WRITE: Words with Friends, Cynthia Ruchti
As promised, here’s my interview with sweet friend and award-winning author Cynthia Ruchti. She and I are serving together this week at the fabulous Write to Publish Conference held on the lovely campus of Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. We both give a strong recommendation to this conference which has equipped so many. Now, let’s learn more about one of my favorite authors. Your tagline is “Stories of hope that glows in the dark.” How would you say All My Belongings fits this description? Hope often shows up best against a dark backdrop. That was certainly true for Becca in All My Belongings. Her parents detached emotionally from her before she was born and continued to live as if unaware they had a daughter. Her father’s actions brought shame and public attention to their family name. By her mid-twenties, Becca seemed to have lost everything, including her dignity and any sense of belonging. As the story progresses, she catches faint glimmers of hope that life could be different than how it started. But dark moments intruded. Her father’s reputation threatened, even from hundreds of miles away. But hope is tenacious. And it was all the more beautiful because of the way the light shone off of it in Becca’s greatest challenges. I love the hope that shines throughout her story. But they say novelists almost always write themselves into their main characters. How are you similar to and different from Becca, heroine of this most recent novel? My beginnings were dramatically different from Becca’s. I grew up knowing I was loved. . . except for that brief period in junior high when we all wonder if either we or our parents are aliens because of how “They just don’t get me.” My parents were respected in the community. I had to dig deep into imagination and the experiences of others I know whose childhoods held the kind of pain Becca’s did. Like Becca, though, I have deeply-rooted connections with the sea, even though I’ve lived landlocked most of my childhood and adult life. I got to vicariously live one of my dreams—returning to my birthplace of Oceanside, California, through Becca’s story. I understand her infatuation with it. Two more things we have in common: I love the beach as well, and our family lived in Oceanside for seven years. Now, I know you just won two Selah Awards, one for fiction (When the Morning Glory Blooms) and one for nonfiction (Ragged Hope). Which do you prefer to write? If I didn’t love both, I wouldn’t write both. My heart is the same whether writing fiction or nonfiction, and my nonfiction is strongly storytelling-based. Some topics lend themselves better to one format or the other. It’s been interesting to discover the overlap, where lessons my characters learn show up later in a nonfiction book that explores the idea in greater depth. If you could tell readers just one thing that would convince them to read All My Belongings, what would it be? As tangled as the relationships become, I pray you’ll find yourself enamored with the characters. Isaac—what a charmer! Becca—broken but beautiful. Aurelia—dancing to her own silent music. Geneva—a story in herself. Watching them learn the true meaning of belonging, and exquisite definitions of love, sacrifice, and forgiveness will be an experience...
read moreREAD: All My Belongings by Cynthia Ruchti
Traveling seems to be the theme of the summer for the Pieper family. On Friday, my husband left for a music mission trip to New York City with the Florida Worship Choir and Orchestra. Sunday night, we received our daughter Karissa back from almost five months of missionary service in Southeast Asia. And yesterday, I flew to Chicago to teach at the well-respected Write to Publish Conference at Wheaton College. The summer continues with a music conference for my husband, our daughters’ five-week mission trips to Panama (Karissa) and Nicaragua (Melanie), and a two-week mission trip to Costa Rica for Tom and me. I’m excited about Write to Publish for a number of reasons, but one of the most important is the people. A special friend, award-winning author Cynthia Ruchti, serves as one of the conference worship leaders. I met Cynthia back in 2010 at the first writers conference where I taught. From the start, I recognized her as a kindred spirit. Her devotion to God, her caring spirit, and her passion for writing words that make a difference all challenge and inspire me. And so does her writing. Here, I reviewed her debut novel, They Almost Always Come Home. And with admitted bias but great respect, I want to share my thoughts on her latest release. I received my review copy of All My Belongings during a busy spring. But once I started it, I had a hard time putting it down. In fact, I finished the book in two days despite a busy writing schedule. Yes, it’s that compelling. If I had to shelve this novel at a bookstore, I could find several places where it might find a home. Cynthia’s work combines the warmth of romance, the intrigue of suspense, the deep characterization and symbolism of literary fiction, and the layered development of women’s fiction to produce one of the few novels I would call a must-read. When the story opens, Jayne (later known as Becca) has some difficult decisions to make. Within the first few pages, she learns that the nursing school where she hopes to finish her degree has rejected her application—not on the basis of her grades or character but on the sins of a family member. Almost at the same time, through the kindness of a friend, an opportunity for a fresh start in a new city presents itself. But when what seems like a perfect match in both relationships and vocation takes a sudden and ugly turn, readers wonder if Becca will get the happy ending they were so convinced she deserved. As with any fiction worthy of mention, we can meet ourselves in the pages of All My Belongings. We understand how family members’ choices—even those from long agp—affect our present. We recognize that, even with evidence stacked in one direction, things are not always as they seem. And we affirm along with Becca and those who love her that right actions, large or little, yield a character that endures even the worst of storms. The beauty of Ruchti’s writing helped me picture each character, each scene in movie-like fashion as I read. I fell in love not just with Becca but with those she cared about: the unconditional friendship of Geneva, the indomitable spirit matched with a failing mind and...
read moreWRITE: Escape the Lie, The Story Behind the Book, Part II
Today, I want you to imagine with me. Imagine you’re a research scientist. After working for years, you can hardly believe it. You’ve discovered a pharmaceutical formula that cures cancer in all its forms. You know it works because of all your study. But you also know it works because you’re a cancer survivor yourself. Things looked bleak for you until you participated in a test of this drug. And now, you’re cancer-free—and have been for some time. You have a problem, though. You have no way of taking the drug to market. You’re a researcher, not a doctor. You’ve exhausted your funds and can’t finish all the FDA and other approval needed. And you can’t even begin to package it attractively or get it into consumer’s hands. So what do you do? You get help, don’t you? You do whatever it takes to finish the process and get the drug out there where it could save lives. You don’t quit. You persevere. Dramatic, yes, but both Walker and I feel this way about his Orphan Heart message. It has touched both our lives in specific, personal ways. And although it took us several years and a team of people to take the book from initial ideas to preached message to published book, we didn’t give up. We couldn’t. As you read the book, you’ll find his story. Wounded by a father he loved but couldn’t seem to please, he became an orphan who tried to fix himself and others by doing everything right. And things grew worse, not better, until he understood the truth he shares with thousands across the country and around the world: I am my Father’s favorite child. In brief, the Orphan Heart is the lie Satan implants in our hearts, often through a wound or perceived wound from a parent or other authority figure, which says we don’t matter to God or to other people. Sometimes we respond in rebellion, like the prodigal son we read about in the New Testament. Sometimes we respond by trying our best to be perfect, like his elder brother. Either way, we lose, and we lose big. We may know Christ, but we don’t live the abundant life He promised because we’re stuck in the past and afraid of the future. Our everyday lives are filled with “if only” and “what if” instead of the fruit of the Spirit. The Orphan Heart keeps us living as those who have no father, no identity, no purpose, no direction, and no destiny. And no, it’s not cancer, but it’s not life, either. So when I heard and responded to the Orphan Heart message, I knew I had to help Walker share it. I’ve been in the congregation when people have come forward, weeping, to confess their resentment toward the father who rejected them or the mother whose words ripped them apart. I’ve seen rebellious, angry young people push through their tears to tell me, “I am my Father’s favorite child”—and mean it. I’ve seen testimonies from CEOs who realized their drive to outperform others came from a childhood wound that festered until it infected everyone they claimed to love. You see, I, too, was that perfect child who tried to do everything right. Although I had a loving family, I never thought I was good enough. And even after...
read moreWRITE: Escape the Lie: The Story behind the Book, Part I
“How did you come to be involved with this book?” a friend asked. Escape the Lie: Journey to Freedom from the Orphan Heart released last week on the day I flew home from teaching at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. I came home to two cases of the book resting on my office floor. And even though midnight had just passed, I had to hold one of the real-life copies in my hand before I went to bed. My writing partner, Dr. Walker Moore, and I agree that the path to publication has been a journey—a personal, spiritual one as well as a professional one. Escape the Lie is the third book on which we’ve collaborated (the other two are Rite of Passage Parenting: Four Essential Experiences to Equip Your Kids for Life and the award-winning Rite of Passage Parenting Workbook). We first connected when a friend recommended the student missions-sending organization he founded, Awe Star Ministries, as a great avenue for our two oldest daughters, then fifteen and sixteen. Since then, all five Pieper children have served multiple times with Awe Star, and I’ve also served with Awe Star teams in both Mexico and Panama. In 2005, because of our involvement with Awe Star, I was part of a group of thousands across the world who were praying for fifteen-year-old BJ Higgins, a committed follower of Christ who fell ill after serving for the second time with Awe Star in Peru. When I saw the potential for a book in his story, I wrote Walker and volunteered to help. The memoir that resulted, I Would Die for You, became a Young Adult bestseller and continues to draw people toward the God BJ served with such passion. But even before I had the opportunity to assist BJ’s parents in telling his story, I began editing Walker’s popular weekly column in the Oklahoma Baptist Messenger. Walker is a brilliant Bible teacher, but, like two of my daughters, he’s dyslexic. He doesn’t think of himself as a writer, but his combination of biblical wisdom, humor, and life-changing stories (many from his years of experience on the mission field) has a way of touching lives few writers can achieve. For his column, I have the privilege of making sure the words appear in the right order and the stories make sense. For his books, though, we have a different way of working. In fact, we wrote much of Rite of Passage Parenting before we ever met. At first, he sent me some of his old writing and workshop videos, asking me to turn them into something fresh. He hated the result. And I hated that way of working. So since that time, I do the organizing, and he blocks out some phone time (sometimes days and hours) for me. Then “Explain (this principle,” I tell him. Or “This doesn’t make sense to me. Help!” Sometimes, I ask for a story or illustration. Walker might say I’m good at pushing his buttons, because no matter how difficult the question I ask, he has an immediate response. He teaches, and I translate his stories and wisdom into words that we pray make a difference. That’s the story behind Escape the Lie. Walker has been preaching messages on this topic across the country and around the world for the past several...
read moreWRITE: Words with Friends: Michelle Cox
As promised, here’s my interview with author, speaker, and woman of encouragement Michelle Cox. Because of our shared publishing connections, I “knew” and prayed for Michelle for several years before meeting her in person when we roomed together this year as faculty at the Florida Christian Writers Conference. I hope you enjoy this Words with Friends interview with Michelle. And if you missed my review of her new novel with Rene Gutteridge, Just 18 Summers, check it out here. You’ve told me the fascinating story behind the start of the “Just 18 Summers” concept. Would you share it with our readers, please? My pastor dedicated a baby at church one Sunday morning, and as the parents turned to leave the platform, Rev. Sexton said, “Don’t forget you have just 18 summers. Go make some memories.” The poignancy of that slammed into me—particularly since my youngest son was getting married a few weeks later. I came up with the idea to do a gift book based on the thought, but God had much bigger plans. I’m now developing a complete brand based on the concept—and the release of my Just 18 Summers novel (co-authored with Rene Gutteridge) is an exciting component of that. You’re a mother of three and grandmother of six. How does Just 18 Summers relate to your own personal experience? My sons grew up way too fast—and now I think my grandbabies are growing up even faster. Seriously, I look back at those years with my boys and wonder how we got from the days when we brought them home from the hospital until now so quickly! We made a conscious effort to spend time with our sons and I’m so glad we did that . . . but I wish there’d been so much more. Six years have gone by since our youngest son got married and left home. I love my daughters-in-law and I’m crazy about my grandchildren, but there are still times when I miss my boys so much, days when I’d give a million dollars to walk down the hall one more time to tuck them into bed, to listen to bedtime prayers, and to hear the sounds of their laughter ringing through the house. I know this concept has now become a brand, with a dedicated website, screenplay, and now the novel. Please explain how this developed. Sometimes I feel like the poster child to prove God has a sense of humor, because it’s absolutely hysterical how all of this happened. After hearing my pastor say those words, I’d come up with the idea to do a gift book based on the concept. About that same time, my friend, Lori Marett, was starting the Gideon Media Arts Conference and Film Festival. I told her I’d be glad to help her in any way and she asked if I’d transport the faculty back and forth to the airport. She told me to plan to stay for the conference. I remember telling her, “Okay, I’ll do that. I don’t have any interest in media, but I’m sure I’ll meet some nice people.” (And I imagine God might have chuckled at that point.) On one of those conference days, I stood in the hall with the schedule and said, “God, where do You want me to go?” I...
read moreWelcome
I've asked God to use my writing and speaking to count for eternity. I'm passionate about relationships and creativity.
