Photo courtesy of Glass Road Public Relations
WANDA BRUNSTETTER
Raised in Tacoma from the time she was six months old, Wanda Brunstetter may indeed be one of our city’s best-kept “secrets.” A prolific and award-winning author, Brunstetter has penned more than 30 books during the past 10 years or so, but you probably won’t find them on the rack next to racy romances and cheap paperbacks. Rather, Brunstetter writes in response to a higher calling, focusing on people who live simple, wholesome lives with God and family being the most important things to hold onto in a world where careers, flashy cars and the latest in cell-phone technology are made the priorities.
Calling Brunstetter a “secret” may be somewhat of a misnomer, but unless you’re into her genre of literature you may not have yet heard of her. Many others have, though. A best-selling author of Amish fiction, Brunstetter has more than 3 million titles currently in print. Her three-volume series “Sisters of Holmes County” has been exceptionally well received, selling more than 350,000 copies since the initial installment was released a year ago. The second title published in 2007, “A Sister’s Test,” made a huge debut with upwards of 150,000 copies sold in the first quarter of 2008.
This month, Brunstetter released the final book in the series, “A Sister’s Hope.” Taking place in Holmes County, Ohio, the largest Amish community in the nation, “A Sister’s Hope” centers on Martha Hostettler, the youngest of three Hostettler sisters who were introduced in volume one, “A Sister’s Secret,” and volume two, “A Sister’s Test.”
The third installment brings resolution to the Hostettler family, which has been enduring ongoing attacks from an unknown assailant. The prime suspect is Martha’s love interest, Luke Friesen, who her father doesn’t care for. This causes much discord and dissention in the family, so Martha decides to play detective to solve the mysterious attacks once and for all and clear Luke’s name. But what will her search for truth cost? Will Martha’s hope in Luke’s innocence be enough to bring the real criminal to justice?
Brunstetter has admired the Amish for a long time. Her husband of 44 years, Richard, a pastor at Wapato Church of the Nazarene where the couple lives in Wapato, Wash., grew up in the Mennonite church in Pennsylvania and four of his brothers married Mennonite women. Discovering the Mennonite way of life, which is closely associated with the Amish, piqued Brunstetter’s interest and fit in well with her lifelong attraction to living a simple, uncomplicated, faith-based life. “I was interested in the plain life from the beginning,” she said. “Their lifestyle always attracted me.
“I’ve felt, and still do, that many people don’t understand the Amish way of life. I thought portraying them in real life would help people to understand them.”
Brunstetter believes people today could learn a lot from the Amish. “One of the biggest things is where our priorities should be. Too many of us put too much emphasis on material things – getting ahead, making more money – but the Amish don’t care about these things. Their emphasis is on God and family. To see how they interact with each other is incredible.
“They’re very selfless people.”
The author has done considerable research on the Amish over the years and has made many Amish friends in the process. She said she’s been embraced by the Amish because she comes to them with a sincere desire to learn. “I never write about an Amish community unless I’ve been there,” she said.
Brunstetter’s interest in writing stems back to when she was a child and wrote poems. In her teen years she wrote skits for her church teen group to perform. In 1980, she took a course in writing for children and teenagers, and became serious about a career as an author. Soon after that, she began to write stories, articles, poems, and devotionals, which appeared in a variety of Christian publications. Brunstetter’s first novel, “Heartsong Presents,” was released by Barbour Publishing’s book club in December 1997.
She’s excited about her new book that’s due to be released this September, “White Christmas Pie.” She’s also working on a new four volume series set among the Indiana Amish, “Indiana Cousins,” about four cousins involved in an auto accident and how it changed their lives.
A trained ventriloquist and member of the North American Association of Ventriloquists, Brunstetter still finds time to take her show on the road to deliver her “puppet ministry” to schoolchildren with her puppets dressed in Amish clothing. Sometimes at speaking engagements she’ll start out with her puppets “to lighten things up a little bit,” she said. Amish schools welcome her.
Brunstetter’s novels can be described as simply as they’re written – great stories. If you’re looking for something uplifting to read, a book that that will touch your heart and simplify your life, check out her “Sisters of Holmes County” series. They make for perfect summertime reading.
For more information, visit http://www.wandabrunstetter.com.
