A NYC Peek Through the Window of Wendy Rich Stetson.

Who: I’m a country girl living life in the city.  For the last twenty years, I’ve been a New York City actress, audiobook narrator, teaching artist, and mom, but my heart is in the corn fields and green ridges of Central Pennsylvania where I grew up.  I’ve played leading ladies and saucy maids on Broadway and around the country, I’ve served time with Jessica Biel (on television of course), and a Broadway fight director once said I drove a cop car as well as any stunt woman.

Interests:  My favorite new hobby is stand up paddleboard!  I discovered it at a friend’s lake house in way northern Michigan and fell in love.  Last year, I got two used boards online, and my family and I love nothing more than to drive up into the mountains to spend a lazy afternoon on the water.  I also enjoy crafting, gardening, and roaming New York City for the tastiest cupcakes in every neighborhood.

Network: I am lucky to be supported by an amazing family, a network of friends from childhood, and a crew of inspiring women who I met in graduate school and hang out with as often as possible.  During the pandemic, I also became a part of some online groups.  Meeting friends virtually seemed daunting, but through a writers’ group and a neat podcast app, I now have lots of new friends all over the country to bounce ideas off and to support in their work.

Desk: Covid caused a big restructuring in our lives just as it did for so many families around the world.  My husband now works from home three days a week, so I needed to create a second office space in our Manhattan apartment.  Carving out room for another desk isn’t easy in a city flat, but I’m pleased with my new bedroom workspace.  My desk is small, just big enough for my laptop, a few notebooks, and a jelly jar of pens.  It faces a windowsill, lined with pictures of my husband and daughter and topped with a pie basket my cat loves to sleep on.

Outrageous talent: I am crazy good at estimating anything to do with time.  I can usually guess the time of day within about ten minutes, and I am never, ever late.  My friends joke that I time travel.  Think it’s impossible to get to midtown for that lunch date in fifteen minutes?  Hop on the subway with me, and don’t worry, you’ll make it.  

Window:  The view from my workspace inspires and thrills me every day.  We live on the sixteenth floor, and my desk looks out over Morningside Park and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.  Hawks nest in the statuary atop the cathedral and regularly buzz my window.  Afternoon storms roll in from the west and the sunsets are magnificent.  As Anne Shirley said, “lots of scope for the imagination.”

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Wendy's Room With A View

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​Hometown: Book One of the Hearts of the Ridge Series
by
Wendy Rich Stetson

When Tessa's big-city plans take the A Train to disaster, she lands in her sleepy hometown, smack in the middle of the most unlikely love triangle ever to hit Pennsylvania's Amish Country.
Hot-shot Dr. Richard Bruce is bound to Green Ridge by loyalty that runs deep. Deeper still is Jonas Rishel's tie to the land and his family's Amish community. Behind the wheel of a 1979 camper van, Tessa idles at a fork in the road. Will she cruise the superhighway to the future? Or take a slow trot to the past and a mysterious society she never dreamed she'd glimpse from the inside?

Peek inside

The girl entwined her fingers in her skirt and tugged the fabric tight. “Your hair is the same color as my cat, and she’s the best cat in the world.” In a heartbeat, she fled and buried her face in the man’s lap.
“My goodness.  What a compliment.  Thank you.” She fumbled with the clasp of her wallet, discovering only then she smooshed her thumb deep into the whoopie pie.
The elfin child giggled and bounced on bare toes.
Standing, the man swept her into his arms and smiled down at Tessa. “Rebecca has not seen many women with ginger hair.”
Ginger hair. For years, she was tormented by boneheaded boys shouting, “Carrot Top” and “Flame.” No one ever called her mane ginger. Beneath his candid gaze, her curls heated like embers, warming her from top to toe. Who was this man?
The girl wriggled, knocking askew his straw hat.
He tossed her under one arm like a sack of flour and righted it, loosening a tawny curl that escaped the wide brim and fell over one brow. His gaze passed over Tessa’s face.   
Her unruly hair and short shorts tweaked at her consciousness. What did the Amish call outsiders? English? She was definitely dressed like an English woman. And not one from a Jane Austen novel.
He deposited the giggling girl right-side up on the floor and approached the table. “I’ve rarely seen hair that color myself. Like a copper penny.”
She stared at the mangled whoopie pie and blushed even deeper. For a brief moment, she felt his gaze trail down her body like a caress. Or did she?

Peek Further
Wendy Rich Stetson is a New York City girl who still considers the Central Pennsylvania countryside to be her home.  She grew up road tripping in a 1979 VW camper van, and she keeps a running list of favorite roadside attractions from coast to coast.  Now an author of sweet, small-town romance, Wendy is no stranger to storytelling.  She’s a Broadway and television actress, an audiobook narrator, and a mom who likes nothing more than collaborating on children’s books with her teenage artist daughter.  Wendy lives in Upper Manhattan with her family of three and rambunctious Maine Coon kitty.  Follow Wendy’s journey at www.wendyrichstetson.com

An in depth Peek
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