Happy Monday!
Each Monday I would like to take some time to get to know some of our favorite authors. My hope is that this will help readers connect with the authors.
Today I would like to introduce you to: Amy Clipston!
I love Amy’s Amish fiction! They are always so sweet, but have a good message to them.
Author bio:
Amy Clipston has been writing for as long as she can remember. Her fiction writing “career” began in elementary school when she and a close friend wrote and shared silly stories. She has a degree in communications from Virginia Wesleyan University and is a member of the Authors Guild, American Christian Fiction Writers, and Romance Writers of America. She has sold more than one million books and is best known for her Amish fiction. She is the author of the bestselling Amish Marketplace series, Amish Homestead series, Amish Heirloom series, Kauffman Amish Bakery series, and Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel series with HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Amy works full-time for the City of Charlotte, NC, and lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, mother, and five spoiled rotten cats.
To help us get to know her, I have given her some questions and here are her responses:
Q: How long have you been writing?
A: I started writing as a kid. I remember filling spiral notebooks with silly stories and sharing them with a friend when I was in elementary school. In middle school and high school, I wrote fan fiction about characters from my favorite television shows and movies. I didn’t actually pursue a writing career until after college when I accidentally found a local chapter of Romance Writers of America called Chesapeake Romance Writers in Chesapeake, Virginia. I received my first book contract on December 14, 2007, and my first book A Gift of Grace, was published in April of 2009.
Q: What are you currently working on?
A: I’m currently working on my very first contemporary (non-Amish) book, which will be published next fall, and I’m working on edits for the last book in my Amish Marketplace series, The Jam and Jelly Nook.
My new book, however, An Amish Christmas Wedding, released October 6th. It’s a Christmas novella collection featuring four stories by Kathleen Fuller, Kelly Irvin, Vannetta Chapman, and me. My book, “Evergreen Love,” features new character that don’t appear in any of my other books. It was inspired by a story one of my friends told me about her Amish friend who was engaged to a man and then changed her mind at the last minute. Years later, however, the couple was reunited and started a new life together. I couldn’t get that story out of my mind, and it inspired Lorene and Ryan’s novella. I enjoyed spending time with these characters and I hope that readers will too.
Q: What are some of your writing must haves? (Drink, snack, supplies, etc.)
A: I write at a table in my family room, and if my family is being so loud that I can’t concentrate, I’ll put in my earbuds and listen to music. I normally drink hot tea, Crystal Lite iced tea, or flavored water, and I always use my MacBook. I outline my books before I start writing which saves me time and helps me meet my deadlines. I try not to snack too much since I’ve been following a new food plan and have lost quite a bit of weight.
Q: What is your favorite time period to write about? Or read about?
A: I love writing contemporary stories, both Amish and non-Amish. My favorite books to read are young adult.
Q: What are some of your favorite books?
A: Some favorite books are The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Lying Game series by Sara Shepard, and The Problem with Forever by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I love a great story that includes a thread of romance.
Q: If you could spend a day with one fictional character, who would you pick and what would you do?
A: Oh, that’s a difficult question! If I had to pick one of my characters, I would pick Bethany Gingerich from my Amish Marketplace series. She’s just a sweet ray of sunshine, and she runs the delicious Coffee Corner, a coffee and donut booth in a marketplace. I’d love to hang out with her and enjoy some of her coffee and donuts.
I have saved my favorite question for last!
Q: What would you like readers to take away from your books?
A: My books always contain a theme of second chances and renewed faith in God. I hope that readers walk away from my books with a belief in new beginnings and a deeper faith that God provides for us and will get us through the storms in our lives. A readers should expect to read a sweet love story full of inspiration and hope.
To connect with Amy, please click on any of the following links: her website, online store, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads.
I’m also featuring her newest release, An Amish Christmas Wedding. This is going to be a great collection of short stories. Be sure to add it to your Goodreads shelf!
About the book:
From bestselling authors of Amish fiction come four delightful stories perfect for celebrating love, joy, and the everyday miracles Christmas brings.
Evergreen Love by Amy Clipston
Ryan Lapp had promised to marry Lorene Bontrager as soon as he was able to build them a house, but the day never came. Ryan moved away. Five years later, Lorene has settled in to her old maid role, and she’s shocked when her younger sister announces her quick engagement to Ryan’s younger brother. As they rush to plan the wedding, Lorene is constantly around the family she almost joined. Worse, she’s forced to face Ryan himself, who has returned to town. As both Ryan and Lorene examine their own feelings, they must decide if they can find grace with each other—and the young people they once were—this Christmas season. There just might still be love in their future.
Holiday of Hope by Kelly Irvin
Henry Lufkin is one of four bachelors who lived in the West Kootenai, Montana, cabins that were destroyed by wildfires. He’s the only one of them who hasn’t since married, but he likes his solitude. Then an old friend asks him to care for his son, and Henry has to share his small cabin and his life with bewildered and rebellious ten-year-old Tommy. When the child encounters trouble at school, Henry reaches out to Tommy’s teacher. Leesa Yoder never expected to find herself single and teaching sixteen young scholars, and she certainly didn’t anticipate an inexperienced bachelor telling her how to do her job. Amid the flying sparks, can Henry and Leesa see that there might be hope and love in this unexpected situation?
Wreathed in Joy by Kathleen Fuller
Mary Wengerd and Jakob Mullet have been best friends since childhood. Pressured by friends and family, they decided to date—with disastrous results. When they break up, their friendship is ruined. A year later, Mary is baking her Englisch friend’s wedding and groom cakes for a Christmas Eve wedding. Mary loves the Christmas season, and had always dreamed of marrying during that time. Now she wonders if she’ll ever marry. After she and Jakob form a tenuous new friendship, Mary breaks her arm. As he steps in to help her with the cakes, Mary is inexplicably and suddenly falling for him. But they’ve already dated, and that ended so horribly. Could it be better this time?
A Christmas Prayer by Vannetta Chapman
Widower Micah Miller runs the Amish Tour Company, offering Englischers a glimpse of a simpler life as well as tea at Rachel King’s. Rachel has never married and has recently lost her parents. When Micah comes across an abandoned and injured dog, he gives it to Rachel for company. As Rachel is charmed by the dog and shocked by news of the existence of family she never expected, her heart and mind bend toward the possibilities of change in her life—even toward the possibility of love.
All The Bookish Adventures 