Notice that the guy following behind the buggy's zipping along on in-line skates? Hey, why not? Amish drive buggies and carts, pull horse drawn farm equipment, etc., but they also ride bicycles, scooters, and rollerskate. This photo was taken in Lancaster County, PA. I went to college in PA, but about an hour north of Harrisburg, so it wasn't really in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Still, there were plenty of Amish and Mennonites around the area. I miss those Wednesday farmers' markets. We have roadside stands around here, and a few farmers' markets, but all you really find are truck goods. The Lewisburg, PA farmers' market had shoo-fly and strawberry pies, jams and jellies, apple butter, etc., for sale.

Why would I bring up Amish and Mennonites out of the blue? It's because I'm in the middle of writing a short story for an anthology, assuming my story is editable enough to be included. Inclusion, plus a payment to me of $25 is enough to garner a membership in the Horror Writer's Association. The anthology's theme is "mimicry," or to put it another way, "things are not as they seem."

Not to give too much away, but my story involves a couple of kidnapings and murders in the heart of an Amish community. I started on the story yesterday afternoon, and had a little over 4000 words by the time I packed it in for the evening. It took some research along the way to get a number of details correct.

No doubt it will need some serious editing on my part once it's finished, even before I hand it over to my editor, but she's good. She'll catch some things I don't, and has a better idea of what paragraphs or sections may simply not add anything to the story. I'm not a writer, so I can't afford to have an ego about such things.