RAGGED HOPE - Cynthia Ruchti - One Free Book, Plus Much More

Readers, I've hosted Cynthia when each of her two novels, They Almost Always Come Home, and When Morning Glory Blooms, released, and I read them. They are the kind of stories that you can't put down, so I was pleased to help share this nonfiction title with you.

Welcome, Cynthia. What would you like for our readers to know about you personally? 

I’m an observer. Of everything. That explains my fascination with details like a tendril on a morning glory and the small twitch when a child is asked, “Honey, does he hurt you?” I notice subtle changes in temperature. (I can always tell when the furnace is just about to kick in.) Heightened powers of observation are useful for an author. The path a raindrop takes as it wriggles down the surface of a bubbled window might become an evocative detail in a scene in a novel. The forward curve of the shoulders of a woman with a shattered heart deepens my empathy, which in turn deepens my ability to communicate through story in nonfiction. I pray those details also make me a better listener and, in my faith, a better worshiper, catching the glorious subtleties of how God reveals Himself through nature and through the human heart.

Tell us about your family.

My husband and I have been married for 41 years (we met in elementary school). We have three children, a daughter and two sons. Five grandchildren—so far—complete the family. Our home is a 100-year-old house on ten acres in the heart of Wisconsin, near cranberry bogs and cornfields, dairy farms and…and that’s about it.

Have you written other nonfiction books?

Although Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices is my first full-length non-fiction solo project, I was one of four authors who wrote devotions for the book His Grace is Sufficient…Decaf if Not (Summerside/Guideposts). I’m one of the authors who wrote forty devotions each for the 2014 edition of Guideposts’ annual devotional, Mornings With Jesus. During the years I wrote and produced “The Heartbeat of the Home” radio program, the ministry created books that were compilations of past broadcasts that fit certain themes. Before the broadcast retired in 2012, we had more than 95 books in print.

Do you have any other books in the works right now?

In addition to Mornings With Jesus 2014, I’m also anticipating the release of another full-length novel in 2014, All My Belongings (Abingdon Press). Both nonfiction and fiction projects are calling to me. They’re keep-me-awake-at-night stories waiting to be told.

What kinds of hobbies and leisure activities do you enjoy?

Give me a good book, a cozy beach chair on a sandy shore by an ocean or one of the Great Lakes, and an endless supply of sun tea or hot tea, and I’m happier than I ought to be. I love to travel. Most of my bucket-list items involve travel. I’m waiting for that dance-and-shout moment when my hitherto unused passport gets its first international stamp. As far as hobbies, knitting was once a high priority, but it has had to slink into the background while I keep up with deadlines and serve as American Christian Fiction Writer’s Professional Relations Liaison. Music is an ever-present accompaniment to my life.

Why did you write the featured book?

Ragged Hope was written to tell the untold stories—to give voice to those who don’t make the headlines but pay a dear price because of the choices of those who do. We see them all around us—the husband with an emotionally distant wife, the grandparents sacrificing their retirement years to raise their grandchildren because the kids’ parents are in jail or rehab, the elderly woman devastated by an ethics-challenged financial planner, the spouse of an alcoholic…

Not only are they bearing consequences not of their own making, they’re often handed lifelong challenges that wear hope thin. When hope’s edges grow frayed, what then?

What do you want the reader to take away from the book?

A fresh appreciation for hope’s tenacity. A renewed assurance that God not only sees but cares. And a deeper understanding of how we can reach out in a meaningful way to lessen the fallout for those suffocating under the ash cloud of someone else’s bad, misguided, thoughtless, or even criminal choices. The hope God offers may seem to hide temporarily. But it’s there, waiting to be uncovered. The stories reveal how survivors found a holding-on place. The reflection questions get us thinking about how well we’re surviving or about what we can do more effectively to express how much we care about those around us caught in the fallout.

Where on the Internet can the readers find you?

Readers can find me at www.cynthiaruchti.com, www.facebook.com/CynthiaRuchtiReaderPage, or www.twitter.com/cynthiaruchti. I love interacting with readers and look forward to carrying on the discussion about the kinds of subjects addressed in Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices.

Thank you, Cynthia, for sharing this book with us. I can think of a number of people I know who need to read this.

Cynthia Ruchti  is celebrating the release of Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices (Abingdon Press) with a $200 Visa Cash Card "Hope" Giveaway and Facebook Party!

One winner will receive:

• A $200 Visa Cash Card
• Ragged Hope by Cynthia Ruchti

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on July 31st. Winner will be announced at the "Ragged Hope Author Chat Part on August 1st. Connect with Cynthia for an evening of encouragement, laughter, and more! Cynthia will also share an exclusive look at her next project and give away books and other fun prizes throughout the evening.

So grab your copy of Ragged Hope and join Cynthia on the evening of August 1st for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Hope to see you on the 1st!

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.
Ragged Hope - Christianbook.com
Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices - Amazon.com

Christian Book Store

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