Please Welcome Guest Blogger--Mary Ellis

My first book-signing by Mary Ellis

I often think back fondly of my very first book-signing.

I had just published a romantic suspense geared to the literary/library market. So the binding and packaging were top-notch—it would truly hold up to heavy wear-and-tear. And the cover photo was imbedded in the hardback cover, beneath the paper jacket. The only problem was the list price of $27.00 for an absolute “nobody” of a writer.

I was so tickled with getting published that I scheduled a signing at my local independent bookstore. (Borders and Barnes and Noble kept asking: Who did you say you were?) This was an adorable shop in a valley surrounded by ski slopes and quaint art galleries. Unfortunately, it is now out-of-business. I send out dozens of publicity postcards to my family, friends, neighbors and business acquaintances. I paid for ads in my local newspapers and tried every avenue of free publicity I could find.

The day of the event I wore my new dress and took extra time with hair and make-up. I brought a tray of cookies and fruit tarts from the nearby bakery. The store owner had a fire lit with a comfy armchair for me to greet my “fans.” And in they came—my neighbors, cousins, and coworkers at my day job. It was like a cocktail party minus the cocktails.

Everyone mingled and had a great time, including me. One hapless tourist wandered in and noticed the commotion. I spent fifteen minutes weaving an intriguing synopsis of my mystery. He kept thumbing through the book and nodding his head enthusiastically. Then suddenly he said: “Your book sounds good, but I’ll just check it out at the library.”And he disappeared out the door.

In the end, I didn’t sell a single copy to anyone who wasn’t related to me or knew me personally, but I did sell almost 30 books. When we were leaving with our empty desserttray, my husband said: “This obligates us to very nice wedding/shower/baby/graduation or whatever gifts to everyone for the rest of our lives.” But you know what? It was all worth it, because for one special afternoon I felt like an author instead of just a writer.

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Mary Ellis grew up close to an Amish settlement where she loved their peaceful agrarian lifestyle and strong sense of Christian community. She and her husband now live by the largest population of Amish in the country where they take weekend trips to research her books. Mary enjoys reading, traveling, gardening, bicycling and swimming. Before “retiring” to write full-time, Mary taught Middle School and worked as a sales rep for Hershey Chocolate—a job with amazingly sweet fringe benefits. All three in her Miller Family series made the Christian bestseller lists. A Widow’s Hope was a finalist in the 2010 ACFW Carol Awards and Award of Merit for the Holt Medallion. Her current release is An Amish Family Reunion.

Please leave a comment here on Seekerville for a chance to win a signed copy of An Amish Family Reunion.
And drop by her website and sign up for her future newsletter to win one of five free copies. Drawing will be held February 15th.
Find her on the web at: http://www.maryellis.net/
New website! http://www.maryeellis.wordpress.com/
And find her on FACEBOOK

Please welcome our guest Mary Ellis

Please welcome Mary Ellis to Seekerville. Mary Ellis and I (Mary Connealy) once spent about two hours in a...what was it, Mary E? A gigantic jar of Smucker's Jelly? Something sticky like that.

It was great fun and I loved getting to know her better. And now we welcome her to Seekerville.

Five Steps to a Simpler Writer’s Life

by Mary Ellis

#1 Schedule your time carefully. Make a weekly calendar so you don’t miss a doctor’s appointment, dance recital, or the neighborhood cookout. Keep certain times “off limits”. Don’t sign up for meetings, exercise classes, or volunteer work if it interferes with the family dinner hour, Sunday morning church services, or other events you hold sacred. Make sure each day includes personal time, whether it’s a solitary walk, devotional reading, or rocking in the porch swing. Figure out how to manage housework, yard work, bill paying, laundry, grocery shopping, etc. (a little every day, or one day for each task, etc.) Don’t allow Internet surfing, answering e-mail, chatting on the phone or texting to steal too much time. Set limits on “time-robbers” so your sense of serenity doesn’t suffer.

#2 Prioritize your tasks. If you work outside the home, discover ways to take care of errands during your workday, such as shopping for gifts on your lunch hour or chatting with mom during the commute. Shop for groceries and stop at post office or dry cleaner on your way home to present needless trips on your day off. If you work at home, treat it like a job—schedule working hours and stick to them. Otherwise you won’t get any truly “free time.” Regarding your social life…pick and choose carefully. Don’t feel you must accept every invitation, volunteer project or committee meeting. Learn to say “no” unless you truly wish to devote the time and energy.

#3 Multi-task, but only if it’s productive. The only time I dust is during phone calls. I check voicemail while walking the dog. I group errands into one trip to free up uninterrupted time for writing. But don’t make the mistake of balancing your checkbook during your son’s ballgame if he’s expecting you to watch him play. You will fail at both tasks. Be sure to allow “down time” every now and then to watch a sappy movie, read a book, or play a game of checkers with a child. If you’re feeling stressed, recharge your batteries.

#4 Lower your standards. I can live with weedy flowerbeds as long as my bathrooms are clean. I don’t like clutter but dust doesn’t bother me. I take store-bought brownies (dusted with powdered sugar) to parties so I can have time to write stories about women who love to cook. You can’t do it all. Repeat that as a mantra every morning. Give up the notion you can do it all and compete with the Food Channel gurus. But if cooking happens to be your pleasure, find another area to be mediocre in and don’t apologize.

#5 Release the outcome. Put your future in God’s hands instead of looking too far into the future. If you dwell on what you need to accomplish by the end of the week, month or year you’ll become discouraged. Like every monumental project we tackle, whether building our own house or hiking the Appalachian Trail, if we fully understood how arduous the task we would never begin. Create a schedule for yourself that accomplishes your goals in small increments and stick to it. Never compare yourself to others. Pray for guidance and then listen to your intuition. This is God talking to you. Invite Him to take the helm of your life. If your goals are part of God’s plan then you cannot fail…whether it’s climbing Mount Everest, learning to speak Japanese, or writing your first book.
Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for a copy of A Marriage for Meghan

A Marriage for Meghan

Fans of superb Amish fiction will welcome the rich and moving stories of The Wayne County series by Mary Ellis, the bestselling author of Abigail’s New Hope, Never Far from Home, and The Way to a Man’s Heart.


Meghan Yost is 19, bright, and eager to prove to her father, the bishop, that she’s mature enough to teach in the Old Order district. But just when Meghan gains confidence and assurance, a troubled student challenges her authority and a male suitor challenges her patience.

Life and love tensions escalate when a string of crimes threaten the Amish community, and handsome FBI agent Thomas Mast arrives to investigate.

Is there truth behind Meghan’s fear that she’s the cause for disruptions in the serene county? And is there true love behind her mixed feelings for Thomas, the outsider?

This is a timeless story of personal quests for hope, love, and enduring faith.
Buy A Marriage for Meghan HERE

Find Mary online at: http://maryeellis.wordpress.com/
Find her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Mary-Ellis/126995058236

Research for my Writing

By Mary EllisAh, research…the mere mention of the word causes stress in students from junior high age on up through graduate school. But research for a writer of Amish fiction is something quite different. I usually can’t wait to get away from my computer, check into my favorite bed & breakfast in Amish Country, and learn more about their culture. I know I’ll find gorgeous scenery, delicious meals, and friendly people eager to help. I usually come home from weekend trips with a trunk filled with homemade peanut butter, bulk seasonings, several kinds of cheese, and jars of pickled everything-under-the-sun.
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No bleary-eyed studying until dawn’s early light for this gal.

Since the main plot of The Way to a Man’s Heart involves a train car converted into a diner, I haunted rural restaurants, surreptitiously eavesdropping on waitresses over the top of my menu. I ate several times in the auction barn cafeteria, sampling daily specials and various pie recipes.

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Since I mess up brownies out of a box, I hired an Amish baker to invent the recipes that appear in my story. Her farm happens to be adjacent to the B&B where I stay. My husband and I were invited for dinner and pie-tasting so that I might choose the perfect pies for my story. What tribulation to be forced to eat three different versions of Chocolate Mousse Supreme! Her family (husband and all four children present) provided an experience that money can’t buy.
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Since one of my subplots involves a horse training facility, I attended several facilities and followed buyers and trainers around asking questions. It’s not my fault they assumed I was in the market to buy an expensive horse. I must say, jotting notes on a sunny morning, surrounded by magnificent four-legged beasts is far more enjoyable than surfing websites.
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Not that I don’t do plenty of online research too. For my second subplot, when Emma and her (non-Amish) husband convert to New Order, I studied the differences in practices and customs on the internet. Although I occasionally ask my Amish friends about their church services, I don’t want to become pesky or too invasive.
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To research Sarah’s Christmas Miracle, I visited the city where I attended college—but this time as an observer. I rode buses, trains, and subways, admired the city square and train station, hiked through neighborhoods hard hit by the foreclosure crisis, and walked the beach in winter. What fun to be a tourist in your own hometown, seeing things through fresh eyes.
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Writing books is very hard work. But doing the research for my summer releases, the only thing that suffered was my waistline.
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I'm giving away two free books--one of each summer release. Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing.