Oct 11, 2014 | Amish fiction
When I began writing EMMA BLOOMS AT LAST, the fourth book in my Home At Cedar Creek/One Big Happy Family series, major story pieces were already in play. I’d created the world of Cedar Creek, Missouri, and I’d also kept readers wondering if Abby Lambright and James Graber would ever marry! In AMANDA WEDS A GOOD MAN, I’d also introduced the extended Brubaker family. One element of the writing process was different, however: I knew EMMA would be the final book in this series. I had to say goodbye, so I could say yes to other things—and that’s exactly what Emma Graber must do in this book, as well!
Poor Emma, however, deals with a very tough goodbye when her mother dies. Eunice Graber simply doesn’t wake up one morning—and if you’ve lost your mom, you realize Emma’s sense of loss will never totally go away. Already a homebody, Emma will use her mother’s passing as an excuse for not going out when flashy, confident Jerome Lambright invites her to have some fun.
An unexpected job offer from Sam Lambright turns the tide, however: Sam insists that Abby will no longer work in the mercantile now that she’s married. Everyone in Cedar Creek knows Sam will have a lot of trouble replacing Abby, and some folks doubt Emma’s ability to work in the busy store during the Christmas season.
But Emma gives it a shot. She’s kept the books for her brother’s carriage shop, so she eagerly tackles Sam’s bookkeeping—a task she can perform in the workroom, because she’s in mourning and isn’t permitted to work among the customers. Then an emotional melt-down shows Emma and her family that she hasn’t allowed herself time to grieve her mother’s passing. Even so, Emma’s dat Merle tells her to get a life—doing something besides hovering over him. As Jerome finds ways to spend time with the Graber family, Emma comes to appreciate his enthusiastic nature. She even confronts the ex-fiancee who tries to win Jerome back. Now that’s a funny chapter!
Jerome has changed his ways, as well, coaxing Emma from her cocoon instead of coming on like a fire truck. He takes her on a moonlit sleigh ride and bares his soul, allowing Emma to see that he, too, has his share of doubts. As a man who’s backed out of two previous engagements, Jerome doesn’t want to become a three-time loser nor does he want to hurt Emma by rushing into another bad match.
And in the end, EMMA BLOOMS AT LAST. She says goodbye to the shy, retiring young woman she’d been and says yes to a future as Jerome’s wife and helpmate. For me, saying goodbye to this series has provided a chance to write two new Amish series for the publisher of my Seasons of the Heart books. So I get a happy ending from making a major change, just as Emma does!
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.
When I began writing EMMA BLOOMS AT LAST, the fourth book in my Home At Cedar Creek/One Big Happy Family series, major story pieces were already in play. I’d created the world of Cedar Creek, Missouri, and I’d also kept readers wondering if Abby Lambright and James Graber would ever marry! In AMANDA WEDS A GOOD MAN, I’d also introduced the extended Brubaker family. One element of the writing process was different, however: I knew EMMA would be the final book in this series. I had to say goodbye, so I could say yes to other things—and that’s exactly what Emma Graber must do in this book, as well!