Winter's Short Days

 
Winter in the Midwest can be brutal. Amish families endure the elements in a way most modern Americans don't have to. Can you imagine hitching up a horse after dark on a cold winter's night just to go to your children's school function? How about when the temperatures are below zero, there is ice on the road, and you have no heater or defroster in your vehicle. Don't forget there won't be electricity in the barn or any turning on the lights quickly so you can see what you're doing while you hitch up the horse.

Horses, however, are tough creatures. They, like buffalo, can calmly nibble at grasses on a snowy field when the temperature is below zero. They willingly pull a buggy through a curtain of snow. The picture above was snapped during a moment when the wind chill was negative 20 degrees. If you pass a row of buggy horses waiting at the hitching rack they all have a nice warm blanket wrapped around them. No kidding, Amish folks are quite devoted to their horses' well-being. 

Amish Children find fun games to play outside during cold weather. This hand-held game connects the players, unlike most hand-held devices children are connected to these days.

My wife and I enjoyed some hand-held outdoor fun a few weeks ago as we walked from shop to shop in the Amana Colonies to complete our Christmas shopping.

Winter days are short but the season can seem long while we wait for spring to bring new life to our fields and gardens. May I suggest a great pastime for those long winter evenings by the fire?

Why not curl up with a good book and a hot cup of something delicious to drink.

Here are some links to learn more about my Amish novels:

Books by Thomas Nye

Thomas Nye on Amazon

Barnes & Noble Thomas Nye page

Samson and Amish Delilah: Cover Reveal

 Scroll down to see the full cover!


Official release date: August 19th.



I'm more excited than I can say about this book. It is quite different from anything else I've written.

Below: the binding and back cover

A Story of clashing cultures, hearts laid bare, and the power of forgiveness.

Delilah steps out of the pages of a bestselling Amish novel and into the real world. When media giants discover that she's alive and well, the race to find her is on. A young man named Dave sets out with inside information, hoping to get to her first and cash in. He's as surprised as everybody that there's more than one Amish Delilah-- can he be sure that he's found the right girl?

Dave searches the pages of the novel to be certain he has the right Delilah. Real life begins to merge with fiction and Dave suddenly realizes that he has fallen into the story and become Samson. Worse yet, he fears he is on a collision course with the novel's wild ending.

Cultures collide as big media comes face-to-face with Amish family values. Dave and Delilah are caught in a vice between two worlds. Will they sell out for the almighty dollar?

Coming soon in paperback and eBook 

August 19th

2019

To order your copy click here: Amazon: Samson and Amish Delilah

Direct from the Publisher:CrossLink: Samson and Amish Delilah

Amish Getaway

My wife and I recently enjoyed a wonderful Amish getaway!

I can't offer you a whole week on an Amish farm like the Heller family experiences in my novella Amish Park, but I have a great suggestion.

We spent a weekend in Shipshewana, Indiana. Let me tell you what to look for and offer ideas about where to stay, shop, and eat.

We stayed just a mile or two north a Shipshewana in one of these little log cabins.

Shipshewana North Park Campground

They were about the same price as an average hotel room and so cute!

The sound of horses pulling buggies can be heard as you sit on the front porch.

I have no connection with this campground and I'm not getting anything for suggesting it... I just want to help you enjoy a fun Amish getaway.

After waking up and savoring a cup of coffee on the porch swing, head on into Shipshewana for a family style meal.


We love the Blue Gate Restaurant located at the only stoplight in downtown Shipshewana.





Be sure to try the Amish peanut butter on homemade rolls. I promise you it is authentic and exactly what you would have if you visited an Amish (on the farm) church service. Some of the cooks and servers are actually Amish.

For entertainment: There are usually plays depicting Amish life on stage at the Blue Gate Theater

Downtown Shipshewana has several shopping malls and a plethora of gift shops to stroll through.

You will see Amish buggies clip-clopping past as you walk. Not to mention Amish families shopping alongside you.

This display (these are dolls about two-foot tall) of Amish girls playing volleyball is in a front yard between the campground and the restaurant. Amish young people LOVE volleyball and they are good at it! (Notice the girl rising above the net to spike the ball.) Almost every one of my books mentions Amish teens playing volleyball because it is a huge part of Amish teenage life. Check out my books. They are authentic, based on my nearly forty years of experience in an Amish community.  Author Thomas Nye

My favorite thing to do while visiting Shipshewana is driving around the countryside.

You will find scores of Amish owned stores that welcome the public. These businesses are scattered around the area on Amish farms.






Take time to drink in the beauty of Amish farms in the area. (And they are BEAUTIFUL.) Listen to the wonderful melody of horse hooves and the rumbling of buggy wheels. It has to be about my favorite sound in the world. If you are interested in Amish life, I promise, you won't be disappointed.

Amish Characters

Sony: Character in Whispering to Horses.

 I've met a few Amish characters in my life. Here are a few drawings of characters in my novels.

When I write Amish fiction, I create characters that remind me of real people that I've had the pleasure of knowing. As my story progresses, I add personality traits borrowed from other acquaintances. Suddenly, a character begins to emerge with a personality completely unique and separate from anybody I've ever known.

Many authors experience this strange sensation, of having created characters seem to take on a life of their own.
I guess it makes sense? We spend so much time trying to make characters seem real that we end up believing it ourselves.
Afterall, if we don't, why would our readers?

Eli and his horses.

 As far as names are concerned, I try to use common Amish/ Mennonite names. In fact, the names I use are so typical that anyone with an Amish/Mennonite background will, quite likely,  have friends with the same names.

Please be assured, my novels are from my imagination and none of these characters, or names, are people you know. Yet, they all have characteristics of someone you might know.

One evening I received a phone call from an older Mennonite fellow. He had read Under the Heavens and wanted me to tell him who the real-life people were. I struggled to convince him that they didn't exist in our community, or anywhere else.

Lenny and Leah, Amish Horses Series.

Lenny and Noey talk horses.

Yes, there are some interesting Amish characters out there in the real world. Mostly, they have shown themselves to have incredible integrity.

Sometimes, Amish folks word things in such a way that sound odd to English people. This might make people chuckle. Keep in mind, what you say may seem odd to them.

A sweet moment: (I'm not telling what story this is from.) I drew this while looking at a photograph of a real-life Amish couple, the moment he proposed. They are friends of mine.

Fanny Ella and her beloved pony.

One common aspect of my writing, I always have characters in a variety of ages. Amish families are usually quite large. Communities are tight-knit and old folks interact with young children. Teens hold babies and care for toddlers. Everyone seems valued. This drawing below doesn't appear in Amish Park, however, this scene does. I drew this after visiting an Amish church service and witnessing a little girl seated near the minister and listening intently to him preach.

Jonas speaks, and a little Amish girl listens intently. Amish Park.

Amish Park (revealed)

 Once you've clicked on the picture all you need to do is scroll down to see the full cover revealed




Be sure to continue scrolling to read more about Amish Park, a novel.

-What a difference one week can make- 

         Pete and Lisa Heller have already decided to end their marriage long fight with a divorce. However, their 10-year-old daughter has another plan. Natalie believes that Amish Park, a theme resort offering guests a realistic experience on an Amish farm, may be the answer to all her family’s problems. Her 16-year-old sister, Carrie, is uninterested and absorbed with her phone until the power fades and an Amish lantern sheds new light. The Heller family gets a little more than they bargained for when their aging tour guide uses a team of draft horses to soften Pete’s heart. Slip on your work boots and join the Heller family’s Amish vacation; an unexpected journey to a better place.

        (Amish Park is a fictitious theme park. It would be fun if there was a real place like it!)

Amish Park, a novel, will be released this October, through Dove Christian Publishers

Keep up to date by following this blog or Thomas Nye on Facebook.

Amish Horses 101

If this is the first time you've visited the Amish Horses Blog, you may not know much about Thomas Nye and his Amish horses. Let me give you a quick background about how a guy like myself ended up learning the art of driving horses from Amish farmers.

I was born with a love for horses. Although I grew up in town, I always managed to find a friend with a pony. So much so, my step-dad teased, "Are you only willing to make friends with someone if they have a horse?" This step-dad of mine grew up in Idaho, and he took our family out west to visit his cowboy brothers every summer. These experiences continued to drive my horse obsession.

Photo on left: Thomas Nye ( age 3 and wearing my favorite hat)

The photo below was taken on my step-uncle's ranch in Idaho.
(little Tommy age 7)

The first time I saw an Amish person was in my nineteenth year of life. I moved to Iowa near an Amish community and was instantly infatuated by that lifestyle. Maybe it had something to do with my love of history and interest in other cultures. More likely, it had to do with the fact that horses are the foundation of Amish life.

This habit of choosing friends who have horses is still an issue with me. LOL

My first friends in Iowa happen to be an Amish family. They took me along to Amish church, Singings, volleyball games and other social events. When they made hay, I offered to help.

Thirty-six years have gone by, and I'm still fascinated by the Amish lifestyle.Within months of my transplant into Iowa, I had my first horse. The photo on left: yours truly ( age 19 and seated on Gulfawn.)

The fist 10 or 15 horses I owned were riding horses. However, I kept watching my Amish friends doing fieldwork with draft horses and a growing urge to get my own team finally got the best of me.

One day, I randomly stopped at my Amish neighbor's place and asked, "Do you know anyone with a team of horses they might be willing to sell?" He sent me down the road a few miles to another Amish farm. I'll never forget the first day I walked into that huge barn, filled with draft horses. For a complete description of what I experienced there, check out my novel, Under the Heavens.

Here I am with my first team. (Lucy and Sally) My Amish friend predicted these older mares would teach me a lot about working with horses in harness, and he was right.

This kind Amish man seemed amused that I wanted to learn his trade. He patiently taught me how to harness and hitch a team of horses, filling me in on many safety issues. We hitched to a wagon, and he handed the lines over. That did it, I was hooked! My heart never returned to the modern world, entirely.

 The team I bought were mares and had colts the next spring. When I took the mamas back to my Amish friend's farm to visit his stallion, he kept my mares for several weeks and used them in six-horse hitches with his horses. Every time I stop in to visit with my Amish friends it is as if I slip back in time a hundred years. My Amish friends continue sharing valuable advice and I pass on their wisdom in my novels. Amish daily life is glorious.

Over the past 25 years, I've owned a number of draft horses which I bought from several Amish families in our community. Each family taught me a little more about horses and these experiences warmed my heart more than I can say. There is nothing quite like being on an Amish farm.

I took this picture of Karma and Karla last evening. I'm still driving horses and writing novels about my wonderful experiences with Amish friends.Whispering to Horses

If you love to read Amish novels, you will get a slightly different view through my books. They are rugged enough to hold a man's interest and sweet enough to make a woman smile. I promise I'll take you on a tour of an Amish barn with rough-hewn timbers, wooden stalls. and rich aromas of alfalfa hay. Then, we'll head out through the gate into lush green pastures. Climb on the buggy seat, and we'll head down a country road listening to a steady clip-clopping of horse hooves under a twinkling, star-filled sky, or through an early morning mist. Experience the peace and tranquility of Amish life. A simple life Under the Heavens.

Romantic Buggy Ride

 What could be more romantic than a moonlit ride behind a trotting horse? Even a quiet Sunday drive through a small town, or down along a gurgling stream, can seem quite romantic.

I'm a helpless romantic, both forms of romance:

 1)My books are dominated by idealism, a desire for adventure, and a touch of chivalry.

2) My writing may be characterized by a preoccupation with love or the idealizing of love.

What better backdrop could exist for this type of story, than an Amish countryside?

Horses don't interrupt a couple's conversation. Instead, they produce a rhythmic sound, much like a heartbeat. They pull a cart or wagon with a gentle rocking motion. No loud roars, no distracting radio, or any other electronic devices, unless you bring along your cell phone.
(not bad to have along... just be smart enough to silence the thing!)


They go slow enough that you can look into each other's eyes for a moment and not miss a turn or run a red light.

Bring along a light meal or a refreshing drink. Stop down by the creek and give the horse a much-deserved rest. After you wade in the stream for a while, your horse will be ready to make the return trip.

If it's warm out, leave off those heavy shoes. If it's chilly, snuggle.

 I might want to mention something of the downside to all of this...
      eeerrrchhhh!

You will be behind the horse all the while. Notice the view is always of the backside of a horse. Don't forget, they are living creatures that need to relieve themselves every now and again. Although, they don't use gas... they do produce quite a bit.

Horses don't seem to have a problem with privacy and are not shy about taking care of whatever business is at hand. They don't check with your human conversation to see if their contribution is timely, or not. I have even imagined that my horses use these functions on purpose if they don't like the conversation.

 None of those little issues seem to bother our Amish friends. In fact, they are so accustomed to those things that they may not even notice any of it. If you are really in love, and in tune with nature, you ought to be able to embrace the whole experience.

 Maybe I should have mentioned that, although I'm a romantic, I also enjoy a little humor and a reality check every now and then.

A Different Kind of Tale

The Amish Horses Series: A Different Kind of Tale

Under the Heavens is a coming of age story about a teenage city boy who spends time with his Amish relatives. Sort of a, Tom Sawyer meets Anne of Greene Gables. Only, instead of taking place in the old days, the setting is in this century on an Amish farm.

Drawings like this are at the heading of every chapter

 Take an adventure with Lenny Gingerich. He visits his grandpa's Amish farm for a summer and discovers a fascinating, old-fashion world exists just around the corner from our modern cities. One day he is playing video games and watching TV in a basement, the next day he is watching huge draft horses pull a tractor out of the mud. Farm dogs, horses, cows, hogs and even roosters have personalities that make a farm full of life and excitement. Add a dose of romance, as Lenny meets a sweet neighbor girl, and we have the ingredients needed to stir up an interesting platter. The table is set. Come on into the Amish farm house and pull up a seat.

Lenny will take you along as he visits Amish Church, Singing, volleyball games, and everyday happenings of life on an Amish farm.

The Amish Horses Series is a different kind of tale.

Climb up onto the buggy seat beside Lenny as he takes the ride of his life!

Hidden Treasure

What benefits could you reap by reading an Amish novel? You might be surprised. The Amish Horses Series reveals treasures, hidden on an Amish farm. 

Our modern lifestyle has most of us reeling as we juggle our obligations in a life crowded out by the noise of social media. We feel pressure to continually check in with our email, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.

Take a few minutes and step into a slow-paced, tranquil world. You'll feel yourself relax as you drink in the sights and sounds of of a farm-orientated culture.

Slip into the pages of the Amish Horses Series and you will learn something about how life ought to be cherished. Take instructions from an Amish grandpa as he teaches his grandson time proven wisdom on handling horses. 

While you enjoy the read, you'll learn something about farming with horses. Tag along with Lenny as he finds out what it's like to live in an Amish community, visiting church, Singings, Amish weddings and other youth gatherings.

Sit on the seat beside Lenny as he learns how to observe nature while driving horse-drawn equipment along the edge of a woods. Sunsets speak to his heart, drawing him into an understanding of himself, and of God.

Our Amish neighbors chose to abstain from all the modern conveniences we thought would make life better. The joke was on us. It turns out that life's most precious gifts are those sweet moments of natural beauty, close companionship, fresh farm air, and time. Time that can be enjoyed because of the choice to live a slower-paced lifestyle.

The Amish Horses Series takes you into the world of Lenny's Amish relatives. Step inside the barn with him and let his Amish family refresh you with their patient and kind ways. Discover the "Hidden Treasure" of a life well lived.




To order a paperback or eBook, click on this Amazon link: Amish Horses Series
Or, for an author signed paperback,
send a check or money order to: Amish Horses  P.O. Box 495  Kalona, Iowa  52247

Under the Heavens:      $18
Catbird Singing:           $18
Whispering to Horses:  $8

 This offer includes shipping and handling within the U.S.A

Attention Horse People

 If you wake up thinking about horses. focus all day on a horse issue you need to fix. (i.e. getting hay, wormer, equipment, or thinking of your training methods.) And fall asleep dreaming about horses. Then, you have a whole lot in common with me!

I love to read about horses and people who work with them. That is why I wrote several adventure novels about horses.

 Under the Heavens is about a teenage city guy who goes to spend a summer on his Amish relatives farm. Lenny is planning to stay away from horses. Little does he know, that is impossible on an Amish farm. From sunup to sundown his summer is filled with horse adventures

Grandpa is a horse whisperer and determined to teach his grandson horse-sense.

Catbird Singing is about Lenny's second trip to this Amish Horses wonderland. On this visit he finds out that if he wants to date girls, he will have to hitch up and drive high strung buggy horses on the highway.

The girls are a little too cute to resist and he has to find a way to get along with some ornery horses.

 Horses are a way of life on an Amish farm.

These books are based on my 35 years of living in an Amish community. When I bought draft horses from local Amish farmers, they didn't just sell me horses. My Amish friends seem to enjoy watching a city boy struggle to do what is second nature to them.

They don't just laugh though. They make every effort to help me succeed. That is the basis of my books.

If you love horses, you have to own one of these books.

Under the Heavens:if you love to read about life on the good-old-fashioned farm. Plowing, making hay, and then going to a young folk's gathering in a buggy.

Catbird Singing: if it sounds fun to read about a young man's funny adventures courting Amish girls while hanging onto a set of driving lines.

Either book can be read first even though they are part of the Amish Horses Series. If you love the first one, go ahead and get the other.  Book III is on the way!

P.S. Whispering to Horses is a short story about a man who hates his Amish neighbors... until he actually gets to know them. Horses are the heart of this story as well.

Click on one of the links and read a few reviews!