It's my pleasure to welcome Cynthia Ruchti to Ink Dots this week. Cynthia tells stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark through her novels and novellas, speaking for women’s events and retreats, writers’ events and retreats, nonfiction books and devotionals, drawing from 33 years of on-air radio ministry. In 2013, she will have a total of six books on the shelves, with more to come in 2014. Her latest release is the novel, When the Morning Glory Blooms, from Abingdon Press Fiction. She and her plot-tweaking husband live in the heart of Wisconsin, not far from their three children and five grandchildren.
When the Morning Glory Blooms ~ Becky rocks a baby that rocked her world. Sixty years earlier, with her fiancé Drew in the middle of the Korean Conflict, Ivy throws herself into her work at a nursing home to keep her sanity and provide for the child Drew doesn’t know is coming. Ivy cares for Anna, an elderly patient who taxes Ivy’s listening ear until the day she suspects Anna’s tall tales are not just idle ramblings. They’re Anna’s disjointed memories of a remarkable life. Finding a faint thread of hope she can’t resist tugging, Ivy records Anna’s memoir, scribbling furiously after hours to keep up with the woman’s emotion-packed grace-hemmed stories. Is Ivy’s answer buried in Anna’s past? And what connects them to Becky?
Becky, Ivy, Anna–three women fight a tangled vine of deception in search of the blossoming simplicity of truth.
Sounds great, doesn't it? Here's more about Cynthia Ruchti...
If I could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, it would
be...give me five minutes to pack and I’ll be on a plane to the
south of France. I have a crisp, unmarked passport that keeps
telling me it wants to be stamped. And I have a love of buildings
older than America. I haven’t been to Europe, but would like to
start my journey in France, tasting everything glorious, taking
pictures, drinking in the beauty of the sea and architecture and art
and history. I have a niece in-law who was born in France and is
the world’s best bargain-hunting tour guide for quaint B&Bs and
charming restaurants. Can we swing past Hawaii on our way home.
With a month-long layover in Australia? Absolutely. I would
insist. My passport is yearning for a US stamp. One I hope I'll
add later this year when I swing across for the ACFW
conference.
One thing I enjoyed today is...watching a crow and squirrel
duking it out over some tasty nugget that emerged as the snow
melted. Noisy crow. Noisy squirrel. Hopping mad at each other.
Above the scene soared a bald eagle without a care in the world. I
knew as I watched that I was observing not just a scene but a life
lesson. I want to be the eagle at times like that. Unruffled. Soaring.
A secret pleasure of mine is... dreaming about restoring old
homes…with someone else’s money. Oh, and someone
else’s sweat labor. I want to be the one to walk through and
imagine it restored, then say, “Look what we did!” when it’s
done.
A moment that changed my life is...when my first grandchild
was placed in my arms, because I understood grace far
better at that moment than I had before. My life is peppered
with defining moments—marrying my husband, the births of
our children, the birth of the daughter who first made me a
mother, faith moments that changed life and eternity… But
the redemptive, emotion-rich, grace-defining birth of my
granddaughter Grace set me on a path of living that out in a
far more intentional way than ever before. Being present in
the birthing room for two other grandchildren can’t be
topped for joy. Loving on all the grandchildren who live
within 20 minutes of us is inexpressibly wonderful. Calling
the same man mine for more than 40 years…oh! You asked
for one moment, right? Right, but I'm glad you shared your best
ones.
When I was a child I wanted to... be an Olympic gymnast
or a synchronized swimmer. If you knew my body type,
you’d know why this did not come to pass. In my mind, I
move like the gymnasts do. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need
help getting out of this chair.
I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but... I was so excited about
being invited to sign my book that released last fall—Cedar
Creek Seasons—that I couldn’t bear to cancel just because
of a little gall bladder surgery. Surgery on Thursday.
Recuperate on Friday. Attend the book signing on Saturday.
I look a little “serene” in the pictures from that day. But it was
pure joy to meet the readers and give them a sneak peek at
When the Morning Glory Blooms.
*****
Thanks so much for joining us, Cynthia. I can't wait to read When
the Morning Glory Blooms and get to know Becky, Ivy and Anna.
*****
If you'd like more than a sneak peek at When the Morning Glory
Blooms, please leave a comment below to be in runnig to
win your very own copy. Tell us which stamp you'd most like to
see in your passport. I'll announce the winner here in the comment
thread on Friday.
Good luck, and happy reading
