Feb 25, 2015 | Amish fiction, Uncategorized
A funny thing often happens when you begin writing a new book: even though you had all the characters in your head and all the major story points plotted out, the ending can be quite a lot different than you’d originally pictured it. I love when that happens! And in the case of HARVEST OF BLESSINGS, the fifth book in my Seasons of the Heart series, Nora Glick Landwehr’s story becomes a turning point for the town of Willow Ridge—and a springboard for a new series!
Nora has a tough row to hoe. After sixteen years and a failed marriage to an Englisch man, she returns to Willow Ridge to reconcile with the family who cast her out when, at sixteen, she became pregnant out of wedlock. Almost out of spite, Nora left that baby on her brother’s doorstep and pursued the only life she believed she had open to her.
Well, it didn’t work out. Her handsome Englisch husband left her for “someone more interesting and sophisticated” but Nora was smart enough to press for a large, lucrative divorce settlement. So when she shows up in the Old Order Amish town she grew up in, she’s got a lot of black marks on her record . . . a lot of people to ask forgiveness of . . . a sixteen-year-old daughter who has no idea that Nora is her mother. It doesn’t help that she buys the biggest house in town—which immediately links her to Hiram Knepp, the deceptive excommunicated bishop—and that she shows up in a red sports car wearing short shorts and a sparkly blue ball cap.
I knew going in that Luke Hooley, Nora’s commit-a-phobe neighbor, was going to chase after her from the get-go. I did not expect Luke to evolve into Nora’s biggest supporter and best friend when it seemed that no one in her family would welcome her home. And while I also knew she was going to convert the big horse barn on her property into a consignment store for Plain crafts and gift items, I had no idea that she was a crafter herself (she creates 3-D banners of Plain people and farm scenes) nor did I anticipate the store’s immediate success and the overwhelming support Nora gets from the characters we’ve met earlier in the series.
I also knew that Millie Glick, whom we’d met in earlier books, would be in for the shock of her young lifetime when she finds out that this flashy redheaded woman in the red sportscar is her mother. Millie experiences my own feelings of betrayal and disbelief, which I so vividly recalled from learning that the dad who raised me was not my birth father—except Millie was only 16 and I was 40 when we made this life-changing discovery. When you invest your own very personal experience into a story, you risk dredging up all the muck again and perhaps getting people in your family upset again, as well.
But in this case, my investment paid off not only in an emotionally authentic story—but also in a spin-off series! My editor and I didn’t want the Seasons series to get too long (off-putting to readers who’ve not discovered me until the fifth or sixth book), but we didn’t want to leave the town of Willow Ridge, either. So starting in 2016, Simple Gifts will continue this homey little town’s story and Nora Hooley will be the anchor character in a series that centers around her shop of the same name. It was a payoff I’d never anticipated—an ending even happier than the one I’d planned to write in the first place!
Nov 3, 2013 | Amish fiction, Uncategorized
You know that passage from Proverbs 31:10, “A good woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies?” Well, the same can be said for finding a good man! I know, because I married one more than 38 years ago—and without his support during my 20+ years as a writer I simply would not be writing these Amish stories today. Emotionally and financially, I have made it through some years when the soup would have been mighty thin (or nonexistent), had Neal not been willing to pay the bills so I could write. These days, writing two series for two different publishers—when Amish books are such a hit—are the frosting on the cake for me. AMANDA WEDS A GOOD MAN comes out on Neal’s birthday, and I would be remiss if I didn’t give him a little plug here, and a big birthday kiss!
As for my new book, AMANDA WEDS A GOOD MAN, it has an interesting story! Do you remember the TV series, The Brady Bunch?? It was a story about a gal with kids who married a guy with kids, back in the day when blended families were more the exception than the norm they are today. Of course, the episodes were funny and highly idealized, and the Brady Bunch solved their problems by the end of each weekly episode.
My editor and one of the reps who sells for my publisher, NAL approached me with this idea: you know Amish widows and widowers with kids remarry and combine their families, yet they hadn’t seen any books with this premise—would I want to write one? When someone hands you a fun idea like this, the answer is always yes. My challenge was that I was already two books into my At Home in Cedar Creek series, and I had readers clamoring for the day when Abby Lambright and James Graber finally get married! I could not let that story go untold.
So I had to figure out a way to work Amanda and Wyman’s story into the world I’d already created. Don’t be confused about the new series name One Big Happy Family, which is on the cover! The marketing department is calling this a “sub-series,” thinking it’s a new way to improve sales. I’m not so sure about that, as I’ve gotten lots of notes from readers who think I’ve abandoned my original Cedar Creek characters. Not so! But in order to write the “Brady Bunch” idea, I had to go along with the “sub series” idea.
I believe I’ve created a wonderful new family—Amanda is Sam Lambright’s cousin, so she’s related and lives in Bloomingdale—that adds more drama and interest to the folks you’ve come to know and love in this Cedar Creek series. Wyman Brubaker is indeed a Good Man, but it’s up to Amanda (and Abby!) to show him how he must change to create the big, happy family he and Amanda envision when they marry. It’s much more than just taking Amanda, her mother-in-law, and her three daughters into his home with his five kids—which becomes very crowded, and only has one bathroom! It takes a lot of adjusting and loving and seeing things from other family members’ perspectives—and a devastating storm, and a really cranky bishop—to bring the newly blended Brubaker family to a better place.
And I must admit that Wyman makes these changes more willingly than a lot of real-life Amish husbands might. He gives up a lot to make Amanda happy because, in the end, he believes that loving his wife well is akin to loving the Lord—no matter what his bishop tells him!
The Brubakers do live happily ever after—and they will appear again in EMMA BLOOMS AT LAST, which comes out in the fall of 2014! I’m writing this book right now, and I’m delighted that because Amanda’s family has come into this series, James’s sister Emma has found someone to love. So stay tuned!
And in the meantime, I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas season with those you love. I’m truly thankful for readers who are willing to keep buying my books, trusting me to tell them stories that lift them up and warm their hearts.
Sep 2, 2013 | Amish fiction
At long last, a year after we read Miriam’s story in AUTUMN WINDS, it’s time to learn about Rhoda Lantz’s turn at romance! Her story is totally different from her sister Rachel’s, as Rhoda finds the man of her dreams while looking at ads posted on the bulletin board in Zook’s Market—and is in immediate trouble.
Before she’s even hung up from talking with Andy Leitner, asking about the job caring for his two kids after school, along with his aging mom, just the timbre of his voice whispers to her lonely heart, calling up forbidden longings. Word gets out about her English employer . . . a secret kiss in the moonlight . . . and Rhoda may well be shunned. Rest assured that Bishop Hiram Knepp finds ways to make Rhoda’s life miserable—and a few of HIS secrets, after the sleighing accident of his two 5-year-old twins, will get the folks of Willow Ridge up in arms, as well.
And, oh yes! Miriam and Ben will get married on New Year’s Day, but their ceremony will be interrupted by even more surprises. If you think Willow Ridge goes into hibernation during the cold winter months, think again!
I’d love to hear what you think of this story–feel free to post on my Charlotte Hubbard Facebook page, or to post a review on BN.com, Amazon and other online bookstores. Thank you so much for your interest in my Seasons of the Heart series!
Nov 3, 2012 | Amish fiction
As ROSEMARY OPENS HER HEART goes on sale this week, I’m going to reveal a sneaky way I love to manipulate readers. I’ve used it in several books before, but the appeal is universal: no matter what sort of story you’re telling, cute little kids hook readers’ hearts. And when you add in valiant dogs who come to the rescue just when those little kids are in deep, dark danger, it’s an unbeatable combo. Kids and dogs just go together—especially in faith-and family stories like these Amish series I’ve been writing.
Travel back with me, to those thrilling days of yesteryear…do you remember watching “Lassie” on TV (black and white, back in the day)? Do you recall how just hearing the theme song of that show made you rush to the living room to catch the latest adventures of Timmy and his faithful collie, Lassie? You knew darn well that sometime during the show, Timmy would get into a dangerous situation and Lassie would drag him out of the pit or defend him from a predator. Or, that noble, intelligent dog would rush back to the house and bark and bark until someone there realized Timmy was in deep doodoo and needed more help than Lassie could give him.
The technique still works! And I use it ruthlessly in ROSEMARY OPENS HER HEART.
While Rosemary, a young Amish widow, already has plenty of conflict on her plate, her toddler Katie is the light of her life—and the life of the party, far as how this story unfolds. Matt Lambright (we met him in book 1, ABBY FINDS HER CALLING) meets Rosemary at a wedding and wham! He has to know more about that attractive stranger in black. But it’s playful Katie who started the ball rolling by toddling over to him and wanting to play with his two Border collies, which meant Rosemary came into the scene looking for her wandering child. See how a three-year-old blonde set up the whole romance with a giggle and a finger in her mouth?
Rosemary, however, wants nothing to do with Matt—or any other man. She lost her husband in a hunting accident and moved in with his father Titus to run the household and help with Titus’s twelve-year-old daughter, as Titus’s wife had died shortly before his son did. It was a noble gesture on Rosemary’s part, but now she’s trapped. Titus, who raises sheep, decides to partner with Matt and combine their flocks, so Rosemary must decide: will she make the move to Cedar Creek, or stay behind on her own? It doesn’t help one bit that everyone is telling her little Katie needs a father, and that Rosemary should come out of mourning and live again.
Long story short: during the move, Katie’s innocent wanderings lead her into the sheep pasture, where testy ewes are watching her…ready to charge if Katie messes with their lambs. Matt and Rosemary realize the little girl has disappeared but she could have toddled anywhere on either of two farms—crossed the road and gotten hit—
But the Border collies save the day. And when Matt scoops that little girl into his arms and gives her a talking-to about how badly she’s scared everyone, Rosemary realizes that maybe this young fellow who’s been pursuing her so relentlessly has a few points in his favor. It’s a gratifying story to tell, all about Amish families coming together to help each other. And just like when each TV episode of “Lassie” came to an end, you can heave a sigh of relief that all will be well. Rosemary might be the title character, but it’s her daughter and Matt’s dogs that pull readers through the story by their heartstrings.
Here’s wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving, and many blessings to count in the coming holiday season.
A funny thing often happens when you begin writing a new book: even though you had all the characters in your head and all the major story points plotted out, the ending can be quite a lot different than you’d originally pictured it. I love when that happens! And in the case of HARVEST OF BLESSINGS, the fifth book in my Seasons of the Heart series, Nora Glick Landwehr’s story becomes a turning point for the town of Willow Ridge—and a springboard for a new series!
