RT BOOK REVIEWS: You were nominated for an RT Career Achievement Award in the Inspirational category, and are well known for your romances set in Amish Country. What draws you to Amish stories? 
Wanda E. Brunstetter: My husband and I have many Amish friends in several different communities, and we have come to know and love them well. I admire their lifestyle and commitment to God. I have also learned a lot from them and appreciate that their priorities are to God, family, and friends, in that order. In these uncertain times I believe many people yearn for a more simple way of life, and we can learn more about that by understanding the Amish and their simple lifestyle.
RT: Do you have a personal connection to the Amish life? Can you remember your first impression of Amish life? 
WEB: My great-great grandparents on my father's side were Dunkerds, which is part of the Anabaptist faith, to which the Amish belong. Also, my husband, Richard, grew up in a Mennonite church in Pennsylvania. My first impression of Amish life was one of awe. Until I got to know some Amish people personally, I did not fully understand their way of life. However, I was drawn to the Amish people and had a burning desire to know them better.
RT: With six different series set in in Amish country, what is something that you've learned since your first novel set there? 
WEB: I learned that not all Amish are alike. While their basic religious views are the same, there are many differences among various Amish communities, and there are several different Amish groups, varying from the very conservative to the more liberal.  
RT: You’ve published three Amish cookbooks, what is your favorite Amish dish?
WEB: My favorite dessert is Lemon Shoofly Pie. I also love pickled beets and red pickled beet eggs. I remember the first time my husband's mother served those to me, I had never tasted one before and didn't think I would like eating an egg that smelled like a beet and was colored a deep purple-red. However, after one bite, I was hooked. 

RT: In addition to your cookbook, you’ve also written a devotional. Did you ever think that you would write non-fiction?
WEB: In the early days of my writing I wrote several non-fiction articles, as well as some devotional pieces, so writing a devotional came easy to me.
RT: Your newest fiction release, Love Finds a Way, is an anthology that collects three short stories. What ties them all together?
WEB: The tie-in for these stories is three modern day romances, where each of the characters finds love, even though they are not searching for it. In fact, each of my characters in this book are very independent, and in the beginning, don't believe they need love or romance.
RT: Do you have a favorite character from Love Finds a Way?
WEB: I think my favorite character is Sheila Nickels from "Grandma's Doll."  I relate to Sheila because I lost a doll that was very special to me and spent a good deal of time searching for it.
RT: In addition to being an author, you are also a professional puppeteer and ventriloquist, have these skills influenced your writing or are they completely separate?
WEB: They may have influenced my writing in the respect that I have written numerous puppet scripts and ventriloquist routines, which were basically nothing but dialog. There is also a lot of drama in my routines, as well as some humor, and I always try to include some of both in my novels.
RT BOOK REVIEWS: Since we are going into a new year, we have to ask what projects you have scheduled in 2012.  
Wanda E. Brunstetter: In April my stand-alone novel, The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club will be released. A musical play is also going to be produced, based on this novel.  I also have two children's books coming out in 2012, one in June and one in October. In addition to those, Book 3 in my Kentucky Brothers, The Struggle, will be published in August.