We CAN! promote our books

The MUSIC of Marketing

By Cynthia Ruchti

Marketing moves to a rhythm. The pace is rapid and intense when a book has just released. Even in the quieter passages, something's going on. My father was a band director and often said, "Play the rests just as you would play a note. Don't let down your guard, your focus, your concentration, or your sense of the musical story because of the rest sign. Play the rests."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   image courtesy Salvatore Vuono/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

NEW RELEASE May 2014--All My Belongings by Cynthia Ruchti

Jayne Dennagee has spent her life running from the “doctor death” legacy of her father. His Kervorkian-copycat methods ruined her childhood, covering it in shame. She won’t let him steal her future, too. After changing her name to Becca Morrow, she assumes a new life and becomes a caregiver for the ailing mother of an intriguing but caregiver-challenged young businessman, Isaac Hughes....

BEYOND

by Cynthia Ruchti

 

One of the most frequently quoted verses of Scripture tells us that God "is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us," Ephesians 3:20 Common English Bible.

Far beyond. Exceedingly abundantly. Way more spectacular than what we can imagine, beyond what we would think to ask. 

Authors dedicated to writing for His purposes see that verse lived out so frequently, we could write books about that subject alone! Staying alert to those BEYOND moments enriches the experience and feeds our storehouse of encouragement for those times when discouragement screams for attention.

NEW RELEASE--Taming the Sheriff by Cynthia Hickey

THERE'S A NEW TEACHER IN TOWN

Charlotte Nelson arrives in the tiny mountain town of Plumville, Arkansas, with big ideas. She wants to mend the decades-old town feud by throwing a Christmas pageant. But it soon proves to be a challenge, especially when three of her students are determined matchmakers. She's in no hurry to settle down—certainly not with the rugged, handsome sheriff...

MAKE IT OBVIOUS by Cynthia Ruchti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s been a whirlwind summer so far. I was home only eight days in the month of June, flitting between conferences, conventions, and speaking engagements like a hummingbird zipping from blossom to blossom. As I write this, I’m soon heading home to plant myself in my familiar surroundings and the familiar sounds of birdsong, windchimes, the hum of my own refrigerator, and the heart-stirring voice of my husband near my ear, not coming through the phone.

Tips from the Pros: Cynthia Ruchti

"A bosom friend, a really kindred spirit." ~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

That's the kind of friend Anne Shirley longed for, and that's the kind of friend I found in author, speaker, and woman of God Cynthia Ruchti. We met while serving on faculty at the Quad-Cities Christian Writers Conference a few years ago. I've only seen Cynthia in person a few times since, but I'm delighted to introduce my forever-friend to the CAN audience today. She has many wise insights to share.

Enjoy!

Cynthia, how did you get into writing?

I always considered writing recreation rather than a career choice. I trained to work in a chemistry laboratory and did so for the first seven years of marriage, working part-time after our kids were born. But I longed to be home with them while they were young and laid aside my job at the lab and its income. Purely to keep my mind agile while making homemade baby food and creating clever birthday parties on a budget, I enrolled in several correspondence courses in creative writing. I sold an article here and a newspaper column there, enough to convince me of the joy of storytelling and the power of words to alter the flow of the human heart. 

When My Heart is Overwhelmed by Cynthia Ruchti

This photo overwhelmed me when I first saw it more than a year ago. I felt as if I were looking into the soul of the women in the novel I'd just finished writing--When the Morning Glory Blooms.

I couldn't stop staring at it. I knew the real story behind it. A friend of mine held her sweet baby boy, happy to be a mother again. Looking forward to getting back into running and to finishing nursing school.

But my imagination set that aside to picture my characters and their longings, their disappointments, the depth of their pain, some of it related to the children they held and the secrets they suppressed.

Their futures--that bleached light beyond the window in the picture--were filled with uncertainty and more longing.

They, like me, were overwhelmed...but for far different reasons.

A writer's heart is often overwhelmed. He or she dives deep into characters' emotional upheavals, experiencing them in a way, in order to write about them authentically. 

Falling Asleep at the Keyboard by Cynthia Ruchti

Saturday’s word count seemed impressive, until I took a second look. Endless lines of gibberish. No contemporary language uses that many consonants in a row. I’d fallen asleep at the keyboard, my fingers resting on S, F, J, and L. I was tempted to keep the work, curious how a CIA decoder would interpret sixteen J’s.

FLEXIBILITY IS OUR MIDDLE NAME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cynthia Ruchti, stopping in to say hi and to share some insights for the writer on his or her journey. I've met some of you through ACFW, which I serve as professional relations liaison. Others, I've met through events like ICRS or ReBoot. Some I've met through your books or speaking engagements or online as I've followed your social network discussions. It's good to connect with you here. I have one foot in the task of preparing this, my first CAN blog post, and another in preparing for an author event at a charming independent bookstore that overlooks the bluffs of the Mississippi River near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. By the time you read this, the event will be history. Let's just say it was a rousing success!