Patrick E. Craig and Free Books!

The Mennonite Queen—an epic saga of forbidden love, bloody revolution, and powerful faith.

This week we're focusing on novelist Patrick Craig, author of the Amish/Mennonite historical novel, The Mennonite Queen (P&J Publishing, April 2019).

Patrick E. Craig is a traditionally published/independent author. In 2013, Harvest House Publishers published his Apple Creek Dreams series, which included A Quilt For Jenna, The Road Home, and Jenny’s Choice.

His current series is The Paradise Chronicles and the first book, The Amish Heiress, was published in 2015. It remained on the Amazon Top 100 best sellers list for seven months. The Amish Princess was released in 2017 and was followed by The Mennonite Queen in April 2019. In 2017 Harlequin purchased the print rights for The Amish Heiress for their Walmart Amish series. That book went into Walmart stores on April 2 2019.

Just recently Patrick signed with Elk Lake Publishers to publish his kids’ mystery series, The Adventures of Punkin and Boo.

Patrick and his wife, Judy, make their home in Idaho. Patrick is represented by the Steve Laube Agency.

Please tell us one random thing we might not know about you.

I was a singer in a well-known rock band and a Pastor.

Okay, Patrick, the tiny researching corner of my brain had to go snooping online. Very cool. 

Please tell us a bit more about the plot of The Mennonite Queen.

Princess Isabella of Poland has been raised in a life of wealth and leisure. She is destined to marry a king but fate intervenes when she meets Johan Hirschberg, a young Anabaptist who works in her father’s stables. Johan’s strength, kindness, and faith win her heart and they secretly marry and flee to Münster, a city in Germany where Anabaptists have thrown off the yoke of persecution and taken control.

Johan joins in the revolution, but the excesses and sins of the leaders soon turn him away. Johan and Isabella try to leave, but Münster is surrounded by the troops of Catholic Bishop Prince Franz von Waldek, who has been paid to capture the princess. At the height of the battle, they escape and flee to Frisia where they are taken in by Menno Simons, the founder of the Mennonite church.

After two years with Menno they are captured by von Waldek and returned to Poland. There, Isabella must make a choice that will change the course of European history.

Wow, that's a fascinating point in history that I can't say I've ever read about. Intriguing.

What is it about Isabella that will make your readers care about her?

Isabella Jagiellon, Queen of Hungary, is a real historical character who actually wrote the first Edict of Religious Toleration in Europe. I have inserted her into a fictional history where she plays a role in the founding of the Mennonite church. She is bold, smart, lovely and loves the Lord. She is forced to make a choice that changes the course of European history, and that choice will endear her to all my readers.

Yes, both endearing and compelling. I'm sold.

Let’s fantasize—your publisher is sending you to explore the history and setting for a new novel. Where are they sending you? Why there?

I’m being sent to Ixheim, Germany, the town where the last Amish community in Europe closed it’s doors in 1937. I’m researching for a novel titled The Amish Menorah, a story about an Amish man who rescues a Jewish girl from the clutches of the Nazis. Look for it in 2021.

I usually ask this question as a "what if," but sometimes we hit on an actual work in progress, like The Amish Menorah. I hope you'll come back and tell us more about it when it becomes available! 

What is the last novel you read that you would recommend?

Goodbye Darkness A Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester. I read it as research for my new book with Murray Pura and it is one of the best written books about the struggles and fears of the American Marines during the Pacific campaign in WW II.

What are you working on now?

Currently Elk Lake Publishing is getting ready to release the first book in my YA Mystery series, The Adventures of Punkin and Boo. It’s titled The Mystery of Ghost Dancer Ranch. I’m also working on a World War II Novel, Far On The Ringing Plains, with my friend, Murray Pura.

I’m preparing to sign with Elk Lake for two new series. The first is Amor mi Tien (Love Keep Me), which is a three generational romance/historical series set in the time of The Wars of The Roses in England and France. The first book is titled The Roses of Agincourt, and will be finished early next year. I also have a thriller series, Maxfield Williams, starting in 2020. The first book will be Scars on Heaven. And then I have the second Punkin and Boo book, The Lost Coast, coming out in 2020.

Busy man! Where else can readers find you online?

Webpage
Facebook
Twitter
Amazon


The book can be purchased online via the following button:



Finally, what question would you like to ask my readers?

Murray and I have been wrestling with a question about our new book, Far On The Ringing Plains. If a book has a Christian world view and is specifically Christian in its content and focus, but you want it to reach a general audience with a gospel they may never have heard before as opposed to more cloistered Christian readers, and it is about Marines in battle, is it okay to use rougher (not gross) Marine language and situations? Honest opinions, please.

Excellent question. Thank you, Patrick, for visiting and telling us about yourself and your novel. Readers, Patrick has offered to give away a free copy of his book. To enter, leave a comment and your email below in answer to his question, above. "Please enter me" won't get you entered. Remember that U.S. subscribers are entered an additional time in each drawing. The drawing is done by email, so leave your email address, like so: trish[at]trishperry[dot]com. 

I encourage readers to keep commenting and/or subscribe at right (above my list of books) in order to learn about new releases! U.S. subscribers are entered in the drawings a second time when they comment.

Only United States residents are eligible for the drawing, but anyone can subscribe to the blog posts via the GDPA-compliant Feedblitz box above my list of books, at right.

Also readers, I'd love it if you'd connect with me on Facebook. Just click on my name at the right of today's post title.

Annoying legal disclaimer: drawings void where prohibited; open only to U.S. residents; the odds of winning depend upon the number of participants. See full disclaimer, GDPA notice, and my Disclosure of Material Connection HERE