An Uncommon Grace (39 page)

9. You keep a journal on your website. Have you always kept a journal? Do you try to write every day?
I’ve kept a journal for most of my married life. I began it when I went on a mission trip and was afraid that if anything happened to me, my two-year-old son would never really know who I was, what I believed, or how much I loved him. It started out as a letter to him, and then I just never stopped. At last count, I had about fifteen notebooks I’ve filled to someday be read by my kids and grandkids.
   And yes, unless I am terribly ill, or there is a major family crisis, I do write every day. Some days I accomplish
more than others, but there are few days in which I don’t write at least a thousand words—which is approximately four to five pages.

10. Where is your favorite place to write? To read?
I don’t have a favorite place to write anymore. Over the years, I have trained myself to write anywhere, anyplace, and anytime. When my husband was very ill this past year, I wrote the biggest part of one novel on yellow legal pads beside his hospital bed. I recently told my sister that if necessary, I think I could write a chapter on a roll of toilet paper, with eyebrow pencil, in a crowded waiting room. She laughed, but I was serious.
   Favorite place to read? Absolutely the best place in the world to read is on my front porch, overlooking these gorgeous southern Ohio hills, with my sweet rescued hound dog lying next to me and a glass of iced tea close at hand. That’s my idea of heaven on earth. Actually, that’s a pretty sweet place to write, too.

11. What else are you working on? Can readers expect to hear more from Grace and Levi?
How could I possibly abandon Grace and Levi? The next Amish book will be a love story about two entirely different characters, but Grace and Levi will definitely show up. I don’t think it will be telling too much if I say that I intend to bring a very special man into the life of Levi’s valiant widowed mother.