One of the first things you’ll see when entering the town of Chouteau is the Amish Cheese House. They have wonderful sandwiches made on fresh bread with Amish cheese, and of course the workers are Amish and Englisch. Everyone was very friendly!

This is a common thing to see in Chouteau. The Amish use tractors in this community (due to the difficulty in farming the clay dirt). They also drive the tractors to town! Notice the canopy to shield them from the sun and the truck bed pulled behind! this is for storing your groceries or other purchases. It also provides a place to sit if your friends want to go to town with you!

This is a fairly typical Amish home in the area. Notice the absence of electrical lines, the gas tank in the front, and the tractor. I discuss the differences in this Amish community in my series!

Items found at a local store. You definitely know you’re in Amish country!

Anna’s Healing will release one year from now, and I’ll let you know as soon as the pre-order button is available. In the meantime, if this series sounds interesting, you might check out my Pebble Creek series here.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer!

Vannetta

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Pebble Creek series, book 1

The Pebble Creek Series

If you looked up Pebble Creek, Wisconsin on a map – you wouldn’t find it! That’s because I visited the area of Cashton, going through Amish homes and stopping at Amish businesses. I ate any Amish food I could find, and I visited with anyone who would talk to me! It was a wonderful experience, and most of it happened in or around the town of Cashton.

Once I was home, I decided I wanted a softer name for the series. Cashton is a good name, but it made me think of money, or Johnny Cash, or a train (I can’t explain that last one). I wanted something a bit more plain & simple, as we say. There were many creeks in the area, and so I came up with the name of Pebble Creek.

The Amish in this area are quite friendly, however, the area as a whole is not like the more tourist-driven Amish areas of Shipshewana, IN or even Lancaster, PA. In Wisconsin, you have to go looking for the Amish if you want to find them. And then when you do, what you find will remind you of the Old Order Amish, in that they still use outhouses, have no gas refrigerators or stoves, and chop ice from the river in the winter and then store it for the year. However in other ways–quilting, gardening, their community and their faith–they are very similar to their Amish cousins in other states.

Pebble Creek series, book 2

I recently received the following email from the sweet marketing person at Harvest House–

We are excited to let you know about an upcoming eBook promotion for The Pebble Creek Amish Series: A Promise for Miriam, A Home for Lydia, and A Wedding for Julia.  From June 27 – July 15 we will be offering your books at a special sale prices through our eBook distributors—this includes Kindle, Nook, Kobo, Apple, and the Sony Reader. 

And let me say those prices are great! You can receive all 3 books for under $11. I hope that you’ll give this series a try–it’s Amish romance with a touch of mystery. I think it’s something you will enjoy.

Pebble Creek Series, book 3

Pebble Creek Series, book 3

Blessings,

Vannetta

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VC at a quilt show

Researching in Chouteau, Oklahoma

This week I head north, to Oklahoma where I’ll be doing two fun things. On Friday and Saturday, I’ll be attending Quilt Tulsa. If you haven’t been to a quilt show, and you live in the Tulsa area, I encourage you to attend. There are quilts to look at and lots of vendors. I’ll be selling my quilt shop mysteries, as well as all of my other books. And I have a few items that I’ve picked up in various Amish communities that I will also have available for purchase. I love going to quilt shows, and I adore meeting readers.

The second thing I’ll do this week is visit Chouteau, a small community 45 minutes to the east of Tulsa. This is the largest Amish community in Oklahoma (the other is in Clarita). Next year my first Oklahoma Amish book will release. It is titled Anna’s Healing. I’m half way through writing it, and I’m looking forward to walking around the area and meeting folks.

Researching A Promise for Miriam

So what do writers do when they research?  I can tell you what I do, and I can also tell you that it’s something I enjoy immensely.

• Visit local Amish stores
• Buy stuff for giveaways when the books release
• Take pictures of Amish homes and schools (always remembering to be respectful and not take close-up pictures of people)
• Visit with Amish families. In the past, folks have been very friendly.
• Visit the local library and/or historical center.
• Eat lots of pie.
• Pick up any brochures/maps that will help me when I’m writing.
• Obtain addresses of area folks (librarians, etc.) who would like to receive a complimentary copy of my book.

Researching is a hoot. I really enjoy it. My characters are certainly fictional, but they live in a real place with real problems. Kids attend school. Parents shop. Families go to the local park. It’s very helpful for me to visit a place and root these things firmly in my mind as I write the story on my heart.

I hope that you have some fun plans this summer, and I hope that you have time to read some wonderful books.

Blessings,

Vannetta

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Amish home. Middlebury, IN

Anna’s Healing — Plain & Simple Miracles

I am so excited to be working on my new series, Plain & Simple Miracles. These will be Amish romances, much like the Pebble Creek series. If you’ve read those books, you know there is a lot more at work than one guy, one girl and a love story. These are also stories about the Amish way, how communities pull together, and God’s grace in our lives.

This time my story is set in Oklahoma. An hour to the east of Tulsa is an Amish community. I’m going to visit next month. One of my favorites aspects of writing is visiting the people and places I write about. The Oklahoma community is a bit different than others in that they allow tractors – and you know I will be discussing that in my book.

But the main theme of this story is quite simple. Do we believe in miracles? I’m not talking about the miracle of another sunrise (although I believe that is miraculous). I’m talking about God’s healing touch like when Lazarus was raised from the dead. Do we still believe those sorts of things are possible? If so, why are some people healed but not others?

I don’t pretend to know all the answers, but I think this will be an important book for me to write. I ask your prayers, that God will lead me to present such an important subject in the light of His love and grace.

We’ll still have romance, lots of Amish cooking, and problems between neighbors. I want you to have plenty to think about while you’re reading. Already I adore Anna Schwartz, and I trust that you will too. This book will release in 2015. Until then, I hope you’ll visit my webpage and pick out a book. They are all stories of the simple life and the grace of God.

Blessings,

V

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For moms, the work of February is much like the month before. Yes, laundry can be hung outside if it is 32 degrees or even a bit below on a sunny day. Otherwise it’s hung in the basement, or on the porch that has been temporarily enclosed. Many moms also plan their spring garden – much of the family’s vegetables will come from there rather than the store. February is a good month for quilting and also I’ve heard that quite a few babies are born in February!

For students, February brings something special – Valentine’s day. Teachers have several different plans for this holiday–allowing students to decorate the room with strings of paper hearts. These young scholars also make valentines which they put into boxes they have decorated. The last period on Valentine’s (or Friday if it lands on a weekend) is spent passing out those valentines to one another. Some moms also send treats–puffed rice candy, popcorn balls, and cookies.

In A Promise for Miriam, I describe a fun Valentine’s tradition. Each student brings a lunch, placed in a paper sack or box or pail. The container is decorated, and then they are all placed on the front table or the teacher’s desk. At lunchtime, students draw names and exchange lunches.

To me, a lot of this sounds like Valentine’s day when I was in school, and as a teacher I realize that a lot has changed. However, what hasn’t changed is the way students care about one another and how Valentine’s offers a bright, fun holiday as we wait for the first signs of spring.

I’m praying this February finds you well and looking forward to the changes in the months to come.

Blessings,

Vannetta

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When I read a book, I become caught up in the lives of the characters. It seems as if I AM the main character. I feel her feelings, think her thoughts and struggle against her problems. When I reach the end of the book, I want my character to be in a happy place. Maybe everything isn’t perfect in her life, but I want it to be headed in that direction.

And sometimes I wonder about the minor characters. I want a little more. I’m not ready to leave that place that the author has taken me. With Amish fiction, this seems to happen to an even greater degree. Amish life is based on simplicity, faith and community. I want to know what’s happened to the folks in my book’s community.

Maybe I’m the only one who does this.

As a writer, I want to tell my readers more about those “other” characters, but alas … we’re limited by the number of words and the length of pages.

Maybe we’re not so limited though. Harvest House recently allowed me to write a short story based on my characters in Pebble Creek. Which one to pick? Ach! I wanted to pick them all. But this was to be a short story, so I had to choose one.

I chose Esther. She is the teacher who works in the schoolhouse with Miriam in book 1 of this series, A Promise for Miriam. Esther is a good friend to Miriam, very much like a sister. I wanted to revisit Esther’s life and share a little more. I wanted to back up a little, and tell you about her life before Gabe and Grace moved to Pebble Creek.

Home to Pebble Creek is that story, and it’s for free on Amazon, CBD, and will soon appear on B&N as well. If you don’t have an e-reader device, you can download this to your computer from Amazon and read it there. I hope you’ll leave a review at the site you purchase from, and I do hope that you’ll share this FREE short story with a friend. It’s a great way to introduce Amish fiction to other readers.

This short, twenty page story takes us back  to the banks of Pebble Creek. For me, it was a real pleasure to visit once again with the Amish community there.

Blessings,

V

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World weary and down to a threadbare faith, police officer Ashley Walters seeks refuge in Montezuma, Georgia, a quiet town with a thriving Mennonite community. Yet even in the peaceful surroundings, she can’t escape the haunting memories of crime-ridden Atlanta.

Then marriage-and-family counselor Patrick James partners with a teenaged Mennonite runaway to offer Ashley a second chance at redemption…and romance. But when violence erupts over revitalization plans that pit the Montezuma and Mennonite communities against each other, Ashley is forced to stop the person responsible—even if he is someone she’s come to love.

As God unlocks the secrets darkening Ashley’s heart, she must answer two crucial questions: Who is in control? And can she trust Him?

(Place of Refuge Series, Book 1)

Watch the book trailer HERE

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Church Cinnamon Rolls

(from The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook)

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, warmed

1 can evaporated milk, warmed

3 T. active dry yeast

3 eggs

4 cups flour (plus more as needed)

1 T. salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

2-3 cups sugar

cinnamon

raisins and nuts, if desired

Put the 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup butter, evaporated milk, and yeast in a large stand mixer and let stand for 5 minutes. Then turn on mixer and mix these ingredients together.  Add the eggs and, while mixing, slowly add the 4 cups flour and the salt.  Continue adding flour until dough leaves the sides of the bowl.  Continue kneading for 10 minutes and then place in a large, oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise until doubled.

On a floured surface, roll out dough and spread with 3/4 cup butter, 2-3 cups sugar, and lots of cinnamon.  You can also spread on nuts or raisins.

Roll dough into a log and cut into 2 dozen rolls.  Place cut side up on 2 greased jelly roll pans, cover with a towel, and let rise again.

Bake in a preheated 350° degree oven for 25 minutes.

Sugar Glaze

1 ½ cups powdered sugar

2-3 T. water

Mix together until well blended and to desired consistency. Drizzle over cooled cinnamon rolls.

Enjoy!

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