The Blog

Material Witness, Excerpt #1 Today I thought I’d share a short excerpt from Material Witness. This is from Chapter 10 (page 121). Melinda has learned that her son, Aaron — her handicapped son — is in danger. She’s hurried home to warn her family, but when she arrives no one is there. As Ginger nudged Melinda’s hand searching for a... read more

School Days and Material Witness   Material Witness is the story of a little boy who sees something terrible–he sees a man attack a woman. He doesn’t know it at the time, but he sees a man kill a woman. Why would I write such a thing? We would all protect our children from seeing this horrible event, from being... read more

Shipshewana–The Setting for Material Witness I was in northern Indiana last week doing research for a new book (Amish Artisan Mystery Series). While I was there, I stopped by Shipshewana for a book signing and to meet old friends. So I wanted to share with you a few photos from my afternoon there. I hope you enjoy them!    ... read more

Shipshewana Amish Mystery – Material Witness In just 2 weeks, book 3 of my Shipshewana series–Material Witness will begin shipping from the Zondervan warehouse. I wanted to share with you the new covers, which the art department at Zondervan did a wonderful job of creating. If you’ve already read books 1 and 2, no worries — the story is the... read more

Places We Like … Amish Life Another question I asked you a few weeks ago is where you would like to visit, where you would go to see the Amish if you could take a trip. I like trips! It’s fun to go somewhere different and see how people live. Here are your answers. Pennsylvania Ohio Indiana Florida Missouri There... read more

Why We Care … Amish Life A few weeks ago I asked you some questions. I believe it was while I was running a contest. (Sounds like me. Right?) One of the questions was WHY did you care about the Amish? WHAT was it that interested you the most about them? WHY do you read their stories? The answers were... read more

Special Announcement: A Perfect Square A Perfect Square is available beginning today in ebook format! WooHoo! It’s like the birth of a child. I’m so stinking excited that hubby is worried about me. He’s gently removing the coffee cup from my hands. : )- This is Book 2 in my Shipshewana series. (No-you don’t HAVE to reaad them in order.) This IS a cozy... read more

All Things Amish–Gardening, part 3 March and gardening seems like a real possibility now. Right? This is one of my favorite pictures from my visits to Amish farms. There’s a LOT in this picture–there’s an entire story in this picture. I’ll even admit that THIS picture was the inspiration for Esther’s garden in my Shipshewana series. Isn’t the giant ball... read more

All Things Amish–Gardening, part 2 Are we in the gardening mood yet? I realize many of you still have snow on the ground. My hope is this series will warm you up a little! I was surprised how large Amish gardens are, but then again they are using them to feed their families. But other things surprised me as well–look... read more

All Things Amish–Gardening, part 1 February might SEEM like an early time to talk about gardening, but I like the idea of planning out my garden. When I look back over the photos of Amish gardens I have visited, it’s easy to see they are well planned. Lots of work and effort went into these vegetable patches–and for good reason. Here... read more