Shipshewana Visit by Vannetta Chapman

Happy Friday!

Today I thought I'd share some pictures with you from my recent visit to Shipshewana, Indiana. Shipshewana is one of the largest and most affluent Amish communities. I've been there many times and all of my Love Inspired books are set in that area.

A few things I noticed this time that I hadn't seen before include:

• solar panels on the barn
• open buggies
• a buggy race (on a county road--that was a hoot)
• dinner in an Amish home where that part of the house had been built or modified specifically to hold dinners for Englischers
• Amish families attending an antique tractor show

But most things in Amish country remain the same:

• large families enjoying ice cream at Howe's on a Friday night
• an Amish home to buy a quilt (the Amish woman had over 100 quilts that she and her friends had completed)
• schools and phone booths and so many beautiful gardens
• Amish working side-by-side with the Englisch in restaurants, quilt shops, etc.
• Visited a cheese store and yes I brought some home.

It's always fun to visit an area that you write or read about and compare the reality to the fiction. Have you been to Amish country? I'd love to know what you saw that left a lasting impression on you. My book The Amish Christmas Matchmaker releases next month, and we'll once again be visiting northern Indiana. I hope it's a story that touches your heart.

Blessings,

Vannetta

Jean C. Gordon here with two new must buys from our Love Inspired Contemporary authors. Just click on the cover or retailer links to purchase it. And to learn more about Vannetta and Deb, click on their names.

Amish Christmas Memories
by Vannetta Chapman 
 
All she wants for Christmas is her memories
An Indiana Amish Brides book
When a young Amish woman collapses in the snow shortly before Christmas, Caleb Wittmer rushes to her aid. Only, “Rachel” remembers nothing of who she is. Now his family has taken in the pretty stranger, disrupting Caleb’s ordered world. He’s determined to find out where she belongs…even if Rachel’s departure means saying goodbye to his old-fashioned heart forever.

Amazon | B&N | Harlequin | Kobo | Google Play | iBooks

A Christmas Baby for the Cowboy
by Deb Kastner 

’Tis the season for a new start
But can he be a daddy in Cowboy Country?
With a baby on the way and Christmas around the corner, disgraced rodeo rider Cash Coble returns to Serendipity hoping to fix his reputation. Cash never imagined that pretty Alyssa Emerson would inspire him to cowboy up—let alone open his heart. But will she agree to be part of his new family once she learns his dark secret?

Amazon | B&N | Harlequin | Kobo | Google Play | iBooks

Researching the Amish -- Vannetta Chapman

Amish garden, Shipshewana, Indiana

One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is “How did you become interested in the Amish?” Since I’m new to Love Inspired, I thought it would be fun to share that story here.

My first agent was Mary Sue Seymour. I had written several books, and she’d pitched them to publishers. We always ended up in the top 3 books they were considering, and then they’d pass. I couldn’t figure out what was going on!

Finally Mary Sue wrote me an email and told me that I should write an Amish book. This was in 2009, and there were a lot of Amish books coming out--even more than now. She had publishers calling her asking for more Amish! I thought about it a few minutes and then told her “No.” I was so afraid to tell my agent no, but as I explained to her, we have no large Amish communities in Texas, only a very small one in Beeville and they don’t even have a store to visit. I’d never met an Amish person!

 

Amish school, Cashton, Wisconsin

Mary Sue wrote me back and said she understood. Then she wrote me another email, this one quite long, explaining that I could learn, research, visit, and then write that book. I prayed and fumed and worried and tossed and turned that night, and then finally I decided that if she was going to be my agent I should accept her advice--so I said “Yes!” That was the 9^th book I’d written, and the first book we sold. Abingdon Press bought it, and A Simple Amish Christmas released in 2010 and was a huge success.

Since then I’ve published 4 novellas and 16 Amish books (romances and mysteries), including my most recent with Love Inspired, A Widow’s Hope. My husband and I have visited a lot of Amish communities in the last 9 years--communities in Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Oklahoma. I’ve met a lot of Amish folks, and I feel fortunate to count them as my friends. I’ve learned a lot, and I’m so glad that Mary Sue pushed me beyond my comfort zone.

What about you? Have you ever done something that scared you just a little and then changed your life in some way? I certainly never saw myself becoming an Amish author! (PS--I would love you to stop by my webpage and look around. You can do so here or follow me on Facebook here.)

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