Welcome Kelly Long and Lilly's Wedding Quilt

Please interact with our guest authors by answering the question they provide. Your response will also enter you in the drawing for a free book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

KELLY LONG is the bestselling author of Sarah’s Garden and Lilly’s Wedding Quilt. She has also written novellas with Beth Wiseman and Kathy Fuller, including An Amish Love. Kelly is a former English and Latin teacher and lives near Hershey, Pa with her husband and children. You can connect with Kelly on Facebook at Fans of Kelly Long or on the blogs Amish Hearts.com or Amish Living.com.

LILLY'S WEDDING QUILT
by Kelly Long
Published by Thomas Nelson

ABOUT THE BOOK

Local Amish schoolteacher Lilly Lapp is tired of weddings, afraid of horses, and immersed in caring for her depressed mother. But when Jacob Wyse, a handsome horse breeder from her small community rescues her from a dangerous accident, Lilly discovers a renewed interest in life and the possibility of love.

Yet Jacob has lost the one true love of his life to another man and doesn't care to expose himself to the vulnerabilities of loving again. God works to bring this unlikely pair into a sweet romance to produce a pattern of faith, which leads to the creation and comfort of Lilly's Wedding Quilt.

Readers, buy your copy of Lilly's Wedding Quilt (A Patch of Heaven Novel) today!

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR FEATURE AUTHOR

Loneliness in Fiction Writing

What did I know about becoming a fiction writer when I slowly waded in? Needed a good agent? Yep. Needed a good publishing house? Sure. Needed to be willing to market, meet deadlines, do book signings, travel…? All good. Got it down. Needed to face the unremitting cold of the vast icy paper and the brain frozen fingers? You betcha.

I seemed to have had it figured out…UNTIL….I realized that nothing could have prepared me for the abject loneliness, the God and me aloneness of the process of writing for others to read.

You might say…suck it up; you get to work in your pajamas. Well, I missed getting dressed for work. I missed my students; the interaction between coworkers….other brains in the room besides my own wacky writer one.

So, I prayed more.

Got dressed. Put on makeup (okay..only a little). Started to talk to myself…I realized that I needed CONNECTION to survive. So, I bugged my Editor (truly blessed lady); made friends with my agent (easy to do…great personality)….Made best friends with other writers….

But I needed more.

So, I joined ACFW. Okay. I didn’t know what to do with it once I joined, but I finally got going and discovered felt like this too. And, I learned a lot from my other loop, The Writer’s View. I learned loneliness is not fictional, readers are not fictionalized (they care), and the life I am living for Christ now is not lonely fiction but an opportunity to reach millions…

I just have to be willing to take the first step with Him…Alone.

Peace,

Kelly Long

* * * * *

Thank you, Kelly, for sharing with us today.

Guest Question: What lessons have you learned as a writer? And if you're not a writer, what life lessons have you learned recently? How has God challenged you to grow in the life you're living?

ENTRY RULES Readers, leave your email address (name at domainname dot com/net) along with your answer to the question for your chance to win a FREE autographed copy of the book above. If you do not answer the question, and your email address isn't provided, you will not be entered.

This week, the contest is open to US/Canada residents only.

Amish Love & Author Cindy Woodsmall on ABC's Nightline!

A good friend of mine and "adopted sister" has recently appeared on ABC's Nightline in a fantastic interview. I'm thrilled beyond words to see Cindy's success with her novels and am happy to share more about them here.

AMISH LOVE

What's all the hubbub about Amish fiction? Major media outlets like Time and ABC Nightline are covering it, and authors like Cindy Woodsmall are making the New York Times bestseller list regularly. What makes these books so interesting?

Check out the recent ABC Nightline piece here about Cindy and her titles: When the Heart Cries, When the Morning Comes, and When the Soul Mends. It's an intriguing look at Amish culture and the time Cindy has spent with Amish friends.

And don't forget that Cindy's new book The Hope of Refuge hits store shelves August 11, and is available for preorder now.

Here's a blurb about it:

Raised in foster care and now the widowed mother of a little girl, Cara Moore struggles against poverty, fear, and a relentless stalker. When a trail of memories leads Cara and Lori out of New York City toward an Amish community, she follows every lead, eager for answers and a fresh start. She discovers that long-held secrets about her family history ripple beneath the surface of Dry Lake, Pennsylvania, and it’s no place for an outsider. But one Amish man, Ephraim Mast, dares to fulfill the command he believes that he received from God–"Be me to her"– despite how it threatens his way of life.

Completely opposite of the hard, untrusting Cara, Ephraim's sister Deborah also finds her dreams crumbling when the man she has pledged to build a life with begins withdrawing from Deborah and his community, including his mother, Ada Stoltzfus. Can the run-down house that Ada envisions transforming unite them toward a common purpose–or push Mahlon away forever? While Ephraim is trying to do what he believes is right, will he be shunned and lose everything–including the guarded single mother who simply longs for a better life?

Buy it today!

And don't forget to check out Cindy's New York Times best-selling novels from her first series, Sisters of the Quilt. The titles can be found above.

If you've read any of the first 3 books, please share your thoughts by leaving a comment. I'll be doing a drawing for a free book (title to be named later) from the comments left.