Straight Chatting at the Library: Ruthanne Reid

Ruthanne Reid, author of The Christmas Dragon and Strings, has stopped by The Library to chat with us today. Ruthanne will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE INTERVIEW

Welcome to The Library, Ruthanne. Tell us about your current book in 10 words.

The Christmas Dragon: Baby dragon, narcissistic Fey, and annoyed heroine go on adventures.
Strings: Playing hero isn’t fun when you’re busy playing runaway Fey prince.

What are you reading right now?

 I just dove into The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente, and I am LOVING IT TO DEATH. Oh my word. It is complete brain-candy. I can’t decide if I want to savor it one sip at a time, or gulp the whole thing down in one sitting. I’m also re-reading the Silmarillion right now, and I recently began a fun anthology about superheroes called The Good Fight, with authors like Scott Bachman and Drew Hayes.

Do you have any bad book habits?

I do. There are times when I simply don’t finish, and that isn’t a good thing - but we’ll get into that in another question further down.

E-Reader or print? and why?

I prefer print aesthetically, but I can’t beat the practicality of e-readers. I carry a Kindle Paperwhite in my purse at all times, and it means hundreds of books at my beck and call at any moment. I used to carry two or three books in my bags at all times, but they always got banged up pretty badly. Kindle is better for reading on the go, but when at home and cozy, I still adore the printed page.

One book at a time or multiples?

Always multiples. I didn’t know this was a sign of my ADHD, funny enough, but that’s homeschooling for you! As I was undiagnosed until I was well into college, I developed numerous coping mechanisms, and one of them is having multiple books open at all times.

Dog-ear or bookmark? (don't worry—Librarian Judith won't hold it against you—much)

Both. :)

Favorite book you've read this year?

This year is The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making. 2014 (since we just left it) was probably Indexing by Seanan McGuire.

When do you do most of your reading?

*laughs* Everywhere? I read in bed, at the table, while cooking, when shopping and my husband is picking out cereals….

What would make you not finish a book?

And here’s the second half of the dreaded bad-book-habit question! I confess that when characters or plot holes become too much, I find myself just putting those books aside and never picking them up again. Occasionally, I’ll force my way quickly through just to see how they ended, but I’ve yet to be pleasantly surprised that way.

If characters have TSTL syndrome (too stupid to live), or if the plot-holes are clearly there in pure deus-ex-machina function, I find something better to occupy my mind.

Keep books or give them away?

I’m notorious for giving away books! If I enjoyed it, I want others to love it, too, and I can always buy another and support the author. The only exception is when I have autographed books. Those babies stay with me (and they do not get read in the bath).

READ THE BLURBS

All Katie Lin wants is to get away from her family: from the magic, from the mayhem, and from the never-ending war.

Unfortunately, someone has other ideas, and sends her a box. A box that jumps.

The tiny fire hazard inside may just force her back to Wales - and right into the path of a dragon war, the Crow King, and at least one reluctant elf prince. Sometimes, running away just doesn't work as planned.

Need help? You probably shouldn't ask Grey.

A runaway Unseelie prince, Grey feeds on love - a commodity he conjures via music and magic in late-night Manhattan. It's a sweet gig, if lonely, and Grey is almost sure the dire warnings he was given about New York in December won't come true.

Then a monster from his childhood attacks in the middle of the night, and everything changes.

He survived, but he's marked, and more monsters are coming for him and everyone who survived. Grey has no plans to be a hero but fate doesn't care what he wants. Sometimes, no matter what you do, you aren't the one pulling the strings.

READ AN EXCERPT

from The Christmas Dragon

The box jumped.

Boxes are not supposed to jump. It’s a law somewhere, I think. Maybe Guyana. Apparently not in New Hampshire, because the box kept jumping.

I sat in my idling car, puffs of exhaust rising in my rear-view mirror, and stared at the uncoordinated box-dance. It was wrapped in the loveliest paper, too, which was a shame, because bouncing on my boot-scraper had roughened all the corners and torn one edge. The bow was big and purple and covered in small green somethings. I wasn’t close enough to make them out.

I didn’t want to be close enough to make them out.

If I didn’t do something soon, the neighbors would notice. The box probably hadn’t been jumping all morning, or there’d be a crowd. Or maybe it was already on YouTube. I didn’t know.

So much for a safe, boring life among the Ever-Dying. New Hampshire, you have failed me.

I turned off the car. Time to go see what invaded my (mostly) magic-free space.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Indie author Ruthanne Reid writes about elves, aliens, vampires, and space-travel with equal abandon. She is the author of the series Among the Mythos, and believes good stories should be shared. Subscribe to her free email newsletter for free books and more at http://amongthemythos.com. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr where she looks at too many kittens and Avengers blogs.

Ruthanne’s love of magic, urban environments, and deep space birthed a strange world with undercurrents of faith, magic, villainy, and heroism (along with swords and lasers, on occasion). Among the Mythos showcases aliens with all-too-human feelings, entire societies on the decline due to greed and fear, protagonists who might actually be the bad guys (or vice-versa), and endings every bit as messy as the world that creates them.

Ruthanne knows from experience that endings are messy. No matter how exotic the setting, how many limbs the characters have or what (if any) genders, the problems and questions addressed by a good story are very real, and that’s why they have power. If she has a theme, it is this: keep fighting, and keep pushing toward hope, because the struggle is worth the finish-line.

Buy The Christmas Dragon at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Kobo, as well as other online retailers.

Buy Strings at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Kobo, as well as other online retailers.

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY

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