Mary Ellis' "Sarah's Christmas Miracle"

We're happy to have Mary Ellis with us today talking about her book, Sarah's Christmas Miracle. To learn more about Mary and her book, read on!

• How would you describe your book?
Sarah’s Christmas Miracle is a tale about an Amish woman on the cusp of changing her life. She’s courting a serious beau, and is at the age expected to join the church and get married. But Sarah loves her job at the B&B and isn’t sure she’s ready to settle down and raise children. Before she commits to anyone, she must find an older brother who left the Amish for the big city and never came back. What was so appealing that it was worth breaking his parents’ hearts?

• What message do you hope it conveys?
I hope it conveys a message of hope and love for the Christmas season. The story is also told through the eyes of Sarah’s mother, who’s already lost one child to the English world, and fears she might lose another. She must trust that the bonds of family love will be strong enough to keep her daughter from falling away from her faith.

• What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I set the urban scenes in the city where I went to college and met my (future) husband. We had
a ball “researching” a once familiar city, seeing things from a fresh perspective. It’s very uplifting to be a tourist in your own hometown.

• What did you dislike most about writing this book?
I was held to a strict word count and told not to go much higher. I would have enjoyed exploring emotional avenues from more characters’ perspectives.

• What inspired you to become a writer?
As a dedicated reader, I reached a time in my life where I couldn’t keep myself from sitting down and writing. Every writer arrives at a point when he or she must write.

• Tell us about your writing process.
Uh, oh…there is a process I’m supposed to follow? For the first ten years, I also maintained a day job. My writing had to fit in wherever I could squeeze an hour or two. It’s hard to remember who has blue eyes and who has brown, besides the various plot twists when you create in fits and starts. It’s somewhat easier now that I write fulltime, but publicity demands fill in for my former day job. I still haven’t developed much of a schedule…maybe next week.

• What are you working on now?
I’m working on a story about an Amish midwife who runs afoul of the law when a birth goes horribly wrong. It’s a tale of growth within a marriage, dealing with grief, and staying true to your convictions when the road becomes rocky. But it also includes a romance between two people no one would expect to fall in love. The title is Abigail’s New Hope and it will be released on March 1st, 2011.

• What books do you enjoy reading?
I enjoy reading romantic suspense and family sagas.

• Where can readers buy your book?
Reader’s can find Sarah’s Christmas Miracle at http://www.christianbook.com/ or www.barnesandnoble.com or from my publisher http://www.harvesthousepublishers.com/

• Where can readers find you online?
I hope readers will drop me a line at my blog: http://www.maryeellis.wordpress.com/