An Amish Gathering
So how has the first week of 2010 gone for you?
Sometimes we're so glad to see an old year end that the first week of the new seems good just because ... it's new. I hope you've had a good week and the new year will prove wonderful for you.
I have had time to give it some thought and I've decided that people have two different types of outlooks on the holidays. By the time Christmas is over, some people are really ready to "have done with it." They pack up the indoor and outdoor decorations before the last day of the year -- sometimes even the day after Christmas. "Let's move on," seems to be their attitude.
Then there is the group that enjoys the holidays so much they're not ready to be done with them just because Christmas is over. They leave their decorations up inside and outside.
Well, I'm a member of that second group. Maybe it's because the weeks leading up to Christmas are so busy with my part-time job of teaching college. Classes end just before Christmas and there's all that grading...I got my tree up only four or five days before Christmas and wrapped my last present the night before Christmas ...then I got sick with a bad case of bronchitis. It's been so nice to tuck up on the sofa with the two dogs and an afghan and watch the tiny little lights twinkling on the tree. And I love that when I go out in the car in the evening or early morning I see that many of my neighbors still have their holiday lights up. I want to honk my car horn and shout, "Thank you!"
With the cold weather so many of us are experiencing we're staying inside, trying to stay warm, and reading books we got for Christmas. I'm reading The Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercises by James Scott Bell at the moment (at Kathy's recommendation) and enjoying it when I'm not working on my latest book. We hope YOU are checking out our latest collaboration, An Amish Gathering! It's a collection of three novellas set in Paradise, Pennsylvania, with characters from each story moving through the book just like in An Amish Christmas. (By the way, thank you again to readers for the overwhelming response to An Amish Christmas. It's # 5 on the CBA fiction bestseller list!)
Congratulations to Beth, who has two books on the ECPA bestseller list at the same time, to Kathy for her latest series --young adult books set in Middlefield, and to Amy who just finished writing a Christmas novella set for publication next holiday season!
Blessings,
Barbara






















I finally received the book "An Amish Gathering" and can't wait to start it. I'm reading another one right now, but An Amish Gathering will be the next one. I loved "An Amish Christmas" so can't wait for this one.
Hope you are feeling better, Barbara.
Debbie
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Good morning Barbara, I am with you I still have my tree up and I am still enjoying it, I also love to sit and look at the beautiful tree and we still have all our outside lights up, maybe next week I will put it away
Gods Blessing to you and yours
Lois
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I just finished An Amish Gathering!! As was An Amish Christmas -- it was wonderful! You ladies do a wonderful job!! Can't wait to see what you do next! God has given you a great talent and we get to read the results! God Bless You All!!!
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I am definitely part of the group that leaves them up. I usually don't get them up that early. I like to enjoy them for a month. So I put up the tree on the 17th of Dec this year and I will leave it up to about the 17th of Jan. I figure I pay all that money for a fresh cut tree so I want to enjoy it. Not only that but my birthday is in January and its nice to still have decorations up around that time. I celebrate my birthday the whole month.
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Good Evening, Barbara, I like the beginning of a new year. It always seems to me like everything is beginning new.. So with a new year, we/I always like to try and do things differently or change some things. But, since I/we are used of doing things a certain way, the new change doesn't always last for very long, but, it is still fun trying..
This past week my daughter and I have went over to visit some of the Amish stores in our area. Mio, Michigan. And we are making plans to go to Shipshewanna, Indiana this summer for a visit to the Amish Village's down there and another trip is being planned to go to Holmes County to Visit the Amish area there..
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I always read Amish novels and then pass them on to the ladies in my church. And then they pass on the Amish novels they read to me! I really enjoy learning about the Amish religion and other's ways of living. Please keep writing these books!
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This week I was reminded what a blessings from God our families truly are. Each time I read one of your Amish fiction books, they re-enforce this belief and provide me with our insightful thoughts. I'm hoping to keep this perscpective in focus; some days, it's harder than others as my mom has Alzhemier's so reading helps me to reconnect and relax. Every day may not be easy; however, each one and each person in your life is a gift from God that you connect with and leave a mark on their lives and day. I hope that 2010 becomes the year when the world wakes up and recognizes that we are all one large family with different branches, but one Father.
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I am enjoying following your blogs and learning about what you do. I would love to read more of your books. It would be a blessing to win your book give away. Thanks for all you do be richly blessed
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I would love to have some of your books to share with my friends. They love the Amish community. I work in a small library in Kentucky and after reading they would be added to our collection.
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Getting ready to start An Amish Gathering. Am loving all the books coming out in 2010, can't wait.
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i enjoy reading amish books
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