Website of Author Suzanne Woods Fisher
Connect:
Meredith and Amanda in the last 500 yards! They started at 8:30 am in Golden Gate Park. We had an app so we could chart their progress.
Meredith and Amanda, after the race.
My children: Tad, Meredith, Amanda (future daughter-in-law), Gary (missing are daughter Lindsey and her family)
Amanda’s awesome parents, Luanne and Mike.
The Fisher family in front of the Bay Bridge. Just another day in the life of the Fisher’s.
My son, Tad, has a proclivity toward “photo-bombing.”
Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We’ll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.
The winner from last week’s Author Spotlight with Ace Collins is Shelly Daugherty (winner from Sarah Ladd’s Author Spotlight is Melody Durant) ! Please email my assistant Christen with your mailing address. (ckrumm@litfusegroup.com)
This week please welcome Siri Mitchell in the spotlight! To win a copy of her new book Unrivaled (Bethany House, 2013) , leave a comment on this post.
Share a little bit about yourself.
People always ask me where I’m from, but the truth is I don’t really have a hometown. After having moved often as a child, I’ve lived on three continents (North America, Europe and Asia) and visited five (still missing South America and Antarctica, but hope to get them in one fell swoop at some point). I’ve worked at all levels of government (local, state, and federal) and currently write full time.
And share something about your writing. What’s your genre(s), your areas of interest?
Although I’ve written contemporary fiction in the past, I’m writing historical fiction for Bethany House at the moment. I’ve always loved history so being able to combine that passion with writing is a dream come true.
How did you get started writing? Did you have a dream of being a published author?
I’d always been told I was good at writing, and I started dabbling with an idea in 1993, but I didn’t start seriously working on a book until we moved to Paris in 1996. That’s when I had the time and space to play with my ideas and I met a British author at our church who took me under her wing. It took another eight years, but in 2004, I signed my first contract.
After you started writing seriously how long was it before you were published?
Nearly ten years in total. I wrote four books that nobody wanted between when I started in 1993 and when I signed a contract in 2004 . . . and even then, that contract was for a fifth (as then unwritten) book.
Aside from a cup of good, strong coffee, what helps you get all of your “brain cylinders” firing so you can write well?
I’ve always said I’m a menace to society before ten o’clock in the morning and it’s true! Until then, my fingers are dyslexic and I stammer over words. About 9:30, I usually visit my favorite websites and check in with my e-mail loops and by 10:00 I’m at my desk and ready to go. After lunch, at some point before 2:00, I’ll usually make myself a shot of espresso.
Do you have any favorite places and routines when you write? How many hours a day do you spend writing?
I write from 10:00 – 3:00 four days a week (I leave one day free to run errands or make appointments and I try very hard to save the weekends for family.)
What has been the biggest help to you in the journey to publication? Writers’ conferences? Writing groups? Your mom as your first draft reader?
I started writing in earnest in Europe and didn’t have access to writers groups or writing conferences. The internet wasn’t then the hub of information and resources that it is now, so I started out on my own. It wasn’t until after I was published that I joined ACFW, RWA, HSN, or the Author’s Guild. As the rejections poured in (153 of them) I kept coming back to the thought that there was nothing else I really wanted to do.
Is the “writer’s life” what you thought it would be?
No – it’s tough work! And as I learn more about writing and strive to make each book better, it keeps on getting more difficult. I didn’t expect that. But it has its perks. My writing schedule is as flexible as I need it to be.
What are your biggest distractions?
The internet. (I could say e-mail, but if you saw the e-mails piled up in my in-box, you’d know it wasn’t true!)
What do you most like about being a writer? Least like?
I like being able to say what it is I want to say. I least like having people completely misunderstand and misinterpret what it was I’ve said.
What is the role and importance of an agent?
An agent is advocate, advisor, career planner . . . what doesn’t an agent do?! I don’t think anyone can long survive in this business without one.
What advice would you give to new writers?
Write. You can think about it, you can research it, you can talk about, but you have to actually write the book before you can become a writer.
Pretend I’m a customer at a bookstore looking for a good book. Give me a one or two sentence promo to convince me to buy your book.
How about this: Romeo and Juliet with taffy . . . and a happy ending! What could be better than that?
What’s on the book horizon for you?
A very fun historical set in 1924 Boston titled Love Comes Calling. Boston blueblood and collegiate Ellis Eton plans to leave the city for Hollywood just as soon as she can, but somehow life always seems to intervene. Though she tries her best to stay out of trouble, her friend Griff won’t stop poking his nose into other people’s business (like the mayor’s!), and a handsome police officer, starts asking questions about him, and her parents think she’s helping out at an orphanage instead filling in for a friend down at the telephone switchboard, and then she loses her friend’s job on accident . . . and before Ellis’ mad escapade is over, she’ll discover that laws can’t be broken without consequence and the role of a lifetime can sometimes be found right at home.
Last question, how can readers find you and your books?
In your favorite bricks-and-mortar or on-line bookstore. I’m on Facebook as Siri Mitchell, on Pinterest as SiriMitchell, and on Twitter @SiriMitchell and I would love it if readers would visit my website at http://sirimitchell.com I’ve put up some special links there to share the story behind the story.
Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner. This week on Amish Wisdom we’ll be catching up with ever-exciting Sherry Gore. Her new cookbook is out and she’s got some BIG news of her own! Don’t miss this week’s show.
Want a copy of Sherry’s Simply Delicious Amish Cooking? I’ve got three copies to giveaway! Just {leave a comment HERE} (or email ckrumm@litfusegroup.com if you are having a problem with the comment box). Winners will be notified next week via email.
More about Sherry: Sherry Gore is a scribe for the national edition of The Budget newspaper, a cookbook author and editor in-chief of Cooking & Such magazine.
Learn more at Sherry’s website, www.sherrygore.com.
More about Sherry’s new cookbook, Simply Delicious Amish Cooking (Zondervan): Unbeknownst to many folks outside the Amish Mennonite population in America, Pinecraft, Florida—a village tucked away in the heart of Sarasota—is the vacation paradise of the Plain People. Unlike any other Plain community in the world, this village is a virtual melting pot of Amish and Mennonites from around the world, intermingled with people, like author Sherry Gore’s family, who live there year-round. Gore has put together a cookbook that represents the people who make Pinecraft unique.
With hundreds of easy-to-prepare recipes, 16 full-color photographs and black-and-white photographs throughout, this cookbook includes traditional favorites such as Sweet Potato Sweet Mash and Mrs. Byler’s Glazed Donuts, as well as Florida favorites including Fried Alligator Nuggets, Grilled Lime Fish Fillets, and Strawberry Mango Smoothies. Interspersed with the recipes are true-life stories about births, engagements, weddings, deaths, funerals, celebrations, wildlife encounters, and accidents told through years of Sherry’s Letters from Home column published in The Budget, the Amish newspaper. This delightful cookbook offers readers a faith-based, family-focused perspective of the simple way of life of the Plain People. It is truly a breath of fresh air from Sarasota, Florida!
Order a copy of Simply Delicious Amish Cooking today!
Last week, my husband and I visited my daughter Meredith’s school in San Francisco. She’s a first grade teacher at a private international school. At the end of July, she will be moving to China to teach 3rd grade at an international school. We had lived in Hong Kong for four years while Meredith was in elementary and middle school. That experience set into motion the dream Meredith had to become an international teacher. She received her credential and Master’s degree, taught in a Chinese school, and now . . . her dream is getting realized. So proud of her for identifying a clear goal and working to make it happen. Our family will really miss Meredith (that’s an understatement!) . . . but here is where technology is a wonderful tool. Looking forward to lots of Skype time and texts and calls. And visits, too! She’ll be back for her brother’s wedding in October, then again for Christmas. And we plan to get over to Asia. A lot.
So . . . one chapter ends, another begins. Here’s a look at our visit:
The international school in San Francisco
An assembly to recognize the children’s birthdays and accomplishments. Including a special goodbye to Meredith!
My husband and Meredith in her classroom.
Reading corner! I would have spent hours here as a child.
Kids went home . . . end of the day.
Welcome to Author Spotlight! Each week will feature a different author. We’ll get the scoop behind their writing life and dish a little. The authors will also be giving away a copy of their latest book. FUN.
The winner from last week’s Author Spotlight with Sarah Ladd is (winner coming soon—stay tuned) ! Please email my assistant Christen with your mailing address. (ckrumm@litfusegroup.com)
This week please welcome Ace Collins in the spotlight! To win a copy of his new book Darkness Before Dawn (Abingdon Press, 2013) , leave a comment on this post.
What is the smartest writing advice you ever got? Write about what you know.
What was your biggest break?
Writing the book Lassie A Dog’s Life. That was the first book that not only hit the bestseller charts, but was made into two TV specials and got on all the network morning shows and CNN.
I’m inspired by . . .
. . . today’s college kids. They are much more invested in making a positive impact in the world that my generation was. They care less about money and more about making a difference.
My great adventure has been . . .
. . . Marriage. I am married to an amazing woman and each day offers new joys and wonders. Thirty-eight years after I said “I do” I still love being Kathy’s husband.
The one thing I hope to discover is . . .
. . . My potential. I just want to see how much I can grow and how long I can keep growing.
If I could go anywhere, it would be . . .
. . . I need to go back to Auburn, Indiana again.
If you have only an hour . . .
. . . I want to call and thank everyone who has impacted me life.
Describe yourself in one word?
Curious.
If your house were on fire, what one thing would you save?
If you are taking about material things; my 1934 Auburn.
What has been your most surreal, “pinch-me-I’m-dreaming” moment so far?
Having a bestseller. That was simple beyond comprehension.
What drives you to succeed?
I don’t know that I can describe it. I’m a storyteller and I have all these people inside my head that want to get out. So, in a sense, it is wanting to share those stories that pushes me on.
Best Surprise
When my wife was offered a job at Ouachita as a professor in the education department. It was so wonderful to see her dreams fulfilled and for us to get to move to this incredible section of Arkansas.
Best Saturday Afternoon Read
I like to pick up a biography about a classic Hollywood film star.
Best Forgotten Custom
Few know why mistletoe is a part of Christmas. Because I know I fully embrace what it originally meant.
Best Way to Break a Sweat
I run and the second best way is to walk our collies.
Best Style Icon
For me it would be Cary Grant.
Best Time-Waster
Watching college basketball.
Best Indulgence
Anything with peanut butter in it.
Best Advice
Plan for the future but live this moment as if it all you have.
If you’re near Meyersdale, Pennsylvania, today, be sure to stop by the Meyersdale Public Library at 7 EDT, meet Mary Ann Kinsinger (my co-author of the Adventures of Lily Lapp series), and have Mary Ann sign copies of the Lily books! I wish I could be there.
Also, check out this article about Mary Ann in the Daily American!
By SANDRA LEPLEY
MEYERSDALE -— Mary Ann Kinsinger, 32, an author who lives in Greenville Township, will speak and also sign her newly-released children’s book series “Life With Lily” at 7 p.m. Friday at Meyersdale Public Library.
Kinsinger’s children’s books, co-authored with acclaimed Amish author Suzanne Woods Fisher, retell the story of her childhood — growing up as an Amish girl in New York State and then moving to Pocahontas in Somerset County.
According to Amy Hanley, librarian, the library looks forward to hosting this new author whose books are already on the shelves at Walmart and who just happens to live in the Meyersdale area.
It reads like a novel. Some days, a tragedy; others, a comedy, but always a volatile plot line.
A friend, observing the action, said, “You should make a sitcom about your life.” I think I wailed something like, “But I live in one!” before lying down for an extended nap with happy dreams in which no one was hitting anyone else, burping loudly or needing stitches.
On a popular cable news network, they have a segment called News by the Numbers. In it, a professional newscaster in a tailored Italian suit with an expensive silk tie faces the camera. Perfectly positioned in a spotless, perfectly decorated studio, he peers out at the viewers. Every follicle is in place, his eyes are clear and his smile is blinding.
Using his perfectly straight and whitened teeth, he brings it. Hard news in decimals and numbers, including the current federal deficit, the price of gasoline and the latest burger count at the Golden Arches.
Watching him, Mr. Perfect Suit and Hair, I can’t help but imagine how my version of News by the Numbers would look. There I am, facing the camera in my not-spotless house. Someone, I see, has spilled milk on the counter. There’s a chocolate smear on the refrigerator, and a pair of sneakers on the floor. The pantry doors stand ajar (of course, they do), and the sticky glob beneath my sock bears witness to a recent PBJ. That No One made. Of course not.
My newscast, I know, would involve no Italian suits or silk anything. Every follicle would not be in place, my eyes may not be clear and the vat of coffee in my right hand is part of the wardrobe. Then, using my normal teeth, I’d bring it, hard news in decimals and numbers.
I’m not sure, really, if they’re ready for us. When the national average is just under two kids under 18 per family, it’s clear that we’re not average. Judging by the camera man’s shocked expression, there aren’t many families of six having picnics in Central Park where he jogs with his iPod, bottled water and purebred Corgi.
Wait ‘til he hears the age spread of our not-average brood. It’ll put his eyebrows up in his hairline when I announce that College Kid is 23, Kid Kaboom’s 19, Inspector Gadget is 14 and Little Caboose is 6. Shoot, my own eyebrows are up in my own hairline, so I understand his surprise.
Then there’s this number. We’ve been married for 25 years. Mr. Schrock, God love ‘im, hasn’t traded me in for a fresher, wrinkle-free model, and I’ve not put him up on Craig’s List. While we’ve both considered murder (briefly, alright?), we’ve not pulled that trigger, and divorce has not been an option.
Speaking of four boys, since this segment is about numbers, three of them were in three different schools. At the same time. For three years. I’m wondering if my eyebrows will ever come down again. Just recalling it has me shaking my head and reaching for the Motrin.
BK (Before Kids), there were no ER visits. Then those jumped to six, and life took a more, well, expensive turn. An infant gets pneumonia and, later, whooping cough. Someone needs his head stitched up. Someone Else gets medical-grade Liquid Nail on a lip, and yet another Someone swears his eyeball is about to pop out and fall in his lap from a sinus infection that’s settled.
Then there was the little machete incident last summer that sent us back in. When the bills for five stitches arrived, I nearly blacked out and headed for ER myself. Thinking of the bills that would come, I went with putting my head between my knees and counting to 10.
In other number news, I’d chirp, we’ve moved six times. We’ve owned 1 Ford, 2 Hondas and 6 Toyotas. We’ve had roughly 10 different bikes, 2 scooters, 3 ripstiks (causing 1 broken thumb), 2 pogo sticks, 1 unicycle and 2 trikes.
As the camera guy turns pale, thinking longingly of his pristine Manhattan brownstone, I’d keep reporting. “We’ve had two baptisms, two high school graduations, four proms and two teenage drivers. We’ve paid for summer camps and winter retreats and sent kids on foreign mission trips.
“We’re on our fourth washer,” I would sigh, “a large-capacity machine that can launder 16 jeans or 2 medium-sized boys. We keep the peanut farmers in business all by ourselves, thanks to all that peanut butter we eat, and those boys and their dad have eaten their weight in cookies. Chocolate chip.”
As the producer gives me the high sign, I’d bring it in for a landing. “We had graduations in 2008 and 2012. The next one, Lord willing, is in 2017, and we’ll celebrate the last one with fireworks and an air show in 2025.”
While the camera guy, clearly shaken, heads back to New York with, I note, two feet on the accelerator, I’d head for bed. For another nap that will last ‘til, oh, say, 2025?
Tune in on Thursday at 4:00 pm Central! To listen in – go here and just click on the player in the top right corner. This week on Amish Wisdom, my friend, blogger and columnist Rhonda Schrock, will be filling in as host. The topic this week? New Amish fiction! Authors Kate Lloyd and Shelley Shepard Gray will be joining Rhonda to share their new books. Sounds like a delightful show.
Kate and Shelley are both giving away a copy of their books (Pennsylvania Patchwork and Ray of Light). To enter, just {LEAVE A COMMENT HERE} (or email ckrumm@litfusegroup.com if you experience a problem with the comment box). Winner will be notified next week via email.
More about Kate: Author Kate Lloyd is a passionate observer of human relationships. A native of Baltimore, Kate spends time with family and friends in Lancaster County, PA, the inspiration for her novels. She is a member of the Lancaster County Mennonite Historical Society. Kate and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest. Kate studied painting and sculpture in college. She’s worked a variety of jobs, including car salesman and restaurateur.
Be sure to visit Kate’s blog, www.katelloyd.net.
More about Pennsylvania Patchwork:
Seattle native Holly Fisher is smitten by Lancaster County, its simplicity and her long lost relatives. In the sequel to bestselling Leaving Lancaster, Holly embraces the Amish culture, learning to slow down to see what – and who – really matters.
Meeting the family that her mother had kept hidden from her, Holly comes face to face with her real life and blood legacy. She also falls for the charming Zach, a handsome Mennonite veterinarian who is everything she’s ever wanted in a husband: confident, kind, successful, and authentic. And Zach proposes marriage. Is this too soon? Is this the right choice? Mother and Amish grandmother think she’s rushing into too much of a lifestyle change. Holly is in love with Zach and that precludes everything. Until she meets an attractive Amish man. And an old suitor shows up.
Pennyslvania Patchwork is the moving, richly told story of one woman’s heart, her faith and trust, and the choices she makes. Never easy, but one choice can change your destiny.
More about Shelley: Shelley Shepard Gray is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the “Sisters of the Heart”, “Seasons of Sugarcreek”, “Secrets of Crittenden County”, and Families of Honor series. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.
Visit Shelley’s website for more, www.shelleyshepardgray.com.
More about Ray of Light:
Bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray brings inspirational romance to life in this sweet tale of love in the Amish community, Ray of Light, the second installment of her Days of Redemption series.
Roman Keim just wants a break from the family drama at his snowy Ohio home when he heads to an Amish snowbird community in Florida. There he meets Amanda Yoder and her daughter Regina who soon are warming his heart. But will Roman return to Ohio or will he stay and help the young widow embrace a second chance at love?
The author of the series Sisters of the Heart and Seasons of Sugarcreek, Shelley Shepard Gray delivers an honest, tender love story in Ray of Light, featuring the challenges of faith, family, and romance.
More about Rhonda: Rhonda Schrock is the mother of 4 sons, ages 6 to 22. She and her family live in Northern Indiana. She is a telecommuting medical transcriptionist and the writer of the weekly column, “Grounds for Insanity,” which appears in The Goshen News. A prolific blogger, she appears twice monthly on Suzanne Woods Fisher’s website and writes once monthly for Sherry Gore, author and founder of “Cooking & Such” magazine. Rhonda is also the editor of “Cooking & Such,” and her column is featured there regularly.
You can find her at www.RhondaSchrock.com.
One of my favorite moments . . . picking up a child at the airport. Last Wednesday, I picked up my son, Tad, home from two weeks in India! Before that, he finished his junior year of college in Illinois. He’s hardly home because he’s on the basketball team. The bball season goes through the Christmas holidays—we usually only see him briefly throughout the school year. So his homecoming each summer is a very big deal.
A quick visit over to Guide Dogs for Toffee’s opthalmology appointment. Did you know dogs have eye doctors?
Here’s a little guide dog puppy-in-training I happened to notice. Ridiculously cute!
Some gifts Tad brought home from India.
Another gift Tad brought home from India. Imagine wearing that on your head! Hot and stiff.
Monday . . . Tad’s first day of his summer internship.
Summer is getting underway in our backyard. This is a common sight. A family of basketball players!
Toffee and I watch and cheer from the deck.
Already had a summer BBQ. Naturally, it rained. But . . . more to come. Wish you could join us!
Honored and humbled at winning the 2012 Carol Award for Best Long Contemporary Novel (The Search)) and being a finalist in 2011 for a Christy Award (The Waiting) and in 2010 for a Carol Award (The Choice)!
© Suzanne Woods Fisher | All Rights Reserved
Site Development: Simply Amusing Designs
