Funny story about when I met my guest today – I happened to be hanging out in the vendor’s room at ACFW this past August, a place where publishers and the like can set up tables and sell stuff. Or give things away for free. I was waiting on my friend, Bonnie, to finish up her own transactions (mine already in my trusty bag) and found a chair to plop down in while I waited. Because, hello, still recovering from CFRR which was FUN but also exhausting. Someone else comes in and stops to talk to the guy at the booth across from where I’m sitting…. where I’m also now thinking to myself “I think that’s Ruth Reid.” Everyone at ACFW (except lobby lurkers like me) wears name tags, so I decided to try and catch a peek at hers. Quite surreptitiously, I’m sure, I leaned around to see if I could make out her name. Maybe that’s an R? So I try to stand up nonchalantly – with the plan of making my way closer to her – but by the name I’d dragged my weary body nonchalantly out of the chair she was on her way past me. I may have eeped. And I may have leaped toward her a bit. But I really did try to politely and nonfangirl-ily ask if she was Ruth Reid. She was! Yay!
And that brings us to today lol… when I get to chat with her here on the blog đ
Ruth Reid is a CBA and ECPA best-selling author of the Heaven on Earth series. She’s a full-time pharmacist who lives in Florida with her husband and three children. When attending Ferris State University School of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Michigan, she lived on the outskirts of an Amish community and had several occasions to visit the Amish farms. Her interest grew into love as she saw the beauty in living a simple life.
You can connect with Ruth at her website, and Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Her most recent release is “A Flicker of Hope”, included in An Amish Home collection, releasing February 7th from Thomas Nelson. An Amish Home also includes novellas by Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston, and Kathleen Fuller.
A Flicker of Hope by Ruth Reid
Fifteen years ago, Thomas and Noreen King were blissful newlyweds. Young, naive, and in love, life was rosy . . . for a while.
Then trials and tribulations rocked their foundation, shattering them emotionally, and soon, their marriage was in shards. All hope for restoring their previously unshakable union seems lost.
When fire destroys their home, Thomas and Noreen are left to sift through the rubble. As uncovered items from the remains of the house shake loose memories of the past, Thomas and Noreen begin to draw closer and a flicker of hopeâand loveâis re-ignited.
Hi Ruth! Welcome to the blog! I start all of my guests out with a fast four:
Ruth: Apples! I have fond memories of growing up in Michigan and playing outdoors from morning to night. We used to climb the apple trees and snack on fruit throughout the day so we didnât have to go inside.
Carrie: Yay! Apples getting some author love again! I love that story from your childhood too đ
Ruth: Summer. I love the warmth of the sun.
Carrie: I love the sun… i just prefer it to be cold lol.
Ruth: Dogs. Iâve always had a dog (sometimes two). Mine spreads out on the couch and thinks he owns the bed, but I still love him. The only time I remember not having a dog was while I was in college. I remember talking to my (now husband) about what I wanted after graduation from pharmacy school and I told him that I was buying a truck and getting a dog, and I was naming the dog after the last question on the last test in pharmacy school. Later that year, I had a blue-eyed Weimaraner named Zoloft. Yes, I love dogs!Â
Carrie: Oh what a great name for a pharmacist’s dog!! haha!! Especially since dogs help so much with depression and anxiety đ
Ruth: Coffee. Gotta have it.
Carrie: Have you thought about naming a dog “Coffee” next? đ
Around here I like to say that reading is my superpower. If YOU had a superpower, what would it be?
Ruth: Writing is my superpowerâat least it is when the characters are talking.
Carrie: Writing is definitely a superpower I am thankful you have!
When you walk into a bookstore, where do you head first?
Ruth: I head to the sales table first, then make my way to the fiction inspirational section.
Carrie: My kind of bookstore stop!

Writing spaces are as diverse as authors and books. Where is your favorite space to write?
Ruth: I do most of my writing in my office where Iâm surrounded by things my children have made me over the years, plants I havenât killed off yet (well, two are dead. I just havenât given up on them yet. I keep thinking if I water them theyâll come back), picturesâlots of pictures, loads of other books, and a painting of a moonlight ice-covered lake and old cabin, which I titled on the back of the canvas in 1988 where I would write my best selling novel. (No, I donât have a cabin on the lake yet)
Carrie: I sense we are kindred gardening spirits. I have never met a plant I couldn’t kill.
In your novella âA Flicker of Hopeâ, we meet Thomas and Noreen King, an Amish couple whose marriage has definitely seen better days. Between these two characters, who did you most relate to?
Ruth: I think I have the stubbornness of both characters.
Carrie: They were both quite stubborn, weren’t they?
Your novella is part of a four-author collection called An Amish Home. What does âhomeâ mean to you?
Ruth: Home is the place where family and friends are free to be themselves. A place where memories are created, hopes and dreams are shared, good things are celebrated, and disappointments and hard times are toughed out together.Â
Carrie: I love this. Yes.
What do you most want readers to take away from A Flicker of Hope?
Ruth: That even when it seems weâve lost everything, God hasnât left us to fend for ourselves. He is able to rebuild and reignite lost relationships in a mighty way.
Carrie: Oh so true. Amen.
Ruth, thank you so much for taking time to talk with me! đ Before we say goodbye for today, tell us whatâs coming up next for you.
Ruth: Abiding Mercy (book one) in the Mercies series will release in 2017.
What do you do when the right thing only seems to lead to more heartache?
 Sixteen-year-old Faith has worked full time in her parentsâ Amish restaurant since she finished eighth grade. She loves her Amish communityâand the recent romantic attentions of her longtime friend, Gideon. When her sister seems to be getting too friendly with Englischers, and her parents are in a buggy accident, Faith only wants to escape into her dream of joining the church and getting married.
When a local newspaper runs a story about a child named Adriana who was kidnapped fifteen years earlier, everything Faith has held true comes into question.
Suddenly the community Faith has known her whole life seems unreal. Can she even trust her own family? And how will she ever find home again if she no longer belongs in the world she knows best?
Ruth is giving away a copy of An Amish Home to one of my readers. Due to shipping costs and international regulations, this is open to US entries only. Giveaway is subject to Reading Is My SuperPower’s giveaway policies.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
What about you? What does ‘home’ mean to you?
Home to me means family, Love, and being safe.
Great answer!
Yes, safe too.
“Home” to me is my happy and peaceful place. It’s family, friends and my pets. They are the things that make me happy.
Yes!
Great answer!
Home to me is my family children and grandchildren sharing and playing enriching my life
Enriching – yes, so true!
I don’t have grandchildren yet, but maybe one day…
Home is comfort and security.
Yes!
I’ve enjoyed meeting Ruth at ACFW as well, after being introduced by Susie Dietze!
Great interview and now I know why Ruth does such a great job with her Amish stories.
Home for me is that place I rush to and don’t want to leave. It’s my nest and refuge!
I love that! Well said đ
Waving at you Debra!
Home to me is wherever my family is.
I love Ruth’s books.
Thank you!
me too!!
Home is happiness surrounded by family.
Marilyn
So true!
beautifully said đ
Home is where my happy is! Where I am free to be me and I am loved. Thanks for the opportunity to win!
love that answer!
Thank you so much for having me, Carrie! This was so much fun!
Home is my comfy spot. If I’m not comfy, I’m not home.
comfy is key.
Home to me is my family, pets and a warm place to curl up and read a good Amish novel.
đ
Home is a place filled with love that I would rather be in than anywhere else.
well said!
It’s my little corner of the world where I can be….totally…only… me.
yes!
Home to me is a place I can stay in my pajamas and read and be me.My safe haven.
amen & amen đ
Love your books and your family in Michigan đ
Home means safety and protection to me. It gives me peace.
me too đ
Home is where my family is!
definitely!
Home is where the heart is!
yes!
Home to me means my family, a good book, a cup of coffee and lots of chocolate.
i love your definition!!
Home is my family – Ohana. Home is my sanctuary. I felt like Dorothy with the ruby slippers and put on my hospital board – there is no place like home! Couldn’t wait to get out of there at times and back home!
yes!!
A lovely interview and introduction to someone I did not know. Thank you, Carrie.
Home for me means a place where I can just be me. Having family around is great, but I think in order to feel truly at home, I have to be ok with being with just myself, then I can really be with others. I don’t know if that makes any sense. Maybe, I’ve been spending too much time alone.
Yes, I agree – Home is where I can be myself
Home to be means my husband. Where ever we are together is home. The building is a house but love and being with the one you love makes it HOME. It’s been 33 years and I’d rather be with no one else at HOME. đ
That’s so sweet!!
Home is where I can get away from the whole world and relax.
oh that sounds lovely!
Home is a sigh of relief at the end of a long day.
oh i love that! yes!
Home is where my husband and daughter’s are. đ
Home means a place that my family can be together.
yes!
Home is where my family and books are!!
yes!