For those who receive my newsletter, you had the article ”Finding Hannah” enter into your inbox in September’s issue of Plain News.  As part of an invitation to those who don’t receive the newsletter, I’ve posted that article below.

Whenever I have the opportunity to mingle with readers, I’m surprised by the number of people who are unaware of the newsletter. So I’m giving it a plug on my blog

The newsletter, Plain News, receives great reviews. If you enjoy insights into the Amish life, I encourage you to join the newsletter. It only goes out four times per year, so you’ll look forward to it each time it enters your inbox. It’s FREE. This is my way of connecting with readers between book releases.

Things the newsletter has:
A welcome letter
Sneak peeks into upcoming novel releases
An itinerary (when appropriate)
Articles I’ve written on the Amish or some part of my writing life
Contests
Various tidbits about daily life for an Old Order Amish person
A few words from a guest author
And some good reads shared by my editor Shannon [Hill] Marchese

To sign up, go to: Plain News

Congratulations to all five winners of The Shape of Mercy blog contest: Kayren, Theta, SN, Susan, and Laura. They each won a copy of The Shape of Mercy and When the Soul Mends.

For a chance to win an autographed copy of all three books, just leave a comment below. I’ll draw two winners the last of November, and the books should arrive to the winner’s home in time for Christmas. If you own copies of the books already, you can give this set as a Christmas gift.

The contest is open to those in the Continental United States.

WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ WHEN THE HEART CRIES OR WHEN THE MORNING COMES, THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE “FINDING HANNAH” HAS PLOT SPOILERS. And if the formatting comes across wrong, I apologize. I’ve followed every rule to make the correct formatting post live and it seems it just won’t . . . so the blogging goes on.

Finding Hannah

While writing When the Heart Cries, I took a midnight Amtrak ride with my youngest son. We traveled for eighteen hours, going from my home state of Georgia to Pennsylvania, where we stayed for a few days with an Old Order Amish family. My aim was for taking the train was to enhance the scene I wrote at the end of that book, in which Hannah boards a train heading for Alliance, Ohio.
When the time came to write the next book in the series, When the Morning Comes, I expected my earlier traveling experience to be sufficient research for when Hannah stepped off that train. But when I tried writing the opening, it didn’t sound or feel the way I wanted it to. I’d write five chapters and delete five chapters, over and over again. I longed to feel and hear the events as Hannah would. It soon became clear that I needed to see and feel what she would when she stepped off that train.
I try to experience life as my characters would whenever possible. While writing When the Heart Cries, I spent a couple of days in a neonatal intensive care unit to get a feel for the frailty of a preemie. I went to Hershey Medical Center and spent time on the same floors my characters did when they were injured. I washed dishes by kerosene lamp, drove a horse and buggy, and used a wringer washer to do laundry alongside my Amish friends. Those experiences helped me to write scenes that would hopefully come alive in the minds and hearts of my readers.

But as I struggled to write the opening of When the Morning Comes, it dawned on me that although I’d experienced riding the rails, I needed to see the Alliance, Ohio, depot in person. So I made plans to board the Amtrak in Gainesville, Georgia, and change trains as needed until I landed in Alliance. I checked online to see how long the ride was and discovered that the train would arrive in Alliance around two in the morning. I could deal with that.

But as I attempted to finalize my itinerary, I kept hitting dead ends. I called Amtrak several times and spoke with different people as I tried to locate a cab company or bus line so I could get to a motel after arriving. No one was able to help me locate the needed information. I couldn’t chance landing in Ohio at two in the morning without a solid plan.

I told my husband something was amiss and we needed to drive there. Being the agreeable man I married thirty years ago, he took my word for it and made arrangements to take time off from work.

A few weeks later we pulled into the Alliance train depot. The night sky swirled with snow, but the thin white blanket couldn’t hide the eeriness of the rundown, abandoned building. A white-and-blue sign near the tracks indicated a pay phone. I climbed out of the car. Snow and gravel crunched under my feet as I walked toward the phone sign. The wind whipped through my coat as if it wasn’t there.

I reached the sign, but did not find a phone.

As I stood at that bleak, abandoned depot, Hannah’s life unfolded before my eyes.

By the end of our week’s stay in Alliance, I knew more than how a traumatized teenage Amish girl managed to survive away from her home, family, and community. I also knew who she became and why.

I found Hannah.

While I conducted my on-site research, Hannah’s world became clearer each day. I went to the hotel she stayed in during her second night in Alliance. The place truly is as I described it in the book, and I wasn’t brave enough to spend a night there.

Before my husband and I returned to Georgia, we drove from Alliance to “Owl’s Perch.” Owl’s Perch is the fictitious name of a real place in Perry County, Pennsylvania. I knew Hannah would drive there from Ohio several times in book three, When the Soul Mends, and I needed to take the route myself—with its toll roads, service plazas, and mountain tunnels. Although the roads themselves are not described in much detail in the third novel, Hannah’s feelings while she’s on those roads are an important part of who she is.

In When the Soul Mends, Hannah finds herself traveling from one world to another. Like most people, I find more than one world affecting my life. Whenever I spend time in the homes of Amish families, I can hear echoes from my own childhood, when the conflicting messages of acceptance and prejudice worked to separate my Amish-Mennonite friend and me.

These messages have been explored in the Sisters of the Quilt series, as readers journey with the Amish, Mennonite, and Englischer characters who are dealing with their hopes, desires, and faith as well as hidden prejudices and fears. Some of those characters find that God’s redeeming love is the one thread that has the strength to unite regardless of all else.

Whatever world Hannah found herself in throughout these three books, she had moments of understanding aspects of God, and those moments gave her strength and hope. In book one she discovered the concept of nevertheless—that if everything ended with God, then those who are in Him have a good ending eventually. In book two she realized that He is more powerful than any injustice in her life—past or future. And when she forgives herself or others, she’s trusting that nothing bad is more powerful than God’s ability to overcome it. In book three her journey leads her to realize that love is never perfect—not in her, nor in others—but love doesn’t have to be perfect when forgiveness is there to pick up the pieces.

Throughout this series, all three worlds—Amish, Mennonite, and Englischer—form the woman Hannah is becoming. It is my hope that you’ll take each part of this journey with me, and that you’ll be encouraged by the One who has forgiveness and wisdom for each of us, no matter what world we’ve entered.

Em Gott Sei Friede, (God’s peace),

Cindy

I arrived home late Tuesday after a wonderful trip to visit family in Pennsylvania. There’s never enough time to see as much of my loved ones as I want, so I often leave with my heart aching for more.
 
Sally (my step mom) was a constant help from the time my plane touched down in Harrisburg. She and my dad married about eight years ago, and she’s been a godsend. After the death of my mom, she helped our family move from simply coping into living abundantly again. Sally and I hadn’t spent a lot of time alone together before this last trip, but during the visit I learned what a remarkable woman she is. My mom was remarkable too. My dad has been very blessed.

Sally went with me to Hackman’s Bible Book Store on Thursday night, which was a two-hour drive from Harrisburg. I’m grateful for all those who came out to see me there. The author chat and autograph party were wonderful. I’ll not soon forget the amazing people I met that night. Thank you!
 
If the woman who came to Hackman’s from New York earlier in the day and wasn’t able to stay until I arrived would contact me, I have a small gift for you from one of my Amish friends.

On Friday, Sally and I went to one of my Amish friend’s home. Anna* and I only had a few hours to visit, and we were far from being ready to say good-bye when the time came. But we took comfort in the hope that I can return and stay a few days longer this spring.

On Saturday, the family and I celebrated my dad’s eightieth birthday. His birthday is the reason I went to Pennsylvania. My brother, my sister-in-law, and one of their adult children drove in from Alabama. By party time, all four siblings, plus Sally’s daughter and her family, were there. We had a great time. Sally’s daughter, son-in-law, and two teenage grandchildren were a joy to spend time with. Their presence added so much to the day’s festivities!

We sang “Happy Birthday” to my dad the way he taught us–all of us purposefully off key and quite loud about it.
 
My dad, who enjoys being sarcastically grumpy, was in for a big surprise. Every time he started grousing, we sang the entire song. We only needed to sing it about forty times while he opened presents. We laughed and sang until we were hoarse. He thought it was a riot, but he also joined in on the game by becoming flamboyantly careful. He’d start to open a present and then stop and ask, “Am I doing this right? I don’t want to do anything wrong. Please tell me now, before you start singing.”

Too bad we didn’t figure out the remedy for his biting sense of humor until he was eighty!

Sally catered a meal so the workload would be light and we’d have the energy to enjoy one another. The plan worked great and also gave us a lot of food to use for Sunday’s main meal. We had such a great time, I’d do it all again in a heartbeat.

On Sunday mid-afternoon, my brother drove me to Frederick, Maryland, to meet up with my critique partner, Marci, who lives in Virginia. She and I spent the next two days working on her WIP (work in progress). She’s quite a writer, but she hasn’t turned anything in to a publisher yet. I’d tell you why, but . . . I can’t.
 
Marci and I have worked together for five years and she’s one of the greatest gifts to my life. When the Morning Comes is dedicated to her.

My time in Pennsylvania was refreshing, and I’m so glad I went. Now I’m behind with the rest of life and I feel the pressure of it. Still, that time was a treasure I’ll always remember.

*Names are always changed to assure privacy.