With This Ring
An interview with Amy Clipston on Love, Faith, & Writing
Life has been hectic the past few weeks, but writing and reading as always offered me the opportunity to unwind. Writing especially, can be quite stress-relieving and that’s exactly what beloved author, Amy Clipston had thought since elementary school. Writing had been a place of entertainment and relaxation for her, nothing more than a little hobby, until after college when she started considering the idea of, “what-if”.
In 2004, Amy signed on with her first agent and a few years later, her first novel was released, A Gift of Grace (book one of the Kauffman Amish Bakery series, with recipes!). Today, she is a best-selling romantic fiction author who has published three books this year alone - A Heart’s Shelter, A Lancaster Amish Christmas, and Finding You.
I had the pleasure of reading an advanced copy of her upcoming romance novel, With This Ring, which is set to release at the beginning of the new year.
This is the first book of Amy’s that I’ve read, and the first I have come across her name. My sister reads a lot of romantic fiction, while I stick primarily with historical. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but immediately upon finishing With This Ring, I added Amy’s other books to my Goodreads to-be-read list. I am smitten by her as a clean, romantic fiction writer and if you love charming romance void of profane, steamy scenes, I know you’ll treasure Amy too.
The plot of With This Ring evolves around Dakota and Hudson - old high school sweethearts who unsuspectingly encounter each other when Hudson comes back to town to visit his sister. Being able to switch character perspectives was perfectly done in this book and I chuckled at the irony of Hudson’s mission to break up his sister's wedding as his ex, Dakota, was running a bridal ship with the mission to help create the fairytale wedding for his sister.
I asked Amy in which ways does she relate to her newest character, Dakota, and Amy feels they both share tenacity, “[Dakota] worked hard to open her bridal shop, just like I worked hard to get published and see my own dreams of being a published author come alive,” Amy shared.
With over a million books sold, and fifteen years in between her first and most recent books, I was curious about how different publishing and writing felt between the two books. Amy highlights her willingness to constant improvement, “I still struggle to dig deeper with emotion and improve my writing overall, and I always doubt myself. Although I've written dozens of books since 2009, I'm always trying my best to be a better writer. I do think my writing has improved-- immensely-- but there's always room for improvement.”
The list of her published works is extensive, a list which symbolizes years of Amy’s love, hard-work, & tears to provide her readers with many happily ever afters. Out of the entire list, Finding You, which was published this summer, is her favorite and the one she’s most proud of. Finding You shares the story of two kidney transplant recipients who fall in love. Amy is especially connected to this story as it’s inspired by her own life, when in 2011, she donated her kidney to her husband.
“[It’s] the most personal and precious book I've written since my memoir, A Gift of Love,” said Amy. “The main characters, Darcy and Carter, are kidney transplant recipients, and I donated a kidney for my husband, Joe, so that he could receive a second transplant in 2011. When my editor suggested a storyline with a kidney transplant, I was nervous to write about something that was so personal to me; but once I started creating Darcy and Carter, it seemed I couldn’t type fast enough. The characters came to life in my mind, and soon they were telling me the story. In fact, I had a difficult time moving on from this novel after finishing it. I still carry Darcy and Carter around with me since I poured a lot of Joe’s experiences and my emotions into the book. I hope their story touches my readers' hearts. I dedicated this book to Joe, who is my hero and my inspiration every day.”
“…I couldn’t type fast enough.
The characters came to life in my mind,
and soon they were telling me the story.” -Amy Clipston
Fellow authors and writers understand just how vulnerable writing can be, to pour your soul and experiences into your work happens more often than many may realize, a vulnerability that Amy encounters as well.
And, if you appreciate books with easter eggs and connections to other stories, I know you’ll love to know that the inspiration for With This Ring happens to stem from Finding You! Amy spilled the influence that her favorite book had over the newest release, “Darcy's best friend [in Finding You] gets married and they go to the bridal shop in Flowering Grove to buy her gown. I decided I wanted to write about the bridal shop owner, Dakota…I often have family jokes or references that people who really know me might notice, such as references to the town where I grew up or my favorite movies or songs. I do put a lot of myself into my books and if you know me well, you might get it.”
Balancing writing as an author and life has it’s difficulties, particularly challenging for Amy as she also juggles a full-time job, managing by the grace of God and her supportive family. “My husband has had chronic health conditions so I've always had to work full-time. He's well now, but we had some challenging times during the course of our life together. I'm grateful that I've always had a stable full-time job with good benefits for my family,” Amy said. “My mom has lived with us since our kids were born, and she's always been my rock. She has always kept the house running so that I could work full-time and write books. Our kids are older now, but my mom still is a tremendous help. She takes care of chores around the house when I'm on deadline, and she also helps me brainstorm my books and reads the first drafts.I think my mom is reflected in my super supportive matriarchs. I can't think of a particular character, but she's definitely there. Just like my hubby is reflected in the sweet and supportive heroes.”
Staying up late to write is a thing of the past now that Amy is getting older, as has to be energized for work the next day, “…but I do push myself when I’m on a deadline,” she shares. “I'll write all weekend long and write during the week after I log off from work…[and] I've only had to ask for two extensions-- one when my dad passed away and the second this past summer when my kids both graduated and life got super duper busy. Other than that, I turn my books in early or on time. I am very organized and take my writing seriously. I'm grateful to have the job.”
And when it comes to weaving faith into her books, “I try to let the faith be organic to the stories. Sometimes the faith thread happens while I write. Other times I have a Scripture verse in mind, and sometimes, I don't know what it will be until I'm actually writing.”
Through reading With This Ring, and hearing Amy talk about her career as an author, I’m left feeling inspired by her dedication to what was once a childhood hobby, now fulfilled beyond her imagination. She’s a rare gem - setting the bar in her commitment to writing and her readers, and her heartfelt writing shines a light when days have looking a little gloomy.