Friday, July 6, 2012

Cynthia Ruchti: An Author Who Offers Hope To All


Everyone’s Story welcomes Cynthia Ruchti. Cynthia is known to many as a beloved author of the novel THEY ALMOST ALWAYS COME HOME, past president of the American Christian Fiction Writers and presently serves as its Professional Relations Liaison, but did you know she’s also a radio show producer, a magazine editor, and a mentor to other writers? What I appreciate the most of Cynthia is her genuine warmth and smile—I will always remember Cynthia taking the time to return my hello at one of the ACFW conferences.





Book Giveaway Special:


Cynthia is offering both one copy of her devotional HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT... DECAF IS NOT, plus one copy of her upcoming release of CEDAR CREEK SEASONS to one commenter. Please leave your email in the body of your comment for convenience. Thanks!



A Few Questions For Cynthia:
If I remember correctly, at the 2010 ACFW Conference I heard that before the conference attendees began to arrive that you walked up and down the halls of the hotel and prayed for God’s blessings on the conference and for each of the attendees. I was quite touched by that. Did you receive any blessings during that particular conference that you’d like to share?

I’m sure there are others in ACFW leadership who have done the same, but it was Robin Miller, ACFW’s conference director, who first mentioned the practice to me. After all the details, all the planning, all the scorched midnight oil preparing for a conference of the magnitude and importance of ACFW’s, it seems the perfect prelude to walk the halls, walk through all the rooms, and pray for what will happen in each of those rooms, invoking the Lord’s blessing on even the air we breathe, every conversation, every thought. Prayer has always been an undergirding foundation for ACFW…and for my life. Officially “inviting” the Lord to take over, to reign in every corner, always sets my heart in the right place and lays the groundwork for amazing things to happen. And they always do!

And at the conclusion of the conference, when I served as president, I would seek out the prayer room, which was usually empty at that time, get on my creaky knees, lay my hand on the open Bible in the room, and sing “Praise God from whom all blessings flow!”

On your website you state that you prefer to think of your lifestyle as “active” rather than busy. As an author, a radio show producer (congratulations for accomplishing 33 years of this ministry!), a magazine editor, a mentor to other writers, and last but not least, a wife, mom, and a grandmother, do you ever have moments of juggling-stress? How do you manage to pull it all together?

A better question is, “Do I ever have moments FREE from juggling-stress?” Sure! A few. J My home is an empty nest, but it’s amazing how many distractions and stress-producers still hover. I’m learning to crave quiet, though. I try to find some time every day when I shut off the noise so I can hear God “speak” to my heart. Even music, which is a strong faith-connector for me, can sometimes mask what He really wants me to understand. I take advantage of the fact that we live in a quiet country home. But I’m also constantly intentional about what I’m adding and what I’m removing, what I allow to fill my days and what I boot out. I weigh the value of what I allow to consume my time. As active as I am, I’m walking a more balanced path with fewer outside involvements beyond what God’s called me to do and my family needs me to do. When I’m at my best, I lay a blank sheet of paper before the Lord (in a virtual way) and ask HIM to write my to-do list rather than than scribbling down a million things and asking Him to bless those tasks, many of which don’t fit at all with His plan for my day.

I loved your novel THEY ALMOST ALWAYS COME HOME. It’s a beautiful, moving story that touches the heart, especially for anyone in a marriage/relationship. Did you have to “go” deep into your writer’s zone for the story? Also, because of the novel’s more mainstream type of feel, was it a bit more difficult to sell to a publisher?

Thank you for your kind words about THEY ALMOST ALWAYS COME HOME. Yes, I did dive deep into that one…but I find it imperative for any novel I write. I knew that to authentically express the kinds of emotions Libby experienced, I’d have to allow myself to relive a few things, imagine others, and draw on all the empathy the Lord built into me.

About ten years before the book released, my own husband almost didn’t come home from a disastrous canoe trip to the Canadian wilderness. Two days into his trip, he grew deathly ill with no way to get to help or for him to communicate with the outside world. His rescue came just an hour, the doctors said, before he would have breathed his last.

I revisited some of the gut-twisting trauma of that personal experience when writing Libby’s unique story. It’s been an incredible blessing to hear how the story has had an impact on people, on their relationships, on their approach to grief and disappointment.

I’m grateful that Abingdon Press was open to the idea of a story that didn’t shy away from real and raw concerns with pitch lines like these: She’d leave her husband…if she could find him. He was supposed to be fishing. He was supposed to come home. And she was supposed to care.

A few months ago, a mainstream national magazine spotlighted the book. The women who picked up that magazine and were drawn to order the book have joined other readers who are perpetually in my heart and thoughts.
Life + Imagination + Inspiration + Experiences = A Novel
by Cynthia Ruchti

Elaine, thanks for setting such a lovely “table” and inviting so many fascinating friends of ours to this virtual gathering! And thanks for the invitation to take a few moments to share something from my heart.

For 33 years of writing scripts for a fifteen-minute daily radio drama/devotional broadcast called The Heartbeat of the Home, one of the most frequent questions listeners asked was, “Where do you get all your ideas?”

Now that I’m writing novels, devotional books, and inspirational non-fiction, I’m often asked, “Where do you get all your ideas?”

The short answer is, “Life.”

The view from Cynthia's
front porch, which stirs
her muse and soul
Using a few more words, I might answer, “Life plus imagination.”

A Twitter-length response might be, “Life plus imagination plus inspiration equals a novel.” In fact, pardon me for a moment while I go Tweet that!

Maybe a quote worth stenciling or cross-stitching (used to do that before writing deadlines) would read: “Life plus imagination plus inspiration plus what you’ve been through equals a novel.”

My mom experienced multiple traumas and dramas related to her heart disease.  She had countless heart attacks, every heart procedure known to man, and a few that resembled things seen only in science fiction movies…like the one where the surgeon went in under her arm, opened the ribs, then bore tunnels through her heart muscle with a laser beam to try to create artificial blood flow to dying areas. It didn’t work.

Cynthia's gaze often strays
away from the kitchen sink
as she does dishes--do you
blame her?
She was especially traumatized when she woke from one procedure to find the skin on her chest bruised and burned. They’d had to “shock” her heart six times to bring her back to life when it stopped beating. “Why didn’t they let me go? Why didn't…they…let…me…go?” Hot tears accompanied her grief.

An especially compassionate nurse stood at the hospital bedside and listened as Mom listed every heart episode, every reason for her pain, every surgery and procedure, poke and prod.

Rather than responding with, “How awful for you!” the nurse said, “Oh, Dorothy! The things you’ve come through!”

That line changed Mom’s perspective.

She no longer took inventory of how horrible it had been, but of how many things she’d survived. Rather than dragged down by the anchor of what had been done to her, she was buoyed by the growing raft of circumstances on which she floated.

I wrote a radio script about it. The script became a newspaper article. The family sent a copy to the nurse whose gentle, profound statement changed Mom’s perspective. The nurse wrote that she received the copy and our thank you note on a day when she had her pen raised to sign her resignation from nursing. The story let her know she was making a difference. She’s still nursing today.

The concept became a devotion that will appear next month on The Christian Pulse. It’s working its way into the fabric of a novel that will release in 2014.

And it’s part of the answer to the question, “So, where do you get your ideas?”

Life. Imagination. Inspiration. And what I’ve come through…by God’s grace.

All those factors weave their way into the stories I write. My husband’s near-death experience in the Canadian wilderness helped inspire my debut novel—They Almost Always Come Home  http://www.cynthiaruchti.com/books/they-almost-always-come-home . Vacations with my daughter added realism to “The Heart’s Harbor” in A Door County Christmas (no longer available in paperback, but still accessible in digital form) http://www.amazon.com/Door-County-Christmas-Wisconsins-Romancing/dp/1602609683 . Life showed up in the devotions I wrote for His Grace is Sufficient…Decaf is Not http://www.amazon.com/His-Grace-Sufficient-Decaf-ebook/dp/B0078X1222/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2  . Imagination colored between the lines in “Maybe Us” in the upcoming September release, Cedar Creek Seasons http://www.christianbook.com/cedar-creek-seasons-wisconsin/becky-melby/9781616266455/pd/266455 . What I’ve been through appears more than once in two key projects releasing in 2013—a non-fiction book titled Ragged Hope—Surviving the Fallout of Other People’s Choices (Abingdon Press Christian Living) and When the Morning Glory Blooms, a full-length novel from Abingdon Press Fiction.

I’d be honored if readers and prospective readers would join the conversation about how something they’ve come through has become encouragement for others, whether in print or face-to-face. I’d be doubly honored if you’d join me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cynthia-Ruchti-Reader-Page/111854048844444 , Twitter https://twitter.com/cynthiaruchti  , or through my website: www.cynthiaruchti.com.

Thanks again for hosting this discussion, Elaine, and for giving me an opportunity to share why and how I write stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark!

Author Bio:
Cynthia Ruchti is an author and speaker who writes stories of Hope-that-glows-in-the-dark. She teaches at writers' conferences and women's retreats. Currently, she serves as professional relations liaison for ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) after serving as president for two years. She and her plot-tweaking husband live in the heart of Wisconsin.

67 comments:

  1. Great interview, Cynthia! I can't imagine getting so close to losing my husband. So grateful that God rescued him. I love the cover of both books. :) Hope I can win. :)

    Liz [at] lizjohnsonbooks [dot] com

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    1. Thanks, Liz. The whole story takes an hour to tell! But it smacks all over of God's grace!

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    2. Hi Liz, and welcome to Everyone's Story. Glad you enjoyed the interview!

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  2. Cynthia,
    Isn't it amazing how God has taken truly tough experiences in your life and those of your loved ones and re-designed them in your wonderful books!

    Great interview. I enjoyed learning a bit more about you :-) Rachael rachael@rachaelwrites.com

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    1. Welcome to Everyone's Story, Rachael. Thanks for visiting with Cynthia.

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    2. True, Rachael. He redeems EVERYTHING for His purposes. And not just so we have more stories to tell. :)

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  3. Great post! Lots of wisdom for us multi-tasking moms. I'm helping out at Books & Such this summer and getting ready to send my son to college in the fall.

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  4. Julie, thanks for your comment. I'm having to intentionally relearn how to be "in the moment" because of years' worth of stacking tasks on top of one another. It's kind of bizarre to have to tell yourself, "Let's do nothing for a few minutes." Nothing? But that "nothing" always turns into listening to the rhythms of my family, my own heart, or the heartbeat of heaven.

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    1. Julie, glad you visited Everyone's Story.

      Cynthia, I really like that perspective: "in the moment." I'm going forth into today's world, thinking that way, trusting Him, and will work on not thinking about the other moments in life :)

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  5. Love this interview. I came into ACFW when Cynthia was president. That fact in itself put her on a pedestal--gave her celebrity status. Then one day she read my blog...

    Cynthia, you have no idea how much that touched me.

    Then to know you did cross stitch, too. I loved that pastime, but my eyes got too bad--and I love the tiny, intricate stuff.

    I love hearing about people's life experiences--to know the heartbreak, near misses and joys from their lives help me understand my own.

    Carol at carolmcclain@gmail.com
    http://carol-mcclain.blogspot.com

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  6. Carol, this moved me! The "celebrity" part made me chuckle, since the story of how I became president of ACFW was wholly a God-thing, and He asked me to serve to hone my character rather than to put me on any kind of pedestal. But I deeply appreciate your words and your insights.

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  7. Oh!! pick me! paula@soulscents.us

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    1. Carol & Paula, thanks for visiting Cynthia! Thanks for making my day!

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  8. Paula! Nice to see you here! Thanks for stopping by...and for your "pick me" enthusiasm!

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  9. What a great story: walking up and down the hallways praying for the attendees. That's a person who sees writing as a true ministry. Thanks.

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  10. As do you, Bill. The world is certainly blessed by your writing and speaking ministry.

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  11. Hally FranzJuly 06, 2012

    Cynthia, those "raw" pitch lines did a great job of setting the stage for your novel, which I really enjoyed and have passed on to my mom to read now. I can see you taking the time and care to pray over the conference attendees; you demonstrate that type of warmth and caring!

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    1. Welcome to Everyone's Story, Bill & Hally :)

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    2. Hally, I got a mental picture of sitting on the other side of the room while your mom reads the book, excited to hear what she thinks of it, waiting for her to get to the end so we can talk about it! Every reader means something significant to my heart. Thanks for telling me about your passing the book along.

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  12. great interview! I'd love an opportunity to read (and review) Cynthia's book. As a former crit partner I loved her writing and her well thought out critiques.

    Laura (vernetlh(at)yahoo(Dot)com

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    1. Laura! Good to connect with you here! I miss that critique group and the bonds we formed. Thanks for your sweet words.

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    2. Hi Laura--so nice to see you here again, and as a guest ♡

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  13. Ahh, praying the empty and silent conference rooms is always such a wonderful time....thanks for sharing it with me, Cyn!

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    1. I believe the conferees can sense how much they are prayed over, how much time you and others spend not only planning, but praying for their conference experience, especially the editor/agent appointments. Those rooms always get heavy-duty prayer! :)

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    2. A warm welcome to Everyone's Story, Robin. This coming ACFW conference will be my 4th one and I walk away with so much in addition to craft & professional connections & opportunities: serenity, renewed & strengthened faith, and the encouragement to go on, not to give up. I kinda think of the conference as a personal pilgrimage.

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  14. Honestly, it feels like I just had the sweetest heart-to-heart with you, Cynthia. And I gotta say, I really do love your heart. Love it!

    May the Lord deliciously bless your ministry up one side and down the other.

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    1. Thank you, Rhonda. May you, too, be blessed "up one side and down the other," and your every heart need met abundantly.

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    2. Rhonda Rhonda--so nice to see you, my friend :)

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  15. Oh, I loved reading this! Cynthia is such a sweetheart and this felt like I was sitting and having a mocha with her! I love her heart for praying before the conference. . . and then going back and praising God afterwards. And as a nurse (albeit a stay-at-home mom now), what a gift they gave that nurse by letting her know the impact she had on her mom.

    Thanks for sharing this special interview with Cynthia!

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    1. My mom passed away two months before my debut novel released, but she held the advanced reader copy in her shaky hands two weeks before she died. She served as a nurse and director of nurses for 35 years. Her hospice experience was half being cared for and half teaching the nurses better ways to do whatever they were doing! :) But we make it a point as a family to let nurses and other medical staff know the blessing they've been. I had knee replacement surgery in November. That first day in the hospital, a harried young chaplain's assistant came into the room. My husband and I asked if we could pray for HER! It was the sweetest time...despite the medication fog!

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    2. Linda, thanks for the visit. I'm glad you enjoyed Cynthia's segment.

      Cynthia, you and your family are true blessings to others, and a fine example as well.... at least, to me :)

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  16. Such a wonderful interview! I loved learning a bit more about you here. My struggles that seem to inspire people are certainly ones I would not have chosen myself. Death of loved ones and job loss/financial strains are the two things God has allowed me and my family to suffer through repeatedly. But, like your mom, we choose to take each experience (sometimes quite a while after it has occurred if it's super painful) and use it for the good. God gives us these trials so we can lean on Him. I've done a lot of leaning over the last twenty-something years. :)

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    1. And Sherri, isn't it interesting how revisiting those moments or seasons can stir the emotions again? Sometimes painful. Sometimes tender. It's all part of what makes us human...presses us into the Lord...and grows that compassion factor in us. Truly life-shaping experiences.

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    2. Oh yes! I don't think I would trade any of those experiences!

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    3. Sherri, welcome back :) You & Cynthia express well what my blog guest, Ward Foley, talked about two weeks ago: God doesn't give us scars (the bad in life), but is there, always, to help us through tough times. And yes, it's a true blessing that there seems to always be a life lesson involved too.

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  17. Elaine and Cynthia, thanks to you both for such a wonderful interview. Cynthia, I've enjoyed your books and appreciate getting to know more about you. I agree with you about 'craving quietness' and listening.
    jude urbanski urbanski4u@aol.com

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    1. Jude, you're a blessing! After many days of too much heat, this morning it was cool enough to sit on the deck with my cup of coffee (before I switched to iced tea) for a bit. Put my feet up on the railing and thought to myself, "Anyone watching? I'm doing NOTHING!" :)

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    2. Jude, nice to see you again.

      Cynthia, I had to chuckle about the "Anyone watching?" comment... it's so hard not to do something every single awake moment, but then it's so necessary to kick back and just breathe.

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  18. Active vs busy. Hmmm point to ponder! You're an inspiration and your very ACTIVE prayer life keeps us covered in times of need. I'm blessed to call you a friend and co-author. Can't wait to hold our next "baby," Cedar Creek Seasons.

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    1. So happy you're visiting with Cynthia and me, Eileen.

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    2. Agreed, Eileen! Can't wait to hold "our" baby. When I think of all the antics your characters go through during the Cedarburg Strawberry Festival... :)

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  19. Thank you, ladies, for such a wonderful, heartfelt blog. I, too, learned many new things and fascinating things about you! Cynthia, I've always had the utmost admiration for you as a writer and you were the ACFW President when I joined. It touches my heart (but doesn't surprise me a bit!) to hear you walked the halls of the conference hotel, praying for the attendees and then headed to the Prayer Room when the conference ended. Attending that conference changed this writer's heart. I love how you've taken your life experiences and incorporated them into your books; it makes them resonate with readers because you LIVED them, and that's a major key in successful storytelling. Thank you for being so accessible to other writers, your readers and for being YOU. May the Lord richly bless your books and ministries! JoAnn Durgin, jdurgin9587@att.net

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    1. JoAnn, you made me tear up! Thank you. And I have to say again, Elaine, you gave me a great gift in allowing me to have this opportunity to connect with your friends and mine!

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    2. Nice to see you, JoAnn (who will be a guest here on Everyone's Story beginning on July 20th!).

      Cynthia--the pleasure is truly mine. I started this blog out of pressure to establish an internet presence, but God had something totally different in mind: to connect with so many people, in so many countries, to offer hope and share faith in God, and to be the recipient of hope by many who are willing to uplift me and everyone else. Our Loving Father truly knows what is best for us.

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  20. Cynthia, I love your "I'm learning to crave quiet" comment. Observing your "active" life, I've learned so much about how to turn available snippets of time, no matter how short, into creative bursts or calm reflection. I have to echo Elaine: I'm blessed to call you a friend and co-author and I can't wait to hold our next "baby," Cedar Creek Seasons.

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  21. Rachael Phillips, Becky Melby, and Eileen Key were gracious enough to include me in TWO novella collections--A Door County Christmas and the upcoming Cedar Creek Seasons. Becky, a lot of my "active" wouldn't be possible without your prayers for me. Thanks for stopping by.

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  22. Great interview, Cynthia! Congratulations on your book's success. And after reading this post, I can see why! Can't wait to read your book!

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    1. Hi, Vonda! Hope your day is as full of joy as you are! Thanks for your comment.

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  23. Vonda, a warm welcome to you to Everyone's Story--hope you'll be back :)

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  24. I love that phrase Cynthia. 'Listening to the heartbeat of Heaven.' How hard it is to be quiet enough to do that. When we were renovating the house in which we now live, my study was to be made out of some footage taken from the back of the garage, but when the builders came to do it they discovered that the previous owner had extended his garage but dug only minimum foundations. So all the walls of the extension had to be knocked down and new foundations dug. When it was complete, our pastor came to pray round all the rooms and when we reached my study, God seemed to whisper 'The foundations will be built on faithfulness and all the walls of praise.' Sometimes I remember the children of Israel putting the blood of the lamb over their doorposts, and then I pause before going into my study and ask for that protection. But now I think I'll add to that prayer that within it's walls I'll be still enough to hear 'the heart beat of heaven' and write accordingly

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    1. Marion, a warm welcome. So glad you're visiting all the way from England! And more, happy to hear that you've been uplifted by Cynthia's words.

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    2. Marion, what a beautiful story! My old farmhouse is crooked and bent, but it's 100 years old this year, so the fieldstone in that foundation must have been made of good stuff to still be standing. Every time we have a small remodeling project, we find "things" in the walls--a child's button up shoe, an ancient box of Crayolas, two children's blocks--one with a B and one with a C, which are my husband's and my first name initials. The blocks sit on top of my microwave to remind me of the life this house had while I'm engaged in the life it now has. When some other family occupies this house someday, I pray they sense that God was honored here.

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  25. I'm hoping to get to this conference one of these years. You are so right, even though kids are in college, the empty nest isn't free from activities and things to do.

    I've been through so much and it is helpful to others. I grew up in a home filled with abuse - attempts on my life, incest, beatings. From the age of eight, I gave up on God and was suicidal. As a young adult, I decided that, since God abandoned me (so I thought), that I would do a life of anti-God things - wild lifestyle, the occult and new age, and other things I wish I hadn't done. I hated God with a passion. He kept loving me. After I had my kids, I raised them Christian - I felt hypocritical but I figured they'd blend in better that way. Fortunately I didn't turn them off to God, but did not believe God cared one iota for me.

    Many years later the Holy Spirit (though I didn't know it at the time) suggested I give God one last chance. I read the Bible from cover to cover, sort of like War and Peace - figured God hardened Pharaoh's heart, he hardened mine. Then I met a wonderful pastor who spent years counseling me, helping me sort out my father wounds and showing me how much God loved me. Finally, I realized I needed a Savior. And in the years since, He has been showing me where He was in the midst of the abuse.

    I am writing a memoir on this, I mentor young adults in our church's Titus 2 program, teach Bible studies, and listen and help others. I'm able to go into the middle school and help seventh graders in a sewing workshop and listen and give some positive input into their lives. God has taken what satan meant for harm and turned it to good. I never believed it would be possible, but He is a miracle worker.

    Have a blessed day,
    Heather

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    1. Heather, thank you for visiting with us today. I can relate to what you've shared about your childhood because I too have been brought up in a home environment minus God and it showed in ways I wouldn't wish upon others. But, that's where God showed His love the most to me and I clung on hope for better days. I didn't know Jesus as my Savior until age 22...but have come to accept that there is never a "past deadline" for accepting Him.

      You've become a beautiful blessing to your children, and now you're reaching out to others. God is truly working His love through you. I am so happy for you that you haven't given up. Life isn't easy at times, but I'm convinced He holds our hands as we walk through these difficult times.

      You are so right. God is truly a miracle worker. And you are truly a beautiful, loving, and caring person.

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    2. Heather, my heart clenched as I read your story, then soared when I read the rest of the story! What grace! What a beautiful testimony to what God can do! I'm landing on your words, "I hated God with a passion. He kept loving me." Many blessings on your efforts now to convince others of the truth of the "He kept loving me." My husband and I have a dear friend whose testimony is similar. It is so heartening to just bask in the "glow" of his new understanding of God's limitless love and His redeemed life. I can't tell you how much it means that you told your story here!

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  26. AnonymousJuly 10, 2012

    What a touching testimony. What your mom has endured reminds me of a ministry friend of ours who suffered a terrible auto accident in 2009. By all reckoning, he should not have survived.

    Today, twenty-one surgeries later, his faith remains unshaken. His testimony to God's Mercy and Goodness is as strong as ever as he endures the painful road to regaining his ability to walk again.

    Such as these are life's true heroes. Thank you for sharing your story.

    In a blessing way,

    KB Schaller, Author

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    1. Life's true heroes, indeed! Tenacity is so underrated these days. We can learn so much from those who have endured. Thanks for sharing that, KB.

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    2. Thanks for the return visit, KB ♡

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  27. AnonymousJuly 11, 2012

    Cynthia, you are so welcome.

    Blessings,
    KB Schaller

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  28. Jackie CunninghamJuly 11, 2012

    Cindy, your life is such a beautiful testimony to what the Lord can do with an obedient, yielded soul! It is so obvious as the Lord speaks so clearly through you to all who are privileged to read your sensitive, compassionate writing heart in your books. I thank Him that He has enabled me to walk 33 years plus with you on the journey of life that has catapulted you to sharing with the vast audience of today! To God be the glory!

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    1. Oh, Jackie! Your words made my heart sing! Since that first day you and Tom brought brownies to our house to welcome your new neighbors, to the moment we knew God intended for us to work together in ministry, to the prayer times shared over my dining room table to the traditional taco salad business meetings to this moment in time my heart is full of gratitude for your mentoring, your friendship, your generosity of spirit.

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  29. Hi Jackie, welcome to Everyone'e Story. I'll trade you my neighbor for yours :)

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  30. Another week wraps up here on Everyone's Story... yet another is about to begin. I'd like to thank Cynthia Ruchti for making this one of the liveliest and busiest appearances. Cynthia, you've be a dynamic guest and I sure hope you will consider coming back for another visit. Thanks for offering a fantastic book giveaway as well.

    And drumroll...

    The winner of Cynthia's devotional HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT... BUT DECAF IS NOT and upon release, a copy of CEDAR CREEK SEASONS is JoAnn Durgin. Yea, JoAnn!! JoAnn will actually be a guest on Everyone's Story next week on July 20th and this is truly coincidental. JoAnn, Cynthia and I will contact you in a private email.

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  31. Thank you again, Elaine. Your hospitality was much appreciated!

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  32. Thank you so much, ladies! I'm beyond thrilled to win Cynthia's books. Blessings to all.

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