An Amish Gathering
I'm so excited! I just finished When Winter Comes, my novella for the second collection entitled An Amish Gathering. It's gone off to my editor.
Beth, Kathy, and I were so excited to be asked to write novellas for two collections: An Amish Christmas, due out in August, and An Amish Gathering. due out at the end of the year. I think you're going to find the novellas to be very unique. Our editor asked us to do crossover characters -- to have our characters "visit" each other in the stories. It was great fun but a lot of work. As Beth has blogged previously, a lot of e-mails went flying back and forth. Both Beth and Kathy are early birds (I'm a night owl) so when I got up each morning there were already lots of e-mails and I had to work quickly to catch up. This morning when I turned on my computer I was sad to see that there weren't any e-mails from them-- I was the last of the three of us to turn in my novella so there were no more, "Tell me again about so-and-so" type of questions to be answered.
Thank you to all of you who helped me choose a recipe for the novella. The choices were Amish chicken and corn soup, Amish pretzels, and lemon snowflake cookies. The recipe with the most votes was the soup, followed by the cookies, then the pretzels. I threw the names of the readers who asked for the soup recipe into a hat and from it chose a winner to receive a copy of the recipe: Amber Mullis. So, Amber, I will be sending you that recipe. I promise that I will include the other recipes in a future blog here.
Beth, Kathy, and I e-mailed each other about how much we enjoyed writing the novellas. We didn't know each other before we started them and have since become friends. Even though it was a lot of work o write these connected novellas when we were all working on other book-length projects, we're already talking about how we'd like to do it again.
Have you ever done something similar -- grown close to another woman or a group of women -- working on a project at work or school or church? What was it you did together and what did you learn about each other and yourselves? I'd love to hear from you!
Hugs,
Barbara
Beth, Kathy, and I were so excited to be asked to write novellas for two collections: An Amish Christmas, due out in August, and An Amish Gathering. due out at the end of the year. I think you're going to find the novellas to be very unique. Our editor asked us to do crossover characters -- to have our characters "visit" each other in the stories. It was great fun but a lot of work. As Beth has blogged previously, a lot of e-mails went flying back and forth. Both Beth and Kathy are early birds (I'm a night owl) so when I got up each morning there were already lots of e-mails and I had to work quickly to catch up. This morning when I turned on my computer I was sad to see that there weren't any e-mails from them-- I was the last of the three of us to turn in my novella so there were no more, "Tell me again about so-and-so" type of questions to be answered.
Thank you to all of you who helped me choose a recipe for the novella. The choices were Amish chicken and corn soup, Amish pretzels, and lemon snowflake cookies. The recipe with the most votes was the soup, followed by the cookies, then the pretzels. I threw the names of the readers who asked for the soup recipe into a hat and from it chose a winner to receive a copy of the recipe: Amber Mullis. So, Amber, I will be sending you that recipe. I promise that I will include the other recipes in a future blog here.
Beth, Kathy, and I e-mailed each other about how much we enjoyed writing the novellas. We didn't know each other before we started them and have since become friends. Even though it was a lot of work o write these connected novellas when we were all working on other book-length projects, we're already talking about how we'd like to do it again.
Have you ever done something similar -- grown close to another woman or a group of women -- working on a project at work or school or church? What was it you did together and what did you learn about each other and yourselves? I'd love to hear from you!
Hugs,
Barbara
Barbara, I already have An Amish Christmas on preorder and look forward to receiving it when it comes out. (I also have Beth's Plain Promise and Kathleen's A Man of His Word on preorder, too!) That was a delightful idea to have the characters crossover in the novellas, though it certainly must have been a momumental effort to coordinate! During my 65 years I've worked on many projects that drew me closer to others. Right now there is a particular group of ladies at our church that are united in praying for a fifth cousin of my husband. Madi is almost 11 years old and has been sick for 6 years already, beginning with leukemia, remission, return of the leukemia, bone marrow transplant, chronic Graft vs. Host Disease, and she is in a wheelchair now and can't walk and suffers with a lot of pain. Each week I send the ladies updates on Madi; and then, when our son-in-law, David, was diagnosed with bladder cancer last year, I added a request for prayers for him. Later a man in a nearby town had a near fatal accident and has been slowly fighting his way through it, so I send updates on him, too, as many of the older ladies aren't "into" computers to check the blog site. These ladies are so supportive and have become "extended family" to me, and it means so much to have their prayers and support. These are truly "the ties that bind."
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Cathey,
I see that for some reason my reply to you is not under your e-mail...go down a bit and you'll see it. Hope this one is inserted where it's supposed to be. It's too late to fix it once it's on the blog...
By the way, it is so nice to know that you have already pre-ordered our books!
Thank you for that and for visiting our blog!
All my best,
Barbara
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I became best friends with a girl from a new Sunday school class in 2003. She asked me to help her with her Vacation Bible School class. I was scared but I accepted. I had never done anything like that in my life. My husband and I hadn't been going to church very long at that time. We didn't grow up going to church. I had the best time helping with that VBS class. We are now the best of friends. God always has a plan!
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Prayer groups are such a wonderful way to make a difference for others -- and ourselves.
Yes, it sounds like you have made great friends who have become family. I love that they are "the ties that bind" for you.
So glad you wrote!
Barbara
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I loved Vacation Bible School as a kid! I'm so glad you tried teaching at one and found a friend in the process.
We never know where we'll find a friend -- or a new thing we like to do!
Thanks for writing!
Barbara
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Hey, those were my two choices, soup and pretzels! Know you've all worked hard and glad to see the present novella completed - congratulations!! Yes, I have enjoyed close associations with women in Bible studies, singing with the Salvation Army, visiting nursing homes and teaching Bible too. Hanging wallpaper, shopping, and cooking must count too. See ya.
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