This week on Amish Wisdom: Amish Fiction with Amy Lillard and Anna Schmidt

This week we'll be talking with two authors of Amish fiction who are brand new to Amish Wisdom. The first half hour we'll hear from Amy Lillard about her new book Saving Gideon. Then during the last half of the show Anna Schmidt will be telling us about her latest release, A Sister's Forgiveness

Both authors are giving away a copy of their books (Anna's publisher has graciously offered FOUR copies of A Sister's Forgiveness!) - for a chance to win just leave a comment on this post. Winners will be notified next week via email.

More about Amy Lillard: Amy Lillard is an award-winning writer who loves reading romance novels from contemporary to Amish. These two genres meet in her first book, Saving Gideon. Born and bred in Mississippi, she now lives with her husband and son in Oklahoma. Learn more about Amy and her other books at her website, www.amywritesromance.com.

More about Saving Gideon: Gideon Fisher wants one thing out of life -- to be left alone. This is not the Amish way, but he’s devastated after the death of his wife and son to the point of losing his faith. He buys a farm on the outskirts of the district and pulls away from his community. But when a freak spring snowstorm brings a beautiful Englisher to his farm, what choice does Gideon have but to let her in?

Dallas socialite Avery Ann Hamilton is intrigued by the Amish farmer who pulls her out of the snow and into his austere lifestyle. Poor little rich girl, Avery has just gone through (yet another) bad breakup. Every man she meets only wants her for her father’s money. All she has ever wanted is to be loved for herself. Avery soon discovers the Oklahoma Amish country is the perfect place to hide out and heal her broken heart.

But she finds a peace in those back roads that she’s never felt before. Now her life has purpose and meaning as she connects with God and those around her. And there’s something more as she begins to care for this man who needs both love and forgiveness.

Gideon never wanted to live again much less fall in love, but Avery finds her way into his heart, showing him the beauty of life and God’s greatness. Yet as the feelings between Avery and Gideon grow, can they overcome their dissimilar lifestyles, or will their sheer differences pull them apart?

More about Anna Schmidt: Anna has three times been a finalist for the coveted RITA award for romance fiction and has twice before been recognized by Romantic Times magazine with their Reviewer's Choice Award. She enjoys gardening and collecting seashells at her winter home in Florida. Find out more about Anna and her other books at her website, www.booksbyanna.com.

More about A Sister's Forgiveness: Anna Schmidt’s second book in her contemporary Mennonite romance series proves that one moment can change everything. Available now, A Sister’s Forgiveness presents a moving story of faith and forgiveness.

Sisters Emma and Jeannie are best friends, and so are their teenage daughters Sadie and Tessa. And then the unthinkable happens that changes everything in a moment. A tragic accident results in Tessa’s death and Sadie is responsible leaving both families devastated. Soon sorrow becomes bitterness as Jeannie’s marriage disintegrates and Emma’s two children are mired in guilt and depression. But through faith, can each sister find a way from heartbreak to forgiveness?

Return to the Amish Wisdom Show Page
Link to Article
Comments
  1. Sharyl B. says: I love love love reading Amish books! Thanks for the contest.

    Posted on: 10-17-2012 @ 8:43 pm EST
  2. karenk says: thanks for the chance to read these stories...kmkuka@yahoo.com

    Posted on: 10-17-2012 @ 9:09 pm EST
  3. amy c says: Looks like a show I don't want to miss! Campbellamyd at Gmail dot com

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 7:18 am EST
  4. Brenda W says: I would love a chance for either of these books! Thanks for your show. bbwelch@windstream.net

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 11:35 am EST
  5. Nancee says: Thank you for a wonderful review of both books, Suzanne! I'd love an opportunity to win a book! Nancee quiltcat26[at]sbcglobal[dot]net

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 12:43 pm EST
  6. Elaine Rieder says: How exciting to have 2 new Amish authors! Would love to win one of their books. eandkrieder@frontier.com

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 12:52 pm EST
  7. Name Brenda strawberriesof57@yahoo.com says: Commenti sounds like a great show I will be listening Please enter me in the contest Thank you

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 3:49 pm EST
  8. NamePaula Osborne says: I love to read Anna Schmidt books but have not read any of Amy's yet would like to be your drawing on these.thanks for sharing.

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 5:40 pm EST
  9. Paula O (kyflo130@yahoo.com) says: I am putting again so you have my email....

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 5:41 pm EST
  10. apple blossom says: Anna's book sounds wonderful. I'd love to win a copy. I have Saving Gideon so don't need to be entered in that giveaway thanks ABreading4fun [at] gmail [dot] com

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 5:44 pm EST
  11. Katie Troyer says: Strange I live in Pinecraft, but I have never heard of Anna Schmidt until today. I would love to meet you and also win a free copy of your book A Sister's Forgiveness.

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 6:03 pm EST
  12. Linda Dietz says: New-to-me-authors! Yea! Can't wait to read both books! lldietz@gmail.com

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 6:47 pm EST
  13. Name Mary Ellen Ashenfelder says: Comment I have not read any books by either author. Would be thrilled to try one of their books. Thank you.meashy@verizon.net

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 8:17 pm EST
  14. Angie Adair says: I am happy to see Anna has another book out. I am looking forward to reading it...Angie in Illinois angadair at nwcable.net

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 9:35 pm EST
  15. Judy B says: I would love to win a copy of Saving Gideon. I already have a copy of A Sister's Forgiveness. Thanks for this giveaway. Blessings! Judy...judyjohn2004(at)yahoo(dot)com

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 9:39 pm EST
  16. Judy DuerName says: I have Not read this author yet but looking forward to start. I would so love to win one of them. Comment

    Posted on: 10-18-2012 @ 9:42 pm EST
  17. Karen Gervais says: Would love a chance to win A Sister's Forgiveness. Thanks for the giveaway. Great show. kmgervais(at)nycap(dot)rr(dot)com

    Posted on: 10-19-2012 @ 8:18 pm EST
  18. Name: Maxie Anderson says: Comment I would love to win one of these books, ( mac262@me.com)

    Posted on: 10-20-2012 @ 6:31 pm EST
  19. Linda McFarland says: Thanks for the opportunity to win a book and for introducing new authors and their books. Makes it easy to find new books on amish fiction that I love.

    Posted on: 10-20-2012 @ 11:29 pm EST
  20. Michelle says: These both look like great reads!

    Posted on: 10-21-2012 @ 1:08 pm EST
  21. Michelle says: bookwormgal2011(at)yahoo(dot)com

    Posted on: 10-21-2012 @ 1:09 pm EST
  22. KayG says: Great show, great books. I would love a chance to win. msbookwormlady@aol.com

    Posted on: 10-23-2012 @ 7:48 pm EST
  23. Felecia says: I would love to read your stories! felecia@twinoaksfl.org

    Posted on: 10-25-2012 @ 10:30 am EST
  24. Pat Moore says: Enjoyed both of you books.

    Posted on: 10-25-2012 @ 4:37 pm EST
  25. Susan Fryman says: Comment Looking forward to checking these books out as well. Blessings to all.

    Posted on: 10-25-2012 @ 8:32 pm EST
  26. Kathy Faberge says: Both of these books sound great! Can't wait to read them.

    Posted on: 10-25-2012 @ 10:23 pm EST
  27. Name karen says: Comment books are my life so I would like to win khsmith97217@yahoo.com

    Posted on: 10-26-2012 @ 5:44 am EST
  28. Susan Fryman says: Just listened to this interview and thouroughly enjoyed it as well. Plan on reading both of these books too and their websites. Your guests are marvelous just as you are Suszanne.

    Posted on: 10-26-2012 @ 8:11 pm EST


Recent Shows
Title Date
Summer in Lancaster and the Amish Mafia Amish Wisdom 05-16-2013
05-16-2013
Part Two with Valerie Weaver-Zercher on Amish Wisdom
05-09-2013
Shunning | Myth & Facts on Amish Wisdom 05-02-2013
05-02-2013
Earth Day | Nancy Sleeth, Tracie Bianchi and Craig Goodwin | Amish Wisdom 04-22-2013
04-22-2013
Faith and Fiction with Barbara Cameron and Kathryn Cushman 04-18-2013
04-18-2013
View All Podcasts
Subscribe to Podcast feed
Download the App - FREE!

Amish Wisdom App

Schedule of Guests

May:

16: Sherry Gore guest hosts | Summer in Lancaster with Joel Cliff of www.padutchcountry.com and the Sensationalization of the Amish with Brad Igou

23: Tricia Goyer - Amish Fiction

30: Erik Wesner

June: 

6: Kate Lloyd - Amish Fiction

13: Dan Walsh - how fiction impacts with real marriages

20: Plain Weddings with Sherry Gore, Maryann Kinsinger, Sharon Lavy, & Rhonda Schrock

Suzanne's Latest Releases

A New Home for Lily (Available now!)

Book 2 in The Adventures of Lily Lapp series.

Change is all Lily faces when her family moves to an Amish community in Pennsylvania. She has to make new friends, settle into her new home—which she thinks is ugly—and adjust to another new baby brother. (Still no sisters!) Even worse, a boy at school, Aaron Yoder, enjoys tormenting poor Lily. There are some bright spots about Lily’s new home—she has a wonderful teacher, and her relatives have moved close by. But there are a few lessons Lily needs to learn about starting over. 

Be sure to visit Lily's interactive website.

The Lesson (Available now!)

Book 3 in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series

In her wildest dreams, spunky and impulsive nineteen-year-old Mary Kate Lapp never imagined herself behind a schoolteacher’s desk. A run-in (literally) with the schoolteacher compels her to act as a substitute teacher, just as her restless desire to see the world compels her to apply for a passport . . . just in case. The only thing of interest to M.K. in the sleepy Amish community of Stoney Ridge is the unexplained death of a sheep farmer that coincided with the arrival of a mysterious young man into the community. Frustrated that no one takes the crime seriously, she takes matters into her own hands. Unfortunately, as tends to be the case for M.K., she jumps headlong into trouble.

Life with Lily 

Book 1 in The Adventures of Lily Lapp series.

Life with Lily is the first book in the ‘Adventures of Lily Lapp’ series. Lily is six in this story, just starting first grade in a one-room schoolhouse in upstate New York. Her parents are busy building a farm, and soon animals join the family—Jenny the cow and Chubby the miniature horse. A baby brother arrives, too, which Lily has mixed feelings about. (She wanted a sister!) Aside from a mischievous friend like Mandy Mast, Lily is happy at school and even happier at home. Trouble is brewing at the schoolhouse and change is on the horizon for Lily and her family.

Click the Adventures of Lily Lapp badge to visit Lily's interactive website. Geared toward children of all ages the Lily site is loaded with fun, games, downloadable coloring pages, Mama's recipes,a way to ask Lily questions...and more! Check it out by clicking on the pix...and be sure to watch the fabulous trailer about Lily!   

The Haven 

Book 2 in the 'Stoney Ridge Seasons' series

From Publisher’s Weekly:

“Popular Amish romance novelist Fisher (The Choice) continues her Stoney Ridge Seasons series with a stand-alone tale focusing on Amos Lapp’s middle daughter, Sadie. Fisher’s style is light and engaging. Her setting may be a simple Pennsylvania Amish community, but the struggles of faith, trust, and forgiveness are common to a wide-ranging audience. Moral elements are so deftly woven into the plot that most readers will learn the lesson before realizing there is one.”

When Sadie Lapp steps off the bus in Stoney Ridge after being in Ohio for the winter, she is faced with a decision–one that goes against her very essence. Yet it’s the only way she can think of to protect a loved one.

Schoolteacher Gideon Smucker has been crazy about Sadie since boyhood. But his response to her surprising decision undermines his own reputation–and his relationship with Sadie.

College student Will Stoltz is spending the spring at the Lapp farm as a guard for a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons–courtesy of the Lancaster County Game Warden. Will needs to get his life back on track, but his growing friendship with Sadie threatens his plans.

The lives of these three individuals intertwine, and then unravel as unexpected twists create ripples through the town of Stoney Ridge . . . and through Sadie’s heart.

Once again, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher intrigues and delights with a story that explores the bonds of friendship, family, and true love. Readers will enjoy every surprise in Sadie’s story as they search for the truth hidden within these pages.

Read an excerpt!

The Keeper 

Book 1 in the Stoney Ridge Seasons series

"The Stoney Ridge Season starts off with characters who are trying to make the right choices, but sometimes with unexpected results. Fisher always brings freshness to her Amish novels. The Amish culture is interesting to read and learn about, but there is also a message: God has plans and those plans may vary greatly from the plans you have." -Romantic Times, 4 Stars

Julia Lapp has planned on marrying Paul Fisher since she was a girl. Now twenty-one, she looks forward to their wedding with giddy anticipation. When Paul tells her he wants to postpone the wedding--again--she knows who is to blame. Perpetual bachelor and spreader of cold feet, Roman Troyer, the Bee Man.

Roamin' Roman travels through the Amish communities of Ohio and Pennsylvania with his hives full of bees, renting them out to farmers in need of pollinators. He relishes his nomadic life, which keeps him from thinking about all he has lost. He especially enjoys bringing his bees to Stoney Ridge each year. But with Julia on a mission to punish him for inspiring Paul's cold feet, the Lapp farm is looking decidedly less pleasant.

Can Julia secure the future she's always dreamed of? Or does God have something else in mind?

Full of the plot twists and surprises her fans love, The Keeper is the first in a new series by bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher. Through touching family relationships and trials of the heart, Fisher's vivid characters grapple with yielding to God's will when it doesn't match their own.

A Lancaster County Christmas 

Jaime and C. J. Fitzpatrick began their married life as most couples do--in love and looking forwardto abright future together. But four years later they've drifted apart and are almost ready to call it quits.

Mattie Riehl was hoping to give her husband Sol the Christmas gift they have both longed for--news that a baby was on the way. But as usual, she is disappointed. The holidays bring an acute awareness to Mattie that her dream of a big family isn't likely to become a reality.

Then a winter storm raging outside blows the Fitzpatricks into the Riehl home--and into a much slower pace of life. Can these two couples from different worlds help each other understand the true meaning of love this Christmas?

Amish Values for Your Family 

For readers who long for strong families that know how to truly enjoy life together, there is much to learn from the Amish. Values like community, forgiveness, simple living, obedience, and more can be your family legacy--without selling your car, changing your wardrobe, or moving out to farm country.

In Amish Values for Your Family, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher shows how you can adopt the wisdom of the Amish when it comes to family matters. In this inspiring and practical book readers will find charming true stories interlaced with solid, biblical advice about parenting, marriage, and all aspects of family life. As readers get an intimate glimpse into the everyday lives of real Amish families, they will learn to prioritize what's truly important, simplify decision-making, slow down as a family, safeguard time together, and let go when the time comes.

The Search--Book 3 in The Lancaster County Secrets Collection 

Fifteen years ago, Lainey O'Toole made a split-second decision. She couldn't have known that her choice would impact so many. Now in her mid-twenties, she is poised to go to culinary school when her car breaks down in Stoney Ridge, the very Amish town in which her long-reaching decision was made, forcing her to face the shadowed past.

Bess Reihl is less than thrilled to be spending the summer at Rose Hill Farm with her large and intimidating grandmother, Bertha. It quickly becomes clear that she is there to work the farm--and work hard. The labor is made slightly more tolerable by the time it affords Bess to spend with the handsome hired hand, Billy Lapp. But he only has eyes for a flirty and curvaceous older girl.

Lainey's and Bess's worlds are about to collide and the secrets that come to light will shock them both.

The Waiting--Book 2 in The Lancaster County Secrets Collection The Waiting

Jorie King’s life is on hold. She’s waiting for Ben Zook to return from serving in the war as a conscientious objector. Waiting for Ben to settle down and join the church. Waiting to marry him. When news arrives that Ben has been killed, Jorie finds unlikely comfort in the friendship of his brother Caleb. As friendship ripens into love, Jorie and Caleb plan for a life together filled with the promise of a fresh beginning, until the past intrudes.

A multifaceted story about complex people living the simple life, The Waiting is the second book in the Lancaster County Secrets series. Readers will find themselves transported into the world of the Amish and deeply invested in these wonderful characters.

Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World

You don't have to "go Amish" to make personal peace a reality. Organized around five central themes in Amish life, Amish Peace shows you how you can cultivate a simple life of love, gratitude, and faith in the midst of a very complicated world. It includes real-life stories and examples of Plain People, Amish proverbs, and fascinating facts about Amish communities. Each section also contains questions for reflection and action, outlining things you can do in your own life that "make for peace."