If you want to be a writer, or you are a writer, you have to
be prepared to do some research. I always knew that. Happily for me, I love
research. Hours and hours in the library, pouring through old books. Finding
out wonderful facts. That is fun.
As it turns out, sitting in the library will only get you so
far when it comes to writing realistically about something you aren't familiar
with. Take the Amish. There is still a lot I don't know about the Amish even after
12 books in my Brides of Amish Country series. Their culture is so diverse that
what works for an Amish romance set in Ohio won't necessarily work for a story
set in Pennsylvania.
Because I
didn't want a dozen books about farmers and quilters, I had to investigate
business run by Amish families. There are many. I've been to visit an alpaca
farm, ridden in a buggy, sat behind a draft horse in a wagon, took a tour of a
printing press company and museum. I've visited a fabric shop and quilt store
in an Amish community, visited with Old Order Mennonite women at a family run café,
spent hours talking to my nephew's wife about being nurse-midwife, and I even
interviewed the cutest small town sheriff ever. (If I get arrested, it will be
in Council Grove.) I have watched a buggy wheel being made in a blacksmith shop
and seen a huge sewing machine for making leather harnesses. In all, less than
one tenth of what I've learned goes into any given book. But they don't call me
the trivia queen for nothing. Just ask me. I'm sure I'll have an answer and if
I don't, I will make one up. I write fiction, you know.
For my
latest book, THE SHEPHERD'S BRIDE, I have the privilege of visiting a sheep
farm during lambing season. Talk about hard work, awesome dogs and cute, cuddly
baby lambs. I will admit that alpacas have won my heart, but a baby lamb comes
in a close second.
So I'm
going to open it up to questions here. What would you like to know about the
Amish, sheep or even alpacas?
Did you
know sheep can be buried under the snow for nearly a week and survive? The heat
from their bodies will melt breathing holes. They'll dig down to grass or eat each
other's wool for food and they can get enough water by eating snow? Boggles the
mind.
