1–What is the title of your latest release? THANKSGIVING BLESSING is my latest release, and it’s Book Three of the Amish Holiday series from Berkley Books. 2–What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book? An Amish widow and an Amish widower collide over their shared property until a threat from outside and a firebug show them that what they have in common is stronger than any differences, giving them the strength to heal each other. 3–How did you decide where your book was going to take place? Since this was the most recent book in a long-running series, it took me back to the familiar community of Promise Glen, which is so real to me that I could walk its streets blindfolded! 4–Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life? Rebecca and I have a lot in common (although I’ve never had twins!) and I know we’d have long conversations about raising children, gardening, and choosing just the right apples for our favorite Apple Crumb Pie. 5–What are three words that describe your protagonist? Loving, generous, and empathetic 6–What’s something you learned while writing this book? To paraphrase scripture, pain lasts for the night, but joy comes with…

Book Title: THE PROMISE OF EASTER Character Name: Anna Stoltzfus   How would you describe your family or your childhood? Living on the family farm in Promise Glen was as happy a childhood as I could imagine. I was surrounded by family whose held me close every day, especially my brother, James. We were close in age, alike in looks, and together in just about everything we did. Significant other? With my brother James as my confidante, his best friend, Matthew King, was a regular part of my life. Sometimes I felt that Matthew might be even more than that to me. We were growing closer every day until the night Matthew and James went off to a party but only Matthew came back. Biggest challenge in relationships? No one blamed Matthew for James’s death, it seemed—only me. How could he let James take such a risk? Why didn’t he stop him? Why didn’t he save him? The beginning of love was killed on the night my brother died. Where do you live? I still live with my family on the farm in Promise Glen. Do you have any enemies? No. How do you feel about the place where you…

AMISH CHRISTMAS COOKIES It would never do for anyone to go away from the table at an Amish house without being filled to the bursting point. As the old Amish saying goes, “May a child never run out of your pantry with a tear in his eye.” And this is never so true as it is around the holidays. Although the Amish are justly famous for their cakes and pies, no Amish housewife would want to be considered lax in the area of baking Christmas cookies. In fact, there’s an unspoken sense that a woman’s culinary skills can be judged by the quantity and variety of her Christmas cookies! My mother was a true Pennsylvania Dutch cook when it came to her Christmas cookies, the baking of which usually started early in December. The problem was to keep my brother and sister and me from eating them before the holiday season had properly started! Here, for your enjoyment, are a couple of favorite recipes: Snickerdoodles This is a traditional Pennsylvania German cookie, perhaps the best-known one with its light brown, crinkled top. A great favorite with children! ½ cup softened butter or margarine ¾ cup sugar 1 egg 1 ¾…

It’s the final day of our Fall Slow Cooker Recipe Potluck! We’ve enjoyed following along with all of these great authors, their new books, and delicious slow cooker recipes. Comment below for a chance to win yet another book! And be sure to take a look back at all of the fun we’ve had all week:  Day 1 with Elizabeth Goddard  Day 2 with Soraya Lane Day 3 with Laura Lee Guhrke Day 4 with Jenn Burke  *** Autumn: Time for Comfort Food The mornings are crisp now in central Pennsylvania, and the mist hangs in the valleys for an hour or so after the sun makes its way over the mountain ridges. Leaves have begun to turn, orange pumpkins fill the roadside stands, and we bring in the last few tomatoes and winter squash from the garden. At a time like this, with winter not far off, my thoughts turn to comfort food. And for comfort food, what could be better than a slow cooker? Comfort food forms a large part of any collection of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes. The farmers, both Amish and English, who settled in these fertile valleys felt the need for plenty of carbohydrates to keep…

Pleasant Valley #4 March 2011 On Sale: March 1, 2011 Featuring: Aaron Miller; Sarah Mast 320 pages ISBN: 0425238911 EAN: 9780425238912 Trade Size $14.00  Add to Wish List Inspirational Fiction Buy at Amazon.com Great emotional read… Sarah’s Gift by Marta Perry Can an Amish midwife earn her community’s trust and bring the joy of new babies to Pleasant Valley? Amish midwife Sarah Mast moves to Pleasant Valley for a fresh start. But her aging aunt can no longer run the birthing center, leaving most of the responsibility to Sarah. Among those skeptical of Sarah’s ability is neighbor Aaron Miller, who seems drawn to Sarah but pulls away when his own sister requests her services. And when a criminal complaint is filed against Sarah, she must pray for strength to defend her practice and A young woman must fight for what she believes is right in this lovely inspirational. Previous Picks

Awhile back, in the course of a fairly long series for Steeple Hill Love Inspired, I introduced some Amish minor characters, wondering what my editor would say about that. She responded, “You know that Amish thing? Do that more.” So, since I’m in the habit of saying yes to editors, probably in reaction to all those years when they were saying no to me, I agreed. It wasn’t difficult to write about the Amish, since my family is of Pennsylvania Dutch heritage and I’ve spent my life in rural Pennsylvania, where the Plain sects are very common. I also have several friends who grew up Plain, and I welcomed the opportunity to showcase that world in my fiction. Why is Amish fiction so popular? That’s the million dollar question. Based on the letters I receive from readers, I’d say that the books help feed a longing for a simpler lifestyle. Haven’t you ever wished you could get rid of the constant pressure and demand for interaction posed by e-mail, Facebook, cell phones, twenty-four hour news channels, and all the rest? The books allow readers to visit a society which gets along very nicely without all those things. It’s also a…