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A: I write generation-next contemporary fiction. My books usually center on normal people learning to live, laugh, heal, and trying to understand the concept of God in a crazy world.

I’m married to a wonderful engineer who keeps me from losing my mind (when you write fiction, this is big). I have too many books. I love British humor, bright colors, German chocolate, crossword puzzles, lipstick, cupcakes, cherry blossoms, and notepads with magnets on the back.

Q: When did you first discover that you loved to write?

A: I don’t know that I ever had a particular moment of discovery–I’ve always written and told stories. My mom’s saved my earliest attempts. They were illustrated. Finding out that I was good at it–that was big. I was 14 or 15, and at my first writers’ conference. I showed my manuscript to author Bonnie Leon, who told me it was “publishable.” That put everything into a very different perspective. Writing wasn’t just that thing I did in my free time. It could be a career.

Q: What are some of your hobbies/interests?

A: I’m into a lot of things, but I think most writers are. I love making stuff–knitting, cooking, photography. I grew up in a very artsy family with a lot of music and a lot of art. While I grew up on strictly classical music (some jazz later on), I’ve really gotten into indie-pop in the last couple years. While researching for another book project years ago, I discovered a love for film. We also finally bought me a motorcycle helmet and jacket, so I’ve been riding with Danny lately. I do have my endorsement, so maybe soon I’ll start riding on my own again!

Q: What’s the best vacation you’ve ever taken? Or the dream vacation that you’d like to take?

A: Danny and I went to Banff after my brother’s wedding last year. It was amazing. I loved it. There were mountains enough to keep Danny happy, and there were hot showers (Okay, mostly. The water was kinda weird), good food, and cute shops enough to keep me happy.

My dream vacation is to take a month or two to tour Europe. The UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece–I want to see them, and I don’t want to be rushed! Maybe it will happen someday

Q: Tell us something funny or random about yourself that not everyone knows about you.

A: I really love llamas. They’re just funny looking. My husband and I honeymooned at Black Butte Ranch in Oregon, not far from Sisters. Well, Sisters has a bunch of llamas outside of a Best Western (I’m not sure what the story is on that). My sweet husband took me to see the llamas and stood back while I took pictures of them to my heart’s content. Link to the best shot: http://tinyurl.com/y9rkezu

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Q: When and how did your writing career actually begin?
A: Much as I loved our little guys, they weren’t the greatest conversationalists. After being with lots of people every day, home was quiet and I missed the mental stimulation. I’d always read extensively, so trying my hand at coming up with something I liked seemed natural to me. My first sale was a short story to a teen magazine based on an incident from my teaching days. I made ten whole dollars!

Q: How many hours a day do you spend writing?
A: I wish I could tell you I was disciplined and worked a given number of hours each day, but I’d be lying. All I can really say is that the closer to deadline, the longer my writing days. But a lot of writing isn’t typing. It’s thinking.

Q: Amish fiction has recently become very popular, but you actually wrote fiction with Amish themes more than 10 years ago. What is compelling to you as a writer about the Amish and their lifestyle?
A: We live right at the edge of Amish country. The closest farm is about three miles from us. So I’ve seen the Amish for years, and for a while I had a girl clean for me who was one step away from Amish. While her parents remained Old Order Amish, she said she was no longer Amish because she believed in salvation through grace.I am very impressed by their commitment to faith and family. The rest of us should do so well, whatever our theology.

Q: Give us a little introduction to The Amish Farm Trilogy. How would you describe this series?
A: When I began thinking about writing a book set in the Amish culture, I knew I didn’t want my viewpoint character to be Amish. It was a matter of not understanding their thought processes. My main character would have to be English, reacting to Amish life with both respect and disagreement. I based the paraplegic brother who comes home to live after his accident on folks we knew who remained Old Order but brought in phone and electricity for their paraplegic son. The idea of having the heroines rent the second floor of Jake’s part of the house came from wherever ideas come from.

Q: One of the themes of A Stranger’s Wish is art and its place in society. Why was this an important theme for you to explore?
A: I’ve known forever that the visual arts have no part in Amish life because there is no overt Christian usage for them. A picture may be a thing of beauty, but it doesn’t speak of biblical truth as a written article can. It also has no practical use like woodwork or quilts. When I found postcards that were prints of art done by an Amish woman, I was amazed. For years I wondered how she managed to be creative in a field frowned upon by her people and still remain Old Order.

Then I met her and learned she has come to the conclusion that God gifted her, and if He gifted her, she should use that gift. In A Stranger’s Wish, the Amish mother, Mary, is a closet artist who yearns for the freedom to pursue the gift God has given her. When her son rents his second floor to an artist, Mary dares to show her work. The theme isn’t so much art as it is stretching to be all God has gifted us to be.

Q:What is another important theme in this novel?
A: Another theme is choices and consequences. For Kristie, the heroine, taking the key given her by the stranger has ramifications. For Mary, showing her art to Kristie opens a door she’s kept firmly closed for years. For Jake, giving up and settling for his chair results in depresson and bitterness. For Mr. Geohagan, the stranger of the title, his decision about Jesus has eternal consequences. And for Kristie, her choice about the two men in her life will affect her as long as she lives. Choices should always be made with the consequences counted.

Q: Did you get any ideas for the plot or characters for this book from real life? And if not, how did you dream up the details for your mystery/romance plot ?
A: As I mentioned, I got the idea for Jake from real life, but the rest of the book is from my imagination. How I dream the stuff up is a mystery to me. It’s one of the things that makes the imagination so exciting. There are things, thoughts, ideas tucked away in the recesses of our minds and consciousnesses that we don’t even realize until they break through. Not that there’s anything new under the sun. It’s that things seem new when we have our wonderful “aha” moments.

Q: Tell us about yourself personally. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? What’s something that might surprise people about you?
A: I’m a wife, a mom, and a grandmom. I’ve lived in the same house for most of my married life. I love reading mysteries and romantic suspense. I’ve been teaching writing at writers’ conferences for years and love the short bursts of intense energy required. Then I come home and collapse. The past few years are the first in my life without a pet. I dislike the telephone but love e-mail. I keep forgetting to go to my Facebook page because I don’t have anything interesting to say. I don’t have a favorite color but rather love combinations of colors. I love movies. I am very easily distracted. I love family get togethers because I love my family and extended family. I organize a silent retreat for my church’s women’s program every year. Chuck and I helped plant our church with 17 people. We are now about 2,000, very large for our area. I need to lose weight but don’t feel strongly enough to do much about it. Besides, if I got skinny, my wrinkles would show. I thank God He’s allowed me to be a writer because I can take the time to say what I want to say well, not as it would blurt out of my mouth.

Q: What is your number one goal with your writing?
A: That’s easy. It’s my mission statement: To write quality materials that point to the fullness of life in Christ and to teach others to find/do the same.

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I’ve always loved to work with contrasts in my fiction. The idea of two people living in entirely different cultures who form a relationship based on trust and faith and love intrigued me. I quickly grew fascinated with the idea of an Irish-American riverboat captain—who comes from a hard world, even a dangerous one because of his work on the river and also with the Underground Railroad—and Rachel Brenneman, who grew up in a sheltered Amish community of plain, caring, and gentle people who keep to themselves and look after their own.

Forbidden love is a theme in Rachel’s Secret, and cultural differences and authority figures are obstacles to romance for several of the characters. Do you think cultural differences strengthen or weaken a relationship?

That probably depends on the people involved, as well as just how significant the differences are. Both Rachel and Gant are strong-willed individuals, and even though Rachel has been raised to submit to authority, because of Gant, she’s finding it difficult to be submissive to the leaders of her church and community. At the same time, Gant finds it nearly impossible to accept the idea that a leadership could exert such influence over an adult, namely Rachel–a woman once married but now widowed, who definitely has a mind of her own. One of them has to change, or the relationship must end.

Is there any historical record of the Amish helping in the Underground Railroad?

I haven’t come across any documented evidence, but there are “hints” and brief mentions in some of the Underground Railroad histories that every now and then a member or members of an Amish community did aid a runaway slave’s escape to the North. The possibility was all I needed to ask myself “what if?” and plan a story that included that premise.

In writing this book, what impressions were you left with about abolition and the Underground Railroad? Did anything you learn surprise you?

I had actually read a great deal about the Railroad and abolitionism over the years, long before I ever thought of writing about it, so my research held few surprises. One of the things that struck me throughout my reading, though, was that the “heroes” of these movements were ordinary people, just like us. The Underground Railroad and abolitionism weren’t effective because of the involvement of mostly pastors or celebrities or folks of unusual courage. They were successful because ordinary people believed in freedom for everyone and were willing to take chances and face the kind of risks that could—and sometimes did—land them in harm’s way or even in jail.

There are many Irish-American characters in your novels, Jeremiah Gant being one example. Why are you so interested in Irish immigrants?

It’s true that my family tree is almost exclusively and exceedingly “green.” I suppose that’s what led me to years of reading about the Irish and Irish Americans, particularly during the period of the “Great Hunger” of the 1840s (the Potato Famine) and the subsequent Irish immigration to the United States and Canada. I was also privy to countless stories passed down through my family that had to do with the experiences of my ancestors.

I’ve found that when I begin to develop a novel, I often know more about the background and setting than I thought I did. Bits and pieces of what I’ve read and heard over the years come back to me, sometimes a fragment at a time. My family, as well as so many years of study and research—and an ongoing interest in Ireland’s struggles—undoubtedly account for the fact that writing about the Irish and Irish Americans is as natural to me as reading about them.

I’ve also learned from my readers over the years that they seem to enjoy reading about the Irish and Irish Americans as much as I enjoy writing about them. Their interest never seems to wane, so naturally that helps to motivate my own interest.

What can you tell us about Book 2 of The Riverhaven Years?

Book Two, Where Grace Abides, will test Rachel’s faith and her love for the forbidden “outsider”—Jeremiah Gant—while Gant’s own hopes and dreams are dealt a life-changing blow, rendering the vow he made to Rachel seemingly impossible to honor.

In addition, many of the other characters first introduced in Rachel’s Secret now find their gentle, unassuming lives of faith jeopardized by a malicious outside influence. At the same time, those striving to help runaway slaves escape to freedom through the Underground Railroad face deception and the danger of discovery.

Tell us a little about some of your recent release, American Anthem.
American Anthem is a rerelease of a trilogy of books: Prelude, Cadence, and Jubilee, now together in one volume. The story is set in 1870s New York. My hope is that it allows the reader to step into another time and place where they will share the hope and dreams and triumphant faith of some special people they’ll grow to love. I’ll let the back cover copy describe the book:
“At the entrance to the city, an Irish governess climbs into a carriage and sets out to confront the man who destroyed her sister’s life—a blind musician who hears music no one else can hear …
On a congested city street, a lonely Scot physician with a devastating secret meets a woman doctor with the capacity to heal not only the sick … but also his heart …
In a tumbledown shack among hundreds of others like it, an immigrant family struggles to survive, and a ragged street singer old beyond her years appoints herself an unlikely guardian …”

What will people find on your web site, http://www.bjhoff.com and your web log, Grace Notes, http://www.bjhoffgracenotes.typepad.com? How do you interact with your readers?

From the time I first began publishing fiction, it’s been important to me to connect with my readers. I’ve found that two of the most effective ways of doing that are personal correspondence and maintaining a web site. The latter includes a web log where readers can meet with me, ask questions, and get information about previous and new releases. Grace Notes is also a place where I try to provide information about writing in general. I’ve discovered that many of my readers are also interested in writing their own books, and I want to encourage that interest. I’ve found a web site and a web log to be good avenues for interacting with both readers and other writers on a fairly frequent basis. We also have some fun every now and then—and contests!

The post An Interview with BJ Hoff appeared first on AmishReader.com.

Our senior bishop Wallace Byler steadfastly declared us to be Old Order Amish, but the rest of the Amish world called us the New Order Amish. From what I understood, the designation came out of an Amish revival movement from Holmes County in the sixties, and involved only a small number of Amish communities.

My wife and I were born, baptized, and married in the Amish faith. We left just before the birth of our second son, Brandon.

Why did you leave?

I was idealistic, zealous for truth, and acquired ideas which the elders thought dangerous. I read George MacDonald’s Curate’s Awakening, in a translation by Michael Phillips, I believe. I also studied Galatians, coming up with my own ideas on how their Ordungs Brief (a set of written rules) didn’t quite have Scripture to back it up.

To say the least, they weren’t pleased (they being the two bishops, three ministers, and a deacon who gathered at my house). I chose to join the Mennonites before I got in real trouble. By the time the dust settled, both sides of my wife’s and my family had also left, all fourteen of them.

Was it difficult to adapt to the “outside” world?

For me it was, perhaps because I hadn’t planned on or dreamed about leaving. When I drove my first car into the driveway, a Ford Escort, stick shift, diesel, the last year Ford made such a vehicle, I felt a great cloud of heaviness. It was perhaps what a man might feel who leaves on a long journey, certain he will never return home.

The lost of identity was severe. If you are Amish, you may not know much else, but you do know you are Amish. It’s confirmed daily, wherever you go, by your dress, by your lack of an automobile, and your ability to speak another language. Suddenly, all that is gone.

What are some of your fondest memories from growing up Amish?

I grew up in Central America, in an Amish outreach community co-founded by my grandfather, Peter Stoll. So, my childhood memories are laced with the love of that culture. It was not until my mid-teen years that I got the full dose of Amish culture when we moved back to the States.

The camaraderie of the youth group drew me in immediately. To belong, to be accepted without judgment, to know who you were, was a delightful experience.

We were involved in group activities, popcorn raising, corn husking after dark, volley ball, a version of quilting, all of which allowed for healthy interactions between boys and girls trying to find their way into adulthood.

There’s nothing like the experience of driving a fast horse home from a hymn singing―especially in the summer time, with your girlfriend. The visibility is low, as a buggy doesn’t have regular lights like a car. Your door is open, maybe the storm front is up, and you are close to the surrounding environment. Everything goes by twice as fast. Then you pass a few buggies. A horse has no steering wheel or brakes, just the lines taut in your hands. I have never raced a car, because I don’t need to. I’ve already done something better! The sad truth, though, is that my wife noticed my horse before she ever saw me! Who says girls aren’t the same everywhere?

Do you think people tend to romanticize the Amish lifestyle? How accurate are the portrayals of the Amish that we see in books, movies, and television?

I think I just romanticized in some of my answers! It probably can’t be helped, thought’s built into the lifestyle. My novels aren’t romanticized―at least that I know of. I just follow what interests me.

As far as accurate portrayal in books and films, most come close with some mistakes scattered throughout. Take for example the movie For Richer or Poorer, which our family loves.

I doubt the grandpa would have come barging into the bedroom at five o’clock in the morning, or whatever time it was. It was very early at least! Amish are better mannered than that. I’m not aware of any Amish plowing with one horse either, but it did make for a good plotline. Then there was the adult dancing. Perhaps some wild young people dance in their rumsprigha days, but never adults. The worse deviation from the authentic was when the New York lady puts on the Amish fashion show for the ministers. That would never happen!

In your opinion, what are the biggest misconceptions people have about the Amish?

That they are perfect people. That outsiders can never be anything like them. All of us could be a little Amish, if we wanted to. Turn off the distractions some evening. Stay inside the house, curl up with a good book, get out your favorite board game, and surround yourself with silence, low lights, and conversation.

Do you strive to keep your novels true to Amish traditions and culture, or do you take more artistic license?

I try to keep them authentic. I stick procedurally to the Amish way of life. On plot lines, I often ask myself, Is this possible? That is, I consider whether what I am writing would be permissible under the restrictions of an Amish lifestyle.

Are any characters or events in your novels based on real people or events?

No. I did that with my first novel, but not since. It’s much too restrictive, and I worry about how the real person or people would feel or react. My characters are now fictional.

What is your favorite thing about the Adams County Trilogy?

I would say my favorite thing is the depth of emotion felt by the characters―by Rebecca in the first book, John in the second, and to some extent by Rachel throughout. Rachel loves the wrong thing, but she loves.

Then there is the delight of discovery. Maybe I notice it more because this is my first true series, but I think the wonder continues with each book.

Rebecca and John would have been just another Amish boy and girl who fell in love, if it were not for the cast of characters surrounding them. They are the ones who bring out the extraordinary in this couple. There’s Atlee of course, and Rebecca’s aunt Leona. Rachel and Luke add drama and color of another sort. And then in the final book, Emma’s secret overshadows them all.

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Actually, I live near there, so it’s a familiar place and has always been one of our favorite mini-vacation spots.

What drew you to the world of the Amish?

Our two daughters were always fascinated by the Amish lifestyle, so over the years we’ve learned a lot about them. The spark for Shadows of Lancaster County came from a book we were reading that focused on the medical peculiarities of the Amish—a situation known as the “Founder Effect.” Because most Amish marry from within the community, they can trace their roots back to the same small set of ancestors. As a result of this, they have a very high incidence of birth defects, unusual blood types, and rare disorders. On the positive side, they are of great interest to DNA researchers, because studying the genes of Founder Effect societies is the best way to locate the genes that cause disorders that also affect society at large—disorders such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis, and Parkinson’s disease. Understanding this, the Amish have been extremely cooperative with researchers, allowing blood draws and DNA sampling in the hopes that their efforts will allow doctors to unlock the secrets of the human genome to better care for others.

Once I learned all of this, the little plotting engine in my brain went to work on a medical Amish/DNA mystery, one that simply begged to be told. This ended up being one of the most difficult books I have taken on, simply because of the extensive research I had to do, but it was also one of the most fulfilling.

Whispers of the Bayou is quickly becoming a fan favorite! Why did you want to write a Gothic novel?

The first grown-up novel I ever read was the gothic mystery Touch Not the Cat by Mary Stewart, which I read when I was about 16. From there, I began to devour the novels of all of the gothic mystery writers, especially those of Mary Stewart and Phyllis A. Whitney. As a teenager, I loved nothing more than to curl up with one of these books and escape to a world that was exotic, creepy, and completely captivating.

My goal was to capture that feeling with my own fiction. Of course, I had to “modernize” the genre a bit. (For example, those old books used to begin with pages and pages of the heroine sitting on a train or bus simply thinking about her situation, whereas modern readers want to jump right into the action.) But even though some changes were necessary, as I wrote I found that I was able to retain the tone and feeling of those old novels that I loved so much. Given the success of Whispers, I think it’s safe to say that I’m not the only one who loves this particular genre.

Currently, I’m also in the plotting phase of my next book, another gothic mystery set in Louisiana called Under the Cajun Moon. This time, I focus on New Orleans and the surrounding Cajun bayou country. My main character is the daughter of a famous French Quarter chef, and when he suddenly takes ill she has to step in and save the day, solving a mystery even as she runs for her life. It’s very fun!

What interests you in “Cajun country,” as it’s called?

I was born and raised in Louisiana. Even though I no longer live there, whenever I write a story in that setting it’s kind of like going home—in my imagination, at least.

Growing up, I was always fascinated with Cajun music, culture, cuisine, and history, so it was a natural leap for me to learn more about all of those things and put them into a story.
Writing Under the Cajun Moon has also brought me back to that world, and I’m loving every minute of it.

Whispers of the Bayou is set after Hurricane Katrina, which figures into the plotline. How did you learn about the effect Katrina had on the area?

For most of the world, Katrina came and went, but if you go down there and take a look around, it’s obvious that the effects were far-reaching and long-lasting. So many lives have been changed forever! Our family members who lived north of New Orleans were able to patch things up and move on. But for those who lived in the city itself, their lives were completely changed by that storm. They have now scattered to Texas and California, with no plans to return home to New Orleans. Last year, we visited relatives who resettled in Houston, and though they love their new hometown, their sense of loss over New Orleans is palpable.

The saddest part of the whole thing, of course, is that it had been known for years that this was eventually going to happen, yet steps were never taken to minimize the potential damage. There are so many actions that could have been taken, so many changes and fixes that would have kept the city dry and the people safe, but those changes cost money, so they were never implemented.

I still get letters from readers who recently discovered my fifth book, The Buck Stops Here. The book was published two years before Hurricane Katrina, and yet the potential for massive flooding in the city of New Orleans is an important part of the plot. The letters I get say, “How did you know that before it ever happened?” My answer is always the same: “Everyone knew it; they just didn’t do anything about it.” Very sad.

What other kinds of research did you do? How did what you uncovered help you develop the plotline?

It’s hard to talk about the plotline in Whispers, because the story takes several shocking turns, and I never want to give away too much to anyone who hasn’t read it yet. I’ll just say that my research for that book focused primarily on Cajun history, some medically-related conundrums, and antebellum architecture. In the story, that translated into long-buried secrets, a mysterious death, and some creepy plantation hiding places.

Let’s talk about The House That Cleans Itself. Did you ever think you would be writing a housekeeping guide?

Oh good grief, no! I’m a terrible housekeeper and have been my whole life. It wasn’t until I began writing the Smart Chick Mystery series that I finally started to understand why. My protagonist in that series, Jo Tulip, is a household hints expert, and in researching her character I ended up reading about 40 books on housekeeping and organization. As I read, I soon came to realize that all of those books were written by people who were just naturally gifted at housekeeping. Their advice sounded fine on paper, but for someone like me who seemed to lack all housekeeping talent, their advice simply didn’t work. I was trying to follow the “rules” for a clean home, but my house was still always a mess because those rules didn’t work for people like me.

Finally, I made a radical decision: I would throw out all of the conventional wisdom on the matter and instead find solutions that would work for my home, my habits, and my family. I approached the messy-house problem creatively, by looking at each mess, evaluating its components, and then problem-solving a way to keep it from happening again. It took a while, but eventually I problem-solved my way through the entire house. One day, I remarked to my husband that the house was staying so consistently clean that it was almost like the house was cleaning itself. That’s when the idea for the book was born, when I realized that my system actually worked, and that it could work for others as well.

What’s your best piece of advice for the “housekeeping impaired”?

Make it just as easy to do the clean thing as it is to do the messy thing. In other words, engineer cleaning convenience throughout your home, not by changing your own habits but by making changes to the house itself. Even little changes—like having a trash can in every room (so trash gets thrown away immediately rather than sitting around until “later”) or placing mats inside and outside of every exterior door (to stop dirt before it even gets inside)—can go a long way toward eliminating mess in your home, even if you have no housekeeping ability whatsoever.

You’ve taken an interesting path toward becoming a novelist. What else have you written?

Plays, musicals, computer software manuals, comedy routines, short stories, articles, speeches, catalog descriptions, marketing and public relations copy, advertising, corporate and copywriting—everything except the back of a cereal box. Once I got a flyer in my credit card bill and realized I had written it!

At what point did you finally consider yourself a writer?
About 15 years ago, one of my plays was taken on the road by a church theater troupe. I was invited to ride along to a performance, and as they ran their lines, I realized that there were 20 people on that bus and every single word was something that I had written. I understood then that I was a writer.

Have you pursued any other creative endeavors?

Years ago, I was hired to lay down the vocal tracks for a line of karaoke music. If you recorded a karaoke song, chances are the voice you were singing along with was mine! One of my favorite writing jobs was as a contributing editor to a regional bridal magazine. I reviewed restaurants, hotels, and wedding-reception facilities—which meant lots of dining and dancing, all for free. I also worked as a stand-up comedian but didn’t like the late-night hours. So, I combined comedy with singing and created a “Senior Entertainment” business. During the day when my kids were in school, I performed at senior clubs, nursing homes, and retirement communities. It was a lot of fun.

What do you like to do just for fun?

I love to travel, so when time and budget permit, my family and I head off to somewhere new. This past summer we visited Spain, Italy, and France, with a fascinating side trip to Malta.

I’ve also been to 46 states—including Alaska and Hawaii. With just four to go, I’m determined to get to all 50 soon. Then I’ll start working on the seven continents. So far, my husband and I have three down and four to go.

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