AN AMISH SANCTUARY - Jessie Gussman - One Free Ebook

Welcome, Jessie. Tell us how much of yourself you write into your characters.

I don’t base my characters on myself at all. I did in one book, which, of course, was kind of hard and I was really uncertain about it, so I entered it into a contest. One of the judges gave this feedback:  the heroine is completely unlikeable and unrelatable. You have pushed her flaw to the point where she needs psychiatric help. Complete rewrite recommended. So, yeah, I make everything up.

What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?

I’m very boring. I think I might have eaten pancakes without butter once. (Not recommended.)

When did you first discover that you were a writer?

In 2013 after reading a not-very-good ebook, I slammed my laptop shut and muttered, “Anyone could write a better book than this.” My husband, who was walking through the room to go check our boiling maple sap outside, stopped and looked at me and said, “Then why don’t you?” That’s when it started.

I had a similar experience that started me writing my first book back in 1984. Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading.

The Bible is my favorite book. I read it through every year. I love non-fiction, The Great Bridge, Endurance, A Thousand Miles to Freedom, even self-help, like Find the Good and The Little Book of Talent. I love books on valor and bravery, often war-time stories, like The Great Escape and The Long Walk. (I really want to read The Last Lion and Truman! Someday when I get time.) I love romance, of course, LaVryle Spencer, Laura Kinsale, Cheryl St. John, I love romance with sacrifice, hard work, determination, even moral dilemmas, like the one in Sommersby.

How do you keep your sanity in our run, run, run world?

God.

How do you choose your characters’ names?

Google

What is the accomplishment that you are most proud of?

I think the Bible clearly tells us not to be proud. I haven’t accomplished anything on my own. God’s (amazing) grace and the blood of Christ is all I claim.

If you were an animal, which one would you be, and why?

One that sleeps a lot. When I get to Heaven, I’m going to greet Jesus, say hi to a few other folks then find a quiet place and sleep for the next ten thousand years.

What is your favorite food?

I love cow tongue. Love it. Hot. Cold. Warm. On a train, in a bus, in the rain. Although it must be cooked and have salt (and I don’t eat it green). And cheesecake.

I like cow tongue, too, but my husband doesn’t, so I seldom eat it anymore. What is the problem with writing that was your greatest roadblock, and how did you overcome it?

Finding time to write. I have not overcome this one, yet, unfortunately.

Tell us about the featured book.

An Amish Sanctuary, the working title was Take Me Away, is a romance between a pop diva who is struggling with everything people expect her to be and a simple ex-Amish farmer. They’re from completely different worlds and are total opposites.

I love opposites attract stories. I also love stories that show values, morals, and sacrifices. In this book, right at the beginning, Judah is three times asked to make a sacrifice. I love seeing his struggle, as he bases his choices on what is best for the sister he’s responsible for caring for, and for the other people around him. I love how his self-sacrificial nature is shown so clearly.

A lot of my readers say Judah is their favorite hero. I think part of the reason is that we see his flaws so clearly, but we admire and respect and totally fall in love with him because of the choices he makes and the way he’s so completely devoted to the people he loves.

Please give us the first page of the book.

The room spun.

Breathe. Just Breathe.

Lucy Johnson, aka pop diva, Celeste, to her adoring fans, stumbled into the wall of her small dressing room. Flattening a hand against the cool white paint, she sagged against it. Her heart beat like sporadic gunfire. She was dying.

No.

What had her therapist said? No one has ever died of a panic attack. That thought loosened the vice that gripped her chest.

Focus on breathing. Slowly.

Using another relaxation technique her therapist taught, she imagined herself sitting by the ocean, listening to waves, feeling the breeze on her face. Her muscles relaxed slightly until the image in her head filled with paparazzi storming the beach, cameras clicking. Before the picture faded she saw herself hiding under her beach chair digging in the sand to get away from the ceaseless questions and pictures.

Her heart hopped and skipped like a frog on a hot skillet.

Lurching to a chair covered in sequined stage costumes, Lucy perched on the edge, wrapped both arms around her stomach and rocked back and forth. Waves of panic rolled through her body. She fought the urge to run. Go anywhere. Now.

There’s nothing to be afraid of. Self-talk. Another technique. It worked a little because she knew it was true. She’d been to seven doctors and specialists. They’d all pronounced her in excellent physical condition. The anxiety and random panic attacks that came with no obvious trigger were simply the warnings of her body that she’d pushed it too far. They’d said she needed to rest. As if she had time for that.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

Amish Sanctuary and my other Pelican books can be found on the Publisher's website. https://bit.ly/2yOjiDI

My newsletter is the best way to find out about my books and myself. Sign up here.

Thank you, Jessie, for sharing this book with my blog readers and me. I’m intrigued by the story line and the first page.

Readers, here’s a link to the book.

An Amish Sanctuary - Kindle

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