You recently launched the Prayer Jars trilogy, which revolves around the intriguing idea that different people are finding these buried jars with hidden messages that lead to complications. What inspired this intriguing setup?
The idea of a series involving prayer jars came from my editor. After mulling her concept around for a bit, I came up with a storyline that involved hidden jars and an Amish family whose lives were changed when they learned they had a granddaughter they knew nothing about.
How does the series work—do all the characters know each other, or where are all these jars buried?
Each of the characters who discover one or more jars knows the others who have also found jars. While each of the three books in the series revolves mainly around one of these young women, they all play a role in each of the books.
The three young women discuss with each other things about the jars they’ve found and try to figure out who wrote the scriptures, quotes, and prayers found on the slips of paper inside the jars. It becomes a mystery of sorts.
The first book is The Hope Jar, which features a young woman who has become part of an Amish family under false pretenses. What inspired you to write a story with a twist like that?
This is another instance of my active imagination taking over. While thinking about the idea of someone finds hidden prayer jars, the character of Michelle came to mind.
I could visualize her at the bus station when the Amish couple showed up. Desperate to get out of her current situation, Michelle went along with it when Willis and Mary Ruth Lapp thought she was their granddaughter and invited her into their home.
No spoilers, but what can readers expect from the other Prayer Jars books?
In the second book, The Forgiving Jar, releasing in February 2019, the real Sara deals with some hurts from her past and decides whether to forgive or not. Sara must also decide if she should remain in Lancaster County with her grandparents or return to her home in New Jersey. Of course, there’s a conflicting romance involved, which is something Sara must deal with in her story.
Book 3, The Healing Jar, which comes out in August 2019, is about Sara’s Amish cousin, Lenore, and the struggles she faces regarding her grandfather’s ill health. There is also a relationship with a man she believes she can’t have, as well as one very special jar that unravels a mystery that’s been hidden for too many years.
Click through to find out about the new Daughters of Lancaster collection–and the stage musical based the series!