Amish Clash

*guest post by Delia Latham
It's been an edge-of-the-seat, flashing-swords kind of Clash between Vannetta Chapman and Beth Wiseman. These gals elicited some genuine response! It is beyond clear that both authors are well loved, and that their writing touches hearts. This was an Amish clash, and if you missed it, you'll definitely want to check out the excerpts, as both were excellent examples of GOOD Amish fiction. Beth Wiseman's The Wonder of Your Love elicits a whole tangle of emotions, with a dreaded meeting between an Amish woman and her deceased husband's Englitscher mistress.


If you missed our interview with Beth, be sure to stop by and check it out. Vannetta Chapman's Falling to Pieces, on the other hand, paints a poignant picture of loss and confusion after the death of a loved one, all wrapped up in a stack of gorgeous Amish quilts.

And here's our interview with Vannetta. I'd love to post every reader response, because I didn't see a single negative one in the overwhelming number we received…but in the interest of space, I had to choose just a few:


Please don't stop writing...because your gift transports me to another place, away from all the stresses of life and encourages me!

I love Amish Fiction. Both of these excerpts make me want to dive into these ladies' lives.


Hearing an Amish story takes me back to my childhood in the mountains of Kentucky. We read by lamp, the Bible mostly. Everything we ate we grew in the garden and canned on a wood stove for winter. The outhouse was about fifty yards from the backdoor. Thanks to both of you for taking me back. God Bless. 


I love the Amish Clash as I love to read Amish stories. Having been in the homes of Amish people and corresponding so many years, my home has a room with all Amish figurines and dolls. Keep writing Amish fiction. 


Keep writing! We all need encouragement to live more simply like the Amish! 


I was drawn into the stories immediately, and now those characters are going to be following me around all day! 


We are so grateful for this feedback from our readers! It's your involvement that gives Clash of the Titles its purpose. So, which sword-wielding author came out on top? As much as I'd love to name both of them (since they're so obviously both WINNERS!), we can only have one victor per clash. That victor, this time around, was:

BETH WISEMAN

The Wonder of Your Love

CONGRATULATIONS, BETH!

A brand new clash is now underway, and it's the kind that will curl your toes. Head over to Clash of the Titles and vote for the best Almost Kiss!

Christian Fiction Book Opinions

What to do? What to do?

I love doing book reviews. I’ve learned so much this summer about writing and publishing! It has given me a deep respect for the authors who pour their time, energy, and almost their own blood into the books that I’ve read. But right now, I’m in a quandary.

I try to do my reviews on just released books or those about to be released in order to help the authors as much as possible. At this point though, the only books I have in my e-reader are a little older, so I’m in need of some assistance.

Which of the books below have you read and would you recommend it, OR which of these books are you most interested in learning about? I’ve given a little blurb about each of them from their back covers.

Undercover Pursuit by Susan May Warren

Undercover Pursuit by Susan May Warren had me intrigued from the first page. I examined it along with several other books I recently downloaded, just looking through the first few pages for their hooks, the ways that they connected with the reader. Wow, did U.P. ever connect! From the get-go, I had trouble putting it down.

Mystery Writes Itself - Where Does This Take You?

Skeletons of a medieval knight and a female companion were found under the floorboards of a chapel in a castle in Scotland. Further info proves that the knight had several old injuries, doubtless from battles, but the killing blow was struck as the man was lying on the floor, by a sword through his face. There were no details about the cause of death of the woman. Does this just beg to have its story written?  

Now the attached article takes a little of the romance out of the story as I read on, but with just that much information, my mind went wild! 

First thing that caught my mind’s eye was the fact that the knight was found under the floor boards of a chapel.  Nice outta the way place to hide a body that someone didn’t want found.  

I was just starting to deliberate on why he might have been killed when I a second thing caught my mind’s eye: the skeleton of a woman was found beside him. Well, that makes it juicy! I could just see the lord of the manor bursting in the room full of jealous rage as he witnesses his wife in an intimate conversation with another man.

Third interesting thought is the origin of this man; there is some speculation that he was French, so the husband intrudes on this heathen from a foreign land, who not only infiltrates his home, but seduces his wife.

Oh, the places my mind goes!

I could see a political plot to overthrow the lord be squelched by the murder of the man; maybe the Frenchman was a spy, settled into the role by an opposing ruler who wanted to gain the land. Maybe the Frenchman was a messenger from that ruler, bringing a letter from the opposition in hopes of wooing the wife and gaining that power. 

What if the knight wasn’t killed by the lord at all!  Suppose the lord was blamed all along for the disappearance of his wife and the knight, but since no bodies turned up, nothing could be proved.  Maybe the knight’s family took out their vengeance on the lord, because he had been the only one, on the surface, who would benefit from the man’s death.

I don’t think the lord killed the spy-knight at all. I think he was killed by the opposition because he betrayed them.  His great love for the lord’s wife wouldn’t allow him to put her into any danger.  I think she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and was killed to cover up the original murder.  As for hiding them beneath the foundation of the chapel that the lord was having built, that was just making the most of the opportunity!

Well, that’s the way it all looked in my mind anyway.  Truth be known, the chapel was built much later over a small cemetery – plot killer!                  

Here’s the whole story! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1279306/Face-mystery-medieval-knight-finally-revealed-modern-day-CSI-skills.html