I’m feeling pretty good about myself this morning! Received my second draft back from my editor late last night, and here are a few things she said:
“Hi Pam! Hope all’s well with you. You’ve done such great work with this revision. I really understand the implications of being in the Amish community, and I feel Hanna’s and Noah’s conflicts even more strongly now. You’ve done a great job of grounding the story and fleshing out the characters. Really, really nice job.”
If I’m being honest, this one paragraph of her positive feedback, made me feel really happy. I know we still have more work ahead of us, but the rest of it is pretty simple. Get it ready for publishing! Whoohoo!
Just felt like sharing this moment. For those of you who don’t know…this short story that I’m talking about is one that I wrote about two years ago and tried to get published through another company. The letter I got back was that it didn’t fall under the type of stories they were in the market for. Which was strange, because they are the ones who picked the topic. A story set in the Amish community. That was it. It had to be fiction and they set a word limit. Now, I knew next to nothing about the Amish community or their beliefs. My total knowledge at the time was that they lived “simple” lives (no electricity or fancy stuff). They made beautiful quilts and rode in horse drawn buggies. Believe it or not, I was one of the minority Christian women who had never read any of Beverly Lewis or Wanda E. Brunstetter books that are sold, EVERYWHERE. I know, I know. Hard to believe, but I never really caught on to that genre for some reason. Now, I DID read every single book that Janette Oke wrote: The Love Come’s Softly series and When Calls The Heart series…absolutely! Loved them all (and the movies, Hallmark series and anything with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police!) Just saying! Who doesn’t love a guy in a uniform (especially a red one).
On with my point…Two years ago, I started doing research on the Amish. Their lifestyle, beliefs, geography, what they did for fun, for a career, education (or lack thereof), and everything I could find. Then I started writing a story centered around two characters: Hanna Bieler. A spunky young woman who helped her father care for the animals of the entire community and beyond. Basically, Hanna and her father were in charge of all things to do with the health of the animals. Hanna dreamed of being a Vet one day, but knew that in order to do so (officially), she would have to choose between her faith and her desire for an education. The Amish only allowed education through the 8th grade. Anything beyond that was forbidden. Then we have Noah Fisher. He and his father run the largest Veterinarian hospital/Clinic in the Ft. Wayne Indiana area (and beyond). They have not been Amish, due to tragic circumstances many years earlier. My story is about how the lives of these two families come full circle, and how the love of family, the strong roots of faith and a little bit of hope can help make the journey through daily questions, doubts and fears all worth while.
It’s not a long involved novel, but it is a short inspiring story that I hope people will enjoy. My long novel is almost ready to go to the editor, so be on the look out.
I will keep you posted on the next part of this fun adventure!
P.
Pam Torres | Author 