Sarah Price's Blog, page 6

CHECK OUT MY CHRISTMAS NOVELS ON AMAZON

I don’t normally push my books to my blog readers which, considering selling books is how I earn a living, I probably should do so more. HA HA.  But I like to share other ideas and thoughts with everyone, engage in conversation and discussions.

Well, in the spirit of Christmas, I thought I’d share my thoughts on Christmas novels.

First of all, I really love writing Amish fiction and, as some of you may know, I love adding twists and turns into my stories. Just today, I finished writing NEXT year’s Christmas novel and submitted it to my editor. (input CHEERS and APPLAUSE). Of all my Christmas novels, it was THE. HARDEST. TO. WRITE. Literally, I rewrote it THREE TIMES and was late getting it to my editor.

I cried a lot over this book. Mostly because I was ready for it to be over…I have SOOOO many other books brewing in my mind. This book, however, was super sweet and fun, uplifting and joyful, and sooooo full of romance. And for some reason, I had a tough time.  Go figure.

Ironically, when I wrote my other Christmas novels, they flowed so easily. In fact, A Christmas Gift for Rebecca was so easy to write because I saw the entire sweet romance take place in my mind–that internal movie theatre I was blessed with. The Amish Christmas Letters’ sassy Katie Mae Kauffman made the story entertaining for me to write! I love a little gal with some sass (HMMMMM…I wonder why??????)

Plain Christmas was fun because I got to revisit Amanda and Alejandro from my famous Plain Fame series. It was eight years since I last left them and…YES…I’m considering a Plain Choice sequel in 2020.

What makes a Christmas novel so special to write and to read? Well, obviously I want to entertain you (and, hopefully, cry a little). But it’s also about that time of year where God gave us the ultimate gift: HIS SON. To write a Christmas novel, something has to happen that mirrors that gift, a gift that spoke of hopes and dreams and never-ending love.

I hope you will read some of my Christmas books, books that you might not have read yet. And follow me on Facebook as I’ll be announcing a Christmas contest based on these books.  

The post Ho Ho Ho Holidays! appeared first on Sarah Price.

Many of you follow my antics on Facebook…namely my life with Cat and the mustangs. If you do, you know that there is never a dull moment living on a 30-acres horse ranch and taking care of 22 horses, 17 of which are mustangs who like to play by their own rules (translation: escape the property, break fence boards, party in the pastures, ha ha).

Well, did you know that I started a series loosely based on her?  I have to say that…loosely based on her so that she doesn’t flip out on me (but there are a lot of funny stories in the book that ~cough cough~ actually happened).

In 2019, I will be releasing the second book in the Cowgirl Cat series, Rodeo Rage. In the meantime, now is the perfect time to pick up a copy of the first book, appropriately named Cowgirl Cat. It’s available for Kindle and in paperback. And it’s a GREAT Christmas gift for the young reader in your life.

Now, while I have your attention, would you be so kind as to do a little favor for me?

Somehow, Cat became a finalist for a very big sponsor: Kimes Ranch.  We were both really surprised when we learned about it…she didn’t expect it and I knew nothing about it (which is how we got into this mustang business in the first place but THAT’S another blog…or book).

Apparently, she was selected out of a record number of applicants and is now one of 15 finalists.  Now it’s up to online voting.

If you agree that Cat would be a great role model for other young people, perhaps you would take a quick second to vote “Cat Zimmerman” at  https://www.kimesranch.com/sponsorship-2019.  And if you are super de duper enthusiastic about it, feel free to recruit some other friends or family members to do the same. Being awarded this sponsorship would help Cat with her mission to educate people—especially youth–about mustangs.

It literally takes about two seconds to fill out. That would be a wonderful “gift” for both of us.  

I can’t believe that it has been almost a month since I last blogged.  Now, Thanksgiving is just days away.

I’d love to say that I’m looking forward to the holiday season…but that wouldn’t be true. I wish the holidays didn’t have so much pressure associated with them.

Fortunately, this year, there is NO pressure on me for Thanksgiving. My house is a total disaster with no hope of being fixed. We have a pending kitchen renovation that has spilled over to the main living area–30+ cabinets are sitting there waiting to be installed. Can’t fix that before Thursday–HA HA.

We are having a great Thanksgiving feast…OUTSIDE!!…with neighbors, friends, Marc, and the kids. And my parents are driving up from south Florida, too. Yes, I finally have my entire family to myself for Thanksgiving. Two years in a row…dare I suggest it’s a new tradition?????

It’s been a long few days…no, weeks. Actually, make that a year.

One year ago, Cat and I journeyed to Florida for the winter. We wound up moving here permanently. Thankfully, I have the most amazing husband who understands why we need to be here and is willing to commute.

For the past few years, usually around this time, I have a conversation with Cat. Sometimes she gets discouraged, wondering how she is doing…or even what she is doing with her life. Usually we talk about where she was twelve months ago and how far she has come in that time period.

The past twelve months have been an amazing learning curve for both of us. We came down to Florida with hopes and dreams. In some regards, she has far surpassed anything that she could have dreamed of. What she has learned about training wild mustangs has skyrocketed. We arrived with four personal mustangs: Monche, Bella, Minnie, and Malibu. We also had two rescues, mustangs who were abandoned in Connecticut. Today, we have 17 mustangs on the property (plus three minis and two non-mustang horses). She trains all of those horses and cares for them—basically by herself because, let’s face it, I’m not a great horse person beyond loving them so much! And Cat has retrained and re-homed three abandoned mustangs.

I’m proud of Cat and all that she’s doing. She’s an original, that’s for certain. A truly good person.

In today’s world, however, good people are hard to find. We are fortunate to have good friends and neighbors down here. And I still have my circle of good people up north, too. But if you turn to social media, it’s easy to find people who are manipulators, users, simply not kind…people who will smile at you but secretly wish that you fail.

Personally, I believe that this generation needs a major overhaul. There is such a sense of entitlement and lack of personal responsibility among many people. I see it all the time—people who make an awful lot of presumptions, believing that they are owed things, including success. Often rules do not apply to these people. Some of the younger people believe their parents should sacrifice everything while older people—especially parents! –get angry when others succeed.

It’s a crooked generation who believes these things.

The world needs more good people. I’m fearful that many parents are raising children who are unappreciative and ungrateful, children who use and manipulate other people so that they can succeed. Where will that lead us in the future? How do they judge success anyway? By how many people they hurt…including themselves in the long run? What do they think when they look in the mirror at night? Do they see the truth or are they blinded by their own deception?

I’m glad that I saved my daughter from being a part of a “crooked” generation. Today, she’s surrounded by good, caring people…people that help us and we, in turn, help them. We support each other and have a true family of good friends across the country. To me, that is the most success anyone could ask for…and helping a few mustangs along the way is just an added bonus.

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The post Acts 2:40 appeared first on Sarah Price.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know that I used to do daily live-streams on my author page (http://www.facebook.com/fansofsarahprice).  Around Easter, I stopped. There was a reason for that and it had to do with Facebook itself.

You see, Facebook changed their algorithm for how people who follow my page get to see my page. You’d think that it would show up in newsfeed automatically but not anymore. I’m not 100% certain but it appears that it only shows up if you, the viewer, select SHOW THIS FIRST…unless I pay for advertising.

Anyway, I was increasingly disheartened by the diminishing viewers–to no fault of the viewers but because it felt as if the videos were being held hostage unless I paid advertising dollars so that it would show up in people’s newsfeed. I did some research and found a very valid reason for the downturn in my content showing up in people’s newsfeed: There’s simply too much content being published on Facebook, making visibility in the News Feed increasingly competitive. And a lot of those people are posting advertising posts (i.e. BUY MY BOOK! TRY MY PRODUCT! DOWNLOAD MY SONG! etc.) which isn’t what Facebook is about. So for pages with large followings, approximately 2% of the people who LIKE that page might actually see my content.

TWO PERCENT! That’s not very much. Eventually, one article I read said that pages might find 0% of people who like my page will see my content.

Believe me, I love Facebook. It totally embraces social activity among people. I love the way people can connect with each other. That’s what it is about: CONNECTIONS. I totally understand why Facebook is doing this–they have to make money somehow in order to provide their great services.  Unfortunately, with the downturn of book sales (due to the increase in .99 cent novels flooding the marketplace), I’m just not in a position to boost every post, especially my inspirational live stream videos. I created a private group for my super loyal readers because groups show up in newsfeed. However, for some weird reason, I cannot access my groups via my iPhone so it’s been hard for me to stay in touch with everyone there.

Anyway, with all of that explained, here is the good news.  I’ve realized how much I miss those daily live-streams so I’ve decided to start doing them again. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to “boost” video posts so if you want to see those videos in your newsfeed, you will have to not just LIKE the page but FOLLOW the page and select SEE FIRST:

Even then, you might have to proactively seek it out.  I’m terribly sorry about that. However, the more you LIKE and COMMENT on the videos, the more likely Facebook will show my posts in your newsfeed.

The post Return of the Live Stream! appeared first on Sarah Price.

I’m sitting outside, waiting for the sun to rise and listing to coyotes “bark” in the distance. Our rooster us starting to crow—he’s up early, too. Rain is dripping from the leaves overhead and everything is a bluish black color.

It suits my mood.

Weve has a string of rainy days…no, weeks. And I don’t mean weather.

Besides the fact that we started our not-for-profit mustang rescue and retraining center, we’ve been hit with sick horses—Bella, Essie, Mustang Charlie (client’s horse), Rosie, Izzy, Tilly, and Digby. Each horse had something unusual happen, especially for the new arrivals —mastitis, colic, stomach upset, etc. Nothing WE did, just a string of bad luck.

And then my little dog Tobi was nearly killed.

Through it all, we’ve worked and struggled to care for these animals and (thank you God and great but expensive vet care) with 100% success.  That says A LOT about my daughter who got up multiple times each night to administer medicine and change bandages and check on horses.

It has been a lot of rainy days for us. And yet there are glimmers of sunshine. Cat has rehomed four mustangs to amazing people. She’s continued her training AND her learning. She has worked with multiple clients’ horses, helping to work out little and sometimes big problems so that owner and horse could reconnect. I’m proud of all she has done as she continues her mission of educating people about the magnificent American Mustang.

And I continue to write so that I can fund this initiative. And yet the book industry has changed. I find that disheartening. After ten months of working on Mending Fences, I’ve noticed fewer preorders and way fewer sales.

I suspect it’s because I priced it at $3.99 and not .99 cents.  That makes me sad—that my work is not valuable enough to be worth four dollars.

When I self-publish, I have to pay for editors and cover designers. I also have to pay for electricity and food and water. If I publish a book for $2.99 or less, the publisher (Amazon) keeps 70%.  I’d have to sell 2000 copies to break even on the editors and cover designers—never mind the cost of basic survival during the ten months I wrote the book. Over $2.99, the percentages flip. Yay for that!

But people are less likely to buy higher priced eBooks. So it’s becoming a losing financial proposition for authors.

What happens?

Authors have two choices. They can either short change their readers and pump out poorly written and poorly edited books with bad story lines—what many readers see with the bombardment of “fake” authors who churn out dozens of “books”, flooding the market and diluting the pool for a quick buck or starve.

I cannot starve and I cannot lower my standards. I’m faced with deciding whether writing is worth it. The amount of time I spend writing a book is worth more than thirty cents in my pocket which doesn’t cover my expenses.

When authors publish via traditional publishers, we get into bookstores but earn even less money per book and get paid twice a year. Can you imagine having a paycheck arrive twice a year? Even worse, you have no idea how much it will be! Often it’s for a lot less than you’d imagine.

Is the end near?

It’s up to you, dear readers. You can help by recognizing the value for good books and spreading the word. Not just for me but for all the quality authors out there. I know I am not the only one who is struggling. Many great authors still work full-time jobs because of this very reason while the “authors” who don’t care about the Amish or writing—just the quick buck—ruin it for the authors who value a great story with great writing about a culture and religion we love.

It is up to you. Which would you prefer?

The sun is finally up. Time to start my day. Hopefully it’s bright and sunny and the rain disappears a little today…

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The post Rainy Days appeared first on Sarah Price.

For the second time that week, the cows broke through the fence.

Jane realized it as soon as she walked to the gate after her father had asked her to bring in the cows for the afternoon milking. Usually they were waiting near the dairy barn, their udders full and pink. But today, the herd looked smaller than usual. Jane walked partway into the paddock, her eyes scanning the fenced in field, hoping that, mayhems this time the cows were hidden behind the thick bushes near the border of the far fence line.

But they weren’t.

“Oh help,” Jane mumbled as she lifted the hem of her dress and made her way along the muddy path the cows had beaten down throughout the years. The holes in her Crocs did nothing to protect her feet from the mud and she cringed. If there was one thing she hated more than wayward cows, it was wet mud on her feet.

She examined the fence line and quickly found the spot where the cows had broken through. Right near the crest of the gently sloping hill that separated the property from their neighbors. It was the exact spot the cows had broken through earlier that month. The wire between the two fence posts must have been repaired rather than replaced. Clearly their neighbor, Old Man Coblentz, hadn’t done it properly the last time. Cows being smarter than people gave them credit for, they must have remembered where they had broken through before, she thought.

The cows sure were making a habit of trying to get to the other side of the fencing where the grass grew greener since Old Man Coblentz didn’t graze his cows there.

Muttering under her breath, Jane stooped down and climbed through the opening. She covered her eyes with her hand, shielding them from the bright August sun. The herd was well into the field this time. Old Man Coblentz would be furious. And Jane didn’t feel like getting an earful today. The last time the cows had broken through, Coblentz had screamed and yelled, threatening to go to the bishop if the Millers didn’t fix the fence that very day. He also coaxed her father into fixing some of his own fencing that needed of repair, and milking his cows.

Jane hadn’t thought that was fair. It was Coblentz’s fencing after all, not her father’s. But her father hadn’t even blinked an eye.

“No worries, Coblentz,” Joshua had said. “I’d be more than happy to lend a hand.”

Jane had tried to protest—they had their own cows to milk yet!—but her father silenced her with a look of reproach as he went about mending the fence before walking down the slope toward the dairy barn to help Coblentz with his herd.

Later that evening, as the three of them were eating supper, Jane had shared the details with her mother. When she got to the point in the story about the cow milking request, her father had set down his fork and faced her, a compassionate expression on his face.

“Old Man Coblentz lives alone, Jane,” he had said. “You know his only son died and he has no one to help him with chores. Serving him is the right thing to do.”

Even her mother chimed in. “Love one’s neighbors, Jane, isn’t that so, Joshua?”

“Even the cranky ones?” Jane asked.

Her father suppressed a smile at her question. “Especially the cranky ones.”

Still, Jane didn’t feel like being berated and tricked into doing Coblentz’s chores, old man or not! She had a lot of her own work to do that evening. It was Saturday and tomorrow the family needed to get up early to head over to Jacob Mast’s farm where worship was being held. Jane still needed to finish her weeding, help her mother with supper, and take a shower before bedtime.

Sighing, she approached the herd of Holstein cows. They eyed her suspiciously as if they knew what she wanted—and they certainly weren’t eager to comply. No wonder, Jane thought, as she looked around. Most of Coblentz’s pasture was still long and a luscious green color, unlike her father’s pasture where the grass was chewed down to stubs and patches of dry dirt were plentiful.

Old Man Coblentz had a larger farm than her father and, since he didn’t harvest corn anymore, he had plenty of paddock space for his cows to graze. He grew hay in some of the fields, like this one, and fresh, green hay was clearly too enticing for her father’s cows to stay put on the right side of the property line.

Coblentz would be furious, for sure and certain, when he saw what the cows had done to his hayfield.

The post EXCERPT: Mending Fences Chapter 1 appeared first on Sarah Price.

On August 28, my latest release, Mending Fences, An Amish Adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, will be published on Amazon as an eBook.

I began writing this novel about eighteen months ago for a publisher, but after a little bit of back and forth, I decided to self-publish it. That’s good news…otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this book for another 12+ months!

Anyway, I love this story because (surprise, surprise) it’s different. There are twists and turns in the romantic plot, although it stays somewhat true to the original Romeo and Juliet (minus the fighting and poisoning…we like happy books after all). And there is a happy ending…but one that you will not see coming.

I suppose that’s my favorite part of writing–telling a story that is different as well as entertaining. I cannot tell you how often I read romance novels and it’s the same old predictable stuff: woman meets man, they hate each other, they fall in love, there’s a miscommunication, they fight, he saves her, they kiss, the end.

YAWN!

SIDE NOTE: Obviously that’s storyline is not Amish genre, ha ha.  In case you didn’t know, I love Regency romances.  As for Amish romances, I stick to my favorite authors (aka Amish Fiction Authors) because I know that those authors are good storytellers and good writers! Nothing is worse than picking up a book, reading it and wanting to burn it right away. If you want great Amish books, check out Amish Fiction Authors website.

So Mending Fences focuses on a dispute between two families. Of course, being that it’s set in the Amish community, the family dispute is nothing near as drastic as in Shakespeare’s play. But there is plenty of romance and a little bit of mystery that should keep you on the edge of your seat.

If you’d like to preorder it, you can do that by clicking here to visit Amazon.  Hopefully a paperback will come out shortly via a publisher. If not, I’ll have one ready for you before Christmas.

Happy Reading!!!!!

The post Mending Fences appeared first on Sarah Price.

This past week, I’ve been in New Jersey. It’s been a stealth trip where I have literally locked myself in my office and worked. I think I’ve gone downstairs a total of five times and left the house only once for an anniversary dinner with Marc and my parents (8 years for us, 58 for them). I’m catching up on much needed sleep, writing, blogging, and fixing some other little things on my websites. It’s a work-cation. But quiet. OH SO QUIET. No dogs barking. No birds screaming. No Cat freaking out because she saw a spider (seriously…she FREAKS OUT). It’s just a little slice of heaven here locked in my office.

Life down in Florida on the horse ranch is a lot of work. There is no such thing as a regular day or routine. a perfect example is last night. My daughter Cat went to check on something and the three mini-horses escaped from their paddock into the big horse paddock.  When gates aren’t shut properly, those mini-horses sure do know how to mastermind jail breaks! ha ha

You’d think that would be enough but no…

Half an hour later, Cat calls me because Malibu, my troublemaker mustang, not only figured out how to get through a fence that had been cut and fixed, but jumped over barb wire into the neighbor’s yard.  Down in the country where we live, neighbors aren’t on the other side of your driveway. They are far enough away that I’ve never met these people (although they have some mean looking dogs). Thankfully, Kacey–our neighbor who lives closer–helped Cat rescue the horse who did the walk of shame down the road and back onto our property.

The ironic thing is that you’d think country life would be quiet and city life would be crazy. It’s completely the opposite.

Chaos has always been okay with me. I like change. I like energy. I like activity. However, I’d like a little less of it, I think. I’d like a little more tranquility on the farm, just like the Amish have. Now I understand why their barn might not be the most tidy or they don’t groom their horses every single day. Of course, they get accused of being dirty and animal abusers (rolling my eyes), but it doesn’t impact their life. They live their life at a slower pace instead of having to deal with appearances.

Maybe that’s the attitude I need to adopt. Maybe I won’t mow the yard (20+ acres) each week or weed whack, a chore I detest. Maybe it’s OKAY if a few things slip a bit as long as the horses are cared for.

Hmmmm….something to consider as I get ready to fly back to Florida tomorrow….

The post Farm Life vs. City Life appeared first on Sarah Price.

Two words you wouldn’t normally think of seeing in the same sentence: drugs and Amish. Unfortunately, it’s true. The Amish do have issues with drug abuse among their members.

One time, many years ago, when I was staying with my friend Katie in Lancaster County, PA, she was telling me about some of the issues with drug use among the youth. When I expressed my surprise, she laughed at me.

“Well, Sarah, don’t you think our youth are as curious as your youth?”

While it’s true that Amish youth are first and foremost people, I never really gave much consideration to drug use among them. I mean…their AMISH, right?

Well, fast forward many years and I’ve learned that there are many Amish youth who take their rumschpringe a bit too far. Just recently, I watched the Devil’s Playground, a documentary about the Amish and addiction made by National Geographic. One of the interviews that stuck with me was a young man saying “The Amish throw the wildest, best parties.”

Yikes! That’s not something you read about too often in the sweet Amish romances on Amazon.

Just last week, I published my book, Shattered Mirror. So far, the reviews are rather favorable. What is even more interesting to me is how many people have emailed me, sharing their own stories about addiction in their families. It’s so prevalent and yet we all seem to want to turn a blind eye to it.

I know that many of my readers tend to avoid other genres besides Amish fiction. But I’m encouraging you to read this novel, Shattered Mirror. It sheds light on so many things regarding addiction and the pain that families go through. It doesn’t matter if that family is Amish or Englische, the message hits home.

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