Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for Her Amish Wedding Quilt by Winnie Griggs, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
Hi Winnie! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions
and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your new book- Her
Amish Wedding Quilt a little bit better! I like to start these
interviews the same way with something fun to break the ice: can you share 5
random facts about yourself that we will NOT find in your bio?
1.
I have trouble letting
go of things. While I’m not yet a candidate for Hoarders, I’ve had to quit
indulging myself in one of my favorite pastimes – estate sales – because I
can’t fit any more ‘finds’ in my home.
2.
As a kid I had a pet squirrel for a
time. My Dad, who was a big time hunter for a season of his life, found a baby
squirrel all on its own during one of his hunting trips and brought it home for
us to take care of. We named him Squeaky and Dad built a nice roomy cage for
him, though occasionally he’d get loose and run free in the house. Daddy
eventually released him back in the wild again when he was old enough to make
it on his own (though he waited until we were at school to do it)
3.
I am the oldest of 5 siblings and
the baby of the family is 20 years younger than me. I had just finished my
freshman year in college when I heard the news my mom was pregnant!
4.
The oldest of my three younger
sisters married before I did. So, true to tradition, I danced barefoot at her
wedding.
5.
At age twenty-four I got the bright
idea that I would make a patchwork quilt for my mom for mother’s day. I’d never
made one before but I found a pattern I thought I could work with and started
working on it with the optimism of a novice. Sure enough I managed to finish it
and proudly gift her – 2 years later. It’s the only quilt I ever made but Mom
still has it and uses it on her guest bed.
Let’s talk writing! This is far from your first book with a number of titles
going back more than 10 years. This is however your first Amish book/series.
What inspired you to take on that new genre?
An editor contacted me
through my agent stating she was looking for a writer who would help them
expand their offerings in that genre. She said she knew I hadn’t written Amish
before but thought I had the voice for it.
Were you nervous about tackling a new genre? What has that new
challenge been like?
Oh boy howdy, was I
ever! But my agent and several of my writer friends got behind me and
encouraged me to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! It has indeed been
challenging to learn the dialect, mores, and day to day life of the Amish
people. But it is also fascinating and invigorating to pursue something so
different from what I’ve done in the past.
What type of research went into this series to properly portray the Amish way
of life?
I spoke to other
experienced authors of Amish fiction, some of them with ties to the community,
I read a ton of research books, visited lots of Amish websites. It had been my intent to make a couple of
visits to Amish communities in both Pennsylvania and Ohio but of course the
Pandemic hit and all those plans had to go out the window.
Can you tell us a little bit about Her
Amish Wedding Quilt?
Greta, the heroine, is an outspoken, take
charge kind of gal, which is a problem in the sense that everyone tells her she
needs to tone it down a bit if she ever wants to find a husband, which she
refuses to do. The book opens on the first day of a brand new year with Greta
convinced this is the day her best friend, Calvin Stoll will propose to her.
But by the end of the day her whole world has come crashing down around her.
Noah, the hero and Calvin’s older brother, is a widower trying to cope with raising two very young children
with the help of his younger sister. At the beginning of the book he’s just learned he needs to stop
relying on his sister’s help. He’s held off on a second marriage because of
some painful secrets in his past. But now he figures that’s his only answer.
Greta, who has successfully done some
matchmaking in the past, decides to help Noah out more as a way to take her
mind off her own problems as anything else.
Oh, and of course Greta
is a quilter who designs the most gorgeous quilts that she sells in a quilt
shop in a local Amish-run craft mall
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
That we all deserve to
love and be loved, no matter our circumstances
Her Amish Wedding Quilt is the first book in this new series, what
can we expect from the next books?
The books will follow
the emotional journeys of the three motherless Eicher sisters. This first one
features the middle sister Greta. The next one will feature the youngest,
Hannah, who is a baker and is struggling with issues of infertility. The third
one will of course feature, Martha, the oldest, who has been the sister
managing the household and holding the family together since their mother’s
death.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go,
are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?
I’m looking at a couple
of pet projects that I plan to do indie as I can work them into my schedule,
but I’m not ready to discuss them yet. 😊
Hi Winnie! Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions
and giving my readers the chance to get to know you and your new book- Her
Amish Wedding Quilt a little bit better! I like to start these
interviews the same way with something fun to break the ice: can you share 5
random facts about yourself that we will NOT find in your bio?
1.
I have trouble letting
go of things. While I’m not yet a candidate for Hoarders, I’ve had to quit
indulging myself in one of my favorite pastimes – estate sales – because I
can’t fit any more ‘finds’ in my home.
2.
As a kid I had a pet squirrel for a
time. My Dad, who was a big time hunter for a season of his life, found a baby
squirrel all on its own during one of his hunting trips and brought it home for
us to take care of. We named him Squeaky and Dad built a nice roomy cage for
him, though occasionally he’d get loose and run free in the house. Daddy
eventually released him back in the wild again when he was old enough to make
it on his own (though he waited until we were at school to do it)
3.
I am the oldest of 5 siblings and
the baby of the family is 20 years younger than me. I had just finished my
freshman year in college when I heard the news my mom was pregnant!
4.
The oldest of my three younger
sisters married before I did. So, true to tradition, I danced barefoot at her
wedding.
5.
At age twenty-four I got the bright
idea that I would make a patchwork quilt for my mom for mother’s day. I’d never
made one before but I found a pattern I thought I could work with and started
working on it with the optimism of a novice. Sure enough I managed to finish it
and proudly gift her – 2 years later. It’s the only quilt I ever made but Mom
still has it and uses it on her guest bed.
Let’s talk writing! This is far from your first book with a number of titles
going back more than 10 years. This is however your first Amish book/series.
What inspired you to take on that new genre?
An editor contacted me through my agent stating she was looking for a writer who would help them expand their offerings in that genre. She said she knew I hadn’t written Amish before but thought I had the voice for it.
Were you nervous about tackling a new genre? What has that new
challenge been like?
Oh boy howdy, was I ever! But my agent and several of my writer friends got behind me and encouraged me to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! It has indeed been challenging to learn the dialect, mores, and day to day life of the Amish people. But it is also fascinating and invigorating to pursue something so different from what I’ve done in the past.
What type of research went into this series to properly portray the Amish way
of life?
I spoke to other experienced authors of Amish fiction, some of them with ties to the community, I read a ton of research books, visited lots of Amish websites. It had been my intent to make a couple of visits to Amish communities in both Pennsylvania and Ohio but of course the Pandemic hit and all those plans had to go out the window.
Can you tell us a little bit about Her
Amish Wedding Quilt?
Greta, the heroine, is an outspoken, take
charge kind of gal, which is a problem in the sense that everyone tells her she
needs to tone it down a bit if she ever wants to find a husband, which she
refuses to do. The book opens on the first day of a brand new year with Greta
convinced this is the day her best friend, Calvin Stoll will propose to her.
But by the end of the day her whole world has come crashing down around her.
Noah, the hero and Calvin’s older brother, is a widower trying to cope with raising two very young children
with the help of his younger sister. At the beginning of the book he’s just learned he needs to stop
relying on his sister’s help. He’s held off on a second marriage because of
some painful secrets in his past. But now he figures that’s his only answer.
Greta, who has successfully done some
matchmaking in the past, decides to help Noah out more as a way to take her
mind off her own problems as anything else.
Oh, and of course Greta is a quilter who designs the most gorgeous quilts that she sells in a quilt shop in a local Amish-run craft mall
What do you hope readers will take away from the book?
That we all deserve to
love and be loved, no matter our circumstances
Her Amish Wedding Quilt is the first book in this new series, what
can we expect from the next books?
The books will follow the emotional journeys of the three motherless Eicher sisters. This first one features the middle sister Greta. The next one will feature the youngest, Hannah, who is a baker and is struggling with issues of infertility. The third one will of course feature, Martha, the oldest, who has been the sister managing the household and holding the family together since their mother’s death.
Thank you again for taking the time to answer these questions. Before you go,
are there any other projects you are currently working on that you can share?
I’m looking at a couple
of pet projects that I plan to do indie as I can work them into my schedule,
but I’m not ready to discuss them yet. 😊
(1) winner will receive a book lover's prize package!
Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway will begin at midnight December 15, 2020 and last through 11:59 PM EST on December 22, 2020. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
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Her Amish Wedding Quilt sounds like an interesting book. I enjoyed reading the author interview in regards to the origin of this book idea and the books to come.
ReplyDeleteMy mother remarried happily after my father died, so I have a tender attitude toward remarriages. I would enjoy reading this book because it sounds like a sweet story.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being part of the blog tour for "Her Amish Wedding Quilt" by Winnie Griggs.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading the author's guest post and can't wait for the opportunity to read this book on my TBR list.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Thank you for sharing! - JustRead Tours
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a good read.
ReplyDeleteSounds like my kind of book.
ReplyDeleteMarion