The daughter of Mennonite farmers, Joan Hochstetler grew up on a farm in central Indiana. She is a direct descendent of Jacob Hochstetler, who immigrated to this country from Europe in 1738 with his wife and two small children seeking religious freedom. 

Amish Mennonites, they settled in the Northkill Amish community on the western frontier of Pennsylvania  at the base of the Blue Mountains. In the early morning of September 20, 1757, the family became caught up in the French and Indian War when their home was attacked and burned to the ground by Indian warriors allied with the French. Because of his nonresistant beliefs, Jacob refused to allow his sons to take up arms against their attackers. As a result, his wife, one son, and an infant daughter were massacred, while he and two of his sons were carried off into captivity. 

Jacob managed to escape the following spring and returned home after a harrowing journey. Years later his sons were forcibly returned as a condition of the treaty ending the war. This story is well known among the Amish and Mennonites and inspired Joan's love of history at an early age.

A graduate of Indiana University, a professional editor, and lifelong student of history, Joan has published one contemporary novel and the first three books of her critically acclaimed American Revolutionary War historical fiction series. Her contemporary novel One Holy Night, a retelling of the Christmas story set in modern times, was the Christian Small Publishers 2009 Book of the Year and finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Book of the Year. Daughter of Liberty, Native Son, and Wind of the Spirit, books 1-3 of the American Patriot Series, will release in a revised and updated Heritage Edition beginning in Spring 2012.

Joan was an editor with The United Methodist Publishing House for many years. She is currently the publisher and editorial director of Sheaf House Publishers, a Nashville, Tennessee, area small press, which she founded in 2006. She lives in the Nashville area with her husband and enjoys researching and writing historical novels, gardening, traveling, crafts, reading, and spending time with her family.

Book 3, Wind of the Spirit

Can her love bridge the miles that separate them—and the savage bonds that threaten to tear him forever from her arms?

Elizabeth Howard’s assignment to gain crucial intelligence for General Washington leads her into the very maw of war at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, where disaster threatens to end the American rebellion. Yet her heart is fixed on Jonathan Carleton, whose whereabouts remain unknown more than a year after he disappeared into the wilderness. Carleton, now the Shawnee war chief White Eagle, is caught in a bitter war of his own. As unseen forces gather to destroy him, he leads the fight against white settlers encroaching on Shawnee lands while battling the longing for Elizabeth that will not give him peace. 

One Holy Night

As on that holy night long ago … in a world torn by strife … to a family that suffered heart-wrenching loss … there will be born a baby …

One Holy Night retells the Christmas story in a strikingly original way—through the discovery of a baby abandoned in the manger of a church’s nativity scene. Destined to become a classic for all seasons, One Holy Night deals compassionately with the gritty issues of life—war and violence, devastating illness, intergenerational and interracial conflict, addictions, and broken relationships. This moving, inspirational story will warm readers’ hearts with hope and joy long after they finish reading.

A beautiful rebel spy and a jaded British officer fight a war of wits and words—and a love that will not be denied.
Eastertide, April 1775. In the blockaded port of Boston, Elizabeth Howard plays a dangerous game. As the infamous courier Oriole, she is hunted by the British for smuggling intelligence and munitions to the Sons of Liberty by night, while by day she flirts with British officers to gain access to information the rebels so desperately need. But she hasn’t counted on the arrival of Jonathan Carleton, an officer in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons. To her dismay, the attraction between them is immediate, powerful—and fought on both sides in a war of wits and words. When Carleton wins the assignment to ferret out Oriole, Elizabeth can no longer deny that he is not only her most dangerous foe, but also the possessor of her heart.

As the first blood is spilled at Lexington and Concord, Carleton fights his own private battle of faith. And headstrong Elizabeth learns the bitter consequences of following her impulsive heart when her dangerous role thrusts her into the carnage of Bunker Hill.

Caught between two worlds at war, he could lose everything—his country, his faith, and the woman who holds his heart captive.

Brigadier General Jonathan Carleton has pledged his allegiance to the newly elected commander of the rebel force, General George Washington. But his heart belongs to fiery Elizabeth Howard, who charms British officers by day and by night delivers their secrets to the Sons of Liberty. Their plans to marry are put on hold, however, when Washington orders Carleton to undertake a perilous journey deep into Indian territory, while Elizabeth continues to spy on the British. Within weeks, she learns that far out in the wilderness Carleton has been captured by the Seneca. Despite all attempts to find him, his fate remains shrouded in mystery.

Forced to abandon Boston, British General William Howe prepares to unleash an overwhelming invasion force against Washington’s badly outmatched army at New York City. And reports begin to filter back from the western frontiers that a new Shawnee war chief named White Eagle is leading devastating raids against both British and American outposts in Ohio Territory.

Book 4, Crucible of War

She rescued him from the hangman’s noose. Can he save her from an even more desperate fate?

The compelling saga of the nation's founding continues as Elizabeth Howard and Jonathan Carleton face a crucible of trial and triumph at the battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Saratoga—and a crisis that will test their mettle and their love for each other and God to the very limits.