This week I’m hosting Ann H. Gabhart with Murder at the Courthouse (worldwide), Lee Tobin McClain with Loves Gift ($10 Amazon gift card US only), and Marta Perry with When Secrets Strike (North America only). If you want to enter the drawings for any of these books, please leave a comment on your post with your email address. I will not enter you without an email address (my way to contact you if you win). If you don’t want to leave an email address, another way you can enter is to email me at margaretdaley@gmail.com. The drawings end Sunday (October 18th) evening.
Interview with the heroine from When Secrets Strike by Marta Perry
1. Sarah Bitler, tell me the most interesting thing about you.
I don’t know that I’m very interesting, but I guess I’m a little unusual for an Amish woman in that I’m nearly thirty and not married—what we call a “maidal.” It’s not that I didn’t want to marry, but the man I cared about married someone else. Still, I’m luckier than most, because with help from family and friends, I was able to start a quilt shop, where I can spend my days doing one of the things I love most and introducing other people to the joy and skill of Amish quilts.
2. What do you do for fun?
Fun for me is doing things with my family and friends. Even if it’s a work frolic, it’s still fun because we’re working together, sharing laughter and stories and appreciating each other.
3. What do you put off doing because you dread it?
The most difficult thing for me is to venture into the outside world and try to deal with people who don’t understand the Amish. I’ve never been good at speaking up for myself. But I’ve learned that I can’t run a business without being willing to try, even when it’s uncomfortable!
4. What are you afraid of most in life?
I’ve always been afraid of showing my feelings, thinking that if I do, I’ll embarrass myself and others. Maybe that’s why the man I loved married someone else. Being humble, putting others first—that’s all part of being Amish, ain’t so?
5. What do you want out of life?
I love the life I have, but still I dream of someday having a husband and children. If that’s not in God’s plan for me, I’ll accept.
6. What is the most important thing to you?
Family and faith are most important, along with good friends and satisfying work to do.
7. Do you read books? If so, what is your favorite type of book?
I have a big library of quilting books, and I can never resist a new one. I tell myself I need them for my customers, but I’m always the first to read!
8. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would like to be more confident, like my Englisch partner in the quilt shop, Allison. She keeps insisting I can change, but I’m not so sure.
9. Do you have a pet? If so, what is it and why that pet?
Growing up on a farm, I used to make a pet out of all kinds of creatures, even a chicken once! But now that I’m grown, I leave that to the little ones.
10. If you could travel back in time, where would you go and why?
Sometimes I’ve thought it would be interesting to see what life was like for those first faithful families who came to the new world so that they could serve God in the way they thought right. They faced such daunting challenges—mine seem small in comparison.
