Over the past decade, Suzanne Woods Fisher has become a renowned author, particularly known for her Amish novels, and now with over thirty books to her name. What you may not know about is Suzanne’s involvement with breeding puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind!  Not that I’m biased in any way – I just happen to have a black labrador called Sherlock who is the best pooch in the whole world – but isn’t that fabulous?! 

Suzanne’s latest novel, Phoebe’s Light, the first in her new series focuses on the Quakers of colonial-era Nantucket Island. Be sure to enter the giveaway below!

Over to you, Suzanne, and your favourite things 🙂

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Animal  

DOG! Big ones, like yellow or black labs. Golden retrievers, too. Best of all is a “cross,” a combo of both. That’s my Toffee, a breeder keeper for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Artist 

Vincent Van Gogh. Such a curious, complicated man! And so very talented.

Board Game  

Trivial Pursuit. I know one thing about everything. That’s my knowledge base. 🙂

Book 

The Bible. Can’t get enough of it.

Colour 

Cornflower blue

Flower  

Lily of the valley

Ice-cream 

Salted caramel. My husband is an ice cream maker! He even went to Penn State’s Ice Cream School. His ice cream is…sublime.

Movie

To Kill a Mockingbird

Non-writing activity 

TENNIS! Love it. I play 2-4 x a week, and in a number of leagues. Makes me feel like I’m ten again.

Reading genre 

Historical fiction

Season

The first few weeks of any season are the best. I’m ready for a change and so attentive to the weather. Then it gets tiresome (too hot, too cold, too many leaves to rake up, you know how it goes).

Snack 

Popcorn

Sport (watch or play)

Tennis!

TV show

The Great British Baking Show and This is Us

Phoebe Starbuck has always adjusted her sails and rudder to the whims of her father. Now, for the first time, she’s doing what she wants to do: marrying Captain Phineas Foulger and sailing far away from Nantucket. As she leaves on her grand adventure, her father gives her two gifts, both of which Phoebe sees little need for. The first is an old sheepskin journal from Great Mary, her highly revered great-grandmother. The other is a “minder” on the whaling ship in the form of cooper Matthew Macy, a man whom she loathes.

Soon Phoebe discovers that life at sea is no easier than life on land. Lonely, seasick, and disillusioned, she turns the pages of Great Mary’s journal and finds herself drawn into the life of this noble woman. To Phoebe’s shock, her great-grandmother has left a secret behind that carries repercussions for everyone aboard the ship, especially her husband the captain and her shadow the cooper. This story within a story catapults Phoebe into seeing her life in an entirely new way–just in time. 

In this brand-new series, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings her signature twists and turns to bear on a fascinating new faith community: the Quakers of colonial-era Nantucket Island.

Here’s a favourite scene of Suzanne’s from her latest novel…

A scene from Phoebe’s Light, when Matthew Macy was trying to decide whether he should sign on to a whaling ship or not:

Even though Matthew was twenty-one years old, he had an overwhelming urge to seek advice from his mother. Libby Macy was an astute woman, solid and steady, who met life as it came to her. He found her in the small kitchen of the Macy home on Easy Street, the room filled with the woody scent of simmering bayberries. He stood by the open door, watching her for a moment as she carefully set a wick into each candle mold before pouring hot wax into the forms. She smiled when she noticed he was there. “Something’s on thy mind. ’Tis written on thy face. Just like thy father. Everything churning in the mind is written on thy face.” She set the pot of hot wax on the crane. “So sit down and spill.”

He explained the captain’s offer to her—of the overly generous lay of the profits, of the dismissal of the gaol sentence.

“So what do you think? Would you be in favor of me heading out to sea? Could you manage?”

She had her eyes on the candle forms as the wax hardened. The frilled brim of her white cap shaded her forehead so that he couldn’t read her expression. “We’ll manage, Matthew. We’ll always manage.” She lifted her head. “But I’m not so blind I can’t see what’s behind this.”

He studied the hearth’s fire, flame licking the pot of wax. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Oh, I think thee does. The entire island is abuzz with news that Phoebe Starbuck will be on the ship. Thee’s been besotted by Phoebe for as long as I can remember.”

Matthew turned to look at his mother. “Hold on. Phoebe and I . . . that’s old history.”

“I know, I know. But that hasn’t stopped thee from wanting her.” His mother could always size up the situation and read it correctly. To Matthew’s further amazement, his mother said one more thing. “She’s wrong.”

“Who?”

“Phoebe Starbuck. Thinking thee has nothing to stand on in a gale.”

“She’s no longer of any concern to me. She’s going to be another man’s wife.”

“She’s marrying that man to save her father from ruin.”

“She’s a Starbuck. Hardly near ruin.”

“She’s a sheep-raising Starbuck, not a whaling Starbuck. There’s a difference. Her father’s always had a talent for betting on the wrong horse.”

Matthew rose to his feet. “You’re wrong about one thing. Phoebe loves Captain Foulger.”

His mother scoffed at the thought. “If she thinks she loves him, then she doesn’t know him.”

“And you do?”

“I knew him when he was still in knee pants. I’ve always thought he loved himself best of all.”

Matthew’s mother had gone to school with Phineas Foulger. He’d learned from his aunt that there was a time when the two fancied each other, but Phineas ended up marrying Elizabeth Swain, an heiress. He was never quite sure what had soured between his mother and Phineas, and his aunt was the closed-lip type.

He heard the sound of his young brother, Jeremiah, running up the shelled path toward home. “Well, then, if I have your blessing, I’ll tell the captain that I’ll be going.” He gave her a weak smile. “Off on the Fortuna to make my fortune.”

“Keep thy suspicions from Phoebe, they would but trouble her and change nothing. Thee has no evidence from Henry Coffin. Merely grumblings from a disgruntled old man. No evidence to stand up in a court of law.”

He could not deny that.

“Matthew. You’ll not dishonor the captain in any way.”

“O’ course not.”

“Mayhap thee should consider praying before thee gives the captain an answer.”

Matthew felt the sting of her words, for he had not thought to pray. “There is always the difficult matter of discerning clarity from the Almighty.”

“Aye, ’tis true.”

His mother did not realize he was mocking and he thought it best not to alert her. It would be nice to believe that there was something, someone, out there who responded to the questions of mere mortals. But now was not the time to rankle his mother. “The will of God, it seems, is often clouded and elusive.”

“Sometimes,” she added thoughtfully, “the Almighty does not answer us in full, but merely nudges us in the direction of His choosing.”

He rubbed a hand along the tabletop. “The sole condition the captain put on me was that I’m to give up the drink.”

A smile creased his mother’s face. “In that case, son, I’ll help thee pack.”

*****

Thanks Suzanne!

Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than two dozen novels, including Phoebe’s Light, Minding the Light, the Amish Beginnings series, The Bishop’s Family series, and The Inn at Eagle Hill series, as well as nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and The Heart of the Amish. She lives in California. Learn more at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com and follow Suzanne on Twitter @suzannewfisher and Facebook @SuzanneWoodsFisherAuthor.

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Buy at Amazon: Phoebe’s Light or Koorong

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