (which is small). Remember, …
We had an awesome discussion during our last post regarding the Amish and their general health. If you missed that, you can read it here. Many of you followed up with this question: Don’t the Amish deal with a higher incidence of genetic diseases? That’s a good question, and I’m sure knowledgeable people have written entire books analyzing the topic. I’ll …
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 …
This week I made plans for my first trip to Shipshewana, Indiana. I’m so excited that I’m doing little cartwheels around my desk (which is quite a sight). Shipshewana is the setting for my Zondervan books, Shipshewana Amish Mystery Series. I’ve done quite a lot of research on Shipshewana of course, and I’ve now written 1/3 of the first book. …
The more deeply I delve into Amish society, the more I find connections between “their” world and “ours.” One landed on my front lawn last week. I’ve never witnessed an Amish barn raising, but certainly it’s one of the most fascinating aspects of Amish life. The idea that all of your neighbors show up and literally RAISE your barn in …