Kindred Spirits

On Friday I got a mid-day text from my mom. Are you on lunch break? Come on over. There is someone here who has read your book and wants to meet you.

You didn’t have to twist my arm. Instead of my usual half-a-mile walk to Mom and Dad’s, I hopped in the car and drove over. There sat a couple in my parent’s garage talking and laughing like they’d known each other for ages. I sat down to join in the fun.

“We’ve read your book and we love it.” Let me be clear–I will never tire of hearing those words. In fact, this interaction will likely fill my tank for a while. How did these folks even hear about my book?

The woman piped in. “I’m the daughter of your grandparents’ dear friends. I knew them well.”

The man added. “My grandpa was at the Bible study Jake held in his shop. I think you wrote him to be Malon in your story.”

If you’ve read Into the Promised Land, you know Malon was the preacher who boldly stood up to the Bishop.

I looked at him–needing to tell the truth. “I completely made Malon up in my head when I wrote him.”

“Not made up for me. You nailed it, just like it happened.”

Again, another confirmation that despite my shortcomings and sometimes lack of information, the Lord somehow miraculously made it right.

Mom filled in the blanks to my missing questions. “They were in the community shopping the garage sales. Your dad showed them his paintings, and the last name caught their attention. There kids live in Nolensville, and they are moving to the area.”

Here they sat, a tangible thread to my history. We visited for close to an hour until I had to go back to work.

Us Mennonites call this “The Mennonite Game.” Meeting people in the wild, you can connect to other people in your family or church. However, there is something underneath it all that runs deeper–a shared understanding of where you come from. Perhaps even the shared trauma of religious persecution our forefathers went through that brought them to the United States.

What is the best way to quantify all this shared history? It’s the river that flows underneath all our relationships and nourishes them.

The word most people would use is community, but I like to think of it as kindred spirits.

In Writing News:

I’ve hit 30 reviews on Amazon and 20 on Goodreads, and 3 on Masthof. I have a goal of 50 on all three – Have you read Into the Promised Land? If so would you consider giving me a review? Not only is it encouraging to hear your words but it helps the book get seen out there on the interwebs. Here are the links to all three.

Amazon

Goodreads

Masthof

At the end of March I had my first book signing in Hartville. Thank you to everyone who came out and showed their support. I was overwhelmed by the response!

Screenshot

I’ve officially started the edits on The Weight of Mercy. Drafting is my favorite, followed by editing-this time around I am having fun deepening the characters and adding in the little touches that make a story sing. My next pass through will be more line level edits and I’m hoping to have that done by mid-summer so I can get it into the hands of a few beta readers. If you would like to be a beta reader: respond to this email and I’ll put you on the list. What is a beta reader you may ask? A beta reader is someone who reads your manuscript before publication and gives you feedback from a reader’s perspective—not an editor’s.

I’ve started recording the audiobook of Into the Promised Land. It’s been a learning curve but I’m excited about the finished product. It will be the first true Indie project I’ve taken on. Looking to release in June.

These two projects are taking up most of my writing time but I hope to start a Christmas novella sometime this summer that I can offer free to my newsletter subscribers! So stay tuned.

If you’d like to follow along for daily updates- check out my Instagram page. @sarahheatwole.author

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