Why We Love the Amish

| Amy

There’s no denying it, we (the “English”) are enchanted by the Amish. But what is it about them that intrigues us so?

As a writer if Amish fiction, this question has crossed my mind more than once. But on the flip side of the fiction coin, there’s the booming fantasy/sci fi/ paranormal sub-genre. So what does a conservative religious group and Twilight have in common? Maybe more than you think.

With all the techinology at our fingertips today, the world is moving faster and faster.  Because of this speed, we need an escape, a place where we can decompress. For many it’s the made up world of vampires, shape-shifters and fairies. For others (like me) it’s the old-fashioned world of the Amish.

The Amish live life side by side with the Englishers, but in a completely different world. It’s not their clothes, the lack of electricity, or their church services that intrigue us. It’s their pace. It’s their lack of the Internet, cellphones, and DVRs. As our world spins faster and faster while theirs plods along at the pace of hoof beats.

Their world is real, but so different. It exists and it gives us hope that our own world won’t get out of control. You can’t ask for much more than that.

What do you like most about the Amish? Even if it’s their peanut brittle, leave me a comment and let me know.

A Parent’s Prayer

| Amy

A Parent’s Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to allow my child to be his own person.

The patience to discipline him so that he grows up to be the adult he needs to be.

And the composure not to deck the person who comments, “My child never acted like that,” for they are ignorant and unworthy of my anger.

Amen

My Writing Partner

| Amy

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, writing is not as solitary as the “outside” world believes. Aside from my agent and editors all of my clamoring fans that I converse with everyday via Facebook, Twitter and other social media, I have a writing partner. Actually 2.

Meet Cheng. My oldest baby. Full name Kitty Kitty Ch’ing Cheng. Half Siamese/half Maine Coon, he’s the sweetest cat you’ll ever meet. In his prime he topped out at 23 pounds. Yes, twenty-three. But now he’s over 18 years old. And our time with him is precious.

And then there’s the newest addition to our family. This is Jack. I know, I know, but I didn’t give him that name. He came with it. His real name is Cap’n Jack, though mostly we call him Kitty Jack or Jackie Cat. Jack is just a little over a year old. So he’ll get to be my writing buddy for many years to come. Now all I  have to do is teach him how to run Google. LOL

Our pets get to be as much a part of the family as well, the other members of our family. Do you have a very special pet, writing partner, reading buddy, TV confidant? Leave me a comment and tell me about them.

My Amish Doll

| Amy

Ethridge, Tennessee part 2

There is definitely something charming about the Amish. It’s undeniable that these people who work so diligently to conform, intrigue us so. To the point that we want to take a little piece of them home with us, be it a jar of homemade jelly, a basket, or a bag of peanut brittle. When we traveled to Ethridge this summer, all I wanted was a doll.

In case you don’t know, Amish dolls do not have faces. This practice goes back to the Ten Commandments and no graven images. It also accounts for the fact that the Amish refuse to have their picture taken. To them, the measure is one of pride and all prideful-ness should be avoided. But back to my doll… I found one in the gift shop where we rented a horse-drawn wagon to take us down the back roads to the Amish farms that welcomed English (non-Amish) visitors. But I 

There were a great many items for sale, though most farms had the same types of goods: peanut brittle and homemade treats, small wooden games, beads, and jelly. One farm sold furniture–small stools and swings, high chairs and cribs–and another incredible hand-woven baskets. But no dolls.

Needless to say, I was crushed. We stopped at ten farms, got out talked to the people who lived there, bought various goods and enjoyed a quiet, lazy afternoon. But not one of these farm’s offered dolls for sale.

On the way back to the gift shop I asked the guy who was driving our wagon about the dolls and he told me that there was one in the gift shop. (Well, I knew that!)  but settled myself into getting the doll from the store. Actually there were two dolls in the store–one boy and one girl. Buy only the girl doll had a tag that said Amish made. I snatched her up and took her to the counter to purchase. I told the lady that I was disappointed that none of the farms offered dolls for sale. As she rang up my purchase she asked me if I remembered the first farm that we had stopped at on the wagon tour. “Of course,” I said. Then she proceeded to tell me that the doll I was purchasing was made by the woman who lived there, Amanda Swartzentruber. Furthermore, Amanda used to make several dolls to sell  in the store, but their bishop decided that  it shouldn’t be allowed. I bought the last doll that Amanda had made for them.

Why the bishop was against Amanda making dolls for the store to sell is beyond me. Though I’m sure he had the best interests of his church members in mind. Maybe it was a pride issue, like Amanda would think her dolls better than the other women’s because the English sold hers in their store. Or maybe he wanted to cut that tie between the two  worlds.

What do you think? I’d love to hear any thoughts from my readers. Have you run into a similar situation when traveling among the Plain folk nearest you?

Confessions of a Nail Polish Addict

| Amy

I have a confession to make: I love nail polish.

                          

I don’t know when this love started exactly. I was something of a tomboy, so I can’t confess that it’s been a love of mine for my entire life. But I love it all the same.

Maybe it’s because nail polish has great names like My Chihuahua Bites and Barefoot in Barcelona. I even bought one color strictly for the name–Who the Shrek are You? Now how could I pass that up?

My husband would say, “Easy.” since I already own over 40 bottles of the stuff. To make matters worse, I usually have Shellac put on my fingers on a regular basis and my toes done at the salon. But in my defense, I often times carry my own color for my pedicure.

40 and counting. And I have another confession to make: I’ll probably by another bottle or two the next time I’m at Walmart…or Target…or the drugstore…or well, anyplace that carries nail polish.

My all time fav is Barefoot in Barcelona. I love it so much that I even accented my bathroom cabinets in it. (Well, really I dropped a bottle on the tile floor and during the shattering of glass, polish got on the cabinets. And the shower curtain and the rug and my favorite yoga pants. Sigh.) I even have aboard on Pinterest dedicated solely to nailpolish. http://pinterest.com/amyl918/nail-polish-addict/

Maybe I should start a support group. Hello. my name is Amy and I love nail polish.

Do you have a favorite cosmetic? Or even a favorite nail polish? Drop me a line and let me know.

Smiles and Blessings–Amy

To Agent or Not to Agent

| Amy

So you’ve finished a book, you’re writing a book, or you just want to write a book, and you’re wondering if you need an agent. Honestly, I don’t know. I will say this: a *good* agent is never a bad idea.

But allow me to tell you my story. There was a time in my writing career when I wrote secular romance. I wanted to sell to Avon–So. Very. Badly. Avon used to be very tight and for a long time only accepted agented manuscripts. So I set out to find an agent. I needed one to get into Avon and if nothing else, an agent would give me more credibility–an industry person in New York who believed in me.

So I made a plan and a list of potential agents. I went though the RWR and found names of credible agents. I also researched my favorite authors and their agents. Once I had my list, I sent out a mass mailing. I believe there were sixteen names in all. (Most agents won’t read unsolicited manuscripts and I’ve always been told to be leery of those who do.)  I wrote a query letter stating who I was, awards and contests I had won, my past publishing credits (I wrote true confessions for a while), and anything that would sell them on me as a writer. Then I put in a short synopsis about my manuscript, selling them on my book. I ended with the status of my manuscript–“complete and ready to send upon your request.”

Of the sixteen letters I sent, only one replied with a positive response–Mary Sue Seymour. Mary Sue has changed my career in ways I had never dreamed possible. Will you have the same experience with your agent? I honestly don’t know. But I’m glad that our relationship has worked out the way it did.

My question to you is what will/can an agent do for you? Why do you want agent? Why do you feel you need one? Okay, that’s three questions, but I think they are all valuable answers.

If you are successful on your own, I say keep going.  But on the heels of that, I’ll tell you that I was glad to have Mary Sue on my side come contract time. It was so nice to sit back and relax (and bite my nails) while she negotiated the movie rights clause and my advance. I would have never been able to do that myself. Not with the first contract for sure.

Please keep in mind that the above is my story and only my opinion. Everyone has a different take on the “to agent or not to agent” question. I have friends who are like me and likely wouldn’t have sold without an agent. I have a friend who is crazy successful without an agent, and then I have a friend who scoped out the agents, found one she liked but didn’t query until Harlequin called. JFTR–I totally disagree with this last method, you just did all the leg work for the agent and they’re still gonna take their 10-15%. Also your agent may have contacts that can further your career and if you don’t sign quicker than this, you may have just struggled through some totally unnecessary work. But who’s to say?

However you get there (or don’t) signing with an agent is a personal thing. Everyone’s career is unique. If it’s right for you, then do it.  It’s like the measure of success, only you can decide. But that’s a bog for another day.

Ethridge, Tennessee–part 1

| Amy

One of the first things I wanted to do when I went home to Alabama for our annual visit this summer was to travel to Tennessee to the Amish settlement in Ethridge. And I am so glad I did. For once the members of my family got to see first hand about the Amish and I got to visit a settlement that was ‘new’ to me.

I also planned to blog about this great experience, but realized when I sat down to tell you about it, that it was going to take more than one post. So I’m taking this in stages. First up, our wagon tour…

What a treat that we got to travel through part of the settlement in a horse drawn wagon! The young man who drove us down those dusty back roads was very knowledgeable about the Amish. There were certain houses he took us to who were friendly to the English, or non-Amish people.  We got to walk around one man’s wood shop where he made everything entirely out of cedar. I so wanted to bring one of the big wooden porch swings home with me. Ah, well, maybe next year.

We also got to see two very small girls take the family’s lunch scraps out to feed the goats. The girls couldn’t have been more than three and four, but they lugged the big five gallon bucket to the fence and called for the goats in their Pennsylvania Dutch. We were just driving away when the goats came running into the pen to be fed.

The Amish of Ethridge are very conservative, not even allowing their children to have a rumspringa or ‘run around’ time. They also would not let us take pictures of anything. And I mean anything. But how crazy must they think we are that we want to take pictures of their laundry. Or their wood-burning water heater. Or their endless rows of short popcorn stalks.

But being so conservative also means no phone shanties or phones in the barn in case of an emergency, no caution triangles on the back  of their buggies, and very little interaction with the outside community.

Still, the ones that we did get to visit with were very friendly, welcoming us into their world if only for a very brief time.

For more about the Amish settlement in Ethridge, TN, go to http://amishamerica.com/the-amish-of-ethridge-tennessee/

How to Tell that You Live with a Writer by Rob Lillard as told to Amy

| Amy

This post is for all the spouses out there. All the sisters, brothers and moms whose writing family member falls off the radar a couple of times a year. You don’t know if you are one of these abandoned loved ones? There are certain key indicators that you may live with a writer. In any given week, you may find yourself saying something like this…

Monday:

“Do we have any Q-tips?”

What do you mean you don’t know you have a book due?

“What’s for supper?”

“Well, I guess a sandwich is okay. Sure…I can make it  myself.”

Tuesday:

Did you go to the store today? We need Q-tips.

Sure I can make a sandwich for supper, but..we’re out of lunch meat.

I’m out of underwear and socks. Can you wash a load of whites for me?

I know you are under a deadline,  but you can write while the clothes wash.

Wednesday:

Did you remember to get Q-tips?

I know you have a book due, but it’s been three days since I asked you.

You went to the store to get coffee but you forgot Q-tips? Yes, I do believe Q-tips are just as important as coffee.

Can you wash some whites?

Thursday:

I’m down to my last pair of underwear and socks. Did remember you wash some bleach clothes?

Have you taken a shower today? This week?

Honey, setting partially opened cans of cat food in the floor is not really feeding the cat.

Yeah, take out is fine. Yeah…I’ll go get it.

Friday:

I’m going to Walmart. We need lunch meat, Q-tips, and new underwear and socks.

How much longer before you hit your deadline?

If you can say yes, that any or all of the conversation above has taken part at your house, then most probably you live with a writer. Never fear, this insanity usually occurs at this magnitude only around deadline time, but beware of plotting a new book/series.

And good luck to you all. Living with a writer can be a challenge. Yet rewarding as well. After all, they know how to  spell everything.