Hey everyone. Sorry I have been gone but I am still in the process of moving and will be back in a few days. In the mean time Ruthie has agreed to answer ALL of our questions so let’s ask some good ones. Don’t worry Ruthie I edited this and corrected all of the typo’s and misspelled words.
So the Romance Man seems to think you guys think I’m interesting. I HAVE NO IDEA WHY. You must have me confused with some other, more glamorous woman. A woman who doesn’t frequently get peed on and have small plastic farm animals shoved in her pants for someone else’s amusement. (And no, sadly, not in the kinky way.)
Thus, I am declaring it open season on Ruthie. I’ll tell you ten things about me, and then you can ask me what you like. (Just don’t ask me anything about my husband / sex life. He never volunteered to be married to a romance writer; I figure the least I can do is keep our personal life off the Internet.)
10. Yes, I really am a Midwestern housewife. Grew up in Ohio, went to college in Iowa and grad school in North Carolina, got married, moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and had a baby after a few years. My son is 3.5, and he stays home, though he’ll start preschool this fall. We have babysitters about 35 hours a week so I can work.
9. My favorite TV show is Futurama.
8. I read all the time. Mostly romance, a mix of books I’ve bought, books I’m beta-reading for writer friends, and manuscripts I’m working on for Entangled Publishing. (I’m an editor for their Indulgence line. I also have a nonfiction editing business. With the writing, that makes three jobs. Oy.) My favorite subgenres are contemporary and historical romance; I don’t read much romantic suspense or paranormal. Some of my favorite romance novelists are Cara McKenna (Curio; Ruin Me), Delphine Dryden (Theory of Attraction; Lamplighter’s Love); Jill Shalvis (The Heat Is On; The Sweetest Thing); Jennifer Crusie (Anyone But You; Bet Me); Sarah Mayberry (Her Best Friend; Hot Island Nights); and Charlotte Stein (Control; Sheltered).
7. I love to run in the rain.
6. I have never known what I wanted to be when I grew up. I still don’t. But my mom told me when I was 15 that despite what the guidance counselors kept telling us, I never actually had to figure it out, and that helped. I went to college the next year. That helped, too.
5. I’m a vegetarian, but I honestly don’t care if you are.
4. I never kissed a boy before college. I would have, but none of them ever asked me to.
3. I love to play cards, but I hate to win. In my ideal world, I win, but no one notices.
2. I used to knit a lot. The first thing I designed from scratch was a toy turtle with a removable shell. I wrote up the pattern and had it published in an online magazine. More than 5,000 people have knit it.
1. I started writing in October 2010 for my own amusement and to help rescue my sanity. I finished the first manuscript in December, a fling romance set in Hawaii called “Rebound” that will probably never get published, since it doesn’t have much of a plot (though it does have the best oral sex scene I’ve ever written). My second manuscript was the book that became About Last Night. I wrote it in December and January. The third one was Ride with Me. I wrote it in February and March, revised it, and submitted it to agents in April. I got an agent with it that month and sold it in June. Meanwhile, I revised both of my first two manuscripts and sold About Last Night in August after adding a new first chapter for my editor. While that was happening, I wrote two more, longer manuscripts, both of which I’ve extensively revised and rewritten, and both of which will come out next year as Along Came Trouble and Flirting with Disaster. And I wrote some other stuff in there, too. I can’t stop. Which is good, because nobody seems to want me to.
So? What else do you want to know?
I have several questions:
1. Why did you choose the major that you did and what were some of your other considerations.
2. Who is you favorite character you have written.
3. Have you ever had a lesbian experience?
4. Do you have a favorite nipple?
1. I just studied what I liked and didn’t study what I didn’t like. There was a bit of “what people said I’m good at” in there, too.
2. Cath.
3. Not unless you count playing rugby with a bunch of lesbians in college. No funny stuff, though. Just tackling.
4. Yes.
Which one
Filter.
Sorry
Hi Ruthie,
What college in NC did you go to? Who are your favorite historical authors?
Also, do you like dark or milk chocolate?
Marquita
Marquita also wants to know if you have had any lesbian experiences
Do NOT!
You are bad RM
Very,but you know…I think he’s asking so he can talk about his fun times in the military. This is a safe place to share, RM. We won’t judge you for your explorations.
I agree Marquita wasn’t there something about Greese if I remember no judging.
I went to grad school at UNC-Chapel Hill. I haven’t read widely in historical, but I adore Courtney Milan, Cecilia Grant, and Judith Ivory. I like both kinds of chocolate, but milk chocolate better.
Are you trying to replace me as your favorite potential lesbian, RM?
It’s nice to get to know more about you thanks to RM sight I found some new great authors. I have got both your books and there next on my list to read. I don’t have any question just thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! Thanks for reading (when you get there).
I loved Ride With Me and About Last Night. I am too tired to come up with any great questions. Do you know why the women’s synchronized diving team from Mexico is wearing blue suits? The Canadian team’s suits bother me, too, but at least they have a maple leaf between the boobs.
Thanks! No idea whatsoever on the suits. But Olympic swimming rocks.
Ladybug: It seems that the color of the mexican team was chosen by the team’s coach but I can tell you that the official sponsor of Mexico’s team didn’t wanted to pay for those suits.
Thank you, Grettel! You are an endless font of knowledge
. First it was mamada and now the suits. I can totally see where the team’s sponsor is coming from. I would have thought their suits would be red, green, or white.
Thanks again– you saved me from endless worry
LOL. You’re welcome.
Oh my! My grammar professor would kill me.
I am friends with my AP English (that’s a college level class for high school students) teacher on FB. I am near panic every time I type a status update that she will see (I don’t let her see everything I do on FB
). She sent me a message yesterday, and it took me so long to type my reply making sure everything was perfect. I don’t think she would get out her red pen, but I don’t want to take any chances.
That’s how I feel. I will have another test in two weeks. I shouldn’t make that kind of mistakes.
I have a friend that use to give back my notes with red marked edits. Yes, the hand written notes of yesteryear.
Hi, Ruthie! So nice to learn more about the “creator of Nev.”
Okay, three quick questions:
1. What college in Iowa did you go to?
2. What your biggest pet peeve as an editor?
3. What’s your favorite Summer Olympics event/sport?
Hey, KG!
1. Grinnell College.
2. My biggest romance pet peeve is the use of the word “calloused” to describe men’s hands. It’s supposed to be “callused.” Drives me apeshit for some reason.
3. I don’t have any channels on my TV and thus don’t watch the Olympics. But I’ve always liked the diving.
Hee! Those palms really don’t give a f*ck, Ruthie. They’ve seen it all, done it all. Life has ridden them hard and put them up wet, and it shows.
Okay, y’all, I probably should’ve mentioned on the list that I go to bed at 9:00. Time for me to retire to the living room & then watch a movie with Husbo. I’ll be back in the morning! Fire away, and don’t get too rowdy!
Hi, Ruthie! I’m dying to ask you, what made you send my beloved Tom to Costa Rica to enjoy the river and lose his belongings? I love when someone mentions my country (other than to say that their accountant ran away to Costa Rica, with their money)
I’ve never been to Costa Rica, but my brother & his wife went hiking there a few years ago. Must have been on my mind! Would love to visit someday.
Thank you !
No questions. Thanks for the post.
RM…everyone who has ever had a crying baby in the middle of the night knows that the bottle’s nipple is the favorite one
My pleasure! Mine would never take a bottle. I can tell you this, Kidlet’s favorite nipple was the left.
How do your write a book? That is always the only thing I want to know from an author. Everyone says ‘just start writing’ but it HAS to be more than that. How do you come up with secondary story lines? How do you decide what a person is going to be wearing? How they heck do you arc a story..and what does that even mean?! ACK!
As you can see, I can write and write and write. But I still don’t know how you make the words into paragraphs that make up chapters that make up an entire book.
This is what Wikipedia says about story arcs:
The purpose of a story arc is to move a character or a situation from one state to another — in other words, to effect change. This change or transformation often takes the form of either Aristotle’s tragic fall from grace or a reversal of that pattern. One common form in which this reversal is found is a character going from a situation of weakness to one of strength. For example, a poor woman goes on adventures and in the end makes a fortune for herself, or a lonely man falls in love and marries.
I really did just start writing! But my first ms. was a very straightforward vacation fling romance novel, so all I had to know was who my characters were & what their flaws were, and I just went from there. I figure out what they’re wearing and what they’re going to say and all that as I go along — and then when I’ve finished a full draft, I start thinking about all the stuff I missed. You can’t get everything the first time through. You just have to write, get down what you can, and then figure out what you have and what’s still missing!
Hey Ruthie,
1. what type of vegetarian are you? And does your whole family practice vegetarianism
2. What is your daily schedule – I can’t imagine a writer’s schedule with a 3.5 year old.
3. Is there any type of encounter you won’t write?
4. What is your favorite indulgence when you are in crunch time for a book?
1. The type who doesn’t eat meat or fish but does eat eggs and dairy. But no gelatin. Ick. And yes, my whole family (Husbo, Kidlet & me) practice vegetarianism.
2. I wake up at 3:30 and write until Kidlet gets up at around 6. Then I either exercise or play with Kidlet, depending on whether it’s my day or Husbo’s to work out in the morning. If it’s my day, I usually ride my bike to the arboretum, run, and ride home. Babysitter comes at 8, when I start academic editing. She leaves at 11:30, and then Husbo and I split child care until 2:30, when the second sitter comes. During my time in the middle there, I’ll usually write or do promo or otherwise attend to writerly things, though I also have to do some prep work on dinner, so I often get very little accomplished. When the second sitter comes, I go back to academic editing until 5:30. Then I finish making dinner (or sometimes Husbo does — we split cooking about 2/3 to me and 1/3 to him), we eat while Kidlet sabotages it in every way he can think of, we play with Kidlet, one of us bathes him, puts him to bed, and then I collapse in a heap on the couch for about half an hour before going to bed.
3. I don’t really do romantic suspense, and I don’t like it when characters are mean to each other for flimsy reasons. I will write fighting, but usually only when the conflict has been brewing for a long time and then blows up. I can’t think of other sorts of encounters I wouldn’t write, but probably there are some! I’m not fond of characters deliberately humiliating other characters. That would be hard for me to write.
4. I don’t have many indulgences except candy, and I’m not eating sugar this year, so that leaves me with not too many options. Exercise feels indulgent when you have a kid and as little time as I do, but it keeps me happy and sane. It’s my favorite thing to do.
No Sugar for a whole year – I admire you!
I am not sure I would survive a week.
After a week, it gets easier. Unless Jessica Scott sends you a whole box of Godiva chocolate. Then you fall off the wagon and eat it, feel like crap for a few weeks, and finally climb back onto the wagon to try again.
JS sent you a whole box of chocolate – yup that is a reason to get off the wagon!
May I ask why you picked a year? And do you plan on eating sugar at the end of the year
It was a New Year’s resolution, so one year seemed like the way to go. I don’t know if I’ll go back to eating sugar or not. I suppose it depends on how I feel — and if I feel like it was a worthwhile experiment. I’m probably a saner person without sugar, honestly.
Hi Ruthie. I thoroughly enjoyed both your books and would certainly place them in the top 10% of the best I’ve read amongst thousands. I always remember the top 10% and make sure they’re available to reread at some point in time.
I have a couple questions: does writing romance come easily to you or do you find the process tough? Do you make an outline of what you want to happen in your books before you start to actually write the story or do you just go with it and let the story tell itself? Have you considered writing series romance which are very popular right now (I myself enjoy several different series written by various writers). Do you (yourself) like romance with Alpha Men? Your son is at a very cute age/stage – what does he do that makes you a proud Mom? Lastly: does it really take you just 2 months to write a book and how many hours per week do you sit and write?
Thank you for letting us ‘examine’ you under the scope!
Thank you! I’m thrilled and flattered.
Does writing romance come easily — fairly easily, yes. If I didn’t enjoy it, I probably would’ve given up by now. I have to like it to get up at 3:30 a.m. to do it every day!
Do I make an outline — I do now. At first, I just sat down and started writing, but in order to sell books on proposal you have to have a plan, and that means writing a synopsis. I find the books come out better this way, too.
Series romance — yes. I have a two-book series coming out next spring and a three-book series planned for 2014.
Alpha men — depends. I have definite opinions on the difference between “alpha male” and “alphahole,” and the latter drive me up the wall. I suspect I get a little less swoony over the idea of a super-protective, super-controlling alpha man than the average romance reader. But, that said, I do enjoy most of the heroes out there, so I definitely have that primitive, girly attraction to the alpha guy!
My son — He remembers the most amazing things and turns them into complete narratives that shock me with how accurate and interesting they are. The kid has a real gift for storytelling!
How long it takes to write — I can write a book in 2 or 3 months (depending on length of book) if I have 4-5 hours a day to write. I don’t have that right now, so I’m a lot slower. At the moment, I’m writing about 15 hours a week, in a good week. But soon I expect to get that up to 30 or so.
You’re welcome!
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Ruthie at RWA12 in Anaheim last week, and I can tell you that she *is* absolutely fascinating. I got to ask Ruthie a ton of questions (hee!), but I have a few more for the crowd:
1. You’ve told us your most annoying word mix-up (calloused/callused). Are there any words or phrases you would love to see in a manuscript?
2. What is the one thing you can’t live without (other than your husband or son)?
3. What makes Ruthie Knox get out of bed in the morning? i.e. What drives you?
Elisabeth is pretty amazing herself!
1. Hmm. I’m a sucker for bald declarations. “I want you” pretty much always makes me swoony.
2. Books.
3. I get out of bed — with no alarm — so I can write.
Hi Ruthie! I’m about to start “Ride with Me” and I’m psyched cause I’ve heard such great things about it!
I have a couple of questions:
1. I also went to grad school in NC, but I went to Duke. Did you go to any NC/Duke basketball games? Totally insane!
2. I have never known what I want to be when I grow up either. I still don’t. I left a 20 year sales career not long ago because I was sick of it and I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do. How would I get into non-fiction editing if I wanted to give it a try? I have a BA and and MBA but no experience. I’ve always thought I might like editing.
3. I know you’re disappointed, but I have no lesbian or nipple questions.
Thanks, Steph! Hope you enjoy it.
1. I never did see a UNC/Duke game. I think I’d have needed to sell my soul for tickets!
2. Most people get into nonfiction editing by accident. There are courses you can take, like Denver Publishing Institute, but the route that seems to work for most people is to get a grunt job at a publishing house and work your way from reception into other departments. I did an unpaid summer internship that got me my subsequent, paid, part-time job in acquisitions. The rest was all on-the-job training.
3. Thank goodness!
Hi Ruthie. I’m so glad you decided to submit those manuscripts! I have read About Last Night and it was awesome!
I would like to know what you major in college was, as well as your advanced degree?
Do you have big city experience that you drew from in order to write About Last Night?
Thank you! I’m delighted to hear that.
In college, I was an English and History double major. My Ph.D. is in modern European history, though really I specialized in British history.
And yes, I lived in London for 9 months while I was researching my dissertation, and I drew on that to write About Last Night.
Hey Ruthie,
Remember when I called you the Oprah of the romance industry? Pretty sure that implies interesting.
Two books a month is fast. Do you still write like that and how quickly can they be published?
I do love Oprah, so I’ll take it!
No, no, not two a month — one every two months, and I’ve slowed down since, because my workload got more intense. In the next year and a half, I’m slated to write 2 novellas and 4 full-length novels. So let’s hope I can keep up the pace. Random House can probably put out as many books a year as I can write (and edit and promote), so long as they get on the schedule in good time. I have to have a manuscript turned in about a year before the book will come out in order for Random House to do all the editing, formatting, publicity, and so on. (E-books need less lead time, but not a ton less. Editors have lots on their plates, so they need time to fit a new book in there.)
Ruthie, no questions because it’s late and I’m still in recovery mode from RWA12, but SO GOOD to meet you, though we didn’t get a chance to chat much at all. And Elisabeth, I’m so sorry I missed you! Didn’t have you on my list of people to stalk at the con–somehow missed you were going. Did meet Jessica Scott, and if I did meet you and don’t recall, it’s because I somehow didn’t make the RM connection and I apologize.
AND, I just finished Gina Maxwell’s SEDUCING CINDERELLA and I absofuckinglutly loved it! It was my very first ebook on my new iPhone, and I think I’m hooked. Must now get RIDE WITH ME.
Good luck on the move, RM. I’m moving stuff from the place in the mountains to the house in town, and lifted one too many heavy things today. Probably won’t be able to move tomorrow. G’night, all.
You read that on your cell phone!? How were you able to even see the words on that small screen?
I am so glad you are now enabled to get ebooks though, because there are quite a few really good ones.
Gina Maxwell Rocks
LG, I used to read books on my phone all the time, you just change the page more often
, but you can adjust the font size and margins to make it best for you. Lately I read more on my iPad though. I started doing that mostly because I have so many ebooks and the sorting functions are much easier to use on the larger format for some apps.
I read on my Droid in carpool line everyday! Kindle app is awesome.
Kindle and Nook and Aldiko and ereader are all on my android phone. Kindle and Nook and ibook and Bluefire and eReader are on my iPad
I’ve got the Kindle ap and the font size is adjustable, so even my old eyes can see it. I got so caught up in Gina’s story, it wasn’t even an issue HOW I was reading, just that I could.
Hi Kate!
I definitely didn’t meet you, and I’m quite disappointed. I was quite disorganized when it came to my stalking list (in that I didn’t have one!). I had lists for almost everything else, but not following around writers I wanted to meet/admired. I missed a lot of amazing people. That being said, I also did a lot of incredible things off-the-cuff, so I can’t be too sorry more of my time wasn’t scripted. (I also didn’t really know what I was doing, so it was hard for me to figure out when I had free time and when I didn’t). Next year!!
Great to meet you, too, Kate! Hope you enjoy RWM!
I’ve got RWM on my iPhone–now I just need the time to read! Lately, life is kicking my ass. Hard!
Kate, I JUST FINISHED GINA’S BOOK, TOO. WHAT A GREAT FIRST BOOK! EVERYONE – GET ‘SEDUCING CINDERELLA’ – BY GINA MAXWELL – very hot, yet tender love story. You done good, Miss Gina! xoxoxo t
I am loving Cinderella! My only complaint it is not necessarily a beach read – okay not for me. It would be a great beach read if you were on a desserted island with the one you love, but on a beach with your Mom and kids along with your Hubs – you waste some good scenes : )
FYI for those of you that have accounts with All Romance ebooks… There’s a contest that started today (round 1 ) to vote for your favorite hero. I went there to vote for one of my fav authors heroes (Bianca D’Arc – paranormal and VERY hot books) and lo and behold saw more than 2 other fav authors have heroes up for votes (they are in pairs for each round)…. Vivian Arend (love her books, both paranormal and contemporary -also hot) and RUTHIE KNOX!!!!! Tom Geiger is up and I voted for him…so go forth and vote if you want to
http://www.allromanceebooks.com
Thanks for the post — I forgot all about this! Must go spread the link love.
Hi Ruthie,
Great post! I loved Ride With Me and About Last Night is on the TBR list!
I don’t have any extra questions, but after reading your reply to Kindle Gal, I checked my WIP, and found a Calloused! That has now been corrected lol
Woohoo! I have rescued the world from one more “calloused.” (It’s not precisely a typo, because SO MANY books mix the two up. But there is a distinction, and it’s one I care about.)
And now I care about it, too
When I’m reading, that word, is going to jump off the page at me from now on lol
The one that makes me NUTS is seeing vice for vise. Bad. And yes on calloused/callused. I’ve had copy editors change it to the wrong one! Makes me crazy.
Hi Ruthie. I love your books. I actually won a paperback copy of About Last Night
(sIGNED) so I downloaded the ebook (so I wouldn’t mess up the signed copy). Do you listen to music when you write or do you have to shut everything out. It has to be hard to concentrate with a toddler running around.
Thanks, Trish! No, I can’t listen to music when I write. It distracts me. But usually, I’m writing when everyone is asleep, which is lovely. It’s all dark and quiet, and I can concentrate completely. Especially since no one is awake & on Twitter yet!
Hi Ruthie – I loved both of your books. About Last Night is in my Top 10 for the year (I read close to 300 books/yr so that that’s saying a lot). Nev is just so delicious. I’ve always had a weakness for English guys. There’s just something about them (and it’s not just the accent). And Cath was wonderful also – so vulnerable and trying so hard to right her life.
Did you expect people to fall so in love with Nev? Why did you decide to give him that name and do you find that most people get the reference, or is it too obscure for Americans? (I’m sure the Brits, Aussies, etc. get it immediately).
Nev Schmev.
Is RM feeling threatened by Nev? Much??
No, I was surprised how much everyone seems to love Nev! He’s not the sort of alpha male that readers tend to go for — or at least, I don’t think he is — so I was a little worried about reception. And now, very pleased! I’m not sure I really “decided” to call him Nev. It just sort of happened, and then that was his name and I couldn’t change it. Thankfully, no one asked me to. Most Americans seem to get a little hung up on “Neville,” but only people who’ve taken a lot of history classes get “Neville Chamberlain” right away, and I have heard from some people who can’t read the book because of it, or who think it’s *too* cute/tongue-in-cheek to work. But for the most part, folks seem to like it.
See, because of my weakness for Brits, I have no problem at all with the name Nev, or Neville. I also did get the reference right away (I’m a bit of a British history freak myself).
Oh, and I think Nev was plenty alpha in his own way. Those bedroom scenes? OMG – he was totally in control, and whenever he called her “Mary Catherine”, I just melted right along with her.
But I’m Costa Rican, and therefore, lost. Don’t worry, I will find out and I’ll read the book.
I think Nev was actually an anti-alpha male. Why was he so attractive to us? Looks? Personality? I found him to be a very sensitive male character…..maybe that was it…….
He was really, really nice, but not a weenie. I like a man who can pull that off.
I have a character named Neville but he’s the villian. sorry, Nev. he was one of the nicest Nevilles.
Good Morning Ruthie!! Just for the record, I loved Cath and Nev!! They were made for each other.
Now for my question… What do you like to see from a review ( beside the raving about your book). Do you like relating part of the story, ” feelings” about the book, teasers but not spoilers, and how do you get negative aspects across without trashing the book? Your both a writer and a reviewer, so I figured you have your opinions!
Of course…..when is your next book release??? : cool:
Morning, Pat!
I actually have very few opinions about reviews. I don’t write anything that I consider a real “review” — I recommend books on my blog, but I don’t really review them. And as a reader, I don’t read reviews unless a book really, really pisses me off. Then I want to go find other people who hated it as much as I did, so I can feel validated. (This only happens about once a year.) When I read, I don’t like to have other people’s opinions of a book in my head. It messes with me.
So I guess that leaves as an author, what do I want to see in a review — and the answer is, anything! There are as many sorts of reviewers as there are readers, and as far as I’m concerned, ANYONE engaging with my story on any level at all is a grand thing. I like the thinky, intellectual reviews, the completely emotional reviews, the ones that say little more than “fans self.” It’s all good!
The next book is a Christmas novella, which will come out with Random House as part of an anthology in December. Then I have a series starting early next year with a novella in February and full-length books (Along Came Trouble and Flirting with Disaster) in March and either May or June. Yay!
My review of RWM wasn’t very intellectual. As a matter it was the opposite of intellectual. From now on I will try and be smarter. Does your Christmas novella have anything about sacrifice?
That was a list — I like the intellectual ones, the emotional ones, the short ones, the long ones — I like them all.
And yes, it has some sacrifice. But not as much as I planned.
Thanks Ruthie…. RM everyone wants your reviews, you have a special “spirit” to them that can’t be duplicated!! :rolls: It was thanks to you that I read Because of You, and look where that lead!!!! I’m not sure I want to hear your answer……
Hi Ruthie!
Thanks for sharing info. about yourself. As you know I totally loved About Last Night! Its hands down one of my favorite books this year! So my question is do you plan to write a sequel for ALN? Would also like to know what’s your favorite music? Lastly,is there something you must have with you when you’re writing?
Thanks for all you do. Looking forward to reading more books from you
Hi, Rahab! Thanks so much for the questions, and for reading.
I have no sequel to ALN planned as yet, but I have been pondering the wisdom of writing another book with a hottie English hero. Perhaps a string of them… Hmm.
When it comes to music, I’m highly stodgy. I am singer-centric, prefer female voices, and focus mostly on folksinger types from the 70s and people who record now and sound like that. I love Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, Dar Williams, Fiona Apple — that sort of stuf.
All I need to write is a laptop or a pen! But if it’s a pen, I’d prefer a disposable fountain pen. Those are my favorites.
I think RM gives us the most clever reviews. They almost make us laugh and thinking about RM makes this person smile. What’s better than being memorable……NUTTIN!
…..almost ALWAYS make us laugh….(dah). I’m a very poor proof-reader. Sorry…….
Agreed! His review of Ride with Me had me in stitches.
Hey Ruthie,
am too knackered to come up with intelligent questions but i loved your answers to the ones the others asked. I am starting About Last Night just now and am sure i will love it as much as the other BBLs have. Finished reading Selena’s and Gina’s books and they were great.
Am in awe of you – you wake up at 3am? I have trouble waking up at 6.30am….
Thanks! Hope you enjoy.
It’s not so bad, waking up at 3:30. I’ve never had too much trouble with mornings, but it’s really since I got together with my husband that I started waking up at 6. Then the wake-up time crept earlier and earlier, so we were getting up in the early 5s — and then we had a baby. Now he gets up at 4:30-4:45, and I get up at 3:30. It’s the only way for us to have time in the morning before Kidlet wakes up!
Thanks, Lucie
I love waking up early like Ruthie, it’s the best time of the day to write. The quiet of the house makes me feel like I’m in a world of my own.
Although, I think most romance writer husbands would say, we’re in a world of our own 24/7. LOL
Hi Ruthie, finished Ride with Me today and really loved it! Didn’t want to leave Tom and Lexie. My question is, have you ever been on a biking adventure like your characters?
Starting About Last Night next
Yay! Thanks, Steph!
I’ve never been all the way across the country, but I’ve done five or six week-long trips. My first one was in Ohio when I was 12. Then, as an adult, I’ve done a week in Utah, Colorado, Montana (twice), Vermont, and Door County, Wisconsin. It’s my favorite way to vacation!
Hi, Ruthie, I have your books on my Kindle, just finished Gina’s book, which I enjoyed a lot, and now getting through a pile of others. Looking forward to yours. I think we should have an International month of reading, no work, just reading. LOL
Do you ever look back at your earlier work and think, “OMG, did I write that?” “How could I have written that?”
International month of reading — that would be awesome!
As for those “ack” moments — of course! But I have this thing where I always assume anything I did before, say, 10 minutes ago was inadequate and stupid. Thus, I always expect to hate anything that I did in the past, and am often pleasantly surprised by its non-suckiness. I think as a writer, you have to just write the best book you can at the time you write it, and then not allow yourself to regret/hate/loathe/despair over that work when you’ve learned better. It’s a process!
About Last Night…well written, intense, poignant and charming. My only question is: why do I feel this compelling need to knit? Why? Why? My hands and knitting are not compatible. It’s embarassing. Yet I still want to knit.
Thank you!
As for knitting — I don’t know! It is rather compelling. For me, it’s a combination of the right brain and left brain stuff. It’s creative and tactile, but it also takes a lot of thinking/analyzing, and I love forms of art that combine the two.
Just like paint by numbers
I do love the way you always put things in perspective, RM. Hope the move is going well and Lexie hasn’t called out a hit man on you…yet.
Miss you RM and Lexie….hope your getting settled, and will be back soon!!!
Me too! hope the move went smoothly
DITTO
Ruthie, just finished Ride With Me. You are a darn good writer, girl! Now I want to go on a bike trip while knitting. And if you knew how fretty i get riding in traffic or those walk/bike trails which are suicidal around DC area, to the point where my bike just hangs sad and dusty in the garage, you’d know a bike trip is so off my bucket list. but that’s how compelling your writing is. Great job!
Thanks, Trudy! I’m thrilled that you liked it.