I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but Christmas decorations are popping up everywhere! Before October was over, our local Target store was adorned with snowflakes across the entire ceiling, restaurants began to play Christmas music over their speakers, and Starbucks started selling their coffee in red, Christmas-themed cups.  Although it is still a bit early to be decorating our homes with Christmas trees, tinsel, and lights, I wanted to share some do-it-yourself decorations that the Amish make.

The Amish don’t have Santa or massive electric light displays; they celebrate the birth of Christ in simplicity and tradition.  A favorite tradition among families is creating and sending out Christmas cards. Many families spend the long, dark evenings of fall with craft items spread out over a table. Creativity flows as they use paints, colored pencils, fabrics, buttons, ribbons, and other items to make beautiful and practical crafts.

You can use this idea as a jumping point to create unique Christmas decorations with your own family. If you have Christmas cards from previous years in storage, you can place a string from one wall to another and hang those Christmas cards from the string. As you do, take a minute to reread the names, think of each sender, and share a memory of that person with your children. An evening spent in that manner will stir love and respect for others.

Instead of buying store-made cards this year, try doing like the Amish and make your own Christmas cards to send to friends, neighbors, and relatives. At a hobby or craft store, for just a few dollars, you can purchase packets of fake gems, sequins, or beads, and glue these onto construction paper, along with a personalized Christmas message. Creating unique cards for each person lets them know you are thinking of them in a special way.

There are five winners from the previous blog contest. Each has won an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells.

Congratulations to ~

Mandy of Tacoma, Washington

Michele of Greenwood, Delaware

Sherryl of Nichols, Wisconsin

Amy of Lansing, Illinois

Linda of Statesville, North Carolina

For your chance to be one of five winners of an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, just leave a comment.

Some of my favorite childhood memories are wrapped around special family times—not when on vacation or having a birthday party, but during those occasions when each family member stepped out of the busyness of their world and truly connected with those who share the same home.

From the time I was eight until I entered high school, we lived in a rural part of Maryland. Losing electricity happened fairly often. We were well equipped to deal with the outages—potbelly stove for cold weather, plenty of goods my mother had canned from her garden, and several kerosene lamps. So we had warmth, food, and light. What more could a family need?

Games! Fast-paced, easy ones, where the goal is laughter, not winning.

During those times when the television was as dark as the night, we’d clear the kitchen table, set a lantern on it, and start a board game. Not having electricity caused everyone to naturally shift his or her normal routine.

The most fun part of those evenings was having our parents’ undivided attention. Parents are often so busy being parents that the children miss out on seeing their true personality—the one that shows up when Mom goes out to lunch with her girlfriends or when Dad and his buds are on the golf course.

My parents grew up during the Depression, so seriousness and responsibility was a huge part of who they were. I only caught rare glimpses of the person behind the busyness.

Game night, which only arrived when the electricity went out, helped shape my thoughts about life. It became a tiny seed that affected me so much it’s even seen throughout the Sisters of the Quilt series.

The Old Order Amish, like the ones I write about, live without electricity all the time.

Do I want to live like they do? With much respect to them, I say, “No, thank you.”

Do the Amish want to live as we do? With much respect to Englischers, the Amish I know say, “No, thank you.”

We’d each have to give up things we cherish. But there are common denominators within both traditions: like our determination to try to protect our family and keep them as a priority.

With that in mind, I’m going to post several entries over the next few weeks about how the Amish celebrate Christmas. (Is it too early to talk about celebrating Christmas?) Perhaps you’ll be reminded of things you did as a child and want to have a night or two of that with your own family. Or maybe you’ll find something new that you’d like to incorporate into your family traditions.

Here are some ways to keep Christmas simple:

A. Plan ahead. (In that sense, it is not too early to think about Christmas.)
B. Keep the plans simple.
C. Have a variety of easy-to-do choices.
D. Enjoy the fruits of your thoughtfulness.
E. Only snap a few photos for nostalgic purposes. (Sometimes parents ruin what should be relaxed family downtime by making everyone aware that they’re constantly “on stage.”)

*
Game suggestions:

Although I love a good game of Monopoly when there is time and the players are of a certain age, it isn’t for the easily distracted.

Spoons is played with just a deck of cards and a handful of spoons. For directions, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoons

Uno
Yahtzee
Go Fish
Dutch Blitz (The Amish love this one.) 
Pictionary (There’s even a junior version!)
Charades
Chutes and Ladders
Candyland
Checkers
Parchese
Game of Life

Those are just some of the games I could think of easily. I’d love to hear more, as well as special things you’ve done that have made a family memory. If you leave a suggestion for our readers, or any comment, your name will be entered for a chance to win my Christmas novella, The Sound of Sleigh Bells.

Injecting a note here: I mentioned on a radio interview this morning (10-13-09) that I’d post a recipe for making Christmas dough ornaments. If you’d like that recipe go to my Book Lover News Blog by clicking here.

There are five winners from the previous blog contest. Each has won an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells.

Congratulations to ~

Phyllis of Normal, Illinois
Dana of Clayton, Indiana
April of Henderson, North Carolina
Carol of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Marlyss of Regina, Saskatchewan

 

 For your chance to win an autographed copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, just leave a comment.

Hello! The original post (found below) went live on September 10. Today is October 6, and I’m popping in to let you know that although I’m running late for pulling contest winners, I’ll pick FIVE winners tomorrow to help make up for it. I’ll contact the winners and then post a new blog entry as soon as I’ve heard from each one. Until then I’m busy writing, writing, writing on book two of the Ada’s House series.

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While on my book tour, a journalist from the Wall Street Journal, Alexandra Alter accompanied me during a visit with my Amish friends. Some of you may remember that in the last blog post I wrote a little about Alexandra joining us.

I was thrilled to see that her article – and a sketch of Hannah’s face – were featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal yesterday!  The piece ran in the newsprint, but you can find the online version here.

The only small correction I have is that my books have actually sold over half-a-million rather than the 134,000 that the Nielsen BookScan reported.

In preparation for the October 6 release of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, I am offering a chance to win an autographed copy! Simply comment on this post to be entered.  Click here to read more about The Sound of Sleigh Bells. The first chapter will be available online in a short time, so check back soon!

I also wanted to share a piece from my upcoming newsletter, Plain News. It features the visit to Daniel and Miriam’s house, which Alexandra mentions in her Wall Street Journal article.

Excerpt from “Plain News September 2009.” The newsletter is free and is sent four times per year. To sign up to receive this free newsletter, go to: Plain News

Amish Connection

On the last day of my book-signing tour, my husband, my editor, a journalist, and I pulled into the driveway of one of my Amish friends. Miriam and Daniel and their two youngest children came out of their farmhouse to greet us. Feeling Miriam’s arms around me for the first time since May, I did not want to let go. After hugs and warm welcomes, we introduced them to my editor and the journalist.

Daniel invited us into their home, where Miriam’s kitchen island was covered with goodies. The aromas of fruits, cheeses, and homemade desserts filled our senses. We put some of the delectables on our plates, took cups of coffee, and moved outside to sit under a shade tree. After more than a week of changing hotels every night and pushing to get to each event on time, it was relaxing and pleasant to enjoy these treats with such great company!

After our midmorning refreshments, we went to the barn to hitch the horse to the buggy for a short ride. Although I’ve written books with characters hitching a horse to a buggy, I needed greater detail about it for my next novel. The smell of hay and horse feed filled my nostrils. In another part of the barn, calves added their young voices to the sounds of the horses.

I watched carefully, asked a lot of questions, and took notes as Daniel showed me the blacksmith’s tools, explaining what each one was used for, and then hitched the horse to a two-person carriage. Once Daniel had the rig hitched, he gave each of us a ride. August’s temps bore down on the black asphalt and shadeless road, so we took short rides in order to spare the horse. I find buggies rather difficult to climb in and out of, but well worth the effort. Alexandra (the journalist) had never traveled to Amish country before, so it was fun to see her enjoying the farm and the ride.

After the buggy rides, Shannon (my editor) and I visited my friend’s craft room, which is located above the carriage house. The room smelled of old wood, reminding me of attics and of my writing room at home. It had a lot of items that Shannon had seen on my Web site and in my newsletter, including decorative hames, which are wall hangings made using a quilt patch between two old wooden pieces of a harness, the part that goes around the horse’s neck. The craft room also had various sizes of baskets lined with sewn fabric and topped with hand-painted lids, frames with paintings, antique foot-pedal sewing machines with scenes painted on them, and cute birdhouses made from old boots. When I visit, I always enjoy seeing the new crafts Miriam has created.

When we returned to the house, all the refreshments had been removed and dinner was being set out. My friend’s teenage daughter had been hard at work as the adults were busy visiting and riding in the buggy! The aromas were delicious, but the food tasted even better than it smelled. We had roast beef and lots of fresh seasonal vegetables from the family’s garden. The small potatoes had been boiled in a tasty mix of seasonings, the home-grown green beans were perfectly crisp, and the ice-cold water did wonders to quench our thirst after being outside in the heat.

Time seemed to drift away as we continued to chat while enjoying our dessert of pumpkin roll and ice cream. In fact, we were enjoying our visit so much that when I glanced at the clock, I gasped. We had very little time to get to our next signing! Everyone jumped up and rushed about, only taking enough time to put the leftovers in the refrigerator so they wouldn’t spoil.

The book signing at Rachel’s Country Store was very busy. During the signing, Daniel and my husband took my editor to the train station in Harrisburg. She had a flight to catch in Philadelphia. Since our vehicle was in Harrisburg, and we hadn’t come in a horse and buggy, the journalist waited for me to finish and then took us back to Miriam’s home before she left for New York.

Within minutes, Miriam and I were reclining under the shade tree again as if there were no dishes to be washed. She said we couldn’t use valuable chat time doing work—not during such a short visit. I promised to be useful during our next stay. When the men returned, they joined us, and the conversation flowed nonstop until my husband and I had to leave.

While on our way to our van, rain began sprinkling the farm while the sun shone brightly. I turned to my friends and said, “We’re about to see a rainbow.” As we hugged good-bye, we marveled at the gorgeous rainbow, commenting that it felt like a promise that even though our trip had been short, we’d have more visits in the future.

My husband and I visited my dad, stepmom, and brother while in Pennsylvania, and by the time we arrived home, we’d traveled more than three thousand miles. But Home Sweet Home greeted us at the end of our trip…as did bills, yard work, and a teen who’d successfully weathered most of the first two weeks of school without Mom or Dad.

Excerpt from “Plain News September 2009.” The newsletter is free and is sent four times per year. To sign up to receive this free newsletter, see link above this article. I tried to post that same link here, entered the same URL, and took all the right “techie” steps, but the link kept leading to weird places. Sorry.

To enter to win a copy of The Sound of Sleigh Bells, comment on this post!

What an adventure! I have recently returned home to Georgia from my seven-state book signing tour. Although my husband and I are still exhausted, we were thrilled to get to take such a journey and meet with all the readers who came out to see me!

Our tour began on Tuesday, August 11 with an appearance on Fox 5 Good Day Atlanta. We had a signing that evening in Norcross, GA at the Barnes and Noble. There was quite a crowd, as you can see in the video my husband took.  The next day, I had a signing in Nashville, TN, and the day after that in Plainfield IN. Here are my reflections and some shots of these signings!

On Friday, we headed to Illinois, and on Saturday and Sunday we had two signings in Michigan. Here‘s the video from that weekend. Ann Byle wrote a great article about my visit in the Grand Rapids Press, that you can also find online here.

Monday began our visit to Ohio with a taped interview on Central Ohio Public Radio at Ohio State University. Afterward we met up with my editor, Shannon (Hill) Marchese. We then went to a book signing and Q & A at Barnes and Noble in Columbus. On Tuesday, we had a signing and lunch at the Der Dutchman, which is an Amish restaurant in Walnut Creek, OH. I met my editor’s mom, an Englischer and an Amish woman who always help provide the clothing for the models for my books’ covers, and I even met one of the models. We had a great time and a delicious meal.

Also on Tuesday, I traveled to Joseph Beth Booksellers in Pittsburgh, PA. I had a really fun time getting to know the group, and I was able to discuss the writing and story aspects of my book with one aspiring author.  On Wednesday I had an in-depth interview with Pennsylvania Public Radio at Temple University. Here‘s a link to the audio. That evening, we had a signing at Hackman’s Bible Bookstore in Whitehall, PA, during which I was joined by a journalist from the Wall Street Journal.

Our final stop on the book signing tour was on Thursday Rachel’s County Store, which is an Amish dry goods store in Newburg, PA. About five times more people came to that signing than we’d planned for. I signed over 250 books before we sold out of certain titles. We were thrilled to meet so many readers!

The tour felt like a whirlwind, but I was helped along the way by my husband and editor. It was my first experience at having so much time with my editor as she traveled in the vehicle with us. I could not have received a better blessing! She shared so many helpful insights about the book I’m currently writing–book two of Ada’s House series. After all but one of the signings and interviews, we all went to one of my Amish friends home for supper, where we had some precious time to catch up and an unbelievable delicious meal.

Huge, huge thank you to readers who contributed to The Hope of Refuge hitting the #29 spot on the New York Times best-sellers list!

Sheryl of Lawrenceville, GA  and Grace of Jamestown, NY are our winners from the August 5th drawing for a copy of the Hope of Refuge! I’ll begin a new contest next week so check back to enter!

Here are some photos from our signings and visits throughout Amish Country!

In celebration of the release of The Hope of Refuge, I’m going on a seven-state book-signing tour. Below are the dates, times, and locations of the stops on the tour.

My editor has created a miniature poster that you can print out to share with others or bring to the event for me to sign. I encourage you to download the signing event’s flyer—a beautiful piece of artwork, similar to what you see below. Each one has the date, time, and location of that particular book signing. We did this so you can print out flyers to share with others. You can print as many as you’d like and take them to your book club, church, coworkers, friends, relatives, or even the local library.

This is my first book tour, and I’d love to meet as many readers as possible. I think I’ll get the opportunity to speak for a few minutes at each signing as well as answer some questions. If the economy has taken a hit at your home and you don’t wish to buy a book, come on out and let’s have some fun anyway. I’ll sign the flyer you’ve printed or a bookmark.

My editor, who is flying in from Colorado, will be with me for the tour starting in Columbus, Ohio. She’s been my editor throughout the Sisters of the Quilt series, The Hope of Refuge, and The Sound of Sleigh Bells. Behind every enjoyable, satisfying read is a great editor. She challenges me to write and rewrite until the story inside my heart matches the one that’s showing up on the page for readers. She makes me work really hard, but I always return the favor!

From My Editor: The Top 5 Reasons for Going to Cindy’s Book Signing
1. CSI will be on tomorrow night too.
2. How else can you ask, live and face-to-face, “What is Hannah up to now?”
3. I know Cindy, and she always has intriguing surprises and some unforgettable insight for her readers.
4. Where else can you go but a bookstore to meet Cindy AND pick up that copy of Charlotte’s Web for your daughter’s reading list AND get the perfect gift for your mother-in-law’s birthday [Hint: The Hope of Refuge]?
5. What a perfect opportunity for a field trip with your book club or women’s small group.
One last shameless plug from the editor… This is a great excuse to get out of the house with some friends and introduce them to some terrific books in a friendly, personable environment. Have a ladies’ night out at the bookstore.

If I can manage all the technical aspects while traveling, I will be using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to keep you updated on how the signing tour is progressing.

Follow the tour on:

Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Tuesday, August 11 7-8:30pm

Barnes & Noble

5141 Peachtree Parkway, The Forum

Norcross, Georgia 30092

(770) 209-4244

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Wednesday, August 12 7-8pm

Barnes & Noble Opry Mills

515 Opry Mills Drive

Nashville, Tennessee 37214

(615) 514-5000

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Thursday, August 13 6-8pm

Barnes & Noble

2540 Futura Pkwy. #135

Plainfield, Indiana 46168

(317) 838-7941

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Friday, August 14 6-8pm

Barnes & Noble

1550 West 75th

Downers Grove, Illinois 60516

(630) 663-0181

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Saturday, August 15 1-3pm

Baker Books

2768 East Paris Ave SE

Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546-6139

(616) 957-3110

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Sunday, August 16 2-4pm

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

3700 Rivertown Parkway Ste. 2058

Grandville, Michigan 49418

(616) 531-1825

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Monday, August 17 7-8:00pm

Barnes & Noble Booksellers

1739 Olentangy River Road

Columbus, Ohio 43212

(614) 298-9516

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Tuesday, August 18 7-8:30pm

Joseph Beth Booksellers

2705 E. Carson Street

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15203

(412) 381-3600

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Wednesday, August 19 6-8pm

Hackman’s Bible Book Store

1341 Mickley Road

Whitehall, Pennsylvania 18052-4610

(610) 264-8600

Flyer (PDF) | Map

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Thursday, August 20 1 – 3pm

Rachel’s Country Store (Amish dry goods store)

6352 McClays Mill Road

Newburg, Pennsylvania 17240

(717) 530-9452

Flyer (PDF) | Map