An Amish Gothic Romance... Really?

What does the contemporary Amish romance genre have in common with gothic romance? Nothing at first glance. That's the challenge and fun of being a writer. I get to make the link between the two and create a story that is a little unique.

            Gothic romance is usually dark and spooky, and sometimes the hero isn't as sweet as you would find in contemporary romance novels. Think Heathcliff from Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, and you've got the picture of a common gothic romance hero-- an obsessed man with inner darkness, secrets, and turmoil. That doesn't have to be the case, though, and in Cries from the Past, the hero, an Amish guy named David Fisher, has a sad past, but he is far from a Byronic Hero.

            Setting is another component of gothic romance that fans of the genre recognize and love. Mist, murder, mouldering castles, abandoned graveyards, and ghosts all populate the landscape in the genre. In Cries from the Past, the setting of an old farmhouse where the heroine, Amity Frost, hears strange cries in the night, fits the bill. Other details of setting come into play, but I don't want to give everything away before you've read the novella.

            Another component of gothic romance are the secrets that must be uncovered by heroine and hero. In the novella, secrets from the past threaten the present and those in it. The relationship between David and Amity hangs in the balance as do their very lives. The living also try to thwart the hopes of the lovers in the present in order to protect their secrets or fulfill their own wants.

            So, what can an Amish romance story and gothic romance have in common? I hope you'll read Cries from the Past and find out.

Excerpt:

            The   only   thing   she   had   planned  tomorrow  was  that  a  local  Amish  carpenter  was  going  to  come  out  and  take  a  look  at  some  furniture  Gram  had  put  upstairs  in  storage.   She   didn't   know   anything   about   the   man,   but   she   had   set   it   up  through   the   Fishers'   store.   Amity   wanted   to   sell   the   old   pieces  rather   than   see   them   go   to   ruin.   Gram's   pack   rat   ways   were   clear,  and  the  furniture  could  be  better  used  as  money  for  repairs  on  the  house  as  needed  or  for  getting  it  ready  to  sell,  if  that's  what  Amity  decided  to  do.  She   realized   as   she   lay   in   bed,   listening   to   her   watch   tick,  that  she  wasn't  sure  she  wanted  to  leave  here  at  all.   

            Sometime   in   the   night,   she   awoke   to   crying.   Tonight,   the  sound  came  to  her,  muffled  and  terrible,  and  she  whimpered  under  her  comforter,  praying  for  the  first  time  in  a  long  time. 

Please,  God,  make  it  stop.  Grant  him  or  her  peace.  She  fell  asleep  with  the  sound  of  crying  ringing  in  her  ears,  tears  on  her  cheeks. 

Lisa Greer