All My
Belongings by: Cynthia Ruchti
How eagerly
I have been awaiting this newest offering by Ms. Ruchti! All My Belongings did
not disappoint! The author weaves a story that centers around pain and
suffering that blossoms, through hope, into a story of healing and restoration.
The heroine
of this story, Becca, has left her home, that was destroyed through her
father’s crimes and mental instability and his belief that he was to aid the
death of Becca’s mother. Becca, changes her name and creates a new persona to
carry her into an uncertain future for she knows she can’t live under the
infamous shadow of her father. She hopes the past will not haunt her but alas
that is not to be.
Becca
becomes a caregiver to a woman suffering from Alzheimer/dementia. She cares
deeply for the woman and provides comfort and sunshine to her patient. Becca
also finds herself enjoying the relationship that transpires with her patient’s
son. Can she ever be free of her past enough to create any hope of love, a family
and security for her future?
Then the
unthinkable happens. Becca’s greatest fear has resurfaced despite her carefully
laid plans to keep her past at bay. The
author weaves a beautiful tale of hope as Becca learns that God holds her
fragile heart in His hand. He brings her through the dark valleys of her life.
God shows her that He can mend her heart and break the hold of her past through
relationship with Him. She is challenged to dare to open up to the love she is
shown by others.
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When the Morning Glory Blooms (Abingdon Fiction) RT Reviews 4.5 Stars and a TOP PICK, 2014 Christian Retailing's Best finalist, ForeWord Reviews 2013 Book of the Year Finalist, 2014 Selah Award
Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices(Abingdon Christian Living) 2014 Christian Retailing's Best finalist, AWSA Golden Scrolls Book of the Year finalist, 2014 Selah Award
and more...
Stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark
AN
INTERVIEW WITH CYNTHIA RUCHTI
What led you to choose this story line?
All My Belongings started out as a
different story almost a decade ago. But it had at its heart a young woman
devastated by the choices her parents made and the love they failed to show.
When I landed on this particular story line, plot, and plot twists, it felt
unique enough to be compelling but a story with which all too many can
identify. Who of us hasn’t wondered where we belong? For some of us, the
questioning didn’t last any longer than junior high. For others, it’s a
lifelong debate.
As in a previous novel, When the Morning Glory Blooms, you are
unafraid to challenge man’s philosophies and delve to the soul wounds and their
fallout in others that is inflicted by “freedom of choice”. What is your
ultimate hope that your readers will discover?
Every action
or inaction bears consequences. Every word spoken. Every word left unspoken.
Every truth. Every deception. The same stones that pummel some will be caught
and used as stepping stones by others. Becca’s and Isaac’s hearts were
restless, unsure where they truly belonged, pummeled by life’s circumstances,
until they learned how to take the very stones thrown at them and by God’s
grace build a pathway into a future they could not only live with but find
rewarding. My hope is that readers will gravitate toward their stories, see
themselves in the pages, and take heart in the truth that belonging is less
about an address or a heritage and more about discovering the wonder of
belonging to the One who never fails us.
Who was your favorite secondary character
in All My Belongings and why?
I love
Geneva for the sacrifices she made. I love Aurelia for the quirky character she
was and the grace that marked her life even in its end days. And Isaac’s
friends made an impression on me. Who wouldn’t long for a bunch of friends like
them? If forced to choose one favorite secondary character though, I’d have to
say Aurelia. She has stayed with me long after the writing was done.
As Becca learns to face the wounds of her
past we sense her vulnerability. What do you hope your readers learn through
her journey?
It’s not
uncommon to have a friend or acquaintance perpetually stuck in the mire of
their past. It continues to re-injure them daily because it occupies center
stage in their present. An abuser, for instance, even long dead, continues to
attack and devastate in the thoughts of the injured one. Becca had a fierce
determination not to let her father’s past choices dictate her future. Even
though his reputation followed her and brought new torments, each time she
picked up the challenge to rewrite her future—to love in a way she’d never
known; to serve selflessly, which she’d never seen, and to find joy wherever
she could snatch it. That speaks to my heart. I hope it will to readers, too.
In an unusual way, you brought Becca’s
father back into her life at the end of the story. What prompted you to take
this direction in the story?
I remember
someone telling me, “I thought the ‘last straw’ was three straws ago!”
describing what it feels like to finally believe we’re getting a handle on things
only to have them fall apart, or to be trapped in a whirlwind of crises that
won’t let up…and here comes another one. Without giving too much of the story
away, I wanted to press Becca to show the true mettle of her newfound faith and
understanding of where she ultimately belonged. I wanted to see how she’d react
when confronted with what for many of us would seem to be the ultimate in
impossible sacrifices. Tears flowed as I wrote those scenes.
What kind of research went into All My Belongings?
Such a
variety! I researched the area around Oceanside, California and talked to many
who had visited or grown up there to get the true “feel.” I researched
euthanasia and mercy killing and the legal consequences in various states. I
looked up the type of flowers and plants that might grow in a southern
California garden. And I talked to a nurse hotline about undetectable ways of
hastening a dying person’s end. Those are just a few of the many details an
author researches.
You are a writer who crosses over from
novels to non-fiction. What is your favorite genre?
It’s true. I
write devotions, magazine articles, and nonfiction books (like Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other
People’s Choices) in addition to novels. Favorite? Whatever style of book
I’m working on at the moment. Both
genres demand an outpouring of creativity, if done well. Both depend on
storytelling. The challenge with nonfiction is needing to know where you’re
going before you start. In novels, I begin writing without knowing what’s going
to happen to my characters. I enjoy discovering what they encounter and how
they’re changed as much as—I pray—my readers do!
Can you give us a glimpse into your current
project? What do your readers have to look forward to?
In 2015, I’ll see the release of both a novel and a
nonfiction project. The novel is As
Waters Gone By, the story of a woman struggling to hold her marriage
together when her husband is in prison. The nonfiction is tentatively titled Tattered and Mended: The Art of Healing the
Soul. I’m excited about both of those projects and pray they resonate with
readers.
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Dear Cynthia, How we appreciate your heartfelt answers and letting us glimpse into the process of making this moving story come to life. May God bless you, your ministry and your family!
I truly enjoyed this interview! Such great questions and thoughtful answers. Getting this peek into your story and research has been wonderful, Cynthia! Thank you!
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