Bio: Barbara Cameron loves writing stories
about the Amish and is the author of four series including the new Harvest of
Hope series for Gilead Publishing. Her books have appeared on Christian
bestseller lists and been adapted into three HBO-Cinemax movies. Barbara loves
visiting friends in Lancaster ,
Pennsylvania
Welcome back,
Barbara. How did you come up with the idea for this story?
I was thinking of the farm where my mom and her eight
siblings grew up. The youngest son inherited the farm. I got to wondering what
would happen if an Amish man got older and his son had left the community and
he had no one to pass the farm down except for his very Englisch grandson . .
.
If you were planning
a party with Christian authors of contemporary fiction, what six people would
you invite and why?
Ramona Richards, Barbara Scott, Debby Mayne, Cindy
Woodsmall, Kathleen Fuller, and the late, very dear Sandie Bricker. I miss
Sandie so much. She had such wit and wisdom and above all, loved God so much.
A very good group. I
miss Sandie, too. Loved her so much. Now let’s do that for a party for Christian
authors of historical fiction, what six people would you invite and why?
I’m afraid my list would be shorter because I tend to read
contemporary more than historical. But it would include you, Lena ,
because you were one of the first I read in this genre. Then Loree Lough and
Suzanne Woods Fisher.
Thank you. I’d love
to spend time with you, Loree, and Suzanne. Many times, people (and other
authors) think you have it made with so many books published. What is your most
difficult problem with writing at this time in your career?
Some author once said you are only as good as your most
recent book. So every book has to not only be good but I think better than your
last. My most difficult problem right now is keeping myself from going back
over the previous day’s work and getting bogged down in editing. I do best when
I go straight through to the end and then revise. So I make lots of notes for
the second (and third…) draft.
Tell us about the
featured book.
From the back cover blurb: Miriam Troyer has had a secret
crush on Mark Byler since they were teenagers. She knows they can never have a
relationship:
Mark is a big-city attorney—an Englischer —and Miriam loves
her quiet way of life in her Amish community. But when Mark unexpectedly shows
up in Paradise , Pennsylvania
realizes it’s going to get a lot harder to hide her
feelings. Even though Mark always loved visiting his grandfather’s farm as a
boy, he’s convinced the Amish life is not for him. But when he suddenly finds
himself out of a job and without direction, Mark heads back to the farm just in
time to help with the harvest. Coming for a visit and coming to stay, however,
are two very different things. Everything changes when Mark sees that Miriam,
the girl he remembers from his youth, has grown into the kind of faith-filled
woman he wants in his future. Could life in this simple world be right for Mark
after all? Has Miriam finally found her happily ever after? True love sprouts
from seeds of hope. They live in completely different worlds. Can love bring
them together?
Please give us the
first page of the book.
Miriam guided the horse-drawn buggy into the lane that led
to John Byler’s home. She was lost in the beauty of the scene that unfolded
before her. Wind ruffled the tall grasses about to be cut into hay. Livestock
grazed in a pasture. The farmhouse itself was a rambling white wooden home that
had been added on to by generations of Bylers as the family grew. The old house
was the embodiment of Amish peace and tranquility.
John Byler sat on his front porch, his gray head bent as he
wrote in a notebook.
How John loved writing letters, she thought fondly. She
hated to interrupt him but when he glanced up and smiled at her she could tell
he didn’t regard her dropping by as an unwelcome interruption.
And it wasn’t just because he knew she brought him some
baked goods. He had become a good friend, someone who listened and encouraged
and offered wise counsel. They were a generation apart but age had never made a
difference in their friendship.
She waved her hand at him, called for him to stay where he
was but he was already up and making his way to her. He was limping more than
usual today. It had rained earlier and she knew his arthritis always acted up
worse then. It had become more and more of a problem the last year or so.
Still, he was determined to keep going each day and take care of his farm. “If
you stop doing, you’ll stop being,” he’d say when she worried about him.
“It’s gut to see you, Miriam.”
“You, too, John.”
He reached for the handle of the basket in her hands.
“I’m not some frail maedel,” she told him. “I can carry
this. I put it in the buggy.”
They had their usual tug-of-war which he won like always.
He grinned and laugh lines crinkled around his eyes, the
color of faded denim. “We should help each other, shouldn’t we?”
“Ya,” said with a sigh and a smile. His gentle charm and
courtesy reminded her of her grossdaadi who had passed years ago.
Both qualities had seemed to be lacking in the men she’d
dated.
He set the basket on a small wooden table on the porch and
waved a hand at one of the rocking chairs flanking it. “Do you have time to
visit a bit?”
Now it was her turn to grin. “And when, I ask you, don’t I
have time to visit with you? So, how was your day?”
“Gut.” He gestured at the pad of paper and pen on the table.
“Just sitting here writing my grosssohn.”
She didn’t need to ask which one. John had only one. Only
one sohn as well. Most Amish families had many kinner and thanked God for them.
John had never complained that he hadn’t had a larger family with his fraa,
long dead now. But he reveled in the times his grosssohn visited.
How can readers find
you on the Internet?
Just look me up as Barbara Cameron OR Barbara Cameron Reader Page
Thank you, Barbara,
for sharing this new book with use. It sounds really interesting. Because of my
own book deadlines, I’m not reading as much fiction as I usually do. This is in
my to-be-read-soon pile. And I know my blog readers will love it, too.
Readers,
here are links to the book.
Seeds of Hope - Christianbook.comSeeds of Hope (Harvest of Hope)
- Amazon paperbackSeeds of Hope (Harvest of Hope Book 1) - Kindle
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