The Amish don’t have Santa or massive electric light displays; they celebrate the birth of Christ in simplicity and tradition.  A favorite tradition among families is creating and sending out Christmas cards. Many families spend the long, dark evenings of fall with craft items spread out over a table. Creativity flows as they use paints, colored pencils, fabrics, buttons, ribbons, and other items to make beautiful and practical crafts.

You can use this idea as a jumping point to create unique Christmas decorations with your own family. If you have Christmas cards from previous years in storage, you can place a string from one wall to another and hang those Christmas cards from the string. As you do, take a minute to reread the names, think of each sender, and share a memory of that person with your children. An evening spent in that manner will stir love and respect for others.

Instead of buying store-made cards this year, try doing like the Amish and make your own Christmas cards to send to friends, neighbors, and relatives. At a hobby or craft store, for just a few dollars, you can purchase packets of fake gems, sequins, or beads, and glue these onto construction paper, along with a personalized Christmas message. Creating unique cards for each person lets them know you are thinking of them in a special way.

There are five winners from the previous blog contest. Each has won an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells.

Congratulations to ~

Mandy

Michele

Sherryl

Amy

Linda

For your chance to be one of five winners of an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, just leave a comment.

From the time I was eight until I entered high school, we lived in a rural part of Maryland. Losing electricity happened fairly often. We were well equipped to deal with the outages—potbelly stove for cold weather, plenty of goods my mother had canned from her garden, and several kerosene lamps. So we had warmth, food, and light. What more could a family need?

Games! Fast-paced, easy ones, where the goal is laughter, not winning.

During those times when the television was as dark as the night, we’d clear the kitchen table, set a lantern on it, and start a board game. Not having electricity caused everyone to naturally shift his or her normal routine.

The most fun part of those evenings was having our parents’ undivided attention. Parents are often so busy being parents that the children miss out on seeing their true personality—the one that shows up when Mom goes out to lunch with her girlfriends or when Dad and his buds are on the golf course.

My parents grew up during the Depression, so seriousness and responsibility was a huge part of who they were. I only caught rare glimpses of the person behind the busyness.

Game night, which only arrived when the electricity went out, helped shape my thoughts about life. It became a tiny seed that affected me so much it’s even seen throughout the Sisters of the Quilt series.

The Old Order Amish, like the ones I write about, live without electricity all the time.

Do I want to live like they do? With much respect to them, I say, “No, thank you.”

Do the Amish want to live as we do? With much respect to Englischers, the Amish I know say, “No, thank you.”

We’d each have to give up things we cherish. But there are common denominators within both traditions: like our determination to try to protect our family and keep them as a priority.

With that in mind, I’m going to post several entries over the next few weeks about how the Amish celebrate Christmas. (Is it too early to talk about celebrating Christmas?) Perhaps you’ll be reminded of things you did as a child and want to have a night or two of that with your own family. Or maybe you’ll find something new that you’d like to incorporate into your family traditions.

Here are some ways to keep Christmas simple:

A. Plan ahead. (In that sense, it is not too early to think about Christmas.)
B. Keep the plans simple.
C. Have a variety of easy-to-do choices.
D. Enjoy the fruits of your thoughtfulness.
E. Only snap a few photos for nostalgic purposes. (Sometimes parents ruin what should be relaxed family downtime by making everyone aware that they’re constantly “on stage.”)

*
Game suggestions:

Although I love a good game of Monopoly when there is time and the players are of a certain age, it isn’t for the easily distracted.

Spoons is played with just a deck of cards and a handful of spoons. For directions, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoons

Uno
Yahtzee
Go Fish
Dutch Blitz (The Amish love this one.) 
Pictionary (There’s even a junior version!)
Charades
Chutes and Ladders
Candyland
Checkers
Parchese
Game of Life

Those are just some of the games I could think of easily. I’d love to hear more, as well as special things you’ve done that have made a family memory. If you leave a suggestion for our readers, or any comment, your name will be entered for a chance to win my Christmas novella, The Sound of Sleigh Bells.

Injecting a note here: I mentioned on a radio interview this morning (10-13-09) that I’d post a recipe for making Christmas dough ornaments. If you’d like that recipe go to my Book Lover News Blog by clicking here.

There are five winners from the previous blog contest. Each has won an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells.

Congratulations to ~

Phyllis of Normal, Illinois
Dana of Clayton, Indiana
April of Henderson, North Carolina
Carol of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Marlyss of Regina, Saskatchewan

 For your chance to win an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, just leave a comment.

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While on my book tour, a journalist from the Wall Street Journal, Alexandra Alter accompanied me during a visit with my Amish friends. Some of you may remember that in the last blog post I wrote a little about Alexandra joining us.

I was thrilled to see that her article – and a sketch of Hannah’s face – were featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal yesterday!  The piece ran in the newsprint, but you can find the online version here.

The only small correction I have is that my books have actually sold over half-a-million rather than the 134,000 that the Nielsen BookScan reported.

In preparation for the October 6 release of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, I am offering a chance to win an autographed copy! Simply comment on this post to be entered.  Click here to read more about The Sound of Sleigh Bells. The first chapter will be available online in a short time, so check back soon!

I also wanted to share a piece from my upcoming newsletter, Plain News. It features the visit to Daniel and Miriam’s house, which Alexandra mentions in her Wall Street Journal article.

Excerpt from “Plain News September 2009.” The newsletter is free and is sent four times per year. To sign up to receive this free newsletter, go to: Plain News

Amish Connection

On the last day of my book-signing tour, my husband, my editor, a journalist, and I pulled into the driveway of one of my Amish friends. Miriam and Daniel and their two youngest children came out of their farmhouse to greet us. Feeling Miriam’s arms around me for the first time since May, I did not want to let go. After hugs and warm welcomes, we introduced them to my editor and the journalist.

Daniel invited us into their home, where Miriam’s kitchen island was covered with goodies. The aromas of fruits, cheeses, and homemade desserts filled our senses. We put some of the delectables on our plates, took cups of coffee, and moved outside to sit under a shade tree. After more than a week of changing hotels every night and pushing to get to each event on time, it was relaxing and pleasant to enjoy these treats with such great company!

After our midmorning refreshments, we went to the barn to hitch the horse to the buggy for a short ride. Although I’ve written books with characters hitching a horse to a buggy, I needed greater detail about it for my next novel. The smell of hay and horse feed filled my nostrils. In another part of the barn, calves added their young voices to the sounds of the horses.

I watched carefully, asked a lot of questions, and took notes as Daniel showed me the blacksmith’s tools, explaining what each one was used for, and then hitched the horse to a two-person carriage. Once Daniel had the rig hitched, he gave each of us a ride. August’s temps bore down on the black asphalt and shadeless road, so we took short rides in order to spare the horse. I find buggies rather difficult to climb in and out of, but well worth the effort. Alexandra (the journalist) had never traveled to Amish country before, so it was fun to see her enjoying the farm and the ride.

After the buggy rides, Shannon (my editor) and I visited my friend’s craft room, which is located above the carriage house. The room smelled of old wood, reminding me of attics and of my writing room at home. It had a lot of items that Shannon had seen on my Web site and in my newsletter, including decorative hames, which are wall hangings made using a quilt patch between two old wooden pieces of a harness, the part that goes around the horse’s neck. The craft room also had various sizes of baskets lined with sewn fabric and topped with hand-painted lids, frames with paintings, antique foot-pedal sewing machines with scenes painted on them, and cute birdhouses made from old boots. When I visit, I always enjoy seeing the new crafts Miriam has created.

When we returned to the house, all the refreshments had been removed and dinner was being set out. My friend’s teenage daughter had been hard at work as the adults were busy visiting and riding in the buggy! The aromas were delicious, but the food tasted even better than it smelled. We had roast beef and lots of fresh seasonal vegetables from the family’s garden. The small potatoes had been boiled in a tasty mix of seasonings, the home-grown green beans were perfectly crisp, and the ice-cold water did wonders to quench our thirst after being outside in the heat.

Time seemed to drift away as we continued to chat while enjoying our dessert of pumpkin roll and ice cream. In fact, we were enjoying our visit so much that when I glanced at the clock, I gasped. We had very little time to get to our next signing! Everyone jumped up and rushed about, only taking enough time to put the leftovers in the refrigerator so they wouldn’t spoil.

The book signing at Rachel’s Country Store was very busy. During the signing, Daniel and my husband took my editor to the train station in Harrisburg. She had a flight to catch in Philadelphia. Since our vehicle was in Harrisburg, and we hadn’t come in a horse and buggy, the journalist waited for me to finish and then took us back to Miriam’s home before she left for New York.

Within minutes, Miriam and I were reclining under the shade tree again as if there were no dishes to be washed. She said we couldn’t use valuable chat time doing work—not during such a short visit. I promised to be useful during our next stay. When the men returned, they joined us, and the conversation flowed nonstop until my husband and I had to leave.

While on our way to our van, rain began sprinkling the farm while the sun shone brightly. I turned to my friends and said, “We’re about to see a rainbow.” As we hugged good-bye, we marveled at the gorgeous rainbow, commenting that it felt like a promise that even though our trip had been short, we’d have more visits in the future.

My husband and I visited my dad, stepmom, and brother while in Pennsylvania, and by the time we arrived home, we’d traveled more than three thousand miles. But Home Sweet Home greeted us at the end of our trip…as did bills, yard work, and a teen who’d successfully weathered most of the first two weeks of school without Mom or Dad.

Excerpt from “Plain News September 2009.” The newsletter is free and is sent four times per year. To sign up to receive this free newsletter, see link above this article. I tried to post that same link here, entered the same URL, and took all the right “techie” steps, but the link kept leading to weird places. Sorry.

To enter to win a copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, comment on this post!

Our tour began on Tuesday, August 11 with an appearance on Fox 5 Good Day Atlanta. We had a signing that evening in Norcross, GA at the Barnes and Noble. There was quite a crowd, as you can see in the video my husband took.  The next day, I had a signing in Nashville, TN, and the day after that in Plainfield IN. Here are my reflections and some shots of these signings!

On Friday, we headed to Illinois, and on Saturday and Sunday we had two signings in Michigan. Here’s the video from that weekend. Ann Byle wrote a great article about my visit in the Grand Rapids Press, that you can also find online here.

Monday began our visit to Ohio with a taped interview on Central Ohio Public Radio at Ohio State University. Afterward we met up with my editor, Shannon (Hill) Marchese. We then went to a book signing and Q & A at Barnes and Noble in Columbus. On Tuesday, we had a signing and lunch at the Der Dutchman, which is an Amish restaurant in Walnut Creek, OH. I met my editor’s mom, an Englischer and an Amish woman who always help provide the clothing for the models for my books’ covers, and I even met one of the models. We had a great time and a delicious meal.

Also on Tuesday, I traveled to Joseph Beth Booksellers in Pittsburgh, PA. I had a really fun time getting to know the group, and I was able to discuss the writing and story aspects of my book with one aspiring author.  On Wednesday I had an in-depth interview with Pennsylvania Public Radio at Temple University. Here’s a link to the audio. That evening, we had a signing at Hackman’s Bible Bookstore in Whitehall, PA, during which I was joined by a journalist from the Wall Street Journal.

Our final stop on the book signing tour was on Thursday Rachel’s County Store, which is an Amish dry goods store in Newburg, PA. About five times more people came to that signing than we’d planned for. I signed over 250 books before we sold out of certain titles. We were thrilled to meet so many readers!

The tour felt like a whirlwind, but I was helped along the way by my husband and editor. It was my first experience at having so much time with my editor as she traveled in the vehicle with us. I could not have received a better blessing! She shared so many helpful insights about the book I’m currently writing–book two of Ada’s House series. After all but one of the signings and interviews, we all went to one of my Amish friends home for supper, where we had some precious time to catch up and an unbelievable delicious meal.

Huge, huge thank you to readers who contributed to The Hope of Refuge hitting the #29 spot on the New York Times best-sellers list!

Sheryl of Lawrenceville, GA  and Grace of Jamestown, NY are our winners from the August 5th drawing for a copy of the Hope of Refuge! I’ll begin a new contest next week so check back to enter!

Here are some photos from our signings and visits throughout Amish Country!

Driving through the PA countryside

The Der Dutchman Restaurant

Meeting with people at the Der Dutchman

Signing at Rachel's Country Store

My editor has created a miniature poster that you can print out to share with others or bring to the event for me to sign. I encourage you to download the signing event’s flyer—a beautiful piece of artwork, similar to what you see below. Each one has the date, time, and location of that particular book signing. We did this so you can print out flyers to share with others. You can print as many as you’d like and take them to your book club, church, coworkers, friends, relatives, or even the local library.

This is my first book tour, and I’d love to meet as many readers as possible. I think I’ll get the opportunity to speak for a few minutes at each signing as well as answer some questions. If the economy has taken a hit at your home and you don’t wish to buy a book, come on out and let’s have some fun anyway. I’ll sign the flyer you’ve printed or a bookmark.

My editor, who is flying in from Colorado, will be with me for the tour starting in Columbus, Ohio. She’s been my editor throughout the Sisters of the Quilt series, The Hope of Refuge, and The Sound of Sleigh Bells. Behind every enjoyable, satisfying read is a great editor. She challenges me to write and rewrite until the story inside my heart matches the one that’s showing up on the page for readers. She makes me work really hard, but I always return the favor!

From My Editor: The Top 5 Reasons for Going to Cindy’s Book Signing
1. CSI will be on tomorrow night too.
2. How else can you ask, live and face-to-face, “What is Hannah up to now?”
3. I know Cindy, and she always has intriguing surprises and some unforgettable insight for her readers.
4. Where else can you go but a bookstore to meet Cindy AND pick up that copy of Charlotte’s Web for your daughter’s reading list AND get the perfect gift for your mother-in-law’s birthday [Hint: The Hope of Refuge]?
5. What a perfect opportunity for a field trip with your book club or women’s small group.
One last shameless plug from the editor… This is a great excuse to get out of the house with some friends and introduce them to some terrific books in a friendly, personable environment. Have a ladies’ night out at the bookstore.

If I can manage all the technical aspects while traveling, I will be using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to keep you updated on how the signing tour is progressing.

Follow the tour on:

Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Tuesday, August 11 7-8:30pm

Barnes & Noble

5141 Peachtree Parkway, The Forum

Norcross, Georgia 30092

(770) 209-4244

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Wednesday, August 12 7-8pm

Barnes & Noble Opry Mills

515 Opry Mills Drive

Nashville, Tennessee 37214

(615) 514-5000

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Thursday, August 13 6-8pm

Barnes & Noble

2540 Futura Pkwy. #135

Plainfield, Indiana 46168

(317) 838-7941

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Friday, August 14 6-8pm

Barnes & Noble

1550 West 75th

Downers Grove, Illinois 60516

(630) 663-0181

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Saturday, August 15 1-3pm

Baker Books

2768 East Paris Ave SE

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546-6139

(616) 957-3110

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Sunday, August 16 2-4pm

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

3700 Rivertown Parkway Ste. 2058

Grandville, Michigan 49418

(616) 531-1825

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Monday, August 17 7-8:00pm

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

1739 Olentangy River Road

Columbus, Ohio 43212

(614) 298-9516

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Tuesday, August 18 7-8:30pm

Joseph Beth Booksellers

2705 E. Carson Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203

(412) 381-3600

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Wednesday, August 19 6-8pm

Hackman’s Bible Book Store

1341 Mickley Road

Whitehall, Pennsylvania 18052-4610

(610) 264-8600

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Thursday, August 20 1 – 3pm

Rachel’s Country Store (Amish dry goods store)

6352 McClays Mill Road

Newburg, Pennsylvania 17240

(717) 530-9452

Flyer (PDF) | Map

On August 5, two winners were drawn from those who’d left comments below. The winners are Sheryl, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, and Grace of Jamestown, New York. Congratulations Sheryl and Grace!  This contest is now closed. I’ll begin a new contest a week or so after I’m home from my book tour.

In the July issue of my newsletter, Plain News, I wrote about my latest trip to Pennsylvania and spending some of that time with Amish friends. For those of you who don’t receive my newsletter, I’m posting an excerpt below.

But first! It’s time to have another blog contest. The winner of the last blog contest, Nancy  Capps, won an Amish-made wall hanging. Congratulations, Nancy! The contest this time is for an autographed copy of The Hope of Refuge. I’m very excited about my upcoming release, and if you read the excerpt from my newsletter, you’ll begin to see why.

New Yorker Cara Moore has nothing and is on the run. Young Amish woman Deborah Mast has everything and is on her way to the wedding altar. When their lives collide, neither one will be the same. Can the humility and faith of Ada save either of them?

For a chance to win an autographed copy of The Hope of Refuge, just leave a comment below.

Amish Connection

From the yard of my closest Old Order Amish friend, I sipped a cup of coffee as I watched sunlight peek over the mountains and fill the valley. Along the creek banks of a nearby pasture, bands of mist rose like dancing trees and then disappeared into nothingness six or so feet from the ground. I’d never seen mist do such a jig. Sunlight sparkled off the dewy grass. The creek had overflowed its usual bounds because of abundant spring rains and ran wildly through the meadow. The steady clop of horses’ hoofs against the asphalt softened as the rigs pulled onto the gravel driveway.

It was a day I’d looked forward to for a year. The annual Amish school sale. It’s a bustling auction with at least four auctioneers selling various goods at different stations, two makeshift kitchens set up on the property, and several commercial-size grills filled with chicken.

The sales from this auction support Amish schools in the surrounding community. So on that beautiful spring day, many districts of Amish people attended the school sale, along with hundreds of English folk (also known as Englischers or non-Amish). A district has between eighteen to twenty-eight families. When the population grows to around twenty-five families, the Amish church leaders start looking into ways to divide that district—which involves several things, one of which is renovating a current structure or building a new one-room Amish schoolhouse.

On the day of this auction, there were probably a thousand people inside the warehouse-type building owned by an Amish family for the purpose of timber framing. This school sale is held each year on the day before Mother’s Day, which lends itself to a great gift-buying opportunity for Amish and English alike.

Most of my family was there, eating and drinking the homemade goods and bidding on things from hand–sewn, faceless dolls to wall hangings to king-size quilts.

I love these auctions!

When I finally tore myself away from my Amish friends a week later, I brought with me a beautiful Amish quilt for the quilt contest. The quilt was sewn by at least a dozen Amish women from that area. It’s gorgeous! So if you haven’t entered the Amish quilt contest yet, I encourage you to do so this time.

After the crowds had gone home, the cleanup began. The sun sank behind the mountains, and about the time dark settled over the land, everything was in order enough for supper to begin. About nine o’clock that night, amid soft conversations and bursts of laughter, my husband, youngest son, and I sat at the familiar old oak table and shared a meal with a group of very weary and content Amish folk. It was another great year of earning money to pay the schoolteachers from several districts in the area, and they were pleased.

The aromas, sights, and sounds of an Amish school sale are only one piece of the authentic Amish culture captured in my new book, The Hope of Refuge.

Excerpt from “Plain News July 2009.” The newsletter is free and is sent four times per year. To sign up to receive this free newsletter, go to: Plain News

Hello Amazing Readers!

For those of you who blog and are eagerly awaiting The Hope of Refuge, you might be interested in an opportunity being offered by Random House.

The release date for The Hope of Refuge has been moved from mid-September to August 11!

Raised in foster care and now the widowed mother of a little girl, Cara Moore struggles against poverty, fear, and a relentless stalker. When a trail of memories leads Cara and Lori out of New York City toward an Amish community, she follows every lead, eager for answers and a fresh start. She discovers that long-held secrets about her family history ripple beneath the surface of Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, and it’s no place for an outsider. But one Amish man, Ephraim Mast, dares to fulfill the command he believes that he received from God–“Be me to her”– despite how it threatens his way of life.

JOIN THE HOPE OF REFUGE BLOG TOUR

Do you have an established personal blog? If so, you may be eligible to join the blog tour for Cindy’s new book The Hope of Refuge. As an approved blog reviewer, you’ll receive a free, advance copy of The Hope of Refuge and a giveaway copy!

To submit your blog for consideration, email wbpgblogtours@randomhouse.com by June 24, 2009.

Include your name, street address, and a link to your blog. A limited number of review slots are available, so email now! The blog tour will take place August 3-11.

I had a great time; the people at ABC Nightline are absolutely wonderful.

Cindy
www.cindywoodsmall.com

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Rumschpringe is the Pennsylvania Dutch word for “running around.” It’s a time during which Amish young people decide whether or not they’ll join the faith. It usually begins around sixteen years old, and although there isn’t an exact time it’s over, parents encourage a decision to be made during the early twenties. The community begins to feel leery of a young man or woman who remains among them but doesn’t join the faith by the mid- to late twenties. Although none of what I’ve said is written as part of their faith, it is in line with what is expected.

There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there about what a rumschpringe is. Those writing about it often state something to the effect of “The Amish raise their children strictly. Then, when those children turn sixteen, they let them run wild, letting them indulge freely in drinking, drugs, parties, sex, etc.” That is absolutely not true.

I was staying with an Old Order Amish friend last spring (and again in the fall) when an Amish holiday rolled around. Everyone had the day off, and the parents did their best to provide an outlet for the teens to get together and have fun among plenty of chaperones. The parents chipped in and bought pizza and drinks. Someone drove their horse and buggy to an agreed upon spot where the pizza man was willing to meet them to deliver the pizza. Since it was pouring rain, the parents set up volleyball nets inside a huge warehouse-type building.

This is typical of the Old Order Amish. The parents want to offer freedom and fun for their young people as well as a safe, controlled environment. They allow the teens to express their personalities. They give leeway for their energy and provide opportunities to bond with other Amish teens. Although the parents have large families and their days are spent trying to meet the needs of all their children, they do a remarkable job of providing guidance and protection for those in their time of rumschpringe.

Will some teens, regardless of how they’ve been raised, break free of all their parents hold dear? Yes. Does that mean the parents threw open the door to the “world” and encouraged their children to sow their wild oats while they could? No.

The true purpose of the rumschpringe is to provide a bridge between childhood and adulthood. The rumschpringe is meant to give freedom for an Amish young person to find an Amish mate. They are usually free to date anyone during this time, but it is the parents’ desire that they only date other Amish. In spite of that fervent desire, most parents give their young people the chance to see what the world outside the Amish community is like, which means those who are in rumschpringe can date non-Amish people, though their parents may or may not know about it.

We live in a free country. At eighteen, any American is free to leave home and do whatever he or she wishes as long as it isn’t illegal. In a way, the rumschpringe honors that law while providing a loving home environment in which parents pray their child will choose to join the faith.

~

The contest for the Amish-made wall hanging is still in progress. I’ll visit my Amish friends in May, and attend their Amish School Auction/Sale. While there I’ll purchase a wall hanging similar to the one below. It won’t have the same pattern, but the overall look will be similar. If you’d like a chance to win the item, just leave a comment below.

I’m starting to write on a new novel that will be out in 2010. Our oldest son is getting married in May. Our youngest son is schooling at home, and my husband’s traveling to another state as needed to help deal with his dad’s failing health. And those are the things I can blog about. Is it any wonder I haven’t posted here in forever?

But readers are very patient and encouraging as I prioritize to the best of my ability. I know there are a lot of people who’ll stop by this site who are also an active part of being in the sandwich generation–careers, raising (rearing) children, and taking care of aging parents. My brother and his wife are so courageous and quite worn out as they work with her (my sister-in-law’s) mother.

But . . . spring is here! Okay, that was a rough transition, but compared to a roller-coaster ride, it was fairly smooth. ;-)

And with spring comes the latest edition of Plain News.

My quarterly newsletter, Plain News, will go out soon. Each newsletter has an Amish Connection section, and in this next issue an Old Order Amish friend and I have written a few thoughts about the rhythm of life. The newsletter will also include info about an upcoming Amish School Auction/Sale in May, a short article about the true purpose of rumschpringe (the running-around period for Amish youth), a letter from me updating readers about my family, an author spotlight with Amy Wallace, has a “Newsletter Contest,” and some great suggested reads from my editor, Shannon [Hill] Marchese.

It’s free. It receives amazing reviews. And it will only enter your inbox four times per year.

To sign up, click here: Plain News

To read Plain News, click here: www.cindywoodsmall.com/newsletter.html.

At the bottom of each newsletter, you’ll find a “previous” link. If you click on that, you’ll be able to read all previous newsletters.

I’ve been in Virginia for the past week, brainstorming with my critique partner Marci. While I was packing to go there, snow was on the ground in Georgia and even more snow in Virginia. So I took numerous jackets and plenty of warm clothes, including boots and leather gloves. But the day after I arrived, so did warm weather. We opened the windows, took long walks, and enjoyed eating ice cream while sitting outdoors. There were a lot of people out in Alexandria, milling about and welcoming the first warm days of the season.

Marci and I had a great time brainstorming on my next novel to write. There’s a new character who is unlike anyone we’ve worked with before. She’s quirky, that’s for sure, and she has a wit that causes those around her to see the humorous side to life. There’s no telling how she’ll end up looking on the finished page, but we sure did cackle at her antics when she showed up during the brainstorming time. The character is also deep, intelligent, and painfully vulnerable. But regardless of her spirit, many only see her “Achilles’ heel.”

I’ll visit my Amish friends come May, and attend their Amish School Auction/Sale. I’ll purchase a wall hanging similar to the one below. It won’t have the same pattern, but the overall look will be similar. If you’d like a chance to win the item, just leave a comment below. I’ll draw a winner on the third day of summer—Tuesday, June 23.

For those who’ve been waiting for a winner to be drawn for the Amish-made American flag wall hanging (see Contest ~ Amish-made American flag wall hanging, January 23 blog post), one will be chosen on March 20, the first day of spring!

*

Em Gott sei Friede (God’s peace),

Cindy

Cindy,
I received my quilt this weekend.  It is gorgeous; the colors are much deeper and richer than the online photo.
I will cherish it forever and the card was a blessing also.
I am sending the photo with me and the quilt, please let me know if it comes through okay.
 
Thanks again and may Jesus bless you always,
Nedra Wright
Lawrenceburg, TN

It came through beautifully, Nedra. Thank you for the note and the photo! Hearing back from you has really blessed me.

For those of you who’d like a chance or another chance to win, the 2009 Amish-made quilt contest is underway. It’s easy and fun. I have a lot of fun each year getting the quilt. I’ll buy a quilt in May at an Amish auction that friends of mine have annually.

The contest is set up in a way that allows your friends to drop by the site and enter their name and yours into the quilt contest. Here’s how it works: You can enter yourself into the contest one time. You can have a friend come by the site and enter themselves and you. One time per friend, please. If you have twenty friends come by the site, they can each enter themselves and your name one time.

And don’t forget . . . the Amish-made American flag wall hanging contest is still going on. To enter, go to the blog post titled “Contest ~ Amish-made American flag wall hanging” and leave a comment.

Em Gott sei Friede, (God’s peace),

Cindy

This contest is now closed. The winner of the Amish-made wall hanging is Marilyn of Catlettsburg, Kentucky.

Congratulations, Marilyn!

Orignal post:

Last Tuesday, President Obama’s inauguration reminded me of something I bought from an Amish friend of mine—an Amish-made American flag wall hanging.

If you’d like a chance to win this, just leave a comment below.

Last week, our youngest son was in the throes of that American tradition called Inauguration Day. He left the Friday night before and came home Wednesday at six a.m. We heard from him every day. He called for less than a minute each time—usually to assure us he was safe and having fun. Our favorite call from him was on Sunday morning, before seven a.m., asking me where I packed his tie.

“Uh, right where I showed you it would be . . . four times.”

It wasn’t easy helping him find it via phone. The room he was in was noisy, and he was a bit uptight—both of which made hearing me difficult.

The tie was tucked safely inside a hidden pocket of his new suit. I knew when we were packing his suitcase that in his excitement he wasn’t paying attention, so I showed him several times, and then I had his dad show him, and then I handed my son the jacket and had him locate the tie before the suit was packed.

He finally discovered it. His dad and I couldn’t help but laugh. Good thing the young man is cute!

I wonder, does President Obama have this kind of issue with his daughters? I would hope so, since they are years younger than my son. But our son’s deal is probably a case of “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Our youngest son is about as scattered and distractible as I was at his age. I couldn’t find the pencil I’d had in my hand two seconds earlier, but I could read a novel and never miss the faintest inferred emotion. I fought to concentrate in a classroom, but a parade could be happening around me once a book was open in my hand, and I never heard anything but the silent words on the page. My mother went with the flow, always curious who I’d grow up to be.

If you’d like to see a satellite image of DC during the inauguration, click

Inauguration Satellite View.

Very cool!

It’s time for me to get the next school subject taught and edit marketing blurbs my publisher sent last night, so I’ll leave you with a gentle reminder.

Please remember to pray for our president, for our leaders, and for our children. A favorite Scripture of mine is Psalm 127:1. “Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain who build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes in vain.”

On our own, we can do nothing that will grow the fruit we desire, but if we unite our efforts with faith in Him, He will build a house and keep watch over the city.

Em Gott sei Friede (God’s peace),

Cindy

P.S. We have a winner for the 2008 Amish-made quilt contest. Nedra Wright of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee is the winner. The 2009 Amish-made quilt contest has begun! Go to: Quilt Contest to enter.

I have a lot of goals for 2009. Contracts to fill. Marketing to accomplish. School lessons to teach. Suppers to cook. Souls to feed. My soul to feed. There is no way to keep up with all I need to.

We all know the drill—prioritize, which feels like a euphemism for: make a list, make choices, make people angry.

Sometimes I long for the ease of days when infants wakened me in the middle of the night or when teen sleepovers never ended soon enough. Not that long ago, I homeschooled two middle-schoolers while nurturing a newborn into toddlerhood. Those middle-schoolers are men now—one married, one soon to be. And the once-toddler is studying for his learner’s permit.

Each Christmas season offers so many, many things and one of them is a reason to gather. It gives us festivities for renewing fellowships, and for making new as well as keeping old traditions. It allows us to embrace the very best of life in preparation for a year that is sure to have times of sorrow.

But whether the Christmas season was what you’d hoped it would be or not, the new year will keep marching on. And it’ll be filled with opportunities to try again, forgive, dream, work, and try again.

Happy New Day. Happy New Year!

If you’d like to view or order the audio version on Amazon, simply place your cursor over the correct CD and click.  

Our winners from the last blog contest is commenter number six, Christy, and commenter number twenty-six, Margaret. Congratulations to both Christy and Margaret! You’ve each won autographed copies of all three books in the Sisters of the Quilt series. The notification e-mails were sent last week, so I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Although I’m not running a blog contest this time, I’d like to remind readers of the other contests I have going on.

The year-long quilt contest ends the last day of December 2008. Readers have a chance to win a gorgeous quilt made by Amish women. The money used to purchase the quilt goes to the yearly benefit for their community’s Amish school. You can enter yourself into the contest one time, and you can have a friend come by the site and enter their name and yours. One time per friend, please. If you have twenty friends come by the site, they can each enter their name and yours one time.

On that same contest page, (but for a separate contest) you can enter to win an autographed copy of When the Soul Mends.

The December issue of my newsletter, Plain News, also has a contest. The prize this time is a pair of hames with a quilt patch between each hame, (see photo below) which was made by an Old Order Amish friend of mine.

From time to time I hear from readers who ask if the newsletter is free, and if it is, why do I take the time to write them.

The newsletter is indeed free. It’s a great way for me to keep in contact with readers. It goes out four times per year, and is chocked full of things readers find informative and uplifting. 

Things the December newsletter has:
A welcome letter with a special insight for those caught in the downturned economy
A book signing
A true story about an Amish family
Hames contest
A few words from guest author Lauraine Snelling
Book suggestions from my agent, Steve Laube
Amish Christmas recipes for salt ornaments, blueberry French toast, and snow-top cookies
And a tidbit about how the Amish decorate their homes for Christmas

Steve Laube shares several great reads, one of which is about money and practical tips for the everyday person, and one is a book that will help the little ones in your life understand the reason for the season.

If you miss being signed up to receive the newsletter before its send-out date, you’ll receive an automatic welcome letter. It will have a link to the latest newsletter. Once you open the newsletter, be sure to keep an eye out for the “previous newsletter” link at the bottom of each edition, so you can read every issue.
I hope each of you have a blessed month! 

Whenever I have the opportunity to mingle with readers, I’m surprised by the number of people who are unaware of the newsletter. So I’m giving it a plug on my blog

The newsletter, Plain News, receives great reviews. If you enjoy insights into the Amish life, I encourage you to join the newsletter. It only goes out four times per year, so you’ll look forward to it each time it enters your inbox. It’s FREE. This is my way of connecting with readers between book releases.

Things the newsletter has:
A welcome letter
Sneak peeks into upcoming novel releases
An itinerary (when appropriate)
Articles I’ve written on the Amish or some part of my writing life
Contests
Various tidbits about daily life for an Old Order Amish person
A few words from a guest author
And some good reads shared by my editor Shannon [Hill] Marchese

To sign up, go to: Plain News

Congratulations to all five winners of The Shape of Mercy blog contest: Kayren, Theta, SN, Susan, and Laura. They each won a copy of The Shape of Mercy and When the Soul Mends.

For a chance to win an autographed copy of all three books, just leave a comment below. I’ll draw two winners the last of November, and the books should arrive to the winner’s home in time for Christmas. If you own copies of the books already, you can give this set as a Christmas gift.

The contest is open to those in the Continental United States.

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ WHEN THE HEART CRIES OR WHEN THE MORNING COMES, THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE “FINDING HANNAH” HAS PLOT SPOILERS. And if the formatting comes across wrong, I apologize. I’ve followed every rule to make the correct formatting post live and it seems it just won’t . . . so the blogging goes on.

Finding Hannah

While writing When the Heart Cries, I took a midnight Amtrak ride with my youngest son. We traveled for eighteen hours, going from my home state of Georgia to Pennsylvania, where we stayed for a few days with an Old Order Amish family. My aim was for taking the train was to enhance the scene I wrote at the end of that book, in which Hannah boards a train heading for Alliance, Ohio.
When the time came to write the next book in the series, When the Morning Comes, I expected my earlier traveling experience to be sufficient research for when Hannah stepped off that train. But when I tried writing the opening, it didn’t sound or feel the way I wanted it to. I’d write five chapters and delete five chapters, over and over again. I longed to feel and hear the events as Hannah would. It soon became clear that I needed to see and feel what she would when she stepped off that train.
I try to experience life as my characters would whenever possible. While writing When the Heart Cries, I spent a couple of days in a neonatal intensive care unit to get a feel for the frailty of a preemie. I went to Hershey Medical Center and spent time on the same floors my characters did when they were injured. I washed dishes by kerosene lamp, drove a horse and buggy, and used a wringer washer to do laundry alongside my Amish friends. Those experiences helped me to write scenes that would hopefully come alive in the minds and hearts of my readers.

But as I struggled to write the opening of When the Morning Comes, it dawned on me that although I’d experienced riding the rails, I needed to see the Alliance, Ohio, depot in person. So I made plans to board the Amtrak in Gainesville, Georgia, and change trains as needed until I landed in Alliance. I checked online to see how long the ride was and discovered that the train would arrive in Alliance around two in the morning. I could deal with that.

But as I attempted to finalize my itinerary, I kept hitting dead ends. I called Amtrak several times and spoke with different people as I tried to locate a cab company or bus line so I could get to a motel after arriving. No one was able to help me locate the needed information. I couldn’t chance landing in Ohio at two in the morning without a solid plan.

I told my husband something was amiss and we needed to drive there. Being the agreeable man I married thirty years ago, he took my word for it and made arrangements to take time off from work.

A few weeks later we pulled into the Alliance train depot. The night sky swirled with snow, but the thin white blanket couldn’t hide the eeriness of the rundown, abandoned building. A white-and-blue sign near the tracks indicated a pay phone. I climbed out of the car. Snow and gravel crunched under my feet as I walked toward the phone sign. The wind whipped through my coat as if it wasn’t there.

I reached the sign, but did not find a phone.

As I stood at that bleak, abandoned depot, Hannah’s life unfolded before my eyes.

By the end of our week’s stay in Alliance, I knew more than how a traumatized teenage Amish girl managed to survive away from her home, family, and community. I also knew who she became and why.

I found Hannah.

While I conducted my on-site research, Hannah’s world became clearer each day. I went to the hotel she stayed in during her second night in Alliance. The place truly is as I described it in the book, and I wasn’t brave enough to spend a night there.

Before my husband and I returned to Georgia, we drove from Alliance to “Owl’s Perch.” Owl’s Perch is the fictitious name of a real place in Perry County, Pennsylvania. I knew Hannah would drive there from Ohio several times in book three, When the Soul Mends, and I needed to take the route myself—with its toll roads, service plazas, and mountain tunnels. Although the roads themselves are not described in much detail in the third novel, Hannah’s feelings while she’s on those roads are an important part of who she is.

In When the Soul Mends, Hannah finds herself traveling from one world to another. Like most people, I find more than one world affecting my life. Whenever I spend time in the homes of Amish families, I can hear echoes from my own childhood, when the conflicting messages of acceptance and prejudice worked to separate my Amish-Mennonite friend and me.

These messages have been explored in the Sisters of the Quilt series, as readers journey with the Amish, Mennonite, and Englischer characters who are dealing with their hopes, desires, and faith as well as hidden prejudices and fears. Some of those characters find that God’s redeeming love is the one thread that has the strength to unite regardless of all else.

Whatever world Hannah found herself in throughout these three books, she had moments of understanding aspects of God, and those moments gave her strength and hope. In book one she discovered the concept of nevertheless—that if everything ended with God, then those who are in Him have a good ending eventually. In book two she realized that He is more powerful than any injustice in her life—past or future. And when she forgives herself or others, she’s trusting that nothing bad is more powerful than God’s ability to overcome it. In book three her journey leads her to realize that love is never perfect—not in her, nor in others—but love doesn’t have to be perfect when forgiveness is there to pick up the pieces.

Throughout this series, all three worlds—Amish, Mennonite, and Englischer—form the woman Hannah is becoming. It is my hope that you’ll take each part of this journey with me, and that you’ll be encouraged by the One who has forgiveness and wisdom for each of us, no matter what world we’ve entered.

Em Gott Sei Friede, (God’s peace),

Cindy

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