BLOGWORDS – Thursday 16 October 2025 – CHAT THURSDAY

BLOGWORDS – Thursday 16 October 2025 – CHAT THURSDAY – CYNTHIA RUCHTI

CHAT THURSDAY – CYNTHIA RUCHTI

Please give a warm feathered welcome to author and friend, Cynthia Ruchti.

rem: Hullo Cynthia, and welcome. Tell us three random things about yourself.

CYNTHIA: I once worked part-time for a world-renowned knitter and spent my days packing and shipping wool skeins and wheels of unspun wool and knitting supplies from (and to) around the world. I’m learning the art of sushi-making…the Midwest way. I had the privilege to spend five weeks in Copenhagen, Denmark a few years ago as a travel companion for my daughter during her job training.

rem: That’s a well-rounded batch of random bits about you. What is your favorite quotation and why?

CYNTHIA: My tagline: I can’t unravel. I’m hemmed in Hope. It holds so much meaning for me as a writer and as a person. Everything I write—fiction or nonfiction—falls under that umbrella of thought, that brand. It reveals that many things can try to or threaten to unravel us, but if my Hope is solidly secured, if I’m hemmed on all sides by that Hope, then I can’t unravel at the seams.

rem: Love love love this! When reading, what makes or breaks a story for you? Your fiction pet peeve?

CYNTHIA: Ooh. I have several! One is if the whole conflict could be resolved if they just sat down and talked to each other. The other is if the entire relationship is of the hero and heroine is built on physical attraction rather than their internal character qualities.

rem: Definitely to both, but to the ‘set down and talk,’ bit I would add the too-frequent line, “It’s complicated.” What a cop out! What are you reading right now?

CYNTHIA: I’m usually reading more than one book at a time. Right now I’m digging into Richard Foster’s Sanctuary of the Soul as research for a project.

rem: Sounds deep. Tell us a little about your writing journey.

CYNTHIA: Although I loved essay tests in high school and college (more words!), I didn’t dream of becoming an author when I grew up. I actually studied to work in a chemistry laboratory and did so for seven years after graduating. But my heart was to be at home with my toddlers, so I “retired” from that profession and took some correspondence courses in creative writing “for fun.” Or so I thought. A couple of weeks after completing the last course I could afford to take, I was given a ridiculous opportunity to write and produce a faith-based radio broadcast to minister to the spiritual needs of stay at home moms. Who knew that ministry would continue for more than three decades, each broadcast a blend of a fictional story followed by devotional thoughts. When that broadcast was retired, I’d already started investigating what it would take to write more than fifteen minute scripts. What did I need to learn to write a book?

rem: Cynthia, that’s amazing! What genre(s) do you write and why?

CYNTHIA: Because of my experience with that broadcast all those years, eventually on 48 stations across the country and five days a week, it was far more natural for me than most to write both fiction and nonfiction, which I do to this day. Ask me which is my favorite and I’ll usually tell you the opposite of the one whose deadline is creeping close. J

rem: It’s hard to love a project that is staring you in the face. LOL Tell us a little about your latest book? What is your current project?

CYNTHIA: I was asked to submit a proposal to a major publisher for an advent devotional that would explore where the Holy Spirit shows up in the Christmas story. It was such an eye-opening project to work on and a delight to have had the privilege. It released in September of this year.

rem: I’ll have to look for that. What is YOUR favorite part about the book or why do you love this book? Why should we read it?

CYNTHIA: My favorite part of The Spirit of Christmas: Discovering His Presence Throughout the Advent Season changes every day of the 25-day journey! Finding pockets of the Holy Spirit’s presence in unexpected places thrilled me. Seeing links between what the Holy Spirit was doing or saying in the early pages of the Bible, and in Isaiah and Daniel and Malachi as well as the more familiar verses in Luke truly delighted my heart. In particular, I’m not sure I’d ever stopped to ponder before that when the angel Gabriel left the young woman Mary after declaring she would bear the Son of God, the Holy Spirit stayed. Practically speaking, I saw in a fresh way how when we receive news that brings more questions than answers, the Holy Spirit lingers for us too.

rem: Oh, Cynthia, that is so profound, and touched my spirit deeply. What is one take-away from your book(s) that you hope readers identify with?

CYNTHIA: No matter how much we look forward to the Christmas season, many of us also face complications the season spotlights—relationship challenges, schedule upheavals, financial concerns, and the ever-present thought that the season is either approaching too fast or it is carrying us away rather than our being well prepared and spiritually ready for what Christmas represents. I hope that readers of this book (whether they read from cover to cover in one sitting or “sip” each chapter one day at a time throughout advent) will say, “This Christmas will be different.”

rem: It’s so eye-opening and life-changing to realize that Holy Spirit is with us in every moment of our lives. One more and then we’ll close. Do you have a life Scripture?

CYNTHIA: I do. Romans 15:13 seems to encapsulate so much in just a few words: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV, emphasis mine)

rem: I do love the book of Romans. Anything you’d like to add?

CYNTHIA: It’s been a joy to have the opportunity to talk to you and your readers, Robin. Thanks for the invitation. May your Advent season be hemmed in hope!

rem: And yours as well. Cynthia, thank you again so much for chatting with us on my blog today!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in hope through award-winning novels, novellas, devotionals, nonfiction, and through speaking events for women and writers. She makes potato corn chowder for her husband of more than four decades and loves on her three kids and seven grandchildren. Cynthia spent 33 years writing and producing a daily radio broadcast called THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME. She is past president of American Christian Fiction Writers, and served as ACFW's Professional Relations Liaison for twelve years, while working on more book projects in addition to the more than 40 already on the shelves. Her books have been honored with Selah Awards, Christian Retailing's BEST Awards, and Book of the Year awards from Golden Scrolls, as well as finalist or top honors in awards programs such as ACFW's Carol Awards, ForeWord Book Reviews Book of the Year, RT Reviews Book of the Year, Family Fiction's Book of the Year, Inspirational Readers' Choice, and the Christy Award, among others. Her tagline is, "I can't unravel. I'm hemmed in Hope."

https://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Christmas-Discovering-Presence-Throughout/dp/0800772806/ref

https://www.cynthiaruchti.com or https://www.hemmedinhope.com

http://facebook.com/cynthiaruchtireaderpage

http://twitter.com/cynthiaruchti

http://instagram.com/cynthiaruchtiauthor