To me, reader friends are the best part of writing for a living! I don’t say that lightly. When I began writing, I hadn’t expected reader friends to move into my heart as you have. I’ve come to love, cherish, and honor you and your thoughts.
With you in mind, I’m making a few changes to how this Plain Talk Blog works. We’ll soon be able to have written conversations throughout each week, a little like the interactions on Facebook, only this place will include anyone with access to a computer and the internet. I’ll be able to reply to you directly under your comment, so you won’t need to dig through hundreds of comments or flip pages to find my response to you.
But currently the blog is a tad broken as we aim to make it work as it needs to. Oftentimes when I post, hundreds of people leave a comment and this website blog isn’t (most blogs aren’t) designed for that kind of traffic, and certainly not in a way that allows a conversational-style flow. So, with some wonderful tech-support help, I hope to make the comments stream in a way that this blog becomes a wonderful, social part of my week–hopefully yours too!
In the 2012 blog lineup, I’ll have a new post for you each Monday morning. I’ve been talking with several Plain friends who will also write posts throughout the year.
My friend Sherry Gore will have a post for you on the third Monday of each month. Sherry is an Amish-Mennonite woman who is a caregiver, storyteller, writer, accidental editor of The Pinecraft Pauper, author of Taste of Pinecraft and An Amish Bride’s Kitchen, and the owner of a nonresistant double-barrel shotgun. She’s the editor-in-chief for a wonderful new magazine called Cooking & Such. I enjoy this magazine so much that I want to share it you, so I’ll be giving away subscriptions every so often.
One Monday each month will be devoted to answering your questions about the Plain life, so if you have a question, e-mail it to me by going to Contact Cindy.
One Monday each month will be devoted to sharing a family-favorite recipe from my Amish friends’ Old Order Amish cookbooks.
And one Monday each month will be grab bag style, either written by me or by some of you!
I’ve come to realize over the years that many of you have precious, heartwarming, and humorous stories about your connection with the Plain community. If you have a true event that is centered around the Plain life that you’d like to share–perhaps something about a trip you made to Amish Country or a friendship you have or had, or growing up with Plain relatives etc.–I’d love to receive it. Please contact me by going to Contact Cindy. We can edit it for you to make it grammatically correct, so don’t let that concern stop you from writing your short story (it can be as short as you’d like or as long as approximately 1,500 words).
Also, if you’re more comfortable staying anonymous, I can post it without using your name. If we use your article, I’ll send you an early-release, autographed copy of my next release, which is currently The Scent of Cherry Blossoms.
If you have any suggestions for this blog, please send them to me via e-mail by going to Contact Cindy.
You talk, I’ll listen. 
Em Gott Sei Friede (God’s peace) ~
Cindy
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when you wrote when the heart cries I was looking for anything amish now i look for anything by cindy woodsmall you are my all time favorite author and i will read anything you write even a blog
Oh, Nancy, that made my heart sing, and it needs that song right now as I work through a tough set of edits.
This sounds like it will be very interesting Cindy. I always have to get on FB to check on my Amish authors. Love all of you. I sure enjoy reading your books. Good luck with this new way of doing things! Maxie [public view of e-mail address removed]
Hi, Maxie. It’s so wonderful to have a place to visit with people! So glad we get to visit there and here!
I am so excited about this new idea you have. I am looking so forward to learning more about the Plain life and exchanging recipies with everyone. Thank you for all you do for us. Have a very Bless Day!<3-Sheli
Thank you, Sheli! I’m hoping it’s great fun for all of us!
i just finished posting my review of The Scent of Cherry Blossoms on my blog. Thank you. i loved it. also love your blog. And Congratulations on your sweet Lucy
This is exciting! Congratulations on another path you are taking in your writer’s world. Thank you for including us, your reader friends.
I thank you and everyone for including me in your world of friends and activities. It’s something I cherish.
This must be the new thing that Sherry was talking about yesterday, love the idea of the new site….can’t wait to see it up and running. And Cindy, we love you too. =-D God Bless!
I didn’t see her post, Lanore, but it may well be. Or it may be something else. One never knows with a friend like Sherry. She has lots and lots going on all the time.
This is truly a great idea about what you wrote about. (you’re a smart girl to think of this!!!).. Thanks for letting us know about the changes, and I can’t wait til next week. Have a Bless Day! hugs- Kiki
Hi, Kiki! So glad you’re joining us from FB too. Hugs ~
Cindy, the changes sound wonderful! I am looking forward to learning more about the Plain life than what I can read in books (although even that has garnered quite a bit of knowledge for me). I so enjoy your writing and have in fact encouraged others to buy your books. I used to only read Beverly Lewis’s Amish novels. Thanks for the fresh insight and stories!
Thanks, Stephanie! I’m looking forward to the conversations and connections we’ll have here.
Dear Cindy,
I love your books. Also, I love Amish & or German recipes since my mother was raised Mennonite: oh, she did marry an outsider. I have never visited the plain life of the Amish, but my respect for my Mennonite relatives grows very deep. My mother was a very devoted Christian, receiving the Lord as her Savior as a young child. She was raised with the saying, “Cleaniness is next to Godliness.” Much to her dismay, she could not find that quote in the Bible. I will always cherish my Christian raising. My brother became a minister & I am presently a pastor’s wife & have been for 30 years. May the Lord continue to bless you as you write books to enrich our lives.
Claire Winter
Fascinating, Claire. Thanks so much for telling us a bit about your wonderful family history.
Sounds like a wonderful new way to communicate, Cindy!!
Thanks, Pam! I’m hoping we find it to be lots of fun.
Mondays have never been a thrill, but that’s all about to change now! I’m really looking forward to the interaction and all the awesome plans for this blog – they sound great. I have enjoyed all of your books and done several books reviews on my blog for them too. I can’t wait for The Scent of Cherry Blossoms.
I’m looking forward to it, like having a relaxed cup of coffee with friends . . . I hope
This sounds great, a new thing to look forward to on Mondays.A fun and interesting start to the week.
I think so too, Billie. We’ll find out . . .
Cindy, thank you so much for the work you are doing on behalf of your readers. I am looking forward to the “new” blog and especially the recipes. Our local Amish store recently burnt down in here Central MO. We get a lot of our baking supplies there….where else could you buy your sugar and flour in 25 or 50 lbs bags?…..have a blessed day.<3
That’s sad about the store, Susan. I bet you do miss the wonderful, nostalgic feel . . . and the ability to buy a FIFTY pound bag of sugar. LOL I’m also hoping to do a “recipe swap” where readers can share recipes with each other.
Oh, I can’t wait to read your good words; I so enjoy your books!
Thank you, Sally!!
What a fun idea…. and to include Sherry in this new venture is really sweet …..I can’t get enough of your stories and Sherry’s warmth and sense of humor. Looking forward to this !! <3 <3
Love hearing this, Susie! I’m really hopeful that this will be fun and easy for all of us–like our own community.
Cindy, I love your idea! I am no longer doing facebook, so this will be wonderful and exciting! I am excited to see how it all comes together! I started reading your books when I lived in South Dakota, now I am living in South Carolina. I look forward to all of your books and cannot wait for the Scent of Cherry Blossoms.
Oops! Sorry for the delay in responding, Regina. I didn’t get a notice that anyone else had left a reply. I’ll have to adjust that . . . if I can. But your post confirms what I’ve been thinking–that there is a need for this type of format. I’m excited about the possibilities. Thank you! And I hope to see you soon and often.
Your new blog sounds exciting! This gives your readers a chance to interact more!! WooHoo!
Thanks, Judy! I’m looking forward to it.
This is great news. I think Sherry is such a neat lady, and you are, too. I look forward to all the new changes
Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California Heather 
Welcome to Plain Talk, Heather! You’re right, Sherry is a very neat lady. Love and hugs from the foggy foothills of Georgia.
Cindy, I look forward to these changes, they sound very exciting!
Thanks, Janie. One of my mom’s best friends (until Mom passed away) was named Janie Freeman. Good name!
Thank you,Cindy! I did want to add that I am currently reading your book seies-Ada’s House, and I am enjoying them very much. I love the characters of Lena and Cara,sometimes they make me laugh out loud,lol!
Hey, Janie ~ So glad you’re enjoying them! I have to admit that I miss Cara and Lena!
I can still hear them talking to me at times.
I am looking forward to the new blog. You write wonderfully, inspiring books and I know the new blog will be wonderful also. Keep up the good work.
Thank you, Sandi! I think it’ll be fun.