Cover courtesy of Littera Designs
Did you ever feel an overwhelming urge to escape? To disappear somewhere and, along with you, all of your worries? I have … many, many times, in fact. I have always pictured my escape this way: I’d walk right out of my office at work, down the elevator, onto the sidewalk, hail a cab, head for the airport and take the next flight to a remote island; an island with plenty of sun, a warm breeze, a soft, long beach lined with palm trees and no Wi-Fi (well, maybe Wi-Fi. I do need to read and follow my favorite celebrity tweets, after all!). Or, better yet, I’d fly over to Scotland and find a circle of standing stones, twirl at its center and hopefully land somewhere in the 18th century with a handsome Highlander (can you tell I’ve been watching too many episodes of Outlander?). Of course, the urge will pass quickly and I’ll realize what a blessed life I have and I won’t catch that flight (sigh … Jaime will have to exist only in my dreams), but you get the idea.
Sometimes, life can be so overwhelming that you feel the need to get away from it all, if only for five minutes, an hour, a day or sometimes, even longer.
That is exactly the predicament the main character of my latest novel, “Into the Amish,” finds herself in. On the surface, Emily Lawson seems to have it all: the perfect job, the perfect apartment and of course, the perfect boyfriend. But, as we know all too well (especially if you’ve read or seen enough romantic comedies), not everything is ever as it seems. For Emily, life takes an unexpected turn and it throws her into turmoil. Gone is the perfect world she thought she was living in. She feels lost and confused. If only she could find a quiet place to gather her thoughts and work out her problems? Cue in a very helpful mother, a trip to Lancaster, some long-lost Amish cousins and voila: you have a story. A story I hope you’ll enjoy because, in all honesty, this book was incredibly fun to write and for so many reasons!
First, I really was able to identify with Emily’s predicaments. Life is messy and, sometimes, we need a time out from it. And yes, it’s okay to not always know where we are heading. After all, we don’t always have everything figured out and sometimes, the voyage is more important than the final destination. Second, while I may be a city girl, I do have a little bit of country in me. Perhaps even more than just a little bit. In fact, didn’t I grow up spending most of my summers living among the cows and the chickens and absolutely loving it? These are the fondest memories of my childhood. So, the fact that I was able to go back to my happy place while writing this book was an added bonus!
Thirdly, I was able to find out so much about the Amish and learned such a great deal about these people, which I came to appreciate and admire through the eyes and life experiences of my co-author, that I had to share their story with you. Like me, you will love the closeness of the community and the strong ties of faith and family that are the core values they abide by in their daily lives. So much so that, just like me, you’ll be soon planning a visit to Lancaster County yourself.
But lastly, and most importantly, I had the opportunity to write this book with my good friend, Sarah Price, whom I adore. I’m not sure whether or not many of her fans realize what a wonderful sense of humor Sarah has. She’s funny in a “laugh-out-loud, belly laugh” kind of way. She has great comedic timing; so much so that bringing this story to life came much easier than any other book I’ve ever written. We laughed so much in the months we spent collaborating with each other that I miss it now. Hint, hint, Sarah … do I hear a sequel?
The book is available now on pre-order at Amazon. I hope you check it out: