Laura V.Hilton writes both Amish and contemporary stories that touch the heart. I have to admit, I never enjoyed Amish fiction until I read Laura's. She has three new books out, two Amish Christmas and one contemporary.
The Snow Globe
Victor Petersheim has left the
Amish and works on a river boat on the Mississippi River ,
spending three months on the river then having three months off. During his
off-work months he returns home to his Amish community and helps out on his
grandparents’ farm. When he returns home after his most recent absence, he
discovers his grossmammi has developed health problems and they’ve hired Esther
Beachy to be a “mother’s helper.” Victor is unsettled by this woman living in
their home, but has to accept it. Esther loves listening to Victor’s
grandmother’s stories and while puttering around in a store while the
grossmammi’s in the hospital, she discovers a snow globe that depicts an area
where the Petersheims used to live. She buys it as a gift for the grossmammi to
cheer her up during her hospitalization. Victor is touched by Esther’s gift and
her care for his grossmammi, and strives to be friendlier. Will Esther’s gentle
heart draw him back to the community? Or will he return to the river once again?
A White Christmas in Webster County
Wanting to relocate
from Shipshewana to somewhere new, Mercy Lapp answered an ad in The Budget to
work as a mother’s helper for Matthew and Shanna Yoder in Seymour, Missouri.
Mercy relocated from Shipshewana to give herself space and time to heal after
the death of her beau in a fishing trip on
Swept Away
He survived a life-altering event. She is facing one.
Sara Jane Morgan is trying to balance teaching with caring for her grandmother who doesn’t want to be cared for. When school lets out for the summer, the plans are for Grandma to teach Sara Jane to quilt as they finish up the Appalachian Ballad quilt Grandma started as a teenager. But things don’t always go as planned.
Andrew Stevenson is hiding from his past—and his future. He works as a handyman to pay the bills, but also as an artisan, designing homemade brooms. When Sara Jane’s grandmother hires him to renovate her home, sparks fly between him and his new employer’s granddaughter.
It doesn’t take Sara Jane long to see Drew isn’t what he seems. Questions arise, and she starts online researching him. What she discovers could change her life—and her heart—forever.
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How
has being published changed your life?
It has made life a lot busier, but has also made me more organized.
What
are you reading right now? I read fast,
so what I’m reading today probably won’t be what I’m reading when I post this,
but right now I’m reading The Christmas Star Bride by Amanda Cabot.
What
would be your dream vacation? My dream
vacation would be an all expense paid trip to Michigan. I’d like to take my family to all my favorite
places throughout the state.
What
is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it? Sometimes, it is being able to focus. Like
right now. Life is hitting and I am having a hard time thinking of much
else. I am praying a lot, mostly about
the situation because I’m not on a deadline at the moment. If I was on deadline, I’d be praying for my
writing, too.
Where
do you like to write? In the living
room, surrounded by my family.
If
someone else were sitting at your desk right now, what would they see? A mess. My son has rearranged the living room
so I have my own “office.” He has the loveseat in front of my computer desk, a
bookcase with the homeschool books and supplies beside me on one side, another
desk with a printer and paper supplies on the other side. My computer desk is
loaded down with newspaper clippings my aunt sent, a book review calendar, pens,
and other miscellaneous junk.
Has
there been a time in your own life where you could really sense God was putting
you in a situation for a reason? Yes. I
think it’s because the rough situations cause me to grow as a person, as a
writer, and as a Christian.
What’s
on the horizon for you? What will you be writing next?
Right
now I have started working on a proposal for another Amish series, also set in
Jamesport. I have written about 200 words. I asked my husband to read over them
to see if it “grabbed” him and he said “Can I read the synopsis first?” And I
said “No. There isn’t a synopsis.” He
said, “Isn’t that supposed to come first?” And I laughed. He did read my 200 words. And then went out
to try an experiment to see if what I wrote actually worked.
How do
you choose between ideas you’d like to write about? I do have some ideas written down in a file,
but for this particular series I came up with three new ones.
Award winning author, Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and three of their children make
their home in Arkansas
visit my blogs: http://lighthouse-academy.blogspot.com/ & http://lauravhilton.blogspot.com/
twitter: @Laura_V_Hilton
Her publishing
credits include three books in the Amish
of Seymour Webster County