My next book, Seeking Tranquility, comes out in just over a month! I loved writing this book. The two sisters are as different as night and day, the two older women are busybodies who genuinely care about everyone, and the scientists on the mainland add humor and spice to everyone’s lives.
Christy MacLane is smart, but in her eyes, not smart enough. She’s in over her head, having to care for Molly–both of them orphans now–trying to figure out how to finish college, working two jobs to make ends meet, and wondering if this is all that life has to hold for her. She’s sure that she will never have a life of her own or find love or have the time to look for either. Of course, life barges in when we least expect it, and love has a way of finding its own way when the time is right.
Molly is a science prodigy–a whiz at math and an expert on space science at the age of ten. She longs to follow in her father’s footsteps and work for NASA, maybe even go into space someday. She just needs to get through the summer before 6th grade first.
Diane owns the popular doughnut shop on the island, the favorite haunt of all the police officers and a draw for tourists and islanders alike. Her best friend, Marge, has sold the newspaper to Katherine Kelly but can’t seem to keep her nose out of everyone else’s business. The two look after Christy and Molly, loving them like the children they never had.
Dr. Simon Johnson is a friend of the late scientist, Fred MacLane, and feels a certain responsibility for Fred’s two girls. He gives fatherly advice, offers his help when needed, and keeps an eye on Molly while she attends camp at Wallops Island Flight Facility. But someone else has caught his eye as well–the owner of the local doughnut shop.
Chloe and Avi become fast friends with Molly even though they are a good ten years older than she is. They understand her plight as a prodigy and delight in working with her in the lab as well as hanging out with her and Christy in the beach and around the island, but is their friendship good for Molly, or is it just asking for trouble?
Then there’s the mysterious PhD student, Jared Stevenson. What secrets is he hiding? Why won’t he open up to anyone? What does he want with Molly? And why is he always keeping such a close eye on Christy while never letting on that he’s watching her? Is Jared the man Christy has been looking for, or is his presence a danger to her and everyone else in Chincoteague?
There’s trouble on the little island off the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In the past, the islanders have dealt with a vengeful stalker, a murderous kidnapper, and a group of local vandals. This summer, though, promises to be the busiest and most successful season in years. If only those kids weren’t dying…
Who will be next, and why has trouble come to Chincoteague again?
Pre-order your copy to find out.
In the meantime, keep reading for an excerpt from Seeking Tranquility.
Seeking Tranquility by Amy Schisler
The bell on the front door jingled. “I’ll go out,” Christy said.
“Yell if you need me,” Diane called, reaching for a potholder to pull the trays from the oven. She heard a male’s voice and the sound of surprise in Christy’s cheerful response. Setting the pan on the cooling rack, she peeked into the storeroom.
“Yes, please. Assorted would be great.”
The young man pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose and looked around the shop.
“How do you like it here so far?” Christy asked as she added doughnuts to a box.
“I don’t know yet. This is actually my first trip onto the island. I’ve only been here for a week.”
“Where are you staying?”
They clearly knew each other, which Diane found interesting. Christy didn’t seem to know anyone except the few people she worked with and Molly’s teacher.
“They’ve got a few cottages on-site for interns. I share one with another guy. He’s from Lancaster. In Pennsylvania.”
Christy’s hand stopped mid-air, and she smiled at the man. “Yes, I know where Lancaster is.”
“Oh, sorry.” His face reddened as he pushed up his glasses again. A nervous habit, then, rather than a poor fit. “I didn’t know if you were from this area.”
Christy resumed packing the box. “From the Western side of the Chesapeake Bay originally, but yeah, the Mid-Atlantic area. What about you? Where are you from?”
“A few different places. I’ve lived in Massachusetts for a while now, college and grad school.” He looked away, seemingly embarrassed, and Diane wondered why.
“Boston?” Christy asked as she closed the pastry case.
The man shook his head. “Cambridge.” He looked away again, and Christy’s mouth hung open for a moment before she closed it.
“Oh,” she said before tucking the wax paper neatly into the box. “The big H. Fred went there, too.”
“Yeah, I know. He was one of the reasons I applied. I always hoped maybe he’d do a guest professor gig there or something.”
Christy smiled. “Actually, he would have liked that. He was a fantastic teacher as far as Molly was concerned. Wait until you meet her. She’s going to blow you away.”
Diane watched as Christy walked to the cash register and rang up the order. The man—he really was quite cute with that curly hair, those big, blue eyes, and his adorable shyness—reached into his pocket and produced a credit card.
“Can I use this? It belongs to NASA.”
“No problem. Any coffee? We really do make the best around.”
“We’ve got one of those Keurig things, but thanks.”
Diane smiled at that.
“But maybe…”
Christy looked up.
“Maybe I could get one to go. Since you said it’s the best.”
He gave what almost passed for a smile, his cheeks flooding with color, and Diane’s own heart pitter-pattered. Yes, he really was adorable. And just about Christy’s age…
“Okay,” Christy said. “Let me get that.”
“Um, can we go ahead and run these through first? I don’t want to charge the coffee on this card.”
Christy stopped and nodded. “Oh, yeah, sure. That makes sense.”
“Thanks.”
The young man watched Christy’s hands gracefully run the card, but when she looked up to hand him his receipt, he quickly looked away and took it with a nervous but polite motion.
“Cream or sugar in your coffee?”
“No, thanks.”
When Christy stepped away to make his coffee, his eyes followed her every movement, from picking up his to-go cup, to filling the cup from the spout, to carefully sealing the lid. Only, Diane realized, his eyes weren’t on her hands but on the hair that streamed down from her ponytail and the bit of her face that he could see when she turned to reach for the lid. As she turned around, he blushed again and looked directly at the cup she was carrying rather than her face.
It was a beautiful dance they orchestrated as Christy made the coffee, glided to the register, and finished the sale while his eyes followed her back and forth behind the counter as though mesmerized by the sway of a honeybee in flight. She was completely unaware of the effect she had on him, and Diane smiled at his attempt to keep it that way.
Pre-order your copy today!
Come see Amy on one of these dates:
June 4, 2022 – Christ Church 350th Anniversary Fair, Broomes Island, MD
June 12, 2022 – Saints Peter and Paul Women’s Guild Brunch, 1214 South Washington St, Easton, MD, 11:45am
June 15, 2022 – Catch Amy on Delmarva Life on channel 16, Salisbury, MD at 5pm.
June 18, 2022 – SunDial Books, Chincoteague, VA – The Launch of My New Chincoteague Trilogy!
June 18, 2022 – Crisfield Bluegrass Festival, Crisfield, MD, 1:00-7:00pm
August 13, 2022 – Makers Market, St. Michaels Inn, St Michaels Inn, 1228 S Talbot St, St Michaels, MD 9am-3pm
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What I was writing about one year ago this week: Summer Reading 2021
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Amy Schisler is an award-winning author of both children’s books and sweet, faith-filled romance novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her books, Picture Me, Whispering Vines, and Island of Miracles are all recipients of Illumination Awards, placing them among the top inspirational fiction books of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Whispering Vines was awarded the 2017 LYRA Award for the best romance of 2016. The Good Wine, the sequel to Whispering Vines was released in June of 2021. Island of Miracles has outsold all of Amy’s other books worldwide and ranked as high as 600 on Amazon. Her follow up, Island of Promise is a reader favorite. Amy’s children’s chapter book is The Greatest Gift, and her most recent suspense novel is Summer’s Squall.
Amy’s second book in the Chincoteague Island Trilogy, Island of Promise, was awarded First Prize by the Oklahoma Romance Writer’s Association as the best Inspirational Romance of 2018 and was awarded a Gold Medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2019 for Inspirational Fiction. It is the 2019 winner for Best Inspirational Fiction in the RWA Golden Quill Contest, Best Romance in the American Book Awards, and a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award of Fiction. Amy’s 2019 work, The Devil’s Fortune, a finalist in the Writer’s Digest Self-Publishing Awards and winner of an Illumination Award, is based, in part, on Amy’s family history. The third book in Amy’s Chincoteague Island Trilogy, Island of Hope, was released in August of 2019. Amy’s book, Desert Fire, Mountain Rain begins her new Buffalo Springs series. Book two, Under the Summer Moon, was released in December of 2021.
Amy’s new book, Seeking Tranquility, will be released June 15, 2022. Pre-order your copy now!
You may follow Amy on Facebook at http://facebook.com/amyschislerauthor, Twitter @AmySchislerAuth, Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/amyschisler and at http://amyschislerauthor.com.
Amy’s books: Crabbing With Granddad (2013), A Place to Call Home (2014), Picture Me (2015), Whispering Vines (2016), Island of Miracles (2017), Stations of the Cross Meditations for Moms (2017), The Greatest Gift (2017), Summer’s Squall (2017), Island of Promise (2018), The Devil’s Fortune (2019), Island of Hope (2019), A Devotional Alphabet (2019), Desert Fire, Mountain Rain(2020), The Good Wine (2021), Under the Summer Moon (2021).
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