Mindy Starns Clark

I know you love to read or you wouldn’t be here at Amish Reader.  But if you also love to write, have I got a suggestion for you:  Get yourself to this fall’s American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana!  ACFW is an organization geared toward meeting the needs of new and seasoned authors alike, as well as offering a venue for readers to learn more about their favorite authors and discover the vast array of choices available from the Christian Fiction market.  Each year, ACFW hosts an amazing conference with classes taught by many of your favorite authors. The conference also offers opportunities to meet editors and agents, fellowship with other writers (aspiring and published), and celebrate the best in Christian fiction.

The reason I’m talking about the conference here on this blog is because one of the sessions I’ll be teaching focuses on Amish fiction.  Called “Amish 101”, the class includes an overview of the genre and the current state of the market, followed by an A-Z rundown of Amish life, practices, and beliefs.  As the Amish fiction genre expands and more and more authors consider trying their hand at writing it, I thought it would be helpful to provide a full understanding of the “big picture”—i.e., why the Amish live the way they do and why their world is such an interesting place for Christian writers to explore.

For more information, check out the ACFW website, where you’ll see that the conference is shaping up to be awesome, as always.  I can’t wait to go.  Hope to see you there too!

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The following excerpt is from an article on my website about the Amish school shooting.  It was written as supplemental material for my book A Pocket Guide to Amish Life, but given the Lifetime movie of the same topic, I thought I might post some of it here as well.

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A New Normal

Recently, I dined in the home of one of the families whose lives were directly impacted by the incident. Though the tragedy itself was not mentioned, I couldn’t help but notice the sadness that still lingers in the mother’s eyes, the heavy feeling of loss that permeates the entire family. Certainly, they have continued on in the world of the living. Their gleaming floors, healthy animals, and overflowing gardens attest to that. For the most part, family life seems back to business as usual, their youngest child laughing at the dogs’ antics, their teenager flashing a shy smile at his girlfriend.

But despite the years that have passed, the whole family is obviously still learning to adapt to what psychologists call a “new normal,” one where children can be victims of a senseless crime but life goes on anyway. For this family and indeed for all the Amish families touched by the tragedy, forgiveness is something they did in the beginning, yes, but also something they must do over and over, sometimes each new day.

Among the Amish, the tragedy at Nickel Mines has come to be known as “the Happening.” They don’t talk about it much anymore, at least not with outsiders. The schoolhouse has long since been torn down, its replacement built in a different style at a different location. No longer the Nickel Mines School, it has been christened New Hope, a name that resonates with optimism for the future despite the past. Of the five victims who survived the shooting, one lives with impaired vision, they’ve all had numerous surgeries, and one suffered extensive brain damage and is confined to a wheelchair. All five are currently living at home with their families, going on with their lives.

My best impression of how the incident has impacted the Amish community at large came from a conversation with another Amish woman, one who wasn’t directly connected to the victims or their families but grieved nonetheless. She and I weren’t even talking about the shooting but about the Ordnung and infractions of rules and differences between districts. According to her, Nickel Mines put everything into perspective.

“We used to bicker more, have disagreements about this little rule and that little rule and who did what differently in which districts,” she said. “Then something…bigger happened, something terrible,” she continued, her voice faltering for a moment, “and we realized all the arguing was so pointless. There were far more important matters in life.”

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It’s always fun when one of my author friends has a new book out, but this week I’m especially excited about the release of Amish expert Erik Wesner’s Success Made Simple: An Inside Look at Why Amish Businesses Thrive, from Jossey-Bass Publishers.  If you’ve read the acknowledgements in my own Shadows of Lancaster County and A Pocket Guide to Amish Life, you know that Erik has been pivotal in the past in helping me with Amish research.  He is incredibly knowledgeable about the Plain people and well-connected within Amish communities across the country. He’s also an all-around great guy and has gone above and beyond to help me get the Amish parts of my own stories correct.

I’m so happy for Erik and proud of this amazing new book that shines a light on all that the Amish bring to the world of business.  Learn more at his website, where you can also download a sample chapter.  Given the fascinating topic, massive research, and excellent writing that went into Success Made Simple, I predict big things.

Congrats, Erik, and best wishes for a wildly popular book. You deserve it!

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