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. 

Welcome to this week’s show. While I’m away this week Virgina Smith has graciously agreed to guest host Thursday’s Amish Wisdom. She’ll be getting the scoop on Amish fiction authors Martha Bolton and Kelly Irvin. We’ll hear about both author’s new books, Josiah For President and A Heart Made New.

Want to win a copy of either book? Leave a comment here. Winners will be notified next week via email.

But, first more about our guest host, Virginia Smith: Virginia Smith is the bestselling author of over twenty Christian novels, an illustrated children’s book, and more than fifty articles and short stories. An avid reader with eclectic tastes in fiction, Ginny writes in a variety of styles, from lighthearted relationship stories to breath-snatching suspense. In 2011 her romance novel, A Daughter’s Legacy, received a Holt Medallion Award of Merit. In addition to writing, Ginny is an active inspirational speaker and frequent presenter at schools and conferences. When she isn’t writing or speaking, Ginny and her husband, Ted, enjoy exploring the extremes of nature – snow skiing in the Wasatch Mountains near Salt Lake City, motorcycle riding on the curvy roads in central Kentucky, and scuba diving in the warm waters of Mexico and the Caribbean.

Be sure to check out Virginia’s latest Amish fiction book, A Plain and Simple Heart, an exciting new Amish-meets-Wild West adventure from bestselling authors Lori Copeland and Virginia Smith, weaves an entertaining and romantic tale for devoted fans and new readers. For more about Virginia please visit her website at www.virginiasmith.org.

More about Martha Bolton: Emmy-nominated and Dove-nominated writer Martha Bolton is also the author of over eighty books of inspiration and humor. She wrote the libretto for The Confession Musical, based on Beverly Lewis’ popular Amish trilogy, as well as the libretto for Half-Stitched, the Musical, based on Wanda Brumstetter’s newest Amish romance. Martha was a staff writer for Bob Hope for over fifteen years, writing humor to entertain the public and presidents alike.

More about Josiah For President: When former Congressman Mark Stedman throws in the towel on his presidentialcampaign, his only choice is to return to his home state and decide how to spend the rest of his life … until he meets Josiah Stoltzfus, an Amish farmer from Pennsylvania. Stedman learns more from Josiah in a few hours than in his many years in office. He comes to the conclusion that someone like Josiah should be running the country. Not a career politician, but someone with a little old-fashioned common sense, someone who’s not afraid of rolling up his sleeves and getting his hands dirty. Someone like Josiah Stoltzfus. Using his old campaign headquarters for a base, Mark Stedman determines to introduce a new candidate to America. He pledges to do everything in his power to make sure Josiah gets elected. But can a plain man of faith turn the tide of politics and become the leader of America, and what will he have to risk to do it?

More about Kelly Irvin: Kelly Irvin is a Kansas native and has been writing professionally for 25 years. She and her husband, Tim, make their home in Texas. They have two children, three cats, and a tankful of fish. A public relations professional, Kelly is also the author of two romantic suspense novels and writes short stories in her spare time. To learn more about her work, visit www.kellyirvin.com.

More about A Heart Made New: The Bliss Creek Amish (Book 2)

In the second novel of Kelly Irvin’s Bliss Creek Amish series, readers will be delighted to return to a town and a family they’ve already come to love.

Annie Shirack is trying to fight her feelings for David Plank, a young Amish man who’s struggling with an aggressive case of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. David loves Annie too much to let her into his life, only, he fears, to leave her.

When a homeless young woman named Charisma and her two-year-old daughter, Gracie, show up in Bliss Creek, Annie welcomes them into the Shirack household and tries to help them establish a new life. But all the good deeds in the world can’t change the ache in Annie’s heart…or help her forget the man she loves.