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

~

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

]]> http://www.cindywoodsmall.com/2008/10/newsletter-info-contest-and-finding-hannah/feed/ http://www.cindywoodsmall.com/2008/10/newsletter-info-contest-and-finding-hannah/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Cindywoodsmall/~3/_9P0zILGxE8/ http://www.cindywoodsmall.com/2008/10/my-latest-trip-to-pennsylvania/#comments Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:35:31 +0000 Cindy Woodsmall http://www.cindywoodsmall.com/?p=246 I arrived home late Tuesday after a wonderful trip to visit family in Pennsylvania. There’s never enough time to see as much of my loved ones as I want, so I often leave with my heart aching for more.
 
Sally (my step mom) was a constant help from the time my plane touched down in Harrisburg. She and my dad married about eight years ago, and she’s been a godsend. After the death of my mom, she helped our family move from simply coping into living abundantly again. Sally and I hadn’t spent a lot of time alone together before this last trip, but during the visit I learned what a remarkable woman she is. My mom was remarkable too. My dad has been very blessed.

Sally went with me to Hackman’s Bible Book Store on Thursday night, which was a two-hour drive from Harrisburg. I’m grateful for all those who came out to see me there. The author chat and autograph party were wonderful. I’ll not soon forget the amazing people I met that night. Thank you!
 
If the woman who came to Hackman’s from New York earlier in the day and wasn’t able to stay until I arrived would contact me, I have a small gift for you from one of my Amish friends.

On Friday, Sally and I went to one of my Amish friend’s home. Anna* and I only had a few hours to visit, and we were far from being ready to say good-bye when the time came. But we took comfort in the hope that I can return and stay a few days longer this spring.

On Saturday, the family and I celebrated my dad’s eightieth birthday. His birthday is the reason I went to Pennsylvania. My brother, my sister-in-law, and one of their adult children drove in from Alabama. By party time, all four siblings, plus Sally’s daughter and her family, were there. We had a great time. Sally’s daughter, son-in-law, and two teenage grandchildren were a joy to spend time with. Their presence added so much to the day’s festivities!

We sang “Happy Birthday” to my dad the way he taught us–all of us purposefully off key and quite loud about it.
 
My dad, who enjoys being sarcastically grumpy, was in for a big surprise. Every time he started grousing, we sang the entire song. We only needed to sing it about forty times while he opened presents. We laughed and sang until we were hoarse. He thought it was a riot, but he also joined in on the game by becoming flamboyantly careful. He’d start to open a present and then stop and ask, “Am I doing this right? I don’t want to do anything wrong. Please tell me now, before you start singing.”

Too bad we didn’t figure out the remedy for his biting sense of humor until he was eighty!

Sally catered a meal so the workload would be light and we’d have the energy to enjoy one another. The plan worked great and also gave us a lot of food to use for Sunday’s main meal. We had such a great time, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

On Sunday mid-afternoon, my brother drove me to Frederick, Maryland, to meet up with my critique partner, Marci, who lives in Virginia. She and I spent the next two days working on her WIP (work in progress). She’s quite a writer, but she hasn’t turned anything in to a publisher yet. I’d tell you why, but . . . I can’t.
 
Marci and I have worked together for five years and she’s one of the greatest gifts to my life. When the Morning Comes is dedicated to her.

My time in Pennsylvania was refreshing, and I’m so glad I went. Now I’m behind with the rest of life and I feel the pressure of it. Still, that time was a treasure I’ll always remember.

*Names are always changed to assure privacy.
 
 

 Here’s what a reviewer from Publishers Weekly wrote: 

Meissner’s newest novel is potentially life-changing, the kind of inspirational fiction that prompts readers to call up old friends, lost loves or fallen-away family members to tell them that all is forgiven and that life is too short for holding grudges. Achingly romantic, the novel features the legacy of Mercy Hayworth-a young woman convicted during the Salem witch trials-whose words reach out from the past to forever transform the lives of two present-day women. These book lovers-Abigail Boyles, elderly, bitter and frail, and Lauren Lars Durough, wealthy, earnest and young-become unlikely friends, drawn together over the untimely death of Mercy, whose precious diary is all that remains of her too short life. And what a diary! Mercy’s words not only beguile but help Abigail and Lars together face life’s hardest struggles about where true meaning is found, which dreams are worth chasing and which only lead to emptiness, and why faith and hope are essential on life’s difficult path. Meissner’s prose is exquisite and she is a stunning storyteller. This is a novel to be shared with friends. (Sept. 16)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.  

A few weeks back, I e-mailed Susan, asking her to share a bit about why she’d written the book—what event in her life planted seeds for this book. Susan wrote back, saying ~

When I was 13, I played the role of an innocent woman accused of witchcraft in the play To Burn a Witch. To save herself, my character at the eleventh hour began to accuse another young woman in her prison cell – a friend from her village – of bewitching her. The play ends with my character being freed and the likewise innocent friend - who would not lie to save herself – being led away to her execution.

I’ve never forgotten how it felt to imagine myself accused falsely, nor what it felt like to accuse falsely. The latter has actually been more haunting. To point a finger at someone and make a declaration about him or her based on nothing more than fear is to make friends with love’s enemy. I had read The Crucible years ago in high school, but I didn’t really make the connection between what happened in Salem in 1692 with what continues to happen with sad regularity all the time: We often judge what we don’t understand, when we are afraid or when we become indifferent to our ignorance. But the truly amazing thing is, while the Salem witch trials arguably revealed the worst in us, it also laid bare the bit of divine in us that shines even in the darkest place. When faced with death, there is still courage enough within us to stand for what is right. Those who lost their lives so long ago in Salem refused to confess they had an allegiance with Satan. In writing The Shape of Mercy, I found that kind of fidelity to God remarkable – and this is what I now think of when I think of Salem, not a hangman’s rope but utter devotion to Truth.

To read about or order: Amazon

Susan’s book and mine were released on the same day by our amazing publisher WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, and I’d like to run a contest that offers a chance for five people to win both books. So, the contest this time includes a chance to win The Shape of Mercy and When the Soul Mends. There will be five winners chosen, each will win an autographed copy of both books. All you need to do is leave a comment. Anyone who joined the last contest after a winner was chosen will have their comment moved to this contest section.

Next blog post: Finding Hannah

My next post will include an article about my search to find Hannah for book two in Sisters of the Quilt series. As book one closed, she was seventeen years old with an eighth-grade education and nothing but a few clothes, a medical book, and a lifetime of broken dreams and betrayal. But imagination alone couldn’t find her, so I went in search of her secret.  

 If you posted to the last blog entry after a winner was chosen, your comment will be moved to this post and you’ll be entered into this contest. 

Um . . . I don’t actually speak the language. I work really hard to get it written correctly. I’m blessed with three things that make me able to write the Pennsylvania Dutch words.

One, I have an Old Order Amish friend who’s willing to make sure each character is saying the correct turn of phrase. 

Two, I have a very rare copy of a Pennsylvania German dictionary.

And three, I work with a woman who has taught the language to college Englischers for years. She covers the grammar and usage part, because speaking a language and being able to spell the words correctly are vastly different from writing something grammatically correct. 

A week after I heard the news about my audio book, I received an e-mail stating that the narrator would be JILL SHELLABARGER, Christian author and the actress who played Carol in the NBC TV series Chicago Story. She also played Amanda White in the audio drama series based on the Left Behind books. She is a fabulous voice actor. My excitement soared!

She and I talked on the phone, and I was blessed to be able to put her in contact with an Amish woman who speaks the language fluently. I sent Anna* an overnight package with all three glossaries.

A few days later, Jill contacted me about a song Hannah sings in book one. She asked if I knew the tune that went to it.

The Old Order Amish sing a cappella, so the book I had taken the song from doesn’t show any musical notes. However, I know the tune of that song for Englischers. It’s in every hymnal I’ve ever seen. But because the Amish don’t use written music, I didn’t know how it would be sung by the Amish today. And since the song was written more than two hundred years ago, I thought it likely that the tune would be different now from when it was originally incorporated into their worship.

Thankfully, all this back-and-forth among me, my Old Order Amish friends, and Oasis Audio took place during the summer, because I try to avoid calling a phone shanty in winter. We think it’s interruptive to get a phone call during a movie. What if we had to don hats, coats, and boots and then shiver in the snow while talking on the phone? EGAD!

I called Anna’s phone shanty and left a message, knowing that her husband checks the phone out near the barn every day or two. When I heard back from her, I shared my predicament. She assured me she’d find the song, memorize the tune for it, and speak to Jill within the week.

You know, I’d hate to have to try to sing a song for a stranger on the phone. But as always, Anna came through for me. Now everyone who purchases the audio version will get to hear Jill Shellabarger sing as Hannah just the way Anna sang the song to her via phone. What a blessing!
*Anna is the  name I use for all my female Old Order Amish friends. It gives them double privacy because I use the same pseudonym for several people.

Contest News:

A winner has been drawn randomly from the last blog entry. Commenter number 52, Jordan, will receive an autographed copy of each book in the Sisters of the Quilt series. Jordan’s comment for her contest entry said:
 
My sister loves your books, and it would be awesome if I could get these [the Sisters of the Quilt series, autographed] for her because she will not shut up about the third book and it’s getting on my nerves. So enter me, please.

Okay, Jordan, we’ve done our part to make your sister shut up. Now answer the e-mail I sent a few days ago by sending me your postal address. The books await you . . . uh . . . your sister.

It’s time for another contest! 

For a chance to win an autographed copy of each book in the Sisters of the Quilt series, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog. You can share your thoughts or simply post “enter me.” This contest will last approximately two weeks. Anyone who entered the last contest after the drawing took place (that’s commenters 85 to 94 on “Winner, a Contest, and Detasseling”) will be moved to this contest. A winner will be drawn in approximately two weeks.

I have so much I want to share, and only a few minutes.

First, I’d like to send a huge CONGRATS to RITA winner, Linda Goodnight. I’m so excited for her! It truly was an honor to be nominated with such a wonderful lineup of women. We had a blast doing the rounds of interviews. You can read each interview on my Book Lover News blog. Linda has written a few things more and shared them with me, so I’ll post that a little later this week.

Second, I’d like to announce the winner of my July blog contest. The winner is commenter number sixty-one, Judy, from Goldsboro, North Carolina. She’s won an autographed copy of each book in the Sisters of the Quilt series. 

Congratulations, Judy!

I appreciate each comment made here. And I’m always encouraged by the things you share. Thank you.  

It’s time for another contest.

For a chance to win an autographed copy of each book in the Sisters of the Quilt series, all you need to do is leave a comment.  You can share your thoughts or simply post “enter me.” This contest will last approximately two weeks. Because I didn’t get to post this new contest on time, those who entered a comment on the last blog entry after the drawing had taken place will be entered into this contest.

And to round this little blog post session off, I’d like to share a bit about detasseling. Some of you are thinking, what?

Corn detasseling is the crucial last step in producing hybrid corn seed. It involves removing the pollen-producing top part of the plant, the tassel, so the corn can’t pollinate itself. Instead, pollen from another variety of corn grown in the same field is carried by the wind, pollinating the detasseled corn. The result is corn that bears the genetic characteristics of both varieties and can produce healthier crops with higher yields. Despite technological advances in agriculture, detasseling is still a task that for the most part is done by hand.

The excerpt above is from Wall Street Journal, August ‘02 To understand the process better, just follow that link.

Perhaps a fair amount of non-Amish are still involved in detasseling. I’m not sure what impact the new breeds of corn and the new machines have had on non-Amish, but detasseling is something Amish youth still do.

Corn with tassels still in place.

Corn with tassels removed.

Bis schpeeder (til later)

The temps are hot, the pantry needs restocking again, and the sink needs emptying . . . again, and summertime rolls on. The good news is the neighborhood pool has plenty of water

Offered in the last blog contest was an autographed copy of When the Soul Mends, to be sent when available.

Our winner is commenter number twenty-three: Julie.

A new contest!

For a chance to win an autographed copy of all three books: When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends just leave a comment below. But before you do, I’d like to share an excerpt from my newsletter that I enjoyed getting to share.

If you’d like to sign up for it, click here: Plain News Newsletter

When you sign up for the newsletter, you’ll receive a welcome letter that has a link to June’s newsletter. Plain News goes out four times a year, is free, and is chocked full of things related to the Amish. The last newsletter had parts one and two of my article “Connecting to the Old Order Amish.” It also had a link for reading the first chapter of When the Soul Mends, tidbits from author Tamera Alexander, and some suggested reads from my editor.

An excerpt from Plain News: A tidbit about Amish life

After a week of sweltering temps, it’s a beautiful day today in Pennsylvania.  I know this because Anna [1] called me from her phone shanty and told me so. She’s been busy this week weeding her garden and mowing—all in prep for taking a few days off and going to visit some cousins who live out of state.

To mow the yards, Amish use reel mowers. When living in Maryland as a child, I saw several neighbors use reel mowers to cut their grass.

For Englischers, “living green” is trendy—from recycling everything we can, to using cloth diapers instead of disposable, to avoiding fuel emissions. Much of what society is returning to in order to slow the negative impact on this planet the Amish have never stopped doing.

Today, as I shared with Anna what the “tidbit about Amish life” section in this newsletter would be about, she said that in the spirit of Tom Sawyer, anyone interested in seeing how a reel mower works is welcome to come experience using one on her yards.

And that, my dear readers, is Anna’s sense of humor in a nutshell. She makes me wish I lived next door and not seven hundred miles away!

[1] names have been changed to assure their privacy

For a chance to win an autographed copy of all three Sisters of the Quilt books, just leave a comment below. The contest will continue throughout July.

Bis schpeeder,  (til later)