Judy – We wanted to do something a little different. We wanted a challenge. We wanted to test our creativity. Could we take two totally different cultures, identify the differences and the commonalties and somehow mesh them together to develop an interesting, but believable story? Could we show the respect and sensitivity needed to talk about these cultures? Plus, we thought that this would be a damn good, sexy story. We believe that it would appeal to romance readers.

Sarah clings to her Amish background in spite of the fact that she left her community at the age of fifteen and found refuge in the home of Hester, one of James’ long lost relative. James felt abandoned at a young age living on the reservation and has been running away from his Native American background.

We paralleled the traditions and beliefs in each of the cultures to enable James and Sarah, when they met years later, to help each other to grow. The dialogue is strong, reflecting the inner and outer conflicts, which are handled respectfully, as the tension builds between the characters. Hester and Sarah’s son, Daniel, are important sub-characters in the book. Each of them contributed to the story without taking away from the main characters. Daniel is their window to maturity. Hester is the womb of protection, wisdom and love for all of them.

I read somewhere that if a writer feels emotion when writing the readers will feel it too. I can honestly tell you that Cindy and I can tear up when reading many of the scenes in this book, even today. Nothing makes us happier then when someone that read "Safe Haven" calls or emails to let us know that they cried because they were so touched by a particular scene. We are proud that we achieved our goal of respect and sensitivity when writing this novel. If we could afford it, we would give every romance reader a copy of this book to read because it’s such a wonderful story.

Cindy – I find both cultures similar but different, both a little mysterious. I wanted to know more and what better way then to put two people from each culture together in a romance.

Judy & Cindy – Cindy is still working full time, but since I retired last November, I had the time to do most of the research. Cindy and her husband traveled to Lancaster, PA to get additional information about the Amish culture, but I did my research through the Internet and print material from the library. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the research. I found so many interesting customs that we could use to enhance the characters and the story.

We chose customs that would enable the characters to share them through dialogue for development, rather than just telling a bunch of facts about the Amish or the Native Americans. The beliefs of each of the customs are intertwined in their personalities and add to the consistency and credibility of the growth of their relationship.

What is next for Judy and Cindy?

Judy & Cindy – I added this question because we want everyone to know that we have more romance stories to tell. We started our third book, "The Secret" years ago, but never finished it. Our goal is to finish this book and then start on another one. "The Secret" is a paranormal. I guarantee that it will be a very captivating story from the beginning to the end. It’s unique! To my knowledge no one has chosen the particular story line that we are using in this book. We are very excited about it.

Cindy and I are very appreciative of this opportunity to promote "Safe Haven". When you choose to self-published, it’s a challenge to try and get your book out there. Therefore, we are humbled by this support from this website.

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