5 Random (But Fascinating) Facts I Learned While Researching The Amish Quilter

Back when I was a student, I hated doing research, but years later, once I became a novelist, I found that researching was one of my favorite parts of the job. In fact, sometimes I get so immersed in it that I have to force myself to stop researching and start writing instead!

Much of what I learn along the way never makes it into my books, of course, but it’s all helpful in one way or another.  And I especially enjoy it when I run across some fascinating fact that I never knew before. I try to keep a running list of such things as I go, and it struck me the other day that it might be fun to share one such list with you.

Thus, here are five random facts I picked up while researching The Amish Quilter…

1. Women who eat dairy and animal products are about five times more likely to have twins than those who don't.  (Google it if you don't believe me, and you'll see the research!)

2. If lightening strikes a barn, the bolt can travel down the rod and spread out from the footer, striking a horse through its shoes. (Side note: I shared this fact with a friend, who replied that he actually lost a horse this way. So sad!)

3. In the 1980’s, Hmong refugees who’d settled in the Lancaster County area began working with Amish women to make quilts, and they were so good and so fast at needlework that eventually they did most of the appliquéing while the Amish women handled just the quilting. Thus, quilts bought in the Lancaster County area in the 1980s that were assumed to be “Amish made” were very likely made jointly by Amish and Hmong women. 

4. Baumkuchen is a really cool European dessert that’s made from cake batter poured, one layer at a time, onto a spit rotating near an open flame. Once a layer has browned, another layer is added, over and over again, until the cake has something like 20 layers. It takes hours to make, but it sure looks good! 

5. In the nineteen century, Russian Mennonites tended to use the same first names over and over, so much so that in an 1860-1875 list of 1,328 Russian Mennonites, there were only 54 different first names!

That’s it for me. Did you know any of these facts already? I sure didn’t!

Pick Your Favorites and You May Be a Winner

Enter to win this gorgeous Amish potholder plus a free autographed book! 

Choosing Favorites

Now that the Women of Lancaster County series is complete, which of the five in the series is your favorite book? A friend recently asked me this question, and my knee-jerk response was to say that that was like asking me which of the two kids in my family is my favorite child!

On the other hand, though I love my children equally, I have to admit that I often do have favorite books in my own series, including the Women of Lancaster County. Thinking I can't be the only one, I polled some author friends and found that they, too, sometimes find themselves with a special affinity for certain books within series they've written. Here are some examples:

• Tamara Alexander's favorite in her Belmont Mansion novels series is book 3, A Note Yet Unsung.
• Martha Rogers' favorite in her Winds Across the Prairie series is book 6, Christmas at Holly Hill.
• Yvonne Lehman’s favorite in her Secrets in Savannah series is book 3, Seeking Mr. Perfect.
• Tamara Leigh's favorite in her Age of Faith series is book 5, The Longing.
• Jim Denney's favorite in his Timebenders science-fantasy series for middle grade readers is Book 2, Doorway to Doom.
• Deborah Raney’s favorite in her Chicory Inn series is book 3, Another Way Home.

Favorite v. Most Fun

In an interview for Amish Reader back in May, I was asked what seems like a similar question: Which book in the Women of Lancaster County series was the most fun to write and which was the most challenging (or rewarding)? 

This was my response...

The most challenging was probably The Amish Midwife, just because neither Leslie nor I had ever co-written before and hadn’t a clue how it was done. We also didn’t know each other, so we were having to navigate this complicated process while also learning each other’s styles and rhythms and methods. We managed to figure it out as we went, and our friendship blossomed in the process, but it’s definitely gotten easier with each subsequent book.

As for the one that was the most fun, it’s impossible to say because they’ve all been enjoyable in their own ways. The Amish Nanny was fun because our characters got to travel to Europe. The Amish Bride was fun because I loved Ella so much and found her entire tale quite compelling. The Amish Seamstress was fun because I really enjoyed the Amish-and-the-Indians historical elements, something that I’d known nothing about prior to the writing of that book.  Finally, The Amish Quilter was fun because the romance between Linda and Isaac was so intricate and satisfying to help construct.

If I’m really honest, the most rewarding moments of the entire experience came when The Amish Midwife hit #1 on the bestseller list and then went on to win a Christy Award! Somehow, sharing both of those high points with a co-author made them twice as nice.

That answer wasn’t difficult to come up with because, to me, there’s a big difference between “most fun” and “favorite.” The former brings to mind the writing process, which is easy to quantify. The latter, however, is more subjective because it's about how it felt to read the finished product.

Picking a Winner

From the Women of Lancaster County series, I’d have to say my favorite is #3, The Amish Bride. I can’t explain why other than to say that when reading the finished product, it felt special and resonated with me in a deeply satisfying way. I was pleased with the other four books in the series, but that's the one that gave me the most enjoyable read once all was said and done. 

How about you? Did you have a favorite in that series? How about in my other series?* I’d love to hear your picks–which you can give when you enter to win a free copy of The Amish Bride plus this gorgeous Amish potholder!  

If you haven’t read this or any of my other series yet, no worries, you can still enter the drawing! Simply click on the button below and complete the form. Then I’ll choose one entry using a random number generator and announce the winner here on this blog next Wednesday. You only have until midnight on Tuesday, August 28^th, to sign up, so don’t delay.

Thanks for reading—and entering—and be sure to come back next week to find out whether or not you are the lucky winner!

*Just in case you need a little reminder, you can find summaries of all the books in my various series by clicking on each series title below:

Women of Lancaster County
Men of Lancaster County
Cousins of the Dove
Smart Chick Mysteries
Million Dollar Mysteries

Free Downloadable Coloring Pages for The Amish Quilter

Now that word of my latest release, The Amish Quilter, is really spreading, I decided to offer not one but two FREE downloadable coloring pages as a big "thank you" to all who are helping share the news. Hopefully you'll have as much fun coloring these as I did creating them!

To download your copies, simply click on each image below and Save or Print.

Please feel free to pass these images along, whether electronically by sending the link, or manually by making duplicates. Either method is fine with me. :)

Show Us Your Work

If you get a chance, snap a photo of your finished page(s) and share on my author Facebook page. I'd love to see yours!

Enjoy, and thanks again.

Quilted Potholder Giveaway

The final giveaway celebrating the release of The Amish Quilter is now open!

Potholders are a necessity of life, aren't they? This is exactly why they should be cute and fun and bring a little bit of joy into your kitchen.

ENTER TO WIN

You have until June 4 to enter to win the adorable quilted potholder (above) and a free autographed copy of The Amish Quilter.

To enter, simply click on the Enter to Win button below and fill out the brief form. Winner will be chosen by a random number generator and announced here on June 6th.

MORE PRIZES

Don't forget that I have two more giveaways that are still open!

Click here to view entry information for my poster and book giveaway.

Click here to view entry information for my apron and book giveaway.

Remember! All giveaways end June 4 at midnight. Winners will be announced June 6 on this blog.

FAQs and a Giveaway for The Amish Quilter

One of my primary love languages is giving gifts—including gifts to my readers! That’s why I’m so excited to announce three fun new drawings for prizes given in celebration of the release of The Amish Quilter.

Starting today, you can enter to win this gorgeous quilted apron plus a copy of The Amish Quilter. Then, each Wednesday for the next two weeks, I'll open up drawings for the other prizes shown in the photo above. 

Here's how it'll work...

WEDNESDAY, MAY 16  
The drawing is now open for an Amish Quilted Apron and an autographed copy of The Amish Quilter. To sign up, scroll down to the Enter to Win button at the bottom of this post and give it a click. You can enter between now and midnight ET on June 4^th. Winner announced on June 6^th. 

WEDNESDAY, MAY 23
The drawing will open for a Fill-in-the-Blank Pennsylvania Dutch-Style Family Tree Poster and an autographed copy of The Amish Quilter. Sign up between noon ET on May 23^rd and midnight ET on June 4^th. Winner announced on June 6^th.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 30 
The drawing will open for an Amish Quilted Potholder and an autographed copy of The Amish Quilter. Sign up between noon ET on May 30^th and midnight ET on June 4^th. Winner announced on June 6^th.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE  6 
Winners will be announced for all three drawings.

Series Roundup

The Amish Quilter is the 5^th book in the Women of Lancaster County series, which I co-wrote with Leslie Gould. In case you’d like a “refresher” on all five, here’s a rundown…

The Amish Midwife – A dusty carved box containing two locks of hair, a century-old letter regarding property in Switzerland, and a burning desire to learn about her biological family lead nurse-midwife Lexie Jaeger from her home in Oregon to the heart of Pennsylvania Amish country. There she meets Marta Bayer, a mysterious lay-midwife who desperately needs help after an Amish client and her baby die.

Lexie steps in to assume Marta’s patient load even as she continues the search for her birth family, and from her patients she learns the true meaning of the Pennsylvania Dutch word demut, which means “to let be” as she changes from a woman who wants to control everything to a woman who depends on God.

A compelling story about a search for identity and the ability to trust that God securely holds our whole life―past, present, and future.

The Amish Nanny – Amish-raised Ada Rupp knows it’s time to make a commitment to the faith and join the church, especially if she wants a future with the handsome Amish widower Will Gundy. 

But when she has the chance to travel to Switzerland as the caregiver of a young child, she leaps at the opportunity.

Anxious to learn more about her forebears, Ada enlists the help of a young Mennonite scholar named Daniel, but even as she develops feelings for him, she cannot get Will from her mind―or her heart. At a crossroads, Ada must decide what she is willing to give up from the past in order to embrace her future.

The Amish Bride – Ella Bayer and Ezra Gundy are in love and hope to marry someday, but she's Mennonite and he's Amish. Though both Plain, one of them will have to forsake what they believe to embrace another way of life.

Hoping some distance will cool the relationship, Ezra’s family sends him to work at an Amish dairy farm in Indiana. But Ella disregards what her family wants and follows Ezra. In short order she finds a place to live, a job in a bakery, and an unexpected but budding friendship with a handsome Amish farmhand, Luke. 

When a family tragedy forces Ella back to Pennsylvania, she must face all she’s been running away from. And once she has made peace with those around her, she has an important decision to make: Whose Amish bride will she become―Ezra’s or Luke’s?

The Amish Seamstress – Izzy Mueller is an exceptional listener and gifted caregiver. She’s also a talented seamstress. As the young woman sits with her elderly patients, she quietly sews as they share their stories. She’s content with her life until circumstances reconnect her with someone she once loved. Zed Bayer, a Mennonite, is not what her family is hoping for in a spouse, and his creative interest in filmmaking is definitely at odds with her Amish upbringing.

As Izzy is swept up again in Zed and renews her friendship with his sister, Ella, she begins to ask questions about her own life―her creative longings and historical interests, her relationships and desire for romance, and most importantly, her faith. What is the path God has for her? Can she learn from the past of both her family’s and Zed’s―or must she forge a completely different future of her own?

The Amish Quilter – Linda Mueller lives an orderly, uneventful existence, content to divide her time between creating the beautiful quilts for which she is known and working at an Englisch fabric shop.

Idealistic to a fault, Linda has never found a man worth marrying—until she meets Isaac Mast, a newcomer to Lancaster County and a talented painter. As they bond over their respective crafts, Linda is drawn to Isaac's kind ways, humble spirit, and intriguing personality, and soon the seams of her carefully-constructed world begin to loosen.

With Isaac's help, she explores the story of her late grandmother, also a gifted artist. But when an astonishing truth comes to light, Linda faces a grave decision, one that could destroy any hope of a future with Isaac. Will their dreams of a life together completely unravel? Or can she find some way to stitch them back together again?

Frequently Asked Questions

Q - Does this series need to be read in order?

A - Yes and no. Each book stands on its own and can be fully understood and enjoyed without having read the previous books. On the other hand, reading the books in order should make the whole experience more fun, because that way you avoid learning spoilers about the earlier books. (For example, if you start at Book #2, you'll find out the answers to the mystery pursued by Lexie in Book #1.)

Bottom line, the books can be read in order or out of order. It's up to you and your reading preferences.

Q – Where can I find a family tree that shows how the various characters are related?

A – Click here to see the family trees of the Lantz and Gundy families. There is another family tree you may want to check out as well, but it contains spoilers for The Amish Midwife, so don’t peek at it until after you’ve read that book. You can find the link to that family tree here.

Also, come back to this blog next Wednesday for a handy new chart that clarifies how the main characters in all five books are connected to each other.

Q - Does this series come in large print or other versions?

A – Yes, the books in the Women of Lancaster County series are available in paperback, e-book, Large Print, Book Club Editions, and Dutch translations. They are not yet available in audio.

Enter the Drawing

Are you ready to enter the drawing for the Amish Quilted Apron and an autographed copy of The Amish Quilter? If so, then simply click on the Enter to Win button, below, fill out the brief form, and be sure to check back on June 6^th when the winner will be announced. Good luck!