Writers Wednesday with Kelly Irvin

Congratulations to Tammy Bradford who won a copy of Isaiah’s Daughter! Please e-mail my assistant Christen (amy@triciagoyer.com) with your mailing address!

Enter below for a chance to win a copy of Kelly Irvin’s
Upon a Spring Breeze and Beneath the Summer Sun! 

Sharing about my workspace is embarrassing. At least it is for my husband, who’s an unrepentant neat freak. My office is an open room next to the front door. It’s the first room visitors see when they enter the foyer. The harder I work, the messier it becomes.

All the same, to know my office is to know me. Right now, it’s cluttered with boxes, books, and packing materials. In a ritual that kicks off each new year, I’m entering writing contests. Then there’s all the printed paperwork that is research for the two books I’m working on right now. Stacked by my computer are An Amish Cooks Across America cookbook, blurbs written by Amish scribes clipped from The Budget newspaper, and a fat folder of tax receipts I need to sort and cart to our accountant.

That clutter comes and goes. The items that are fixtures tell a story about Kelly Irvin, the person and the author. Let’s start on one side and work our way around. First is a needlepoint done by my daughter-in-law that features a typewriter and the words: “Careful or you’ll end up in my novel.” I was so touched she took time from her busy work schedule to make it for me. Above the needlepoint is a framed Don Burke photo of an Amish child given to me by a dear reader.

On the book shelf sits a framed photo of my husband Tim and me in Maui celebrating our twenty-fifth anniversary. It’s hard to believe that was five years ago. On the shelf above it is a painting that features the footprints of my granddaughter Brooklyn. Another shelf holds all my medical/health paperwork, reflecting the ups and downs of that journey.

Moving closer to the desk, we find my two favorite Bibles and my current devotional. After an English muffin and coffee for breakfast, I start my day reading Scripture and writing my thoughts in the My Year in the Bible journal. Next, it’s prayer time. Then I write.

Moving on, we see tons of books, mostly mysteries, but also children’s books, poetry, and books on writing. On the other side of my computer is a photo of my grandfather with my brother, Larry, as a toddler, wearing overalls, and sitting on Grandpa’s lap. Larry drowned in a boating accident in 1991.

More books. More photos of the grandkids. Family photos. On the far wall, a sign that reads, “Writer Highway.” Under it a sign that reads, “Amish Buggy Parking Only. Violators will have to walk.” Hanging above them is another needlepoint sewn by a reader that features an Amish couple chasing chickens. Worthy of mention are the two big windows. They’re important writing tools. I love watching the squirrels and birds outside and pondering.

It’s messy, but so is life. When I write here, I’m surrounded by reminders that I’m loved. I couldn’t be more at home or more blessed.

More about Beneath the Summer Sun by Kelly Irvin

It’s been four years since Jennie’s husband died in a farming accident. Long enough that the elders in her Amish community think it’s time to marry again for the sake of her seven children. What they don’t know is that grief isn’t holding her back from a new relationship. Fear is. A terrible secret in her past keeps her from moving forward.

Mennonite book salesman Nathan Walker stops by Jennie’s farm whenever he’s in the area. Despite years of conversation and dinners together, she never seems to relax around him. He knows he should move on, but something about her keeps drawing him back.

Meanwhile, Leo Graber nurtures a decades-long love for Jennie, but guilt plagues him—guilt for letting Jennie marry someone else and guilt for his father’s death on a hunting trip many years ago. How could anyone love him again—and how could he ever take a chance to love in return?

In this second book in the Every Amish Season series, three hearts try to discern God’s plan for the future—and find peace beneath the summer sun.

Purchase a copy
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Kelly Irvin is the author of more than a dozen Amish books. Her latest release is Upon a Spring Breeze, the first novel in the Every Amish Season series from Zondervan/HarperCollins Christian Publishing. She is also the author of the Amish of Bee County series that includes The Saddle Maker’s Son,  The Bishop’s Son and The Beekeeper’s Son. This last novel received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, calling it “a delicately woven masterpiece.” The Beekeeper’s Son was a finalist in the national 2016 ACFW Carol Awards Contest in the romance category.  Kelly is also the author of the Bliss Creek Amish series and the New Hope Amish series, both from Harvest House. She has also penned two romantic suspense novels, A Deadly Wilderness and No Child of Mine.

Among her other works are novellas in three collections, including An Amish Love, which released in September,  An Amish Christmas Gift (Snow Angels) and  An Amish Market (Sweeter than Honey).

Her novella, One Sweet Kiss, included in a novella collection, An Amish Summer, released in April 2017.

Kelly’s novel, Love Redeemed, was a 2015 finalist in the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Carol Awards contest.

The Kansas native is a graduate of the University of Kansas School of Journalism. She has been writing nonfiction professionally for more than thirty years, including ten years as a newspaper reporter. She retired in 2016 after working 22 years in public relations for the City of San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department. She is a member of ACFW and Alamo City Christian Fiction Writers. In her spare time, she blogs, reads fiction, and loves her family.

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