Northkill Amish Series

Voting for the Christian Indie Awards is now open, and Bob Hochstetler and I covet your vote for The Return, Book 2 of our Northkill Amish Series, closely based on the inspiring true story of our Amish ancestors. Voting is open through March 31, 2018. To vote, go here, click on the link, scroll down to The Return, in the Historical Fiction category, and submit your vote. Book 1, Northkill, won the 2014 Foreword Magazine Indie Award, and The Return has already won the Interviews and Reviews 2017 Silver Award for Historical Fiction. We greatly appreciate your help in spreading the word about this series, and contest awards are one of the best ways to do that.

Below are some of the latest 5-star reviews for the Northkill Amish Series. We thank all our readers for their encouraging feedback!

“This first book in the two-part Northkill Amish series was a reading experience unlike any other. What makes this novel even more gut-wrenching is that the story is based on true events that happened to the ancestors of the authors. In astonishing descriptions based on solid research, the authors bring to life the story of an Indian attack on an Amish family during the French and Indian War. It is brutal and painful to read, yet so astounding in the depth of the spiritual struggle of the captives that are forced to undergo suffering and separation from loved ones. It is a book I could not put down and will never forget. I am anxious to read the sequel.” —HistoryLover (Amazon)

“I stayed up till 2 am this morning so I could finish The Return ... the story of an Amish family whose lives were shattered when Indians attacked their home and three family members were killed while three were kidnapped. This novel ... is based on true events. It was also written by descendants of the family, who obviously poured themselves into the research behind this book and produced a stellar series.

“I barely know where to begin with my review because this book is more than a historical tale. It is a life-changing experience as you read about people of faith who must deal with the reality that God sometimes allows suffering. The why of it is not always plainly seen. Sometimes God’s truth and purposes in that suffering are revealed in time. Yet there are situations in life that make no sense from our earthly perspective and may never make sense in this life.

“Powerfully written and engaging, The Return is a must read for Christians who think that pain and suffering only happens to sinners. For indeed it does, because we all have sinned. Yet not all of us must go through such suffering. Read this series and be changed forever. Five plus stars.” —HistoryLover (Amazon)

“Beautiful story. It is like Swiss Family Robinson, The Odyssey, Daniel Boone and Light in the Forest all rolled into one.” —Bill Hostetler (Amazon).

“I have heard the stories about my Amish ancestors, but they always seemed more legend than reality. The authors have succeeded in filling in the gaps of the family folklore by giving flesh-and-blood reality to the characters in this drama. I was impressed with the thorough research that supported the narrative, and with the vivid description of frontier life for Amish immigrants. But I was most impressed by the quality of the writing that kept me engaged throughout.” —Arvilla (Amazon).

Northkill INDIEFAB Book of the Year!

I learned yesterday that Northkill, coauthored with Bob Hostetler, has received ForeWord Reviews’ 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Bronze Award in historical fiction. Needless to say, both of us are excited!

ForeWord Reviews’ INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards honor the best independently published books. In 2014 more than 1,500 entries were submitted in 63 categories from hundreds of independent and university presses of all sizes. The winners exemplify the best work published by today’s indie authors and publishers.

ForeWord Magazine, Inc., is a media company headquartered in Traverse City, Michigan. Their FOLIO: award-winning quarterly print magazine, ForeWord Reviews, features reviews of the best new titles from independent publishers, university presses, and noteworthy self-published authors. Their website is devoted to independently published books and features daily updates and reviews along with in-depth coverage and analysis of independent publishing from a team of more than 100 reviewers, journalists, and bloggers.

You'll find more information about Northkill at our blog and website.

Delivery!!!

Wind of the Spirit is here! As you can see from the photo at left, I finally have this particular dream in my hot little hands, and I am one proud mama!!! Believe me, no matter how many books you publish, you still feel the same excitement when a new release arrives! And this book is GORGEOUS! It’s one thing to see the cover on my computer screen, but to see it in “real life” on the actual book is something else altogether. The interior is gorgeous too, with text that’s clear and easy to read.

I’ve even had my first book signing already!!! We picked up a couple of cartons of the books at the printer Friday afternoon for my own personal stash. Yesterday we had lunch with our Good Sam camping chapter, so naturally we brought copies along. Several of the members are following the series, and as the meeting broke up, Jay announced that they were available. I sold 11 copies, the first official sales! The only fly in the ointment is that I had a senior moment when I came back home from Georgia, and I left my beautiful bookmarks down at our winter digs in Perry. So I’ll have to mail them to those who bought a copy of the book when I get back down there.

Now I need to get busy finishing up several blog interviews I have scheduled for March. Yikes! This month is almost gone already and I seriously need to buckle down. I also need to prepare mentally for a radio interview I’m doing with Kelly Long on KREJ 101.7 FM in Medicine Lodge, Kansas, which serves southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma. In case you happen to be in that area on March 12, tune in at 8:20 a.m. We’ll be talking especially about One Holy Night and Vietnam, but we’ll touch on my series too. Radio is something I have no experience with, and my stomach clenches at the very thought. It sounded much less intimidating when I scheduled it several months ago, but that’s always the case for me with things like this. I’m much braver when the event is a bit of a distance in the future. So this should be interesting!

If my foray into radio turns out halfway decently, I’ll see if I can get a recording to post as a podcast on my Web site and blogs. I am soooo behind on all these technological bells and whistles everyone else has been using forever. There’s always something else to figure out, and my brain can only handle so much!

Also ahead: the big task of mailing out reviewer and influencer copies. And I need to open up WOTS for sale on the shopping cart, then have Sheaf House webmistress, Peg Phifer, put the link up on the Sheaf House site. No luck so far on getting it up on Amazon, though my distributor is working on that. Apparently there’s some kind of glitch in the system somewhere. But at least it’s available for pre-order on CBD and Barnes and Noble. CBD ordered their initial copies way back in November or December, and since they’re finally in the warehouse, the distributor should start fulfilling orders soon.

By the time I get back to Perry next week, I should also have delivery on the fabulous postcards for the series that Dineen Miller designed for me, so those will need to go out to libraries and retailers asap. I’ve got a pile of promo to do, plus I need carve out a block of inviolate writing time each week and get back to making progress on my own projects. As if that weren’t enough, Jay thinks we need to go to Christian Book Expo, so that’s suddenly popped up on the agenda for next month.

Peg mentioned that she needs a deadline to motivate her to write, and I’m the same way. So it occurred to me that I need to set a deadline to finish Northkill and another to complete Crucible. I’m hoping I can make great strides in finishing the first draft of Northkill this summer and have it ready for editing by the end of the year. Then I’ll be able to focus on Crucible. I’d like to put a pub date of 2011 on it, but more likely it’ll be early 2012—and that’s really not that far away. Time has a way of just zipping by.

I still have a considerable amount of research to do for book 4, and a bit more for Northkill as well. Thankfully the first quarter of that project is complete and in pretty good shape, and I hope it won’t take me too much longer to finish the rest. The challenge is to plug the dike against any leakage of other stuff into my writing time. But with my partner, Joy DeKok, handling all the advertising and promotion for Sheaf House now, that should open up a few hours each week to devote to my writing projects. I’ve been missing the discipline of putting words into that computer file, and I’m champing at the bit to get back at it!