Friday, January 22, 2016

Friday - Ruth A. Casie -What She Was Before #MFRWauthor

1.       What were you in your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?

Before I was an author I was an international product manager for a large US bank. One of my responsibilities was giving product seminars for clients. I know I will be dating myself here but this was in the days before webinars. I traveled overseas, conducted the seminar and afterwards met with clients to close deals. To optimize on my airfare, my trips were a minimum of two weeks. I usually traveled alone and met with my bank’s in-country officer at their location.  
I read on those long plane rides and found a book helped to make eating alone more tolerable. I would stuff my suitcase with 6-8 romance novels. They were quick reads and I would give them away when I finished them. That’s how I got hooked on romance stories.
Fast forward to 2009. A good friend told me she was going to write a romance novel and I volunteered to brainstorm, beta read, do anything to help her. Once we started I realized I had my own story to write. So we decided we would each write our books and try to sell them together. She had several other priorities. She was busy with training for the NYC Marathon and looking at colleges with her daughter. So while she put her writing on hold I continued to write and in four months I had 104,000 words. My first novel was complete.
2.       Are you genre specific or general? Why? I don't mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy etc. There are many subgenres of the above.

Most of my stories are medieval romances. I’m captivated by the romance of the time, the bravery of the knights and the strength of the women. I’m intrigued with Scotland and the Highlands. My games as a child were filled with castles, princesses and knights. 

3.       Did your reading choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres?

Before I started writing my go-to authors were Julie Garwood, Jude Deveraux, Johanna Lindsey, Amanda Quick, Lynn Kurland and Catherine Coulter. I loved Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series. I also read Clive Cusler, Tom Clancy, Dan Brown and Michael Critchton. What I write is a cross between the two, a romantic adventure about strong women and the men who deserve them. 

4.       What's your latest release?

My latest release is KNIGHT OF RAPTURE. It’s the second book in my Druid Knight series. For months Lord Arik has been trying to find the precise spell to rescue his wife, Rebeka, but the druid knight will soon discover that reaching her four hundred years in the future is the easiest part of his quest.
Bran, the dark druid, follows Arik across the centuries, tireless in his quest for revenge. He’ll force Arik to make a choice, return to save his beloved family and home or stay in the 21st century and save Rebeka. He can’t save them both.
Rebeka Tyler has no recollection of where she’s been the past five months. On top of that, ownership of her home, Fayne Manor, is called into question. When accidents begin to happen it looks more and more like she is the target. Further complicating things is the strange man who conveniently appears wherever trouble brews—watching her, perhaps even….protecting her? Or is he a deliberate attempt to distract her? Rebeka can only be sure of one thing—her family name and manor have survived for over eleven centuries. She won’t let them fall… in any century.

5.       What are you working on now?

The working title of my new story is Einstein’s Theorem. The story is about a woman who unearths Einstein’s journal and the secret to time travel. Wrongly fired from her job as an appraiser at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, she decides to test the theory by going to Paris in 1892 to prove she was right. Her ex-finance works for CERN labs in Geneva, Switzerland. An accident has happened with the atom collider and a hole has been blasted into the fourth dimension. His job is to patrol the mist between times and prevent time travel. What will happen when the reconnect? Will they choose their mission or their last chance for a timeless love?

6.       Where can we find you?

When not writing you can find me home in Teaneck, New Jersey, reading, cooking, doing Sudoku and counted cross stitch.  Together with my husband Paul, we enjoy ballroom dancing and going to the theater.  We have three grown children and two grandchildren.  We all thrive on spending time together.  It’s certainly a lively dinner table and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Online you can find me at:
Ruth’s Newsletter Signup:  http://www.ruthacasie.com/contact.html




4 comments:

Paul McDermott said...

Hi, Janet & Ruth!
Have to 'fess up, I clicked on this post because I misread one word in the 'tag' - I THOUGHT it read "Castle is up .." (as in "up for sale" LOL)

I don't think of myself as a Romance writer (though WhimsicalPublications [Florida] have decided to market my first book as a Romance!).
However, I love the mediæval period you describe (though I tend more to the Irish settings rather than the Scottish). Days of old,when knights were bold ... etc appeals to the boy in me: I refuse to grow up!
Thanks for a thoughtful and interesting blog!

Janet Lane Walters said...

Paul, Thanks for visiting though you did this by mistake. Hope you will visit again since there's something new happening every day.

Paul McDermott said...

Not entirely a 'mistake' Janet - I've looked in on "The Eclectic Writer" several times and ALWAYS found it interesting. I thin this is the first time I've left a comment, though! I should probably take the plunge and 'log in' as a member ..... :)

Janet Lane Walters said...

Would love to have you. Always glad to sahre with other writers. I've been in this business a long time. When your book comes out let me know and you can do a two day affair,