Wednesday Writers–Kelly Irvin and Beneath the Summer Sun

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Amish games, Amish romance, Beneath the Summer Sun, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, excerpt from Beneath the Summer Sun, Kelly Irvin

Today Wednesday Writers welcomes Kelly Irvin back to the blog. I always love it when Kelly visits because she gives us a peek into the Amish life. Today is no different as she introduces us to an Amish game the characters in her book Beneath the Summer Sun play. Welcome back, Kelly.

 

Fun and games the Amish way

By Kelly Irvin

One of the things I love about the Amish is their emphasis on family life. They spend time together, enjoying each other’s company. With no TV, no computers, and no cell phones, how different long summer evenings must be. For Beneath the Summer Sun, I wrote scenes in which I imagined how a widow and her seven young children would spend their evenings. A scene resulted in which they play a board game called “Life on the Farm,” with Mennonite book salesman Nathan Walker. I researched on-line how to play the game.

According to the “Life on the Farm” website, this is how you play the game: “You start with $10,000 and no cattle. During the game, when you land on a ‘Cattle Auction’ square, you may buy as many cows as you wish at $500 each. If you don’t have enough money to pay a bill, you must sell your cattle back to the bank at $300 each until that bill is paid. Each time you pass the barn you collect a ‘Milk-check’ that is determined by how many cows you own—of course, more cattle means your milk-check is bigger—but so are your expenses! Market values vary for each player and are determined by a roll of the dice! Experience how machinery repairs, feed costs, insurance, taxes, and real family farm mishaps (like a cow accidentally being shot by a hunter) make their effects felt on each player, as they do on real American family farms! Be the first player to build your herd from zero to 60 cows, plus get back the money you started farming with and you can ‘Retire’ to win the game!”

It’s obvious why the Amish would like a game that involves farming! Jennie’s children love it and they love playing with Nathan. It’s been four years since their father died in a farming accident, so they look forward to attention from a kind, gentle man like Nathan.

It’s all part of the fun of Amish family life, which includes playing checkers, chess, and other board games, as well as the card game Dutch Blitz, “A Vonderful Goot Game,” according to the package. I enjoyed writing about it and I hope readers enjoy the story.

To learn more about “Life on the Farm,” board game, go to the makers’ website at http://www.werfungames.com/how-to-play.htm.

Beneath the Summer Sun

By Kelly Irvin

Jennie Troyer knows it’s time to remarry. Can she overcome a painful secret and open her heart to love?

It’s been four years since Jennie’s husband died in a farming accident. Long enough that the elders in her Amish community think it’s time to marry again for the sake of her seven children. What they don’t know is that grief isn’t holding her back from a new relationship. Fear is. A terrible secret in her past keeps her from moving forward.

Mennonite book salesman Nathan Walker stops by Jennie’s farm whenever he’s in the area. Despite years of conversation and dinners together, she never seems to relax around him. He knows he should move on, but something about her keeps drawing him back.

Meanwhile, Leo Graber nurtures a decades-long love for Jennie, but guilt plagues him—guilt for letting Jennie marry someone else and guilt for his father’s death on a hunting trip many years ago. How could anyone love him again—and how could he ever take a chance to love in return?

In this second book in the Every Amish Season series, three hearts try to discern God’s plan for the future—and find peace beneath the summer sun.

Excerpt from Beneath the Summer Sun:

 

Jennie stopped breathing. Her lungs protested. She didn’t want to move, not even to let them expand and contract. Silly snake facts spouted by her son Micah when he wanted to make her shiver presented themselves. Snakes can’t sweat so they avoid the afternoon sun. They take naps during the day and come out when it’s cooler and dark. This one would likely stretch at least four feet long, not including its rattle. Its skin glowed brown and golden with a darker stripe down the back.

Jennie’s mouth went dry. Her stomach chose that moment to heave. The hot dog did not want to stay down. Purple spots dotted her vision.

“Cottonmouth?” Nathan whispered. He stood motionless at her side. “Poisonous?”

“Rattler.” She tried to speak without moving her mouth. “Rare here, but you see them. Obviously.”

“Don’t move.” His voice barely audible, he took one step, stopped. “I’ll grab Francis and we can hightail it out of here.”

“Nee. You’ll startle him and he’ll holler.” Her fear of snakes might be big, but her fear of one of her children being hurt was greater. She searched the ground. Not a single rock big enough to dispatch the viper. “Don’t. Move.”

Leo could help. If anyone could help it would be Leo. He’d know what to do.

He was a man who never flinched. He’d been through the worst. Since that terrible day, he’d taken everything in silent stride.

She turned slowly, carefully, tiptoeing at first, ridiculous as it must look, and then ran.

Her sneakers sank into the rich, dark soil, impeding her progress. The scent of sweat and grass and dirt assailed her nose. She needed to run, faster, faster. Gott, help me. I know we’re not on the best of terms, but please, Gott, help me.

Leo had the reins in his hands when she reached the fence. She slammed to a halt. “Help. Snake. Rattler. Francis.”

He dropped the reins and reached behind the buggy seat. A long, lean, deadly looking brown rifle emerged.

Rifle in hand, he hurtled over the fence like a boy half his age. His straw hat plummeted to the ground. His legs were much longer than Jennie’s, but fear and adrenaline that tasted like metal on her tongue propelled her in his wake.

Leo slowed, slowed some more, halted, then stepped forward with a balance and ease that spoke of a much smaller man. He raised the rifle, took aim, and sent the snake on its way in an explosion of sound that made Jennie jump even though she knew it was coming. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled the air and burned her nose.

With a blood-curdling scream Francis rolled over, hopped to his feet, and ran straight into Jennie’s open arms. She scooped him up and hugged him hard, despite the urge to take him to the woodshed for a “talk.”

“Danki.” She spoke the single trembling word to Leo but let her gaze encompass Nathan. He was willing to do more. He simply hadn’t known what to do. “Francis thanks you too.”

A spark of something indefinable in his amber eyes, Leo nodded and set off across the field, his rifle slung over his shoulder, his gait loose and easy. Taking it in silent stride, just the way she knew he would.

 

Want to read more? Beneath the Summer Sun is available at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310348080?tag=ammbt-20

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/beneath-the-summer-sun-kelly-irvin/1125895547?ean=9780310348085#/

https://www.christianbook.com/beneath-the-summer-sun/kelly-irvin/9780310348085/pd/348080?product_redirect=1&Ntt=348080&item_code=&Ntk=keywords&event=ESRCP

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Beneath-Summer-Sun/Kelly-Irvin/9780310348085?id=7069748221220

 

About the Author:

Two-time ACFW Carol Award finalist Kelly Irvin is the author of the critically acclaimed Amish of Bee County, Bliss Creek Amish, and New Hope Amish series. Her newest release is Beneath the Summer Sun, the second novel in the four-book series Every Amish Season from Zondervan Publishing. Her work has also appeared in four Amish anthologies, An Amish Market, An Amish Summer, An Amish Christmas Love, and An Amish Christmas. Kelly is a retired newspaper reporter and public relations professional who lives with her husband in Texas. They have two children, two grandchildren, and two ornery cats.

Connect with Kelly on social media at:

https://www.facebook.com/Kelly.Irvin.Author/

@Kelly_S_Irvin

https://www.pinterest.com/irvin0739/

 

Amish Romance Author Kelly Irvin returns to Wednesday Writers

Tags

adding touch of realism in an imaginary world, Amish romance, Catherine Castle's Wednesday Writers blog series, Every Amsih Season series, Facts in the Fiction, Kelly Irvin, researching for fiction, Upon a Spring Breeze

 

Amish romance author Kelly Irvin is back on Wednesday Writers with a new Amish romance, Upon a Spring Breeze, which is the first novel in her four-book series, Every Amish Season. Kelly has been a frequent visitor to Wednesday Writers’ blog series, sharing behind the scenes information on her Amish romances, including The Beekeeper’s Son and The Bishop’s Son. I’m always glad to have her visit. Today, she’s going to talk about The Facts in the Fiction. Welcome back, Kelly.

 

Thanks, Catherine.

Do you know what it’s called when a sow gives birth? Me neither. Do you know a sunflower’s scientific name? Me neither. Do you know when the Purple Martins arrive in northwestern Missouri and how they like their houses built so snakes can’t slip into them? Me neither. At least I didn’t until I wrote Upon a Spring Breeze. What do you know about bird flu? Every time I start a new novel, I realize just how little I know about anything. With the advent of twenty-four-hour access to news, CSI TV programs, and Internet Google search, we can learn about these subjects with relative ease. And readers expect their authors to get the details right.

My heroes in Upon a Spring Breeze include Aidan Graber, who is a chicken farmer who decides to expand his sources of income to include hogs. I was fortunate to be able to interview via telephone a man near Austin, Texas, who has a farm where he raises chickens and hogs. I also interviewed via email a state trooper in Missouri who was involved in the quarantine of farms affected by bird flu. These interviews provided the underpinning for Aidan’s farming experiences and expertise.

I used to be a newspaper reporter in another life so I understand the art of research and interview. It was never my favorite part. I love to write, but I’m an introvert. I struggle with making the phone call to someone who might not want to talk to me. That’s not a good quality in a reporter. As an author, I’ve overcome my natural inclination to make it up as I go along. It may take me a few days—or weeks—but eventually I make the call. It’s good for me to come out of my hidey hole and talk to people in the real world.

For Upon a Spring Breeze, I had the most fun with the flowers and the plants. It’s easy to get information about growing flowers from the Internet. What grows best, when it grows best, and where it grows best. That helped me flesh out the character of Dusty Lake. He works at a nursery and plans to get his degree in environmental science someday. He knows there are sixteen species of Helianthus (sunflowers) in Missouri. They are grown worldwide for seeds and oil as well as ornamental uses. At one time Missouri was a leader in the production of sunflowers. Dusty will talk your ear off about flowers if you let him. It’s one of the things Bess Weaver, my heroine, likes about him.

Aidan, on the other hand, knows all about raising chickens and he also knows it’s called farrowing when sows give birth. He knows they have a gestation period farmers could set a calendar by. Three months, three weeks, three days. And they have two or three litters per year.

But Aidan is more than a farmer. He loves to watch the beautiful birds that migrate through Missouri in the spring, including the Purple Martins. That’s why he fixes up the Purple Martin houses and brings Bess to see them. Their arrival reflects the continuing cycle of life. They return every year to the same houses to have their babies. Bess can count on that.

“He held Joshua up, his face close to the little one, talking as if the conversation was just between the two of them and the baby could understand every word. ‘I added insulation to the apartments so it won’t get too hot or too cold in there. And I threw some pine needles into the compartments. I read something that it makes them think the houses have been occupied before. They like the idea that others came first.’”

How do they keep the snakes out? Aidan added a stovepipe baffle to the pole about four feet off the ground. It wobbles and keeps the snakes from shimmying up the pole.

The details give the scenes that touch of realism that allows readers to lose themselves in an imaginary world. The characters come to life. I love that feeling. I hope my readers do too!

Once Upon A Spring Breeze

by Kelly Irvin

After a devastating year, a spring breeze promises more than new flowers.… It promises a new chance at love.

Bess Weaver, twenty and expecting her first child, is in the kitchen making stew for her beloved mann, Caleb, one minute, and the next she’s burying him after a tragic accident. Facing life as a young widow, Bess finds comfort only in tending the garden at an Englisch-owned bed and breakfast—even as she doubts that new growth could ever come after such a long winter.

Aidan tries to repress his guilt over his best friend Caleb’s death and his long-standing feelings for Bess by working harder than ever. But as he spends time with the young son his friend left behind, he seems to be growing closer to the boy’s beautiful mother as well.

When a close-knit group of widows in her Amish community step in to help Bess find her way back to hope, she begins to wonder if Gott has a future for her after all. Will she ever believe that life can still hold joy—and the possibility of love?

 

Is your curiosity piqued? You can find Kelly’s book Upon a Spring Breeze at:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0310348056?tag=ammbt-20

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/upon-a-spring-breeze-kelly-irvin/1123949210?ean=9780310348054

http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Upon-Spring-Breeze/Kelly-Irvin/9780310348054?id=6786280023143

https://www.christianbook.com/1-upon-a-spring-breeze/kelly-irvin/9780310348054/pd/348054?event=ESRCG

 

About the Author:

Kelly Irvin is the author of Upon a Spring Breeze, the first novel in the four-book series, Every Amish Season. Library Journal called Upon a Spring Breeze “a moving and compelling tale about the power of grace and forgiveness that reminds us how we become strongest in our broken moments.”

Kelly also penned the Amish of Bee County series, which includes The Beekeeper’s Son, which received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, calling it “a delicately woven masterpiece.” She is also the author of the Bliss Creek Amish series and the New Hope Amish series. Kelly’s novella, A Christmas Visitor, appears in the anthology, The Amish Christmas Gift. Her novella, Sweeter than Honey, is included in the anthology, The Amish Market.

She wrote two romantic suspense novels, A Deadly Wilderness and No Child of Mine.

A former newspaper reporter and retired public relations professional, Kelly is married to photographer Tim Irvin. They have two children, two grandchildren, and two cats. In her spare time, she likes to read books by her favorite authors.

 

Readers can find Kelly at http://www.kellyirvin.com/ and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.kelly.irvin.author/, Twitter at @Kelly_Irvin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kelly Irvin guests on Wednesday Writers

Tags

Amish romance, Bee County, Catherine Castle Wednesday Writers series, Kelly Irvin, Texas, The Amish of Bee County series, The Bishop's Son

Today Wednesday Writers welcomes back Kelly Irvin, best-selling Amish romance author.  Take it away, Kelly!

The Beauty of Great Expectations

By Kelly Irvin

 

I’ll share a little secret with all y’all today. I approached writing my current series, The Amish of Bee County, with some trepidation. I had this idea that I would write this series about the only Amish district in Texas. It’s a tiny community, only about 12 families, mostly related to each other. I’d read about the district on the Amish America blog and some blogs by Kevin Williams, who shot video outside the district’s Combination Store. Bee County is about two hour’s drive south of San Antonio where I live, so I took off work on one Friday morning and drove down there with high hopes. I knew it would be different from the idyllic scenes of beautiful white houses and red barns with lush, green fields up north. It had to be. This was south Texas.

Different is putting it mildly. I pulled into the dirt lot in front of the Combination Store, turned off the ignition, and stared.

Borntrager Combination Store

 

The building was rusted and dirty. A broken down buggy appeared to be permanently parked in the front. A junkyard of old buggy parts and machines sprawled adjacent to the store.

Amish Buggy at Borntrager

 

 

 

They don’t have a lot of money to spare to fix things up, I thought, it’ll be better inside. So I went into the store. True it held a treasure trove of goods from hats to saddles to books on beekeeping to homemade candles and lip balm made from beeswax. Unfortunately (to my way of thinking) the store was also a hodgepodge of stuff, some junk, and a lot of it dusty.

I bought some honey, a loaf of bread, some cookies, spearmint lip balm, and a dozen eggs—why I bought the eggs I don’t know. I had a nice, if somewhat stilted, chat with Mr. Borntrager Senior, owner of the store and one of the founders of the district. I knew from my research the Borntragers came to south Texas from Tennessee because land was cheaper and more plentiful and “he liked the humidity.” He kindly answered my questions about some olive trees they planted and the location of their 300 apiaries.

Driving home, the impressions spun round and round in my head. What did I think of this bedraggled, dilapidated collection of haphazardly placed buildings. What would my readers think of it? What if they decided to pop down to south Texas for a look-see after reading my books?

It took a few days, but God finally reached down and smacked me over the head (figuratively speaking of course). He made south Texas, He made the mesquite and the nopales and the dry, river beds. The Borntragers settled there and they work the land, raise bees, make honey, sell vegetables to the grocery store chain, and they don’t complain. They raise their children, they put food on the table and clothes on their backs and they don’t ask anything of anyone—certainly not of me. Who am I to judge? I was reminded to never judge others by the world’s standards, but rather by the God who created the universe and everything in it—including south Texas with its feral hogs, rattlesnakes, mosquitoes, horseflies and grasshoppers.

From all this turmoil, came the underpinnings of my new series. I had the opportunity to create a completely different world for my readers that would challenge some of their beliefs and stereotypes about the Amish. A family with four daughters moves from Tennessee to Bee County. Like me, they have to learn to see the beauty in their new home. They have to learn to see God’s hand moving in this new season in their lives. With the first book, The Beekeeper’s Son, the oldest daughter, Deborah, learns with me to see beauty not only in the landscape, but in a particular morose, scarred man who wants nothing more than to hide from the world.

With the second book, The Bishop’s Son, which debuts this month, daughter number two, Leila, is drawn away from this close-knit community. She’s torn between her heart and her head. The man she loves is following a path that will take them both far from their roots.

Suffice it to say, I’m very glad I decided to brave this new frontier and write an Amish romance series that steps outside the usual box. I love these families and I hope my readers to do. I recently finished writing the third book, The Saddle Maker’s Son, so I’m moving out of Bee County. I will miss it!

 The Bishop’s Son

Leila Lantz is in danger of losing her heart to a Plain man until she discovers he’s not so Plain after all.

Leila has been drawn to Jesse Glick, the bishop’s son, since the first day she met him at his father’s store, and she knows he feels the same way about her. But she can’t understand why he seems to make overtures one day, then withdraw the next.

Jesse has a secret. He has been attending an Englisch church youth group, and he’s starting to believe he’s being called to be a minister, something Amish men cannot be unless they draw the lot. He’s considering leaving his Amish community to follow his calling. The only reason he has stayed is Leila. Will, Jesse’s cousin, has his own feelings for Leila, but he has stood back in deference to his cousin for many months. Until he can’t stand the thought of Leila being hurt.

Leila can choose Will and know that she will never have to leave her home or family. Or she can choose Jesse and the love her heart desires, knowing she’ll have to say goodbye to her entire community. The day comes when Jesse, Will, and Leila all have to make their choices, choices that will deeply affect their small, close-knit community of Plain families.

 

About the Author:

Kelly Irvin is the author of The Bishop’s Son, the second novel in the Amish of Bee County series from Zondervan/HarperCollins. It follows The Beekeeper’s Son, which received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, calling it “a delicately woven masterpiece.” She is also the author of the Bliss Creek Amish series and the New Hope Amish series, both from Harvest Housing Publishing. She has also penned two inspirational romantic suspense novels, A Deadly Wilderness and No Child of Mine.

 

The Kansas native is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism. She has been writing nonfiction professionally for thirty years, including ten years as a newspaper reporter. She has worked in public relations for the City of San Antonio for twenty-one years. Kelly is married to photographer Tim Irvin. They have two young adult children, two grandchildren, two cats, and a tank full of fish. In her spare time, she likes to write short stories and read books by her favorite authors.

 

Catherine Castle Welcomes Kelly Irvin to Wednesday Writers

Tags

Amish of Bee County Series, Amish romance, guest blog by Kelly Irvin, Kelly Irvin, Setting, setting as a character, The Bee Keeper's Son

Today Wednesday Writers Welcomes back Kelly Irvin. Kelly will be talking about setting in her book Amish romance The Beekeeper’s Son. Here’s a quick blurb to whet your appetite for Kelly’s newest book.

 

The Beekeeper’s Son

 

Phineas King knows better than to expect anything but shock and pity wherever he shows his face. Horribly scarred from the van accident that claimed his mother’s life, he chooses to keep his distance from everyone, focusing his time and energy on the bees his family raises. If no one sees him, no one can judge him. So why does he start finding excuses to seek out Deborah Lantz, the beautiful new arrival in town?

Deborah can’t get out of Bee County, Texas, soon enough. Once her mother and younger siblings are settled, she is on the first bus out of this dusty town. She is only waiting on the letter from Aaron, asking her to return to lush Tennessee to be his fraa. But that letter never comes. As she spends time getting to know Phineas—hoping to uncover the man beneath the scars—she begins to realize that she no longer minds that Aaron hasn’t sent for her.

As both Deborah and Phineas try to come to terms with lives that haven’t turned out the way they imagined, they discover that perhaps Gott’s plans for them are more extraordinary than they could have dreamed. But they need to let go of their own past sorrows and disappointments to find the joy and beauty that lies just ahead for them both.

Amish in Texas sounds interesting, Kelly. So, let’s hear more about the setting in this book.

Setting is more important in The Beekeeper’s Son than in any previous book I’ve written. So much so that I began to think of it as a character in my story. The setting defines my heroine’s struggle and it sets the stage for the theme, which came to me after my first visit to Bee County, home of the only Amish district in Texas.

South Texas is dry, has rocky soil, lots of cacti and scraggly mesquite and live oak trees. It’s not like the typical northern, green farmland readers are accustomed to seeing in Amish fiction. What’s more, the Amish district here in Texas does nothing to enhance their surroundings. They don’t paint their houses or plant pretty flowers in their gardens. Most of us would wonder why they don’t make more of an attempt to spruce up the place. I did.

My heroine, Deborah Lantz, has just move to Bee County from Tennessee and she’s not happy about it. She misses her home and the man she thought would one day be her husband. Her new district’s homes are weather beaten and need a coat of paint. The landscape is barren and full of cacti and scraggly trees. It looks downright ugly to her. After Deborah meets Phineas King, a young man with a scarred face and even more scarred heart, she’s forced to look at beauty from God’s perspective and not the world’s.

This theme of God’s beauty being different from what the world thinks of as beautiful became clear to me after a few visits to Bee County. I couldn’t understand how the Amish folks living there could be so oblivious to the need to spruce up things in their little community. Why didn’t they clean up the junkyard next to the Combination Store? Why didn’t they paint their houses? It came to me as I drove home after a second or third trip. Outward trappings aren’t important to them. They have scant resources and they have to prioritize how they use them. Life has to be extremely difficult, trying to make a living from the land in such a barren place. How dare I judge them based on what I think is pretty or important? Me in my shiny new car, rolling home to my nice home and good paying job? I was judging them by the world’s standards for beauty, not God’s. He created Bee County and south Texas, just as he created the beautiful idyllic scenes a person sees in Lancaster County.

My hope is that The Beekeeper’s Son will cause readers to give some thought to how they define beauty and whether God sees beauty in them and their attitude toward others.

Thanks for joining us today, Kelly. If you haven’t read Kelly’s author interview from last year, be sure and hop over that page to learn more about this author.

 

About the Author:

 Kelly Irvin is the author of the Bliss Creek Amish series and the New Hope Amish series, both from Harvest Housing Publishing.

The Beekeeper’s Son is the first book in the Amish of Bee County series, for Zondervan/HarperCollins. She has also penned two inspirational romantic suspense novels, A Deadly Wilderness and No Child of Mine.

Kelly has been married to photographer Tim Irvin for twenty-six years. They have two young adult children, one gorgeous new granddaughter, two cats, and a tank full of fish. In her spare time, she likes to write short stories and read books by her favorite authors.

Contact Kelly at:

@Kelly_S_Irvin on Twitter

https://www.facebook.com/Kelly.Irvin.Author

website:

http://www.kellyirvin.com

 

 

 

Wednesday Writers Welcomes Kelly Irvin

Tags

A Plain Love Song, Amish romance, Author interviews, Book excerpts, book giveaway, Kelly Irvin, Wednesday Writers

 

Wednesday Writers  welcomes Kelly Irvin, author of the Amish romance A Plain Love Song. Kelly will be giving away a print copy of A Plain Love Song to one United States or Canadian commenter. Commenters on Kelly’s post August 6 through 12 will be put in the hat for drawing.

 Welcome, Kelly! Would you please tell readers about the book that is being showcased today?

 A Plain Love Song is the story of a young Amish woman named Adah Knepp who loves to write songs and dreams of being a musician. Musical instruments aren’t allowed in her faith and she struggles with how to channel her creativity in ways that are permissible. Then she meets Jackson Hart, an aspiring musician who dreams of being a country music star. Jackson teaches Adah to play the guitar and in the process falls in love. Adah has to decide what she’s willing to give up in order to follow her dreams. I had a wonderful time researching and writing this book, partly because I went to Branson, MO, for it, but also because I spent sometime thinking about my own goals in life and whether they were God’s plan for me or something I cooked up all on my own without consulting him.

Great theme, since following dreams often requires giving up other things in our lives. How did you come up with the concept for this book?

When it comes to my Amish romances, the stories frequently come from my desire to understand their faith and the parameters they place on the people who commit to the Amish faith. I don’t always agree and I ask myself why and on what basis. Does what I believe come from God’s scripture? Does what they believe? Are the two at odds or can we co-exist as lovers of Jesus who practice our faith in slightly different ways? It keeps me on my toes. Why not play musical instruments? Why not perform in public? In the course of writing this book, I began to see both sides of the story. The wonderful worship that comes from music and song and raising our voices together, mingling with musical instruments, and that more quiet introspective worship that comes from a more muted simple singing without instrumentation.

What are you working on now?

 A Plain Love Song was the last installment in the New Hope Amish series. I’ve moved on to a new series with Zondervan/HarperCollins called the Amish of Bee County. The first book, The Beekeeper’s Son, is slated for release in January 2015. Bee County is home to the only Amish district in Texas. The Beekeeper’s Son is in the editing phase now, so I’m deep into book two, which as the working title of The Bishop’s Son.

Speaking of music, some writers like quiet, others want music. Which are you?

I don’t play music while I write because I wouldn’t hear it. Once I get into it, I don’t hear anything. (My children can attest to that—they have to yell at me to get my attention, frequently resorting to my name when Mom doesn’t do the trick). I don’t really need quiet, it doesn’t matter if there’s noise—except TV, which I find really annoying when I’m writing.

LOL I so understand the getting so wrapped up in things that you don’t hear what’s happening around you. When you write are you a panster or a plotter?

Totally a panster. I hate outlining, it’s too much like homework and it takes the creativity out of the storytelling. If I outline then I lose a lot of the stuff that just “happens.” The good stuff I don’t know is coming. I know generally what the story is about when I start, but I don’t really know where I’m going. In the current book I’m working on, I didn’t know until the very end, which choice my heroine Leila would make, in terms of her life and love. The choice grew out of everything that happened in the story and I really didn’t know what she would experience. I love it when it unfolds like that. I’m non-linear in that I frequently get a glimpse of a scene that isn’t coming for a while, but I go ahead and write it because it’s in my head knocking around and I don’t want to lose it. I may write the last chapter only halfway into the book. If it’s there, it’s there.

Are you a fast writer or a slower writer?

Fast. I have to be. I have a full-time job and a lot of commitments at home so I can’t piddle around. Also, I used to be a newspaper reporter, so I’m used to working on deadline and producing copy everyday. I write before work in the morning, at lunch, and sometimes, if I’m on a roll, in the evening. I do a lot of my marketing stuff on the weekend, but try to squeeze in work on the WIP if I’m in the middle of an important scene. I honestly don’t know how many words I write in a day. It varies depending on my other commitments. It’s carving out those chunks of time and using them productively that counts for me. As long as I write everyday, at least five or six days a week, I feel good about it. I don’t want to lose the thread or the emotional connection to the story. If I let it lay fallow too long, it’s hard to get it back.

What is your revision process?

My initial goal is to just get the story down. I don’t worry too much about being pretty, just the nuts and bolts. When I start each day I go back to the last scene and edit it to help me get the juices flowing again. Many times I find I’ve really only written a sparse version of the scene and I begin to add the detail, the setting, flesh out the dialogue, and so on. After I have the basics down of the first draft, I go back to make sure I’ve included all the senses, especially smell, because it’s so evocative. I have to go back and add setting detail because it’s not my strong suit and I don’t always think about what the place looks like. I have to do a lot of cutting because I tend to overdo the interior monologue. My characters do a lot of thinking! I try to read all my work aloud so I can hear the word repetition, smooth awkward phrases, make sure dialogue sounds authentic. I also do a read-through to make sure I’ve tied up loose ends and that the plot develops in a way that makes sense.

As we all know, writers are readers, too. Do you still read the same genre of books you did as a teenager?

I still read mysteries and romantic suspense. They’ll always be my favorites. I have certain authors, like Marcia Mueller and Sue Grafton, that I’ve been reading for twenty-five years or more. But my reading is more well rounded than it used to be. I also read historical fiction and I read The Help and other books that are more literary in nature. I stay away from Amish romances because I don’t want to accidentally echo other writers.

Do you have some favorite books?

I love To Kill a Mocking Bird, Gone with the Wind, and A Wrinkle in Time, among many others.

What’s the first book you remember reading as a child?

I read voraciously, everything in my hometown library, but my earliest memories are The Bobbsey Twins in the first grade. I have vivid memories of learning to read because it opened up this old new world for me, a place to which I could escape. As I got a little older I read all the Nancy Drew mysteries, the Hardy Boys, Harriet the Spy, The Changling, The Oregon Trail. I read just about everything I could get my hands on.

If your library is anything like mine, you have lots of books on your shelves. Name 3 favorite writing craft books on your shelves, 3 fiction books and the genre, and if you have them, 3 different magazines you read regularly

The First Five Pages, Don’t Murder Your Mystery, Self Editing for Fiction Writers

Stealing Home by Allison Pittman

Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers

Out of the Deep I Cry by Julia Spencer Fleming

“The Writers Digest,” “Writers Magazine,” “Poet and Writer”

 

Now for a few personal questions:

Do you have a day job?

I’m the public relations manager for the San Antonio municipal parks and recreation system

What’s in your CD player right now?

The soundtrack from the TV show, “Nashville.”

What do you do to keep in shape?

I work out on the treadmill everyday and sometimes mix that up with aerobics tapes.

Quickies:

Favorite food: My husband’s homemade pizza. He makes the crust and the sauce from scratch and he goes easy on the cheese and covers it with my favorite veggies so I don’t have to feel so guilty about eating it.

Favorite singer or band: That’s so hard, it depends on my mood, and there are so many great artists out there. Right now, I’d say Chris Tomlin because he’s never written or performed a song I don’t love. If I’m in a rebellious mood, I’d say Jason Aldean because I like my country music to have some attitude.

Favorite season: Fall, although we don’t have much of it in South Texas. It’s such an incredible relief after the summers of 100-plus temperatures and 90 percent humidity day after day for four or five months.

Favorite flowers: Sunflowers. They remind me of my home state of Kansas.

Favorite color: blue. Reminds me of wide open skies of Texas and gives me a peaceful, calm feeling.

Mug or teacup: My publisher Harvest House gave me a big white cup with their motto “Grow True” on it for Christmas a couple of years ago. I use it for my coffee every morning.

It’s been a pleasure having you here today. As you say goodbye, can you leave the readers with an encapsulation of your life’s philosophy?

How about some verses to live by? Micah 18-20 are the verses that help me get out of bed every morning. No matter how I mess up, I have a God whose grace covers me up. He’s compassionate and forgiving and loving. I only have to go to him with a repentant heart and a willing spirit and He welcomes me home.

“Who is another God like you, who pardons the guilt of the remnant,

overlooking the sins of his special people?

You will not stay angry with your people forever,

Because you delight in showing unfailing love.

Once again you will have compassion on us.

You will trample our sins under your feet

And throw them into the depths of the ocean!

You will show us your faithfulness and unfailing love

As you promised our ancestors

Abraham and Jacob long ago.”

 

Thanks, Kelly. Now here’s an excerpt from her book, which, after reading, I have put on my TBR list. Thankfully, I just downloaded a new Amazon gift card.

 

A Plain Love Song

By Kelly Irvin

 

She had to find her way to him…but first she had to find her way to God.

Adah Knepp wants nothing more than to make music. It’s all she’s ever desired—to sing and play the guitar and write her own songs. That’s a dream that will never come true in the confines of her strict Amish community. But then she meets Jackson Hart, and suddenly she sees the chance for a different kind of life…a real stage, a real guitar, and a real opportunity to sing her songs to a real audience.

But pursuing her dreams means turning her back on her faith, her family, and her community—and saying goodbye to Matthew, the gentle Amish farmer she can’t get out of her mind. Is it worth giving up the only home she’s ever known to pursue her dreams?

 

Excerpt

Chapter 1

Not having a pencil and paper handy made writing a song a challenge for Adah Knepp.

But then she liked a challenge.

Adah belted out the lyrics, the bob-bob of the horse’s head along with the clip-clop of his hooves kept time on the asphalt highway. The squeaking of the buggy wheels joined in. Her voice carried on the warm June wind across the wheat fields of Missouri. Sparrows preening on the power lines that ran along the road served as her only audience. They probably thought she’d gone crazy, talking to herself.

She closed her eyes for a second, listening to her own words. They weren’t quite right. They didn’t sound like the songs she heard on the radio while she cleaned the Harts’ house. Not like Carrie Underwood or Taylor Swift with their sweet voices. She sounded flat. Of course, she didn’t have the benefit of steel guitars, fiddles, keyboards, and drums. She stomped one black sneaker, and then the other, against the floorboard, picking up the beat. “Love like sun-kissed apples . . .” She shook her head. Nee, nee. “Love like a baby’s sweet kisses . . .”

No, that wasn’t it either. Still mulling the words, she turned into the open gate adorned with a huge wrought iron H and onto the sunflower-lined dirt road that led to the Hart farm. She would clean the house lickety-split and use the rest of the afternoon to work on her song before she went home. That way she wouldn’t be late and Mudder wouldn’t have cause to complain. Stop mooning around, Adah, and get to work. Those dishes won’t wash themselves.

Which, of course, they wouldn’t. Having six brothers and sisters, Adah surely wished they would. How about that for a fanciful notion?

She could write her song, cook, clean, and still be ready to take a ride after dark if Matthew Troyer should happen to shine his flashlight in her window. Gott was good.

A horse whinnied, an uncertain, unhappy sound that carried on a breeze that kept the day from being stifling hot. A man answered in a soft, coaxing sing-song. The voice reminded Adah of the announcer on the radio the Harts kept tuned to a country music station. It was husky like sandpaper, yet smooth and warm like kaffi made with an extra dollop of milk and three pinches of sugar.

“Come on, sweetie, come on, it won’t hurt you, I promise. It’s fine, it’s okay, it’s fine.” The voice sang in a steady patter of sweet nothings. “Let me just do this one thing and you’re gonna like it, I promise.”

Drawn by the velvety words, she hopped from the buggy and approached the fence. The voice belonged to a tall, lean man with a shock of black hair, ruffled and sweat soaked under the rim of a dirty straw cowboy hat. He held a blanket in one hand while he used his other hand to hold the lead rope attached to a tawny Palomino with a long dark mane and tail. The man wore a T-shirt and tattered jeans faded to a blue-white. The sun glinted on a huge silver buckle on a belt that hugged his narrow hips.

“Sweetie, come on, come on, baby,” he crooned as he crept closer to the horse. “It won’t hurt you, I promise. Remember this blanket. We played with it yesterday. You remember.”

At that moment he looked across the corral and their gazes met. “Hey there, Amish girl.”

He said Amish girl as if it were her full name. As if he’d been waiting for her. As if he were glad to see her. It made her smile. “I’m Adah.”

Letting the lead rope out, he sidled away from the horse without turning his back on it. The horse pranced and arched her long neck as if she knew she no longer had the man’s complete attention. “I know. Adah, the Amish girl. The house cleaner.”

Mrs. Hart called her the maid, a word that didn’t bother Adah in the least. She did honest work and what she earned helped her family pay for the things they needed, things they couldn’t grow or make.

“That’s me.”

For some reason she couldn’t string words in a simple sentence. She edged toward the buggy. She shouldn’t have stopped. She should’ve gone right up to the house. Mind yourself with these Englischers. Mudder’s voice echoed in her ears. You clean their houses, that’s all.

“I’m Jackson Hart.”

Adah figured as much. He looked the spitting image of his father. She’d started working at the Harts after Jackson left for the spring semester of college so she hadn’t met him, but she recognized him from the dozens of photos that lined the walls of the Hart living room and the room they referred to as the “study.” The study where she lingered over her dusting so she could run her fingers over the ivory keys of a grand piano while she stared at photos of family members posing with horses and steers and trophies and ribbons.

Jackson glanced at the horse, then back at Adah. “You ever seen someone break a horse to a saddle?”

“My daed—my father—does it.”

“Maybe he should come do this one. This filly’s a stinker.”

“She’s willful.” That’s what her daed said about Adah. He said she was worse than a wild horse when it came to being stubborn. Her mudder said she inherited that from Daed. Either way, she’d made more than her share of trips to the woodshed as a little girl. “She doesn’t want to give up her wild ways.”

Like Adah had been doing since starting her rumspringa. She’d been avoiding baptism for two years now.

“My brother says he can’t be ridden. The family we bought her from waited too long to break her, but I think she can be taught to be a lady. Today is her day to learn who’s boss.” Jackson grinned, his teeth white against the dark stubble on his chin. The bottom teeth were a little crooked, but they took nothing away from the blinding effect. “That would be me. I’m gonna turn her into a rodeo horse.”

Adah had seen the rodeo when her family went to the county fair to visit the exhibits. They didn’t have money to buy tickets, but she’d peeked into the arena. Riding a bucking horse or bull or lassoing a bawling calf for sport didn’t make much sense to her.

“I better get in the house.” The words came out in a stutter. Why, she had no idea. She heaved a breath and tried again. “There’s floors to be mopped.”

“Mom went to the grocery store. Then she’s stopping by the house in town.” Somehow he made this information sound like an invitation to stay. “You got all the time in the world.”

“This house is big. Takes me all day.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we’re pigs or anything—well, except RaeAnne, but she’s at the house in town most of the time. I’m pretty good at picking up after myself and so is Jeff.”

RaeAnne stayed at the farm sometimes and it always meant more work for Adah. Jeff, the other brother, kept his room neat and tidy, but she still had to vacuum, dust, take out the trash, and generally straighten up after him. She didn’t mind. That’s what they paid her to do. “You’re never here, so I don’t know.”

“I’m here now.”

No doubt about that. Adah couldn’t take her gaze from him, as much as she didn’t know why. She should get in the buggy. She didn’t move.

Still grinning as if he liked having an audience, Jackson edged toward the horse, who snorted and tossed her head.

“Sweetheart, it’s time. You know me. I’d never steer you wrong. You can trust me. It’s just a blanket. You’ve seen this blanket before, remember?” He held it up. “It’s nice. Soft. Warm. It’s light. You won’t even feel it on your back. I promise.”

A chill ran up Adah’s arms despite the June heat. Jackson spoke to the horse, not her. Still, she took a step back.

With a gentle flick of his wrist, he settled the blanket on the Palomino’s back. The animal responded with a high, angry whinny. She side stepped, snorted, and shook her head.

A second later, she reared and bucked, hooves flailing.

Still hanging onto the lead rope, Jackson stumbled back. “It’s okay. It’s okay, sweetheart, we’re doing fine.”

The words seemed overly optimistic. The palomino came down, then reared again, bucking and shrieking.

Jackson moved, but not fast enough. The horse’s front hooves connected with his chest.

Jackson crumpled to the ground.

 

Want to read more? Links to buy:

http://www.amazon.com/Plain-Love-Song-Hope-Amish-ebook/dp/B00K8BGEHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401552028&sr=8-1&keywords=A+Plain+Love+Song+by+Kelly+Irvin

http://www.christianbook.com/plain-love-song-new-hope-amish/kelly-irvin/9780736954983/pd/954983?item_code=WW&netp_id=1221444&event=ESRCG&view=details

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-plain-love-song-kelly-irvin/1117748801?ean=9780736954983

Author Bio:

Kelly Irvin is the author of the Bliss Creek Amish series and the New Hope Amish series, both from Harvest Housing Publishing. Her latest release is A Plain Love Song, set in Amish country in Missouri, which debuted July 1. It is the final installment in the series, which also included Love Redeemed and Love Still Stands.

She is currently working on The Beekeeper’s Son, the first book in the Amish of Bee County series, for Zondervan/HarperCollins. She has also penned two inspirational romantic suspense novels, A Deadly Wilderness and No Child of Mine.

Kelly has been married to photographer Tim Irvin for twenty-six years. They have two young adult children, one gorgeous new granddaughter, two cats, and a tank full of fish. In her spare time, she likes to write short stories and read books by her favorite authors.

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Connect with Kelly at:

@Kelly_S_Irvin on Twitter

https://www.facebook.com/Kelly.Irvin.Author

website:

http://www.kellyirvin.com