1–What is the title of your latest release? THE HEART’S BIDDING   2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? Auctioneer Toby Miller is a notorious bachelor. Rachelle Lapp refuses to give up teaching children with disabilities. Together they face their hardest battle yet: trusting God’s plan for their uncertain future.   3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? It was a little selfish, I admit. Each of my Amish romance series takes place in a different Amish community in states across the country. I decide on Virginia for The Amish Calling series because my daughter’s family, which includes three grandkids, lives there. I stayed with them, and Erin and my granddaughter Brooklyn accompanied me on a road trip to Farmville, which served as a basis for my fictional town of Lee’s Gulch, Virginia.   4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? I’d love to spend time with Rachelle. She’s such a good friend, sister, daughter, and teacher. She works hard, but she also knows how to have fun. You can count on her. I don’t know how she’d feel about hanging out with an Englisher who’s older than dust, lol.  …

I write inspirational Amish fiction laced with humor and romance. My newest book, Amish Christmas Miracles, is a collection of 14 Amish Christmas romances by 14 of your favorite Amish romance authors. It’s available for only 99¢ until November 15! To celebrate, I’m giving away three copies of The Amish Christmas Candle to three random commenters below. As you can probably guess, writing Amish romantic fiction requires a lot of research, but you might be surprised at some of the research I’ve done to make my books more authentic. Here are my top five most memorable research adventures. 1. Buying an Amish quilt (or two), an Amish doll, and an Amish-built table. My research trips have taken me to Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana in search of Amish communities. I love Amish-made furniture, quilts, and handicrafts. Probably my favorite purchase is the kitchen table I bought in Indiana. I ordered the table, the Amish built it, and a few weeks later, a driver (ex-Amish) delivered it to my home and put it together. 2. Baking huckleberry pie, asparagus casserole, and yummasetti. Food plays an important role in Amish life and most definitely in my books. In Huckleberry Hill, the first…

1—What’s the name of your latest release?  Softly Blows the Bugle is the third book in my Amish of Weaver’s Creek series. 2–What is it about? When Elizabeth Kaufman received the news of her husband’s death at the Battle of Vicksburg in 1863, she felt only relief. She determined that she would never be at the mercy of any man again, even if it meant she would never have a family of her own. Then Aaron Zook comes home with her brother when the war ends two years later. Despite the severity of his injuries, Aaron resolves to move West and leave the pain of the past behind him. He never imagined that the Amish way of life his grandfather had rejected long ago would be so enticing. That, and a certain widow he can’t get out of his mind. Yet, even in a simple community, life has a way of getting complicated. Aaron soon finds that while he may have left the battlefield behind, there is another fight he must win–the one for the heart of the woman he loves.  3–What word best describes your main character(s)?  Elizabeth is determined, but fragile. Aaron is steadfast. 4–What makes your story…

The question I get asked more than any other is: How do you come up with ideas? The answer is through interesting news stories that I’ve tucked away. After all, truth is always stranger—or more memorable–than fiction, right? Here’s an example: Years ago, I heard an amazing story about a pastor and a church in Texas. On a Sunday morning, Bishop Aaron Blake challenged his small congregation with a powerful question. “Brothers and sisters,” he said, “there are about 30,000 children in the foster care system in Texas and nearly a half a million in the U.S. Who will stand with me to defend, care, and support abused, abandon, and neglected children in our community?” After a brief moment of silence, one lady rose to her feet. “Pastor,” she said, “I will.” Then another family stood up, and another, and another. Twelve years later, their Texas county has more than enough foster families to meet the need. That story inspired the plot for my novel Stitches in Time. The new and improved Luke Schrock, now a deacon, poses the same question to the Amish church of Stoney Ridge. Schoolteacher Mollie Graber is the first to raise her hand. Weeks later,…

Thank you for hosting me for a guest post on Fresh Fiction to celebrate my new release, Vow of Silence. I’ve been fortunate for the opportunity to write a few different genre’s, but hands-down my favorite and the most difficult to craft is romantic suspense. I akin writing romantic suspense to putting together a mental jig-saw puzzle. Every piece needs to fit just perfectly, or the picture won’t come out right. For a pantser like myself, this is an especially difficult task, but it’s also incredibly rewarding. When I wrote Vow of Silence, I didn’t even know who the killer was until I was 2/3 done with the book. Sometimes I’m just as surprised as my readers at how a story evolves itself. Most of all, I think my favorite part of writing romantic suspense is the thrills and chills. For me, a great book is one that gives the reader goosebumps—both the good kind and the bad. Vow of Silence delivers both. Readers who are familiar with my work would agree that I’m known for writing the thrills. Who doesn’t love a good, steamy sex scene? But today, I want to focus on the chills. My favorite part of…