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