Amish Horses: Amish Book Cover

You shouldn't judge a book by its cover... but, an interesting cover does stir a reader's appetite.

There are several key ingredients to producing an eye catching cover for an Amish novel.

First of all, you need a lovely actress and a fantastic photographer. It's helpful if you happen to have one of each as daughters. My oldest of four daughters, Robyn, has a photography business, and my youngest daughter, Natalie, agreed to stand in as my actress.

It is also a good idea to include a horse or two if possible. That wasn't a problem, my own Percheron Draft horses also make lovely cover models. Karm and Coke were raised on an Amish farm and provided inspiration for the Amish Horses Book Series in the first place.

When Natalie was a little girl she used to sit in my horse barn and read to me as I groomed horses. She graduated from the University of Iowa as a history major and is now a high school teacher.

Robyn, our photographer daughter, was born with artistic flair. She had already read Catbird Singing before the day of this photo shoot. I believe that knowledge of the story and characters helped her understand what we were looking for.

My daughters both grew up around draft horses and were raised in a community saturated with Amish culture.

Karm and Coke seem to enjoy being the center of attention.

We discussed a few ideas for our cover photo and let my daughters and horses go to work. All of the ingredients came together in a perfect moment, capturing a scene from Catbird Singing, almost as though the characters had come to life. (horses are some of the main characters in the Amish Horses Series)