‘Still Waters’ Author Q&A with Patricia Johns

Patricia Johns is a Publishers Weekly bestselling author of more than 50 books. She writes Amish fiction with tight communities, outspoken heroines, and the handsome, rugged men who fall in love with them. She lives in Alberta, Canada, with her husband and son. Learn more at PatriciaJohns.com.

FF: Can you please provide a brief summary of your upcoming novel Still Waters?
Beth Peachy comes to care for her ailing grandmother at her lakeside home. But Beth’s mammi is not herself these days. She’s been losing her memory, and this is Beth’s last chance to find some answers to her questions about her late father’s childhood. Why will no one speak of it? What is Mammi’s big secret?

Danny Lapp lives with his parents across the lake, and he has his own challenges with his brother who left the faith and has no respect for the life they were raised to live. If he can’t find some way of making peace with his brother, church leadership will get involved, and that is the last thing their family wants. When Danny discovers that Beth is back, he can’t help but wonder if any of their old friendship remains. Not so long ago, he’d nursed some rather powerful feelings for Beth Peachy, but she never seemed to return them. But as they work together to sleuth out what happened at the lake that sealed everyone’s lips, those old feelings come back to the surface.

Tabitha Schrock is the veterinarian who treats Beth’s grandmother’s dog for arthritis, and as she settles back into her Amish community, she realizes that friendships are not so easy at this point in her life. Add to that some growing feelings between her and Jonas Peachy, things get complicated. As a divorced woman, Tabitha can’t marry so long as her ex-husband lives, and she’s convinced that she is holding Jonas back from finding a proper match of his own. So Jonas has some decisions of his own to make.

As Danny and Beth grow close once more, they realize that shared summers in their youth are not enough to build a life together. But when hearts entwine and hopes start to rise, can love build a bridge to a future together?

FF: Still Waters is the second installment of The Amish of Shephard’s Hill Series. Can this be read as a standalone, and how does this expand on the first book, Green Pastures?
Still Waters can be read as a standalone book, but I think you’ll enjoy it just a little bit more if you read Green Pastures first. The reason is that Tabitha Schrock, the veterinarian who left the faith and returned ten years later after her divorce, has a story that begins in Green Pastures and further develops in Still Waters.

FF: Your book explores the power of family. What inspired this emphasis on family relationships?
I think family is the reason why we do almost everything. Why do we work so hard? So we can provide for our families. Why struggle to buy the house or the new car? It’s for the family to share. Even holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving often revolve around family gatherings. Sometimes, we have frustrated relationships with our families, but that doesn’t change where we came from. As my mother often says, “None of us hatched from an egg.” We have parents, and siblings, and extended family that help give us a sense of who we are in this big world. For better or for worse, looking at our families—the good, the bad and the embarrassing—can explain why we see the world the way we do, and the choices that we make. So why the emphasis on family? Because family is the root of it all!

FF: Our main character, Beth Peachy, is on a quest for answers regarding family history. How does this affect her relationship with her relatives?
Beth’s family doesn’t want her to ask any more questions about her family history. So when Beth starts asking directly, looking for answers, the family clams up. They don’t all know exactly what happened, but they do know that her grandmother would rather not talk about it, and that’s good enough for them. But Beth needs to know who her father was if she’s going to be able to make a decision for the church.

FF: Danny Lapp, Beth’s childhood friend, is dealing with his brother turning his back on the Amish community. How does this add tension to the story?
Danny’s brother is not only turning his back on the community, but he’s also talking about the community’s frailties and criticizing its beliefs. For Danny, it’s insulting and he wants to protect his family name. While Danny tries to hold his brother back from airing the family’s dirty laundry, Beth is trying to dig up her own answers that her own family would rather let lie. In some ways they are working at cross-purposes, except that their old friendship demands their loyalty, and their feelings for each other are growing.

FF: Beth and Danny reconnect and work together to search for answers. How do you balance romantic elements with their individual challenges?
Danny has had feelings for Beth for years, and Beth had a few hopes that their relationship might turn romantic in the past. But they were young and didn’t really know how to make any of it work. Now, as young adults, they are finally at a point in their lives when they can build a relationship, if they so desire. Working together as they both face their challenges, they are now able to see their differences. Danny is stable and determined to live a good Amish life. Beth has more questions and the freedoms of the English world are tugging at her. But their feelings for each other are still growing, despite everything working against them. Eventually they will have to make a choice.

FF: Do your own family stories inspire this book at all?
Oh, absolutely! I have a family with lots of juicy stories. In fact, a couple of them might have slipped into this book. I’m a big believer in embracing our family tales and finding the humor and humanity in them. A lot of stories get passed down and form our sense of who we are. “Grandma was willing to do this big thing . . . and I would do the same.” Or “I think my uncle made a big mistake, and I can now see the fallout of those decisions.” But at heart, all those family stories are just the lives of the people who came before us, bumbling their way through life and doing their best. Maybe we’ll be wiser than they are. Maybe we won’t! But it’s a very human story that is told over generations.

FF: In your novel, Beth struggles with making a lifelong commitment to the Amish church while dealing with family secrets. How do these dual struggles reflect common challenges faced by young Amish adults today?
Every Amish young adult has to make a personal decision for the church, and it is a very important choice. In the more conservative communities, if they leave the church after baptism, they can be shunned and never see their families again. But if they leave before taking the step of baptism, they can still come home to visit, although those visits might be fraught with tension, like we see with Danny’s brother. And what family doesn’t have a few embarrassing members, or even a secret or two tucked away?

I think this time of decision-making is resonant with non-Amish people too. There comes a point when every person must decide what they believe, what they stand for, and what parts of their upbringing are going to remain in the bedrock of their life going forward. Who will you be? What will you stand for? Is the faith of your parents also your own? Or do you see things differently? It’s a very tumultuous time!

FF: How do you maintain the importance of the characters’ personal struggles while still weaving in strong Amish elements throughout the story?
Amish people are just like us . . . with a few lifestyle differences. They have to think about paying the bills, what their future will look like, how much they are willing to sacrifice for their ideals, and what they want in a marriage partner. They might do it from a horse-drawn buggy, but they still have to wrestle with the same issues as everyone else. But they have the benefit of a tight community and a strong faith in God. I think it flows together quite seamlessly!

FF: What message do you hope readers will take away from this book?
I hope that readers will look at the ideals that their own families tried to pass along to them and maybe see their parents and grandparents with a little more compassion. Families do their best to give their children something meaningful, but they don’t always succeed. But our parents didn’t know anything about parenting when they first had a child. They just did their best, and in those well-intentioned efforts, I think there is a lot of goodness that can be found. I hope that readers will take a closer look at what their families tried to pass along and find the love there.

FF: Can you share what you’re currently working on?
I’m working on the third and final book in the miniseries right now. It’s called Through the Valley, and it ties up the whole series. I think this one will be a really powerful story, and I hope that you’ll be excited about this one too.

FF: How can readers connect with you?
You can always find me on social media. I’m on Facebook and Instagram mostly, and I’m always thrilled to hear from my readers. I’m sure to reply. You can also find me on my website, and if you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll never miss a release!

Buy Still Waters from the FamilyFiction Amazon Affiliate HERE!