Introducing a Local Launch Team Member: Ruby!

I may not know much about space ships, androids, and asteroids, but when this next gal needed help with labor… well, now there, I know a thing or nine.

Unlike most of my launch team, Ruby (her real name is hidden to protect the innocent destruction of the spelling of it. This is something I also can understand. Trust me.), is local! I met her through our local NaNoWriMo group. And we’ve spent many nights at Denny’s hashing out plot ideas.

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So… let’s learn more about Ruby, shall we?

As Ruby put it:

I’m a recent college graduate with an AS in medical assisting. Single and an only child by blood, I instead have three lovely ladies whom I claim as sisters: Shannon lives in Port Huron, MI, Kiana lives in London and Sammie lives in Middlesbrough, also in the UK. my “baby” is my lovely senior tabby, Meru, who turned 18 this year. I’m a self-proclaimed geek, with Star Trek at the top of the list. The answer to “Kirk or Picard?” Janeway (or the highway).

In the past, I have volunteered at a local no-kill rescue, which was quite rewarding. it was hard work, but I was paid in love from the animals who expected nothing more than their daily care and maybe a hug or a petting session.

Ridgecrest is not the only thing we have in common. As Ruby shared:

I also I have the added advantage of sharing a birthday with our lovely author (the latter of which has convinced whoever monitors Amazon reviews that we are somehow the same person!)

Like Chautona, I also live in Ridgecrest, though I’m not a fan. Hot weather and me do not mix! Why the Lord gave me the constitution of a winter dweller and put me in the desert, I’m still trying to figure out…. (though I suppose He will answer that question when the time comes, if you know what I mean!)

But there’s more:

However, living here HAS provided the great advantage of getting to share many an evening at Denny’s with Chautona, doing what I call our “writing nights”: figuring how to fit two laptops and our orders onto one table, spending hours just typing in “quiet” companionship, or going over character ideas and plot points.

Currently, I only write fanfiction – and this fanfic author appreciates Chautona’s infinite patience in allowing me to explain the fandom canon if necessary before asking my plot questions or proposing my scenarios with a request for which direction sounds better. (she probably knows some aspects of my plots better than my beta readers do!)

Sometimes catching Ruby for a writing night isn’t easy. She’s a busy gal. I asked what she likes to do and says:

I enjoy reading, writing, DVD watching, reading, babysitting and/or pet sitting, reading, rock painting, Paint Shop Pro-based graphic design…and did I mention reading? (Certified bookworm here!)

And the coolest place I’ve been? I’d have to say Stonehenge. to stand on that ground and know you’re standing in a place of great history is kind of humbling.

Ruby wasn’t helpful about her favorite authors. She said:

Unfortunately, that’s like asking me what my favorite music artist is. (meaning if you ask ten different times, you’ll get ten different answers!) but I’ll do my best to name a few random favorites: Andre Norton, Anne McCaffrey, Janette Oke, Julian May, Francine Rivers, the Thoenes, Dee Henderson, and most recently, Kirsten Beyer.

Ruby has only been with the team for the last year. Like she says:

Compared to the rest of the team, I’m a super late comer. I heard about this mysterious launch team stuff when the promo info was being set up for Ante Up! and decided to jump in (Join a team that helps promote an upcoming book AND I get to read it too? Sign me the heck up!)

She says she chose to join the team because:

I like to help out my friends and indie authors – and Chautona is both! and I never say no to new reading material 😉

I’ve gotten to be a part of the launches of – Ante Up!, Christmas Embers, Christmas Stalkings, and working on Will Not See. I’m looking forward to anything! I like everything I’ve read so far.

She wasn’t much help in picking sides. Ruby said:

I’m still catching up on my reading, don’t ask me to pick sides. but I will say this. so far my favorite character is Wendy from Christmas Stalkings (a woman who loves cats can’t be wrong!) and my favorite couple is Aggie and Luke. What I like best about Chautona’s books is that my preference for Christian fiction has always been for the message to be told and/or shown as part of the story, without it coming across as a sermon.

Chautona does this perfectly. and what makes it even better are her characters. I enjoy characters that feel REAL–like someone I could run into at Walmart while spending my usual half hour in the canned cat food aisle trying to figure out what Meru will eat this week and share a minute of amused eye-rolling over our picky eaters. I have felt Aggie’s love for Luke, stressed out with Wendy over who was harassing her cats, cried with Emily when she sat by the side of a dying woman and been carried through Ella’s ups and downs as she relearned herself. their realness makes the story better. and I look forward to getting to know future characters.

You can find Ruby on Instagram where she posts about animals (especially cats), cute kids that she babysits, random Weight Watcher’s posts, and the like.