The daughter of Mennonite farmers—and granddaughter of Amish farmers on both sides of her family—Joan M. Hochstetler was blessed to grow up just east of Kokomo in central Indiana, deeply immersed in the Anabaptist world. Strangely enough, regardless of his Amish upbringing her father served in the South Pacific in WWII (which sparked Joan's interest in all things WWII). At war's end he returned home and married the woman he'd been corresponding with all those years, who by then had upgraded to the Mennonites. So he settled down to become a devoted Mennonite farmer and carpenter, building houses and raising corn and cows and two children.
After graduating from high school, Joan attended Indiana University, graduating cum laude with a degree in Germanic Languages. Which was a breeze since her first language was the Indiana version of what's commonly called Pennsylvania Dutch . . . even though it's German, not Dutch.
At some point she decided she could surely write as well as the worst of the novels she more or less enjoyed reading, and maybe even as well as the better ones, so she took up pen and paper. Well, actually a typewriter and eventually a computer. By now she's worked her way up to being an award-winning editor and author of Christian historical fiction and historical romance endorsed by bestselling authors such as Laura Frantz, Lori Benton, Jocelyn Green, Michelle Shockley, Shannon McNear, and others.
In her everyday persona as Joan Shoup, she is the founder, publisher, and editorial director of Sheaf House Publishers, an independent small press headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana. In the mid 1990s she was assistant editor for the General Conference of The United Methodist Church and afterward served for many years as a production editor with Abingdon Press, an imprint of The United Methodist Publishing House. Previously she was executive assistant at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and an assistant producer on Freedom Speaks, a weekly TV program on First Amendment rights broadcast nationally on PBS. In the latter capacity she met a number of interesting well-known personalities and political figures.
Joan and her husband are currently members of Brenneman Memorial Missionary Church in Goshen, Indiana. She enjoys spending time with Jay, a retired United Methodist pastor, and with her children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren; gardening; crafts, especially scrapbooking; and researching her latest book projects. And, of course, writing, although that is at times a deeply fraught relationship. An avid reader and lifelong student of history, she is especially fond of historical nonfiction; biographies; and historical novels of adventure, intrigue, and romance. She is not, however, all that thrilled with school textbooks on history . . .
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After graduating from high school, Joan attended Indiana University, graduating cum laude with a degree in Germanic Languages. Which was a breeze since her first language was the Indiana version of what's commonly called Pennsylvania Dutch . . . even though it's German, not Dutch.
At some point she decided she could surely write as well as the worst of the novels she more or less enjoyed reading, and maybe even as well as the better ones, so she took up pen and paper. Well, actually a typewriter and eventually a computer. By now she's worked her way up to being an award-winning editor and author of Christian historical fiction and historical romance endorsed by bestselling authors such as Laura Frantz, Lori Benton, Jocelyn Green, Michelle Shockley, Shannon McNear, and others.
In her everyday persona as Joan Shoup, she is the founder, publisher, and editorial director of Sheaf House Publishers, an independent small press headquartered in Elkhart, Indiana. In the mid 1990s she was assistant editor for the General Conference of The United Methodist Church and afterward served for many years as a production editor with Abingdon Press, an imprint of The United Methodist Publishing House. Previously she was executive assistant at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and an assistant producer on Freedom Speaks, a weekly TV program on First Amendment rights broadcast nationally on PBS. In the latter capacity she met a number of interesting well-known personalities and political figures.
Joan and her husband are currently members of Brenneman Memorial Missionary Church in Goshen, Indiana. She enjoys spending time with Jay, a retired United Methodist pastor, and with her children, grandchildren, and now great-grandchildren; gardening; crafts, especially scrapbooking; and researching her latest book projects. And, of course, writing, although that is at times a deeply fraught relationship. An avid reader and lifelong student of history, she is especially fond of historical nonfiction; biographies; and historical novels of adventure, intrigue, and romance. She is not, however, all that thrilled with school textbooks on history . . .
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January 2027
Darke Valley
Presumed lost at sea, Alan Darke returns home from the War of 1812 after five years gone, only to discover his father in the grave, his inheritance stolen, and his betrothed wed to his brother.
Editing Pet Peeves
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