The idea of One started small and grew into a year's worth of amazing, thought-provoking, inspirational stories. The resulting anthology was combined into a beautiful paperback book (not unlike Chicken Soup for the Soul, and definitely nice enough for any Doctor's office).
With that success, my publisher was nice enough to ask me to do it again. So I set out to gather another twelve authors, including myself, and start a journey into 2013.
One of the things I like best about this series is that it benefits other people instead of the author. Last year, we made a nice donation to Give Kids the World (
www.gktw.org) from author proceeds. This year, I found a group much closer to home. Bridge to Ability Specialized Learning Center (
www.bridgetoability.org) is only about a twenty minute drive from my home. The organization helps children in my community. They are small and can use our help. So please remember, every time you download this story, 100% of my author proceeds are going to a very good cause.
2013 is also going to be a bit of a family affair. My wife, Traci Miller, will be contributing a story and my father, De Miller will return, as well. Other returning authors include: Crystal Linn, Sude Khanian and Sarah Price. We will also see new stories from some other sensational authors: Murray Pura, Alexandria Barker, Janet Beasley, R Jeffries and Missy Kennedy Adams.
This will be a great, eye-opening year!
100% of the author’s proceeds will be donated to Bridge to Ability Specialized Learning Center, a not-for-profit organization serving the educational and therapeutic needs of fragile children with severe physical and cognitive disabilities. www.BridgeToAbility.org. The authors, creator and publisher are in no other way affiliated with this organization. Mark Miller’s One 2013 is a spiritual anthology examining True-Life experiences of Authors and their Faith. As the series evolves expect to discover what it means to have faith, no matter what that faith is and no matter where they live. Remember that we are all part of this One World.
In Story One, Mark Miller welcomes you back to the series. He has a little something to say about forgiveness and finding his place in the world. Sometimes, we are exactly where we are supposed to be and not even realize it.
You are invited to visit the Authors of One, ask questions and start discussions on our official Facebook page:
You can get the 2012 paperback here:
2013 Story One: A Marvelous Net is available on Kindle for ONLY 99 Cents:
Sarah Price, popular author of Amish fiction, is also a contributor to the One series, which is regularly posted about on this blog. Her story, The Power of Faith, is currently available for ONLY 99 Cents with author proceeds going to a great cause. You can get it here: http://goo.gl/xhE9w
Today, she wants to share her Triangle of Blessings: Amish, Writing and Readers
I was first introduced to the Amish when I was only eight years old. It was my grandparents who took me to Lancaster County, PA. I sat between them on the front seat of their Cadillac, bouncing up and down with excitement as we passed each horse and buggy.
My grandparents came from a long line of strict Old Order Mennonites. Back in the early 1700s, our ancestors escaped persecution and travelled across the ocean to accept William Penn’s offer for free land in Pennsylvania. I often think about that journey and how terrified they must have been. Seeing the shores of Europe disappear over the horizon, facing an uncertain future in an unknown land…how courageous they were and how unfaltering in their faith in God.
There is something magical about the Amish. In today’s world of technology, information overload and crazy schedules, there is something to be said for a people who manages to maintain a simpler way of life. A people who takes care of each other. A people who lives for honoring God through their daily routines. How can you not fall in love with such people? They are truly blessed.
Likewise, I consider myself a blessed person. For almost twenty-five years, I have been staying among the Amish. In the beginning, I found an Amish family that rented out an apartment over their mule shed. For several years, I would rent the apartment and travel back and forth from my home to their farm. In later years, I was introduced to an Amish woman who rented me a room in her home. Through these connections, I have been permitted the rare opportunity to straddle the fence between my current world and this of my ancestors.
There is another blessing in my life (and I believe we all have many). I have been blessed with the desire to write. Since I was a child, I wrote books. It was my passion, my dream. I love writing, telling stories that entertain and inform. It’s in my blood. I believe that a true author writes for that reason: they have a passion to write. That’s it. It’s as plain and simple as the Amish.
The beautiful thing is that I have been blessed to combine the two: my passion for writing and my passion for the Amish. It’s a marriage made in heaven, as far as I’m concerned. Like my friend, colleague, and fellow author, Karen Anna Vogel, my knowledge of the Amish comes from first-hand experience. It allows me to write authentic books, books that are rich in true knowledge of the Amish, a special knowledge that I love to share with my readers.
That brings me to my final blessing, one that is so important to me: the readers. How fortunate it is that so many wonderful people desire to know the Amish and to learn about their faith! These readers are faced with so much stress: busy lives, illness, uncertainty, and hardship in a time of economic distress. It is such a blessing to know that, even if only for a few hours, they can slip away from this stress through the stories that I love to write.
I invite you into my world, to pick up one of the many Amish books written by wonderful authors that are available in bookstores and online, and to sit back in order to escape, even if just for a few pages. Who knows? Maybe you, too, will find some relief from the everyday stress in your own life as you explore the world of the Amish through our eyes.
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