Never Say Never

“…a fast paced story of love, redemption, faith, triumphs…a heartrending story…an outstanding story involving the Shakers and their beliefs. A must read.” – Review of The Blessed by April Renn, My Book Addiction Reviews

My Shaker book, The Blessed, is on special e-book sale this month. Christianbook.com has it for 79 cents. It’s 99 cents most other e-book sites like Amazon. You can find more information and other buy links here.

Some of you may know I’ve written several books set in my fictional Shaker village of Harmony Hill. I do base the physical setting on the Pleasant Hill Shaker village near me here in Kentucky and draw the historical background from the western (at that time) Shaker villages. Anyway, since this book is at a super low e-book price right now, I thought you might be interested in knowing a little of the background of how it got written.

I wrote my first Shaker book, The Outsider, many years ago and it languished on my reject shelf after making the rounds through many publishers. Fast forward a number of years and I found a publishing home in the Christian market with Revell Books. They decided to take a chance on a Shaker book. At that point, I never planned to write any other Shaker books. None. I had other stories to tell. Other historical adventures to chase. But Amish books were all the rage at that time and my beautiful Shaker on the front of The Outsider had on a bonnet. That attracted interest and made my publishers decide more Shaker books would be good. So my editor called me and talked me into writing two more Shaker books. So I wrote The Believer which I think is my Shaker book that tells the most about why people would decide to go to the Shakers and then The Seeker with a Civil War background. Now I’m really through with Shaker books. I did their two more. We’re good.

But… I had this character named Lacey. I had intended her to be a secondary character to Charlotte in The Seeker, but she kept whispering in my ear that she had a story all her own. She wanted a book of her own. She wanted to let others know about the dandelion dance her mother taught her to celebrate spring whenever they spotted the first dandelion bloom. She wanted to find love even though boulders of trouble blocked her way. The last thing she wanted to be was a Shaker, especially in this time of Shaker history during their Era of Manifestations when sometimes to Lacey, gifted with commonsense, the Shakers just seemed odd instead of spiritual. Very odd and bordering on crazy.

So Lacey convinced me and I offered another Shaker book to my editor who said that sounded great and why didn’t I do two? That led to my fifth Shaker book, The Gifted. I often told my editor that I wouldn’t be able to think up any more titles with The Something except maybe The End. She would counter with The Beginning. I’ve yet to write either of those, but I did write a Shaker Christmas book, Christmas at Harmony Hill. No The in that title. But when I decided to take my son-in-law’s advice and try to write a Shaker mystery about a Shaker and sheriff, I wrote The Innocent. Then I was really through with Shaker books. Absolutely. Completely. Until… Yes, another character started whispering in my ear. This time Darcie, my Shaker widow. That book will be out next summer and has the necessary The title. The Refuge. 

Now, you may not believe me, but I don’t think I’ll be writing any more Shaker books. Then again, if there is anything I’ve learned from writing stories is that it’s best to never say never. I never know when that next character might start whispering in my ear.

But if you’d like to read one of these Shaker novels, Lacey’s story, The Blessed, might be a good one to try. Especially since you can grab the e-copy for less than one dollar. That’s a deal.

Deb Wilson, who left a review of The Blessed online at Christianbook.com, wrote this wonderful synopsis of the The Blessed.

Lacey Bishop’s life is in tatters. Alone in the world, she goes to work for a preacher and his wife, and so remains in their employ until the wife passes, her dear Miss Mona. Having nowhere else to go, she stays with the preacher and the little girl, Rachel that had been left on his doorstep years before. When the women in the parish raise a protest about the improper living conditions of a 20-year-old single girl living with the widowed preacher, Lacey is convinced that she has no other recourse. But even after their marriage, she cannot bring herself to be a true wife to Preacher Palmer. Distraught by his life falling into sin, Preacher Palmer follows the Shakers to their village in Harmony Hill, taking Lacey and Rachel with him. Once there, Lacey embraces the idea of a celibate life, but is confused by her feelings for a young brother named Issac. Will she ever be happy, or will she have to settle for just being blessed with the breath of life?

So do you think you would like to read a story about Shakers?

As always thanks for reading. And next week, I hope to come up with a new giveaway here on my blog. It’s time I gave away some more books!