Posted by Kathleen Pooler/@kathypooler with Shirley Showalter/@shirleyhs
” We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow man.” Herman Melville
I am thrilled to feature Shirley Showalter in this guest post on her new memoir, Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World. Shirley and I met online several years ago and have been following each other ever since. Her blog is an excellent writing resource as a well as a source of ongoing inspiration and motivation for writers.
On June 4, 2013, 100 days before her book publication,she launched “The 100-day Challenge”, inviting her readers to participate in a “New Beginnings Challenge” where we shared a new beginning we had experienced each day. In doing so , she led us all gently , yet enthusiastically by the hand into her own personal journey to publication.
My reviews of Blush can be found on Amazon and Goodreads
Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World Book Cover
Excerpt of Book Description from the back cover:
“Little Shirley Hershey grew up in a plain Mennonite home, yet she was named for a movie star. With her nose pressed to the window of the glittering world, she felt intensely the gap that existed in the 1950s and 60s between Mennonites and the larger world. This is a story of how a rosy-cheeked, barefoot Mennonite farm girl prepared to enter the glittering world and learned to do it on her own terms.”
Welcome , Shirley!
A Chance Encounter…
Do you believe in divine providence? Or in destiny?
Here’s an author/reader story that confirms my belief in both.
My husband picked a surprise destination for our 44th wedding anniversary: Tangier Island. To get there, we traveled by boat—the Chesapeake Breeze ferry. By chance we met another couple. Eventually the topic of my book entered the conversation.
I discovered that the woman in our shipmate couple loved to travel to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the setting for most Amish and Mennonite romances, and that she was one of the millions of readers of fiction depicting this subculture. Like many of those readers, she identified herself as an evangelical Christian.
I was very excited to meet her, because I wanted to know if the interest in Anabaptist (a term that includes both Amish and Mennonite) fiction translates into an interest in Anabaptist memoir. In my new friend’s case it did! She has ordered two copies of Blush, and I plan to autograph them before my publisher sends them to her. She should have them by the time you read this story.
Background: I had read my first Amish romance novel as I prepared to launch my childhood memoir Blush: A Mennonite Girl Meets a Glittering World.
I chose Harvest of Hearts by Laura V. Hilton. The plot consists of a romance between a “drop-dead-gorgeous Amish man” Matthew Yoder and an Amish girl runaway Shanna Stoltzfus, who has to eventually choose where her true home is.
I chose this book because the Amish Fiction Group on Goodreads made it their selection. In my own youth I enjoyed Christian fiction, especially romance, so I understand the appeal of a love story that confirms one’s own belief system yet offers an intriguing window into a different culture – and enough conflict to make the pulse quicken.
In the year 2012 there were 85 Amish romances published, most of them to an excited, loyal readership. Valerie Weaver Zercher’s book Thrill of the Chaste explains the amazing growth of this publishing phenomenon. I carried Amish memoirist Saloma Miller Furlong’s review of this book on my blog, and a stimulating conversation ensued.
One of the many reasons I wrote Blush is that for a long time I felt a connection between the story of my childhood and the longing that brings tourists to Lancaster County (and to a half dozen other Mennonite and Amish communities, mostly in the East and Midwest). I described that longing as an element of finding my own voice as a writer in this post on Susan Weidener’s blog:
Writing to Find Authentic Voice
Now here’s the truly amazing part of this story. I was taking a course from marketing expert Dan Blank: Master Class :Roadmap to Readers at the time of this trip to Tangier Island. He had asked all of us writers to describe our ideal reader.
I had just constructed this picture of “Rachel,” my ideal reader.
Now, here in front of me was a “Rachel.” She was a woman I knew I would enjoy getting to know better. As she reads and responds to my memoir, this is what I hope to learn:
- Where were you moved, inspired, challenged as you read?
- Who else might enjoy this book?
- Where do those people congregate?
- Will you help me connect with them?
Was meeting “Rachel” on the boat to Tangier a chance encounter or was it God having fun, stirring up a few waves in the Chesapeake?
You decide.
I know what my answer is.
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Author Bio: Shirley Hershey Showalter grew up on a Mennonite family farm near Lititz, Pennsylvania. The first person in her family to go to college, she eventually became the first woman president of Goshen College in Indiana. After six years as an executive at the Fetzer Institute, Kalamazoo, Michigan, she became a full-time writer living in Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Shirley can be reached at:
Twitter @Shirleyhs.
Her Facebook fan page : https://www.facebook.com/ShirleyHersheyShowalter.
Her Google + profile is here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/117720879252864367816/about
Her website
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Thank you Shirley for transporting us into your publishing journey as well as into your “real -life plain life.” You have shown us how connecting with your purpose for writing helped you find your readers.
How about you? Who is your ideal reader? Have you ever had a chance encounter that changed your life as a writer? Do tell!
Shirley has graciously offered to give away a copy of Blush to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
We’d love to hear from you. Please leave your comments below~
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Stay Tuned: Every Friday in October Memoir Author, Coach, Editor Denis Ledoux of The Memoir Network will present four posts on Memoir Writing Tips in preparation for “November is Life Writing Month”
10/4: Action is Essential in Memoir Writing
10/11: Describing Characters in Memoir Can Be Easy
10/18: Establish Your Setting
10/25: Conveying Theme Effectively
Denis has generously offered to give away his Memoir Starter Package at the end of the series to a commenter whose name will be selected in a random drawing.
Next Week:
Monday, October 7: I will be participating in The Memoir Network Blog Carnival with “What Memoir Writers Have in Common with Sculptors.”
Wednesday, October 9: Memoir Author Paige Strickland will discuss ” How I Found my Memoir While Searching For My Roots” in conjunction with the release of her memoir, Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity.
Friday, October 11: Memoir Writing Tips byDenis Ledoux as above.
I look forward to this book. I guess, for most of us, Amish and Mennonite seem so mysterious.
Belinda, thanks for this observation. I’m so interested in your response after you read the book. I hope you feel connected to at least one Mennonite life through the “thousand fibers” that connect all of us to each other. It’s so much fun to listen to readers say where and how my book connects to THEIR stories.
Belinda, I know you will enjoy Shirley’s memoir. She gives us a window into her culture while also striking a universal chord about finding our way in the world. Thanks so much for stopping by.
I am excited to read your book because I live where there is a large community of Amish. I love learning about other people’s lives!
I believe like you, but my language is different. I say I am guided by the angels to the most amazing things that will help me when I am struggling. It seems to happen even more since I was in a car accident and suffered a brain injury – I have no idea why, don’t need to know why, because I’m so grateful!!!
Louise, thanks for sharing your own spiritual language. Blessings on your life. And I hope this story of one Mennonite life will help you understand more about the Amish in your home community. The glossary in the back is intended especially for people like you!
Oh, Louise, gratitude is a beautiful thing and you share your gifts so freely so we all can benefit from your wisdom. Shirley’s memoir will bring you right into her Mennonite world and keep you suspended until the end. Enjoy! And thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
I look forward to reading your book, Shirley. Kudos on a great book trailer. It drew me right into your story, your life and your experiences.
Like the others who commented so far, I grew up near an Amish community in central Illinois. The Amish were mysterious to me as I saw them outside their homes with no electricity or other modern-day conveniences (or were those trappings?). I was attracted to that simpler lifestyle, and still am. At the same time, I wondered if the children longed for what I had or was able to do that they could not.
Bless you for capturing your experiences for us in Blush. I truly look forward to reading your memoir. Thanks!
Hi, Debra! Good to see you here. There is beauty in simplicity, and many Amish families enjoy it. We can all become more simple or more plain on the inside, however, even if we are not plain on the outside.
I’m honored that you want to read Blush, and I hope it will bless your life.
Debra, thanks very much for stopping by and commenting. I agree with you about longing for a simpler lifestyle. Shirley has something for all of us in her memoir and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.
It is on my “to read” list! Sounds like an interesting story about a culture most of us know very little about. Best of everything! P.
Paige, Blush is a fascinating glimpse into the Mennonite culture and I know you will enjoy reading it. Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to featuring you next week. And congratulations on the recent release of your memoir,Akin to the Truth: A Memoir of Adoption and Identity.
Paige, I’m so glad for your interest. And all the best on your own recently released memoir. Glad you will be here in this hospitable space soon.
And an artist too. Golly, Shirley, is there no end to your talents? Cliff says, “You have great potential as a student in my art class.” % – )
Seriously, I am happy that Stuart took over the reins to help you celebrate before you go on to the next big thing!
I think ideal readers, like Louise, “love learning about other people’s lives! That’s the crux of why memoir sells.
Also, I’ll have to check into the resources above: Memoir coach, Denis Ledoux and the marketing conference by Dan Blank.
Again, thanks, Shirley and Kathy, for the helpful bread crumbs you both sprinkle on the path to publishing.
Hi Marian. Welcome! It’s so nice to have you stop by and share your lovely thoughts. I agree, Shirley does have a great potential as an artist. “Rachel” is spot-on! Seriously, we can all learn from her story of finding a reader. Mostly, knowing who you are looking for helps you know them when you see them. I hope you do check out both Dan Blank and Denis Ledoux. They are both excellent resources for writers. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Ha! I feel a little like Walter Mitty these days. Last week I got to share the stage with a real actor, Ted Swartz, and thus fulfilled one fantasy of being an actress like my unusual Mennonite mother had been. Now Cliff is encouraging me with my art. 🙂 Unbeknownst to him, that’s another unfulfilled dream. If he were closer geographically, I’d enroll in his class.
It’s a privilege to share what we’ve learned along the way, Marian. I suggest you come back here to Kathy’s blog often. She always has great “crumbs” to share.
What a great story, Shirley! There are no accidents . . . I’d say you were open to the divine connections among us all.
Hi Richard, Welcome and thanks for stopping by. I agree, Shirley definitely showed us how being open to “divine connections” can be fruitful.
I was indeed open, Richard, and once again the joke was on me. It seems we have to “getaway” sometimes in order to be more aware of the little miracles of connection all around us.
What a confirmation of the appeal of your book when you met a fellow traveler who expressed her interest and delight in your memoir, “Blush.” Your life experiences convey such a strong thought of how there are no coincides but rather all of our life is ordered by God’s providential hand. I’d love to read your memoir.
Kathy,
You understand the feeling exactly. I hope you will enjoy the memoir as much as this reminder of “God’s providential hand.” Thanks for stopping by.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Kathy.
Shirley and Kathy,
Thanks for a great post. I believe in “meant to bes” and this certainly sounds like one to me. I’m thrilled at the success of your book so far, Shirley and know it will lead to more great things.
Joan
Joan, we’ll have lots to talk about the next time we get together! You and I know a thing or two about serendipity. Hope you are having great travels. I’m off to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan to complete the launch tour soon. Hard work, but so rewarding!
You’re most welcome, Joan. Thanks for stopping by. I agree, Shirley has generated lots of great conversation already from the launch of BLUSH.
I loved that pictorial image of your ideal reader. It really brought to mine how “visualizing” something is, in its own way, a way of praying what our heart’s hopes are.
I, too, was taken by the image of the ideal reader. It’s something that’s stayed in my mind throughout the last 24 hours since seeing your image, Shirley. Like Audrey says, it’s like a prayer we carry with us. A wonderful tip! Thank you!
Yes, Audrey. I believe that “as a woman thinketh in her heart, so is she.” My version of Proverbs 23:7. And drawing a picture, whether literally or with words, always helps me focus my attention.
And, as Simone Weil says, attention is a form of prayer.
Thank you so much for this lovely image.
I love your image, Audrey of visualizing being ” a way of praying what our heart’s hopes are.” Lovely. Thanks for stopping by.
I watched the short video and I would love to be “plain” on the inside. On my mother’s side, my grandfather and grandmother were both from Mennonite roots. I would love to learn more about them. I also love the picture of the ideal reader. I don’t have gray hair but white hairs among the blonde. I love to travel and discover new people! Really want to read your book.
Welcome, Carol. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your story. I have no doubt you will enjoy BLUSH very much.
Hi Kathy and congrats to you Shirley. These serendipitous occurrences are no coincidence in my mind. When you’ve asked for God’s hand in making your dream a reality, then are willing to look for it and be grateful for it, things happen. Serendipitous, wonderful things. And the confirmation that you’re on the right track is such a blessing. Best wishes for every success with your memoir. I know I’ll be reading it. Thank you Kathy for hosting Shirley.
It’s been my pleasure hosting Shirley, Grace. Thanks for stopping by and sharing to your thoughts here and on LinkedIn.
Kathy and Shirley, two of my favorite ladies on the same post. Shirley, I’m slightly confused; the picture you drew of your ideal reader has “Blush” on the title. You must have taken Dan’s course after you knew your title, and were in the middle of publication. Am I right?
Love what you’ve done and how much energy, creativity and enthusiasm you’ve put into getting your book into the world.
I have a copy and shall enjoy reading it.
Thanks to both of you.
Shirley, first of all, bravo on
Guess who hit the wrong key??? I will continue here . . .
Shirley, first of all, bravo on bringing Blush to the marketplace for readers. I have a copy just started and I know already I’m going to love it. Thank you for sharing your chance meeting with “Rachel.” A believer in Divine providence, I know God had you in his sights when the passenger list was compiled. 🙂
Kathy, thanks for sharing Shirley and her story with us. Please don’t enter me into the book giveaway — I already have my copy.
My pleasure, Sherrey. I think we all feel the excitement about the launch of BLUSH as Shirley has involved us all along the way. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy finishing this captivating memoir,