April 4, 2025 • 29 mins
The discussion unfolds with a profound exploration of the intricate relationship between authors and their subjects, specifically focusing on the world of Amish fiction. The guests, Wanda E. Brunstetter and Martha Bolton, share their unique experiences and insights that not only illuminate the nuances of writing within this specific genre but also highlight the broader implications of storytelling as a means of fostering understanding and compassion. Their dialogue reveals the challenges and joys of accurately portraying the Amish culture, a task they approach with both reverence and responsibility. Brunstetter, regarded as ‘Amish country's most beloved storyteller,’ reflects on her journey of writing over a hundred novels, emphasizing the importance of authentic representation as she weaves narratives that resonate with both Amish and non-Amish readers alike. Bolton complements this perspective by discussing her extensive background in comedy and stage writing, illustrating how humor can serve as a bridge between cultural divides. Together, they navigate the delicate balance of integrating humor and drama into their narratives, ultimately aiming to create stories that not only entertain but also educate and inspire empathy among their audience.
Takeaways:
- The podcast episode underscores the significance of connecting through storytelling, particularly in the realm of true crime and personal narratives.
- Listeners are urged to prioritize their mental health, with resources provided for those in distress, emphasizing the importance of seeking help.
- The conversation highlights the enriching collaboration between authors Wanda E. Brunstetter and Martha Bolton, showcasing their unique contributions to Amish fiction.
- The episode elaborates on the cultural and personal insights that Brunstetter incorporates into her works, reflecting her deep connections with the Amish community.
- Bolton's comedic flair complements Brunstetter's storytelling, creating a dynamic partnership that enhances the narrative experience for readers.
- The discussion touches upon the impact of media portrayals of the Amish, urging a nuanced understanding beyond sensationalized representations.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:04):
Welcome to True Crime Authorsand Extraordinary People, the podcast
where we bring two passions together.
The show that gives newmeaning to the old adage truth is
stranger than fiction.
And reminding you that thereis an extraordinary person in all
of us, here is your host,David McClam.
(00:26):
What's going on everybody?
And welcome to another episodeof True Crime Authors and Extraordinary
People.
Of course, I'm your man, David McClam.
Have you guys haven't already?
Make sure you follow us on allof our social media.
One link to a link tree willget you every place you need to go
pertaining to the show.
And as you heard coming in, ifyou are someone that is considering
hurting yourself or someoneelse, please leave this episode down
(00:50):
988.
You can text them or call them.
It is the suicide prevention hotline.
If no one has told you thistoday, let me be the first.
I do care and we do need youto be here.
There is nothing worth your life.
All right, so if you'relooking at your calendar, you know
it is time for some authors.
(01:10):
And I say authors because wehave two for the price of one.
Let me introduce you to whoour guest is this morning.
She is a New York Timesbestselling and award winning author.
She is considered one of thefounders of the ominous fiction genre.
She has written more than 100books translated in four languages
with over 12 million copies sold.
(01:33):
Her stories consistentlyearned spots on the nation's most
prestigious bestseller listand have received numerous awards
and has been covered bynational publications including Time
Magazine, USA Today and theWall Street Journal.
Her ancestors are part of theAnabaptist faith and her novels are
based on personal researchintended to accurately portray the
(01:57):
Amish way of life.
Her books are read and trustedby many Amish people who credit her
for giving readers a deeperunderstanding of the people and their
customs.
She is known as Amishcountry's most beloved storyteller
and the co author of the Riseand Fall of Miss Fanny's Biscuits.
Please welcome Wanda E.
(02:18):
Brunstetter.
Hey Wanda.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
It's my pleasure to be here.
And our second guest today.
She is a prolific author of 89books, an Emmy nominee, a Dove Award
nominee and a co author onthree New York Times bestselling
books.
She was nominated for aWriter's Guild Award for her work
on the Emmy winning Bob thefirst 90 years.
(02:42):
She was Bob Hope's first fulltime female staff writer and wrote
for his television specialswhich is over 40 hours of primetime
programming and 15 years ofhis personal appearances in special
events.
As a staff writer for BobHope, she had the opportunity to
write scripted lines for avirtual who's who in entertainment,
sports and politics.
(03:03):
She is also a co author of theaward winning Dear Bob, Bob Hope's
Wartime correspondence withthe GIs of World War II.
Her stage work includeswriting the script for the Confession,
based on Beverly Lewis's bestselling Confession trilogy, co writing
Half Stitched, based on Wanda E.
Brunstadter's bestselling bookthe Half Stitched Amish Quilting
(03:24):
Club with director andcomposer Wally Nason, Josiah for
President and the Home Gamefor Bluegate Musicals.
Both Josiah for President andthe Home Game have accompanying novels
penned by her.
She is the co author of theRise and Fall of Miss Fannie's Biscuits.
Please welcome Martha Bolton.
Martha, welcome to the show.
(03:45):
Well, thank you.
We're thrilled to be on andtalking about the book.
Well, we are thrilled to haveyou on the show.
You guys have definitely beenwriting some books.
The who's who.
I have never read an Amishnovel of any kind until this one.
It is a great book.
So we can get all into that today.
(04:06):
I guess the first question Ihave on top of mine is how did you
two meet and how long have youguys worked together?
We'll start with you, Wanda.
Okay.
We met when the BluegateMusicals reached out to me.
They said they wanted towrite, have a musical about an Amish
culture and they wondered ifmaybe I would write a book about
(04:29):
it.
And at that time I was on adeadline writing another book and
I had to get permission from,from my publisher to go ahead and
start that.
And so that's how Martha and Imet and I met a lot of other good
people that work for BluegateMusicals also.
What was the second half ofyour question?
I think there was two partsthat was it.
(04:50):
Just how did you guys meet andhow long have you guys worked together?
Martha, you can tell us that part.
Martha, tell me.
Well, it was, it was, it wassuch fun working with Wanda because
we're both used to deadlinesand we're both used to meeting them
and especially when they'reshort, which this one was.
(05:12):
But we just had fun.
We'd send it back and forthand, and she'd fill in places and
I'd fill in places and justkept moving the story along and we
just had fun.
And I hope the readers seethat and have fun as they read it.
Now for what I'm getting,Wanda, you are Amish.
(05:35):
Martha, are you Amish?
I'm actually not Amish.
You're not Amish.
My great, great, greatgrandparents were part of the Anabaptist
faith.
Now, there's many branches ofthat, and they were part of the Dunkards.
Now, my husband grew up in aMennonite church, which is also part
of the Anabaptist faith.
And I'm not Amish, but thegentleman who owns the theater where
(05:58):
we're doing the plays, he grewup Amish.
And so he's our go to, youknow, person to.
To let us know if we've needto fix this or change this or whatever.
So he's been our referenceguide on.
On that.
And then Wanda is so familiarwith that world as well.
(06:20):
So it was very helpful, bothof those.
Yeah.
We have.
My husband and I have Amishfriends in every community that I
write about, and Indiana isthe big one.
We have so many Amish friendswhen we go there, we can't hardly
get around to see them all.
They all want to have us forsupper or let's go somewhere together
or whatever.
(06:41):
So it's just so much fun to bewith the Amish and get to know them.
Well, that kind of brings youto this question.
I don't have many people on myshow that is Amish or has any connections
to Amish.
So I'll ask you this so thatwe can clear some of this up, being
that you guys have Amish ties.
As you know that there hasbeen a couple of hit shows that's
come out about the Amish overthe years.
(07:03):
One's called the Amish Mafia.
The other was calling Breaking Amish.
And Breaking Amish is peoplethat is deciding to leave the Amish
life right around RaumSpringer, when the youth decides
they want to take off.
Amish Mafia is actuallysupposed to be about the bad side
of Amish life, where they'reout here just like, doing all kinds
of crimes.
(07:24):
I'll start with you, Omartha.
From what you know and thepeople that you were with in the
Amish, how do you feel aboutthese shows if you've seen them and
how do you think they feelabout them?
I've always been fascinatedand really impressed with their lifestyle
and their.
Their faith, beliefs of.
Of how they, you know,regardless of.
(07:44):
Of any outside influence, theystay true to their beliefs.
And when we moved from LA toTennessee, I had visited an Amish
community.
Just in the back of my head, I.
I just thought that, you know,that it.
I was fascinated and alwayskept that interest.
And then when I met theproducer who.
(08:07):
Who became the producer of the plays.
And he asked me if I would beinterested in writing an Amish play.
And so it was right.
It just felt right.
I, I already had the interestin learning about them and then now
close to 15 years later and,and a whole lot of musicals, we've,
(08:28):
we've gotten to know Amish anda lot more familiar with their customs
and just feel right at homewhenever we go to an Amish community.
Highly recommend visiting it.
So in regard to the realityshows, I actually know an Amish person
(08:50):
who was on one of those showsand she told me that they're very
scripted so the Amish don'tjust come on there and start burying
their souls necessarily.
They are told what to say and,well, that's a reality show, Right?
Right.
That's pretty much what mostof them are about.
So you can't take what you seeon a show like that at face value.
(09:14):
You have to actually get toknow the Amish.
And I'll be honest with you,all the communities are not exactly
the same.
They have the same faith base.
But as far as some of theircustoms and even the way they dress,
it can be different fromcommunity to community.
So you really have to get outthere and personally know them rather
(09:37):
than just taking everything atface value for what you read or what
you see.
Yeah, I agree because, I mean,I watched these shows and I was like,
yeah, I mean, if you reallylook into.
And I used to live in Indiana,so I know a little bit about the
Amish.
We used to have an Amishculture that lived in the, in the
neighborhood.
You can pretty much tellwhat's far fetched and what's not.
(09:58):
I mean, because this show justwent totally off like the deep end.
At some point, some of it mayhave been true, but when you start
digging into it, you're like,yeah, maybe not so much here.
And people's about to getdivorces and I mean, it was just
crazy.
So I just wanted you guys takeon that being that you guys are connected
to the Amish way that you are.
(10:18):
Yeah.
I had an Amish friend inPennsylvania and he said, I'm.
I'm afraid to go out in public.
I said, what?
Since when?
He said, since they startedplaying that show, the Amish Mafia,
they heard about it.
I'm afraid people are going tolook at me and think I'm part of
that.
And he said, as far as I know,there is no Amish mafia.
(10:39):
So it kind of did have a bitof a feedback against the Amish when
that came out, because they'renot stupid.
I mean, they read papers andthey talk.
And so I assured them thatmost people, when they watch a show
like that, know that onlyabout half of it is even true.
(11:01):
Now, as we get into your book,Wanda, I have to ask you, because,
you know, Amish people, too,they have to be kind of guarded because
of how they do live.
But they gave you a big title,and they put a lot of faith in you
by calling you Amish country'smost beloved storyteller.
When you hear that, how doesthat make you feel?
And does it put any pressureon you when you're writing your books?
(11:23):
Not really pressure, but I dowant to make sure I'm always accurate,
so I'm always checking factswith them.
If I don't know, I will say this.
When my first book came outthat was Amish themed, I had some
Amish coming to my booksignings, and I was thinking, why
(11:44):
are they here?
Well, they were curious.
They wanted to know, what isshe writing?
Is it accurate?
And one lady came to me andsaid she wanted the book signed to
her husband.
And then she said, he's thebishop of our community and he reads
all your books.
I was just like, wow, that's.
To me, that was like a stampof approval.
(12:05):
But it hasn't gone to my headin any way, shape, or form because
I'm not perfect.
No one is.
And I could make a mistake inanything I write about the Amish.
But I do try really, reallyhard to be accurate and back it up
with facts directly from myAmish friends.
And then I'll ask you, Martha,because you are very prolific author
(12:26):
yourself, 89 books.
You do a lot of work in stageplays, so you're also very great.
How does it feel to be a coauthor of a great book, as well as
doing stage plays and stuff ofthat nature?
Being a co author with Wandahas been just.
It just felt right.
(12:47):
We had number one.
You know, she's obviously the.
The queen of Amish fiction,for sure.
It just was a nice fit, and it flowed.
Like I said, where herstrengths, which are many, many.
And then I would supply a lotof the humor, and so did she.
(13:10):
And we just.
We just bantered back andforth and.
And would enjoy the process.
It.
It really was a fun process.
And she broke her arm in themiddle of it, too.
Her shoulder.
Oh, wow.
We had a deadline, and poorWanda had to.
Had to type with probably one finger.
(13:33):
One hand for a while.
I'm back to both hands now.
Yeah.
And, you know, speaking of the queen.
Martha is the queen of humor,and she thinks up things in the stage
plays as well as in the bookthat I would never have thought of.
And they're hilarious, and theaudience love it.
And the readers, I'm sure,also will love it.
(13:53):
Well, I'll tell you, I'mloving it.
I haven't finished it quite yet.
I'm almost done, but I thoughtit was one of the funniest books
I've read.
Plus, there was a serious side.
I mean, you guys hit everyside of that, so it was a great book.
So these next questions forboth of you guys.
You guys can pick who wants toanswer first.
So my first question about thebook is, can you tell us a little
bit about Fanny and what shemeans to you two?
(14:16):
Well, Fanny was my characterin an earlier book.
That's how she kind of cameinto play.
She's really, really sweet.
She's a quilter, but she'salso a wannabe detective, and sometimes
that gets her into trouble.
And that's the part of herthat Martha really extended.
(14:39):
That wasn't my idea to makeher the detective in my earlier book
at all, but the soul of her ismy creation.
But the humorous part and thepart about wanting to be a detective
is Martha all the way.
And she did a great job.
I had to laugh so many timeswhen she would send me something,
(15:01):
and I was reading, oh, Fannydid this or Fanny said that.
Well, I'll tag on to thatquestion then for Martha, because
that was actually my next one,because I did find it.
I'm like, all right, so we'redealing with Amish life, but now
we're solving mysteries.
Martha, what made you think of that?
And what gave you the idea tomake Fanny a detective?
(15:22):
Fanny was Wanda's character,and then we did a play which I created.
Foster the detective.
The.
The two of them playing off ofeach other just was such fun, and
the audience really loved it.
So when we thought aboutbringing them back for another show,
(15:45):
then it was.
We just had fun.
We just.
The relationship is building.
I.
I kind of.
It's like the.
The old Moonlighting.
If you remember the movie, thetelevision show Moonlighting, and
the banter between the two, itreminds me a lot of.
Of that Moonlighting kind ofthing where it's.
(16:06):
You could just tell they're.
They're really good friends, and.
But they only, you know,they've got to stay friends.
And we had fun playing aroundwith that whole situation there.
Now, I know in the book, Fannyis entering the contest, the local
Baking contest there has a$25,000 prize.
(16:28):
She's cooking up a storm.
I do know that on Wanda's sitethat we can get a free Amish kind
of cookbook.
So are all of the recipes inthe book something that we can all
cook?
There's a lot of recipes inthat book.
Not particularly the one thatwe included in the book that we wrote,
though.
The cookbook has many, many recipes.
(16:50):
But the recipe that weincluded in the cookbook was actually
one that my aunt gave me.
She taught me how to makebuttermilk biscuits.
A little bit of a trick to itbecause I messed up quite a bit before
I could actually master the technique.
So almost every book I writehas a recipe at the back, something
(17:11):
that was mentioned within the book.
So everybody buys my book.
They not only becomeentertained, but they get a free
recipe.
So I don't want to give thewhole book away, but just to kind
of give people the premise.
And then I'll let you guysspeak on how you came up with this
idea.
Baking contest goes on, peoplestarts mysteriously disappearing.
(17:31):
Fanny hooks up with her oldfriend Foster Bates, and they start
to investigate to find outwhat's going on around the town.
How did you guys come up withthis overall story?
What process did you gothrough to put all this together?
Well, I had had an idea forthe bank contest and.
(17:52):
And to have the contestantsdisappearing, and then that brings
in Fanny and Foster, and.
And I just thought, you know,it'd be fun if Wanda was.
Was interested, you know, thatwe could write the book of this,
of that, and take it whereverwe take it.
You know, that I just had theidea, and I met with Wanda up in
(18:16):
Shipshewana, Right?
Yeah.
And.
And then presented it to her,and it was just, you know, a page.
Page and a half idea.
But she was on board.
She thought it sounded like fun.
And.
And I was.
I was just thrilled.
And we amazed ourselves thatwe got it done, and.
(18:37):
And.
And that we're just thrilledthat it's doing so well.
And.
And it's really accepted.
People just love these two characters.
So.
Oh, yeah, I just got an emailtoday, this morning from the lady
who had read the book, and shesaid, are they going to get married?
(18:59):
Now, Wanda, you have manyAmish books under your title or under
your belt, from what I'm understanding.
Fannie is a standalone book,so you don't have to go back to read
any of your other books to notbe lost in this one, correct?
No, you don't.
I mean, even if you had readthe book where she started, you wouldn't
(19:20):
probably connect the two.
Okay, that makes sense.
Yeah, it does, it does.
So I like to point out to allto the audience because when someone
has as many books as you do,they're like, well, where do we begin?
Where do we start?
What am I going to miss?
I ask myself that every day.
I have books deadline stackedup like dominoes.
(19:40):
So I'm like, sometimes, you know.
So I asked both of you this,this question as well.
Will there be a part two tothe rise and fall of miss Fanny's
biscuits?
Would you guys like to write that?
If it, if you do, what wouldthat look like?
What would it look like?
A lot more humor.
(20:01):
Again.
You go on.
Good start.
Martha, what's your thoughtson that?
Oh, well, I will probablydiscuss that, but it may, it, it
would probably be a differentcrime that they get called in on.
I would think Wanda probablyis of that same feeling that the
(20:24):
same two characters, but adifferent crime and different mystery.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I don't think we could carryon from what's there.
Well, I know Fanny's appearedin your other books, Wanda, but I
think that this one couldactually be a good series.
And this is coming fromsomeone who's never read this genre
before.
When Sharon sent me theinformation on the book and I started
(20:47):
reading, I'm like, you know,I've never read.
Didn't even know, to be honestwith you, that there is an Amish
genre for books.
And I was like, you know, I'vealways real skeptical when I go into
new genres because I'm verypicky on what I read.
And so usually if the book cangrab me within the first page, I'm
hooked.
And your guys book grabbed mewithin the first page of that and
(21:09):
I'm like, okay, I gotta, Ineed to keep going on to find out
what happens to this.
So I think that this would bean excellent series.
My plan is to go back and readsome of your other books too that
is out there.
My other books that are justby me are a little bit different
than what Martha and I wrotebecause I have some mysteries.
Actually I'm just finishing upwith one right now.
(21:31):
But it's not the same kind ofa mystery.
There's not a lot of humor.
I always throw some in becauseyou need it for pacing, but I don't.
I am known for my emotionallygripping novels and that's just the
way it is.
Sometimes people say, well, Igotta have a box of Kleenex with
(21:53):
me when I read your books.
Because they're based oneveryday life and things that people
actually go through.
And they all have a meaning tothem that can help people.
I've had so many people tellme, here's an example.
I wrote a book where an Amishman perishes in a fire.
(22:17):
And it was very dramatic, butI had to deal with how his fiance
dealt with it.
And so I did a book signingonce and a lady came up to me sobbing.
I thought, oh, that's what'sgoing on here.
And she said, I want to thankyou for that book because it helped
me.
I watched my son burn in a fire.
(22:38):
And she said, this book helpedme more than you ever know.
So that's basically the kindof books I normally write.
So this was a completelydifferent book.
Way to present my character, but.
And having Martha there to addall that humor just really created
a really nice balance, I think.
(23:00):
Wanda, I'll start with you andthen we'll see if we can get back
to Martha.
What do you hope happens withyou two in the future?
Well, I think if we do writeanother co authored book, and if
it's about Fanny and Foster, Ithink it would do well because people
are already loving them.
Uh, my biggest problem isstretching myself too thin.
(23:21):
And I'm stretched pretty thinright now.
And I kind of got behind whenI broke my arm.
I had another deadline on topof a deadline on top of a deadline.
And so I'm a little bit behind.
I have another book coming upthat I'm co authoring with my daughter.
Uh, that'll be.
I'll probably start that in acouple months.
(23:42):
So that will be my big thing,finding the time.
But if I can, I will because Ithink the readers are going to want
to hear more about Foster and Fanny.
I absolutely agree.
I hope we can continue withFanny and Foster and more adventures
(24:03):
because they just have turnedinto this great, great pairing of
humor and heart and just.
I, I just love them and theWanda does too, and the readers.
And then, you know, who knowswhat the future holds.
But we are going to have amusical of the, of the rise and fall
(24:28):
and so that we're lookingforward to opening that and.
And then we'll see what, whatthe future holds.
But I'm open for anythingWanda wants to do.
That would be very fun.
I thoroughly enjoyed this process.
So that was my next questionbecause I was told that this is going
to be indeed a musical.
Unfortunately, he's not cominganywhere near me here in California.
(24:51):
My wife was bummed about that.
I'm like, yeah, it's going tobe a musical, but we don't live where
it's going to go.
So do you think about everbroadening that musical out of it,
become successful, andhopefully getting down and the Broadway
shows of California?
I think having talked with theproducer, I think they would love
that.
They just need theopportunity, probably, and perhaps
(25:15):
the finances to make that happen.
Yeah.
Wouldn't that be fun to haveFannie and Foster on Broadway?
How fun would that be?
That would be pretty exciting,wouldn't it?
Well, that's.
That would be the goal.
If we could get it there, thatwould be awesome.
(25:36):
Well, I certainly hope so.
So, Wanda, I know thatMartha's having a hard time hearing
me.
We're having some technicaldifficulties here.
So in closing, I'll ask you,why should someone go out and read
the Rise and Fall of Fanny'sBiscuits if.
They like a good storylinethat will keep them reading?
I would say that this is the ticket.
(25:57):
They like humor, obviously.
It's sprinkled throughout.
There's also some drama andthere's some life lessons that will
be learned.
And I think it's just a nice mix.
We need all of those things.
Every book needs to make areader laugh, make them cry, and
(26:18):
make them wait.
And I think it's all rightthere in this story.
Is there anything that youwould like to say on behalf of yourself
and Martha to any of your fansor people that may be listening today?
Well, I am one that I love myreader fans, and not because they're
buying my books necessarily,but because that's just me.
(26:41):
I like to reach out and I havea Facebook page, like 53,000 followers.
And I love it when they reachout to me and tell me their problems
and we can share a little bitor say something they read in one
of my books helped them.
So, I mean, I'm just hopingthat this book will really touch
(27:03):
some lives and that my readerfans will feel invested in the story,
as invested as we were writing it.
Well, I can tell you fromsomeone who's never read this genre
before, it has definitely donesomething in me.
I'm going to continue to readmore of your books and we'll have
both of you guys back on theshow at some point.
(27:23):
Hopefully then Martha can hear me.
I know technical difficultiesis hard sometimes, but I think both
of you guys are coming on theshow today.
Looking forward to finishingthe book.
Good luck to both of you.
If you guys ever want to comeback on the show, maybe we can have
you back one or two to discussmore of your books.
You know how to get ahold ofme, Feel free to do so.
But I thank you both forcoming on the show today.
(27:45):
Thank you for having us.
It's been our pleasure.
All right guys, that was theincredible Wanda Bronstetter and
Martha Bolton.
You can get your copy of theRise and Fall of Fanny's Biscuits
at Amazon and anywhere you canbuy books.
You can also go towww.wandaroonstetter.com which would
(28:06):
be in the show notes.
There you can read a littlebit more about Martha learned all
all the rest of her books andsee very inspirational quotes that
she has left there also.
Once again, thank you guys forjoining us.
I know you have many optionsin True Crime and Interview podcast.
I'm grateful that for the lastalmost three years you have chosen
(28:28):
me.
Always be kind to yourself,good to yourself and to each other.
And always remember thatyou're listening to the only three
faceted show of its kind.
So always stay humbled.
An act of kindness can makesomeone's day.
A little love and compassioncan go a long way.
And remember that there is anextraordinary person in all of us.
(28:52):
I'll catch you guys on thenext one.
Don't forget to rate, commentand subscribe.
Join us on Social Social media.
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Feel free to drop us aline@True Crimeandauthorsmail.com
cover art and logo designed by Arslan.
(29:14):
Sound mixing and Editing byDavid McClam Intro Script by Sophie
Wilde and David McClam Thememusic legendary by New Alchemist
Introduction and endingcredits by Jacky Voice.
See you next time on True Crime.
Authors and extraordinary people.
Welcome to True Crime Authorsand Extraordinary People, the podcast
where we bring two passions together.
The show that gives newmeaning to the old adage truth is
stranger than fiction.
And reminding you that thereis an extraordinary person in all
of us, here is your host,David McClam.
(00:26):
What's going on everybody?
And welcome to another episodeof True Crime Authors and Extraordinary
People.
Of course, I'm your man, David McClam.
Have you guys haven't already?
Make sure you follow us on allof our social media.
One link to a link tree willget you every place you need to go
pertaining to the show.
And as you heard coming in, ifyou are someone that is considering
hurting yourself or someoneelse, please leave this episode down
(00:50):
988.
You can text them or call them.
It is the suicide prevention hotline.
If no one has told you thistoday, let me be the first.
I do care and we do need youto be here.
There is nothing worth your life.
All right, so if you'relooking at your calendar, you know
it is time for some authors.
(01:10):
And I say authors because wehave two for the price of one.
Let me introduce you to whoour guest is this morning.
She is a New York Timesbestselling and award winning author.
She is considered one of thefounders of the ominous fiction genre.
She has written more than 100books translated in four languages
with over 12 million copies sold.
(01:33):
Her stories consistentlyearned spots on the nation's most
prestigious bestseller listand have received numerous awards
and has been covered bynational publications including Time
Magazine, USA Today and theWall Street Journal.
Her ancestors are part of theAnabaptist faith and her novels are
based on personal researchintended to accurately portray the
(01:57):
Amish way of life.
Her books are read and trustedby many Amish people who credit her
for giving readers a deeperunderstanding of the people and their
customs.
She is known as Amishcountry's most beloved storyteller
and the co author of the Riseand Fall of Miss Fanny's Biscuits.
Please welcome Wanda E.
(02:18):
Brunstetter.
Hey Wanda.
Welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
It's my pleasure to be here.
And our second guest today.
She is a prolific author of 89books, an Emmy nominee, a Dove Award
nominee and a co author onthree New York Times bestselling
books.
She was nominated for aWriter's Guild Award for her work
on the Emmy winning Bob thefirst 90 years.
(02:42):
She was Bob Hope's first fulltime female staff writer and wrote
for his television specialswhich is over 40 hours of primetime
programming and 15 years ofhis personal appearances in special
events.
As a staff writer for BobHope, she had the opportunity to
write scripted lines for avirtual who's who in entertainment,
sports and politics.
(03:03):
She is also a co author of theaward winning Dear Bob, Bob Hope's
Wartime correspondence withthe GIs of World War II.
Her stage work includeswriting the script for the Confession,
based on Beverly Lewis's bestselling Confession trilogy, co writing
Half Stitched, based on Wanda E.
Brunstadter's bestselling bookthe Half Stitched Amish Quilting
(03:24):
Club with director andcomposer Wally Nason, Josiah for
President and the Home Gamefor Bluegate Musicals.
Both Josiah for President andthe Home Game have accompanying novels
penned by her.
She is the co author of theRise and Fall of Miss Fannie's Biscuits.
Please welcome Martha Bolton.
Martha, welcome to the show.
(03:45):
Well, thank you.
We're thrilled to be on andtalking about the book.
Well, we are thrilled to haveyou on the show.
You guys have definitely beenwriting some books.
The who's who.
I have never read an Amishnovel of any kind until this one.
It is a great book.
So we can get all into that today.
(04:06):
I guess the first question Ihave on top of mine is how did you
two meet and how long have youguys worked together?
We'll start with you, Wanda.
Okay.
We met when the BluegateMusicals reached out to me.
They said they wanted towrite, have a musical about an Amish
culture and they wondered ifmaybe I would write a book about
(04:29):
it.
And at that time I was on adeadline writing another book and
I had to get permission from,from my publisher to go ahead and
start that.
And so that's how Martha and Imet and I met a lot of other good
people that work for BluegateMusicals also.
What was the second half ofyour question?
I think there was two partsthat was it.
(04:50):
Just how did you guys meet andhow long have you guys worked together?
Martha, you can tell us that part.
Martha, tell me.
Well, it was, it was, it wassuch fun working with Wanda because
we're both used to deadlinesand we're both used to meeting them
and especially when they'reshort, which this one was.
(05:12):
But we just had fun.
We'd send it back and forthand, and she'd fill in places and
I'd fill in places and justkept moving the story along and we
just had fun.
And I hope the readers seethat and have fun as they read it.
Now for what I'm getting,Wanda, you are Amish.
(05:35):
Martha, are you Amish?
I'm actually not Amish.
You're not Amish.
My great, great, greatgrandparents were part of the Anabaptist
faith.
Now, there's many branches ofthat, and they were part of the Dunkards.
Now, my husband grew up in aMennonite church, which is also part
of the Anabaptist faith.
And I'm not Amish, but thegentleman who owns the theater where
(05:58):
we're doing the plays, he grewup Amish.
And so he's our go to, youknow, person to.
To let us know if we've needto fix this or change this or whatever.
So he's been our referenceguide on.
On that.
And then Wanda is so familiarwith that world as well.
(06:20):
So it was very helpful, bothof those.
Yeah.
We have.
My husband and I have Amishfriends in every community that I
write about, and Indiana isthe big one.
We have so many Amish friendswhen we go there, we can't hardly
get around to see them all.
They all want to have us forsupper or let's go somewhere together
or whatever.
(06:41):
So it's just so much fun to bewith the Amish and get to know them.
Well, that kind of brings youto this question.
I don't have many people on myshow that is Amish or has any connections
to Amish.
So I'll ask you this so thatwe can clear some of this up, being
that you guys have Amish ties.
As you know that there hasbeen a couple of hit shows that's
come out about the Amish overthe years.
(07:03):
One's called the Amish Mafia.
The other was calling Breaking Amish.
And Breaking Amish is peoplethat is deciding to leave the Amish
life right around RaumSpringer, when the youth decides
they want to take off.
Amish Mafia is actuallysupposed to be about the bad side
of Amish life, where they'reout here just like, doing all kinds
of crimes.
(07:24):
I'll start with you, Omartha.
From what you know and thepeople that you were with in the
Amish, how do you feel aboutthese shows if you've seen them and
how do you think they feelabout them?
I've always been fascinatedand really impressed with their lifestyle
and their.
Their faith, beliefs of.
Of how they, you know,regardless of.
(07:44):
Of any outside influence, theystay true to their beliefs.
And when we moved from LA toTennessee, I had visited an Amish
community.
Just in the back of my head, I.
I just thought that, you know,that it.
I was fascinated and alwayskept that interest.
And then when I met theproducer who.
(08:07):
Who became the producer of the plays.
And he asked me if I would beinterested in writing an Amish play.
And so it was right.
It just felt right.
I, I already had the interestin learning about them and then now
close to 15 years later and,and a whole lot of musicals, we've,
(08:28):
we've gotten to know Amish anda lot more familiar with their customs
and just feel right at homewhenever we go to an Amish community.
Highly recommend visiting it.
So in regard to the realityshows, I actually know an Amish person
(08:50):
who was on one of those showsand she told me that they're very
scripted so the Amish don'tjust come on there and start burying
their souls necessarily.
They are told what to say and,well, that's a reality show, Right?
Right.
That's pretty much what mostof them are about.
So you can't take what you seeon a show like that at face value.
(09:14):
You have to actually get toknow the Amish.
And I'll be honest with you,all the communities are not exactly
the same.
They have the same faith base.
But as far as some of theircustoms and even the way they dress,
it can be different fromcommunity to community.
So you really have to get outthere and personally know them rather
(09:37):
than just taking everything atface value for what you read or what
you see.
Yeah, I agree because, I mean,I watched these shows and I was like,
yeah, I mean, if you reallylook into.
And I used to live in Indiana,so I know a little bit about the
Amish.
We used to have an Amishculture that lived in the, in the
neighborhood.
You can pretty much tellwhat's far fetched and what's not.
(09:58):
I mean, because this show justwent totally off like the deep end.
At some point, some of it mayhave been true, but when you start
digging into it, you're like,yeah, maybe not so much here.
And people's about to getdivorces and I mean, it was just
crazy.
So I just wanted you guys takeon that being that you guys are connected
to the Amish way that you are.
(10:18):
Yeah.
I had an Amish friend inPennsylvania and he said, I'm.
I'm afraid to go out in public.
I said, what?
Since when?
He said, since they startedplaying that show, the Amish Mafia,
they heard about it.
I'm afraid people are going tolook at me and think I'm part of
that.
And he said, as far as I know,there is no Amish mafia.
(10:39):
So it kind of did have a bitof a feedback against the Amish when
that came out, because they'renot stupid.
I mean, they read papers andthey talk.
And so I assured them thatmost people, when they watch a show
like that, know that onlyabout half of it is even true.
(11:01):
Now, as we get into your book,Wanda, I have to ask you, because,
you know, Amish people, too,they have to be kind of guarded because
of how they do live.
But they gave you a big title,and they put a lot of faith in you
by calling you Amish country'smost beloved storyteller.
When you hear that, how doesthat make you feel?
And does it put any pressureon you when you're writing your books?
(11:23):
Not really pressure, but I dowant to make sure I'm always accurate,
so I'm always checking factswith them.
If I don't know, I will say this.
When my first book came outthat was Amish themed, I had some
Amish coming to my booksignings, and I was thinking, why
(11:44):
are they here?
Well, they were curious.
They wanted to know, what isshe writing?
Is it accurate?
And one lady came to me andsaid she wanted the book signed to
her husband.
And then she said, he's thebishop of our community and he reads
all your books.
I was just like, wow, that's.
To me, that was like a stampof approval.
(12:05):
But it hasn't gone to my headin any way, shape, or form because
I'm not perfect.
No one is.
And I could make a mistake inanything I write about the Amish.
But I do try really, reallyhard to be accurate and back it up
with facts directly from myAmish friends.
And then I'll ask you, Martha,because you are very prolific author
(12:26):
yourself, 89 books.
You do a lot of work in stageplays, so you're also very great.
How does it feel to be a coauthor of a great book, as well as
doing stage plays and stuff ofthat nature?
Being a co author with Wandahas been just.
It just felt right.
(12:47):
We had number one.
You know, she's obviously the.
The queen of Amish fiction,for sure.
It just was a nice fit, and it flowed.
Like I said, where herstrengths, which are many, many.
And then I would supply a lotof the humor, and so did she.
(13:10):
And we just.
We just bantered back andforth and.
And would enjoy the process.
It.
It really was a fun process.
And she broke her arm in themiddle of it, too.
Her shoulder.
Oh, wow.
We had a deadline, and poorWanda had to.
Had to type with probably one finger.
(13:33):
One hand for a while.
I'm back to both hands now.
Yeah.
And, you know, speaking of the queen.
Martha is the queen of humor,and she thinks up things in the stage
plays as well as in the bookthat I would never have thought of.
And they're hilarious, and theaudience love it.
And the readers, I'm sure,also will love it.
(13:53):
Well, I'll tell you, I'mloving it.
I haven't finished it quite yet.
I'm almost done, but I thoughtit was one of the funniest books
I've read.
Plus, there was a serious side.
I mean, you guys hit everyside of that, so it was a great book.
So these next questions forboth of you guys.
You guys can pick who wants toanswer first.
So my first question about thebook is, can you tell us a little
bit about Fanny and what shemeans to you two?
(14:16):
Well, Fanny was my characterin an earlier book.
That's how she kind of cameinto play.
She's really, really sweet.
She's a quilter, but she'salso a wannabe detective, and sometimes
that gets her into trouble.
And that's the part of herthat Martha really extended.
(14:39):
That wasn't my idea to makeher the detective in my earlier book
at all, but the soul of her ismy creation.
But the humorous part and thepart about wanting to be a detective
is Martha all the way.
And she did a great job.
I had to laugh so many timeswhen she would send me something,
(15:01):
and I was reading, oh, Fannydid this or Fanny said that.
Well, I'll tag on to thatquestion then for Martha, because
that was actually my next one,because I did find it.
I'm like, all right, so we'redealing with Amish life, but now
we're solving mysteries.
Martha, what made you think of that?
And what gave you the idea tomake Fanny a detective?
(15:22):
Fanny was Wanda's character,and then we did a play which I created.
Foster the detective.
The.
The two of them playing off ofeach other just was such fun, and
the audience really loved it.
So when we thought aboutbringing them back for another show,
(15:45):
then it was.
We just had fun.
We just.
The relationship is building.
I.
I kind of.
It's like the.
The old Moonlighting.
If you remember the movie, thetelevision show Moonlighting, and
the banter between the two, itreminds me a lot of.
Of that Moonlighting kind ofthing where it's.
(16:06):
You could just tell they're.
They're really good friends, and.
But they only, you know,they've got to stay friends.
And we had fun playing aroundwith that whole situation there.
Now, I know in the book, Fannyis entering the contest, the local
Baking contest there has a$25,000 prize.
(16:28):
She's cooking up a storm.
I do know that on Wanda's sitethat we can get a free Amish kind
of cookbook.
So are all of the recipes inthe book something that we can all
cook?
There's a lot of recipes inthat book.
Not particularly the one thatwe included in the book that we wrote,
though.
The cookbook has many, many recipes.
(16:50):
But the recipe that weincluded in the cookbook was actually
one that my aunt gave me.
She taught me how to makebuttermilk biscuits.
A little bit of a trick to itbecause I messed up quite a bit before
I could actually master the technique.
So almost every book I writehas a recipe at the back, something
(17:11):
that was mentioned within the book.
So everybody buys my book.
They not only becomeentertained, but they get a free
recipe.
So I don't want to give thewhole book away, but just to kind
of give people the premise.
And then I'll let you guysspeak on how you came up with this
idea.
Baking contest goes on, peoplestarts mysteriously disappearing.
(17:31):
Fanny hooks up with her oldfriend Foster Bates, and they start
to investigate to find outwhat's going on around the town.
How did you guys come up withthis overall story?
What process did you gothrough to put all this together?
Well, I had had an idea forthe bank contest and.
(17:52):
And to have the contestantsdisappearing, and then that brings
in Fanny and Foster, and.
And I just thought, you know,it'd be fun if Wanda was.
Was interested, you know, thatwe could write the book of this,
of that, and take it whereverwe take it.
You know, that I just had theidea, and I met with Wanda up in
(18:16):
Shipshewana, Right?
Yeah.
And.
And then presented it to her,and it was just, you know, a page.
Page and a half idea.
But she was on board.
She thought it sounded like fun.
And.
And I was.
I was just thrilled.
And we amazed ourselves thatwe got it done, and.
(18:37):
And.
And that we're just thrilledthat it's doing so well.
And.
And it's really accepted.
People just love these two characters.
So.
Oh, yeah, I just got an emailtoday, this morning from the lady
who had read the book, and shesaid, are they going to get married?
(18:59):
Now, Wanda, you have manyAmish books under your title or under
your belt, from what I'm understanding.
Fannie is a standalone book,so you don't have to go back to read
any of your other books to notbe lost in this one, correct?
No, you don't.
I mean, even if you had readthe book where she started, you wouldn't
(19:20):
probably connect the two.
Okay, that makes sense.
Yeah, it does, it does.
So I like to point out to allto the audience because when someone
has as many books as you do,they're like, well, where do we begin?
Where do we start?
What am I going to miss?
I ask myself that every day.
I have books deadline stackedup like dominoes.
(19:40):
So I'm like, sometimes, you know.
So I asked both of you this,this question as well.
Will there be a part two tothe rise and fall of miss Fanny's
biscuits?
Would you guys like to write that?
If it, if you do, what wouldthat look like?
What would it look like?
A lot more humor.
(20:01):
Again.
You go on.
Good start.
Martha, what's your thoughtson that?
Oh, well, I will probablydiscuss that, but it may, it, it
would probably be a differentcrime that they get called in on.
I would think Wanda probablyis of that same feeling that the
(20:24):
same two characters, but adifferent crime and different mystery.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I don't think we could carryon from what's there.
Well, I know Fanny's appearedin your other books, Wanda, but I
think that this one couldactually be a good series.
And this is coming fromsomeone who's never read this genre
before.
When Sharon sent me theinformation on the book and I started
(20:47):
reading, I'm like, you know,I've never read.
Didn't even know, to be honestwith you, that there is an Amish
genre for books.
And I was like, you know, I'vealways real skeptical when I go into
new genres because I'm verypicky on what I read.
And so usually if the book cangrab me within the first page, I'm
hooked.
And your guys book grabbed mewithin the first page of that and
(21:09):
I'm like, okay, I gotta, Ineed to keep going on to find out
what happens to this.
So I think that this would bean excellent series.
My plan is to go back and readsome of your other books too that
is out there.
My other books that are justby me are a little bit different
than what Martha and I wrotebecause I have some mysteries.
Actually I'm just finishing upwith one right now.
(21:31):
But it's not the same kind ofa mystery.
There's not a lot of humor.
I always throw some in becauseyou need it for pacing, but I don't.
I am known for my emotionallygripping novels and that's just the
way it is.
Sometimes people say, well, Igotta have a box of Kleenex with
(21:53):
me when I read your books.
Because they're based oneveryday life and things that people
actually go through.
And they all have a meaning tothem that can help people.
I've had so many people tellme, here's an example.
I wrote a book where an Amishman perishes in a fire.
(22:17):
And it was very dramatic, butI had to deal with how his fiance
dealt with it.
And so I did a book signingonce and a lady came up to me sobbing.
I thought, oh, that's what'sgoing on here.
And she said, I want to thankyou for that book because it helped
me.
I watched my son burn in a fire.
(22:38):
And she said, this book helpedme more than you ever know.
So that's basically the kindof books I normally write.
So this was a completelydifferent book.
Way to present my character, but.
And having Martha there to addall that humor just really created
a really nice balance, I think.
(23:00):
Wanda, I'll start with you andthen we'll see if we can get back
to Martha.
What do you hope happens withyou two in the future?
Well, I think if we do writeanother co authored book, and if
it's about Fanny and Foster, Ithink it would do well because people
are already loving them.
Uh, my biggest problem isstretching myself too thin.
(23:21):
And I'm stretched pretty thinright now.
And I kind of got behind whenI broke my arm.
I had another deadline on topof a deadline on top of a deadline.
And so I'm a little bit behind.
I have another book coming upthat I'm co authoring with my daughter.
Uh, that'll be.
I'll probably start that in acouple months.
(23:42):
So that will be my big thing,finding the time.
But if I can, I will because Ithink the readers are going to want
to hear more about Foster and Fanny.
I absolutely agree.
I hope we can continue withFanny and Foster and more adventures
(24:03):
because they just have turnedinto this great, great pairing of
humor and heart and just.
I, I just love them and theWanda does too, and the readers.
And then, you know, who knowswhat the future holds.
But we are going to have amusical of the, of the rise and fall
(24:28):
and so that we're lookingforward to opening that and.
And then we'll see what, whatthe future holds.
But I'm open for anythingWanda wants to do.
That would be very fun.
I thoroughly enjoyed this process.
So that was my next questionbecause I was told that this is going
to be indeed a musical.
Unfortunately, he's not cominganywhere near me here in California.
(24:51):
My wife was bummed about that.
I'm like, yeah, it's going tobe a musical, but we don't live where
it's going to go.
So do you think about everbroadening that musical out of it,
become successful, andhopefully getting down and the Broadway
shows of California?
I think having talked with theproducer, I think they would love
that.
They just need theopportunity, probably, and perhaps
(25:15):
the finances to make that happen.
Yeah.
Wouldn't that be fun to haveFannie and Foster on Broadway?
How fun would that be?
That would be pretty exciting,wouldn't it?
Well, that's.
That would be the goal.
If we could get it there, thatwould be awesome.
(25:36):
Well, I certainly hope so.
So, Wanda, I know thatMartha's having a hard time hearing
me.
We're having some technicaldifficulties here.
So in closing, I'll ask you,why should someone go out and read
the Rise and Fall of Fanny'sBiscuits if.
They like a good storylinethat will keep them reading?
I would say that this is the ticket.
(25:57):
They like humor, obviously.
It's sprinkled throughout.
There's also some drama andthere's some life lessons that will
be learned.
And I think it's just a nice mix.
We need all of those things.
Every book needs to make areader laugh, make them cry, and
(26:18):
make them wait.
And I think it's all rightthere in this story.
Is there anything that youwould like to say on behalf of yourself
and Martha to any of your fansor people that may be listening today?
Well, I am one that I love myreader fans, and not because they're
buying my books necessarily,but because that's just me.
(26:41):
I like to reach out and I havea Facebook page, like 53,000 followers.
And I love it when they reachout to me and tell me their problems
and we can share a little bitor say something they read in one
of my books helped them.
So, I mean, I'm just hopingthat this book will really touch
(27:03):
some lives and that my readerfans will feel invested in the story,
as invested as we were writing it.
Well, I can tell you fromsomeone who's never read this genre
before, it has definitely donesomething in me.
I'm going to continue to readmore of your books and we'll have
both of you guys back on theshow at some point.
(27:23):
Hopefully then Martha can hear me.
I know technical difficultiesis hard sometimes, but I think both
of you guys are coming on theshow today.
Looking forward to finishingthe book.
Good luck to both of you.
If you guys ever want to comeback on the show, maybe we can have
you back one or two to discussmore of your books.
You know how to get ahold ofme, Feel free to do so.
But I thank you both forcoming on the show today.
(27:45):
Thank you for having us.
It's been our pleasure.
All right guys, that was theincredible Wanda Bronstetter and
Martha Bolton.
You can get your copy of theRise and Fall of Fanny's Biscuits
at Amazon and anywhere you canbuy books.
You can also go towww.wandaroonstetter.com which would
(28:06):
be in the show notes.
There you can read a littlebit more about Martha learned all
all the rest of her books andsee very inspirational quotes that
she has left there also.
Once again, thank you guys forjoining us.
I know you have many optionsin True Crime and Interview podcast.
I'm grateful that for the lastalmost three years you have chosen
(28:28):
me.
Always be kind to yourself,good to yourself and to each other.
And always remember thatyou're listening to the only three
faceted show of its kind.
So always stay humbled.
An act of kindness can makesomeone's day.
A little love and compassioncan go a long way.
And remember that there is anextraordinary person in all of us.
(28:52):
I'll catch you guys on thenext one.
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cover art and logo designed by Arslan.
(29:14):
Sound mixing and Editing byDavid McClam Intro Script by Sophie
Wilde and David McClam Thememusic legendary by New Alchemist
Introduction and endingcredits by Jacky Voice.
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