1. HG Ferguson says:

    “Beyond the taboo on sexuality, the typical buggy-and-bonnet romance paints a picture of Amish life that is simply untrue. Their “Amish” are near-mythical beings, living in harmony with God, earth, and man. They are the epitome of Christian behavior, in the same way the glammed-up models on the covers suggest physical perfection. 2 As a writer, I can’t help but wonder if that portrayal is healthy.”

    Healthy?  No lie is healthy.  Look at the reaction it spawned, both against your work and against you personally.  It is disgusting how some who call themselves Bible-believing Christians have taken a people group who live under law and not grace, whose commandments dictate even how wide the brim of a man’s hat must be,  and turned them into precisely what you said, near-mythical beings practically without sin.  Thank you and God bless you for having the courage to speak up and out.  I wish you all God’s best, both in your writing and in your life before Him.

  2. Kerry Nietz says:

    Thanks, H.G. Much appreciated. God bless you too.

  3. dmdutcher says:

    It’s not really the idealization that gets me. I think in genre fiction, you can’t avoid idealization to an extent, and utopian or gentle fic isn’t bad in itself. It’s the omnipresence of it that gets to me, and that isn’t the reader’s fault. The publishers should be using Amish fiction to support other genres or more experimental works, but they aren’t doing that at all.

    One of the things that depresses me lately is just how corrupt our leadership is. Maybe not in a mustache twirling way, but there’s way too much focusing on business and too little healthy gospel environment.

  4. Lisa says:

    Thanks for these posts, I really enjoyed them.

    I will state up front that I am heartily sick and tired to death of Amish fiction. To be fair, the romance genre is not my favourite, but seriously. how many stories can there be about Amish (and non-Amish) guys and gals falling in love? And out of love? And being shunned? etc etc ETC!!!  I mean, haven’t we exhausted the well?? Why, oh why, (I wail) is this so popular among Christian women?

    The bottom line is that these books are being published because they sell. They make a lot of money for the publishers. I get that. But why???  That I don’t get.

    I really appreciate that comments about how unrealistic the portrait of the Amish are in the books, and how they are exalted among all others as being godly and Christian. I mean, seriously. Really?

    I could rant about this for a long time, but there’s no point. Until the readers stop buying them, they will continue to dominate the Christian book market. Sigh.

  5. J. Hooligan says:

    Honestly, how many of those people who saw the book actually read it (or even the reviews) before attacking?  That’s something I cannot stand about people who make judgement based on expectations with no facts.

    I thought it was a joke at first.  I see loads of ridiculous stories on Amazon all the time.  After stalking the reviews, I realized I was wrong and this was actually something I was interested in.

What do you think?