Meet the Author: Cynthia Ruby!
If you love poetry, especially honest poetry with a bit of an edge and a dose of reality, then I think you'll be excited to learn more about today's featured author.
Cythia Ruby is one of those writers that most people can relate to: she works hard to provide for her family while still trying to find the time to live her dreams and honor her art. Her book of poetry has been nominated for Metamorph Publishing's 2016 Indie Book award, and I get the feeling that this is just the beginning of this fantastic woman's story. Welcome Cynthia!
Tell us a little about yourself. What made you choose to be a writer and who are you when you aren't writing?
Writing and music have always been a very natural thing for me. I began writing and playing instruments during my childhood and also took a great interest in reading books about all kinds of subjects. As my teen years began, I was heavily involved in writing poetry and keeping journals. I was also fascinated by print journalism and had dreams of becoming a famous journalist covering events happening in different parts of our world. This led me to pursue an undergraduate degree in mass communications, but life circumstances forced me to abandon that degree. However, I did eventually return to school and graduate with an undergraduate degree in psychology. To this day, music, art, film and literature are what fuel me. When I'm not writing, I'm working my day job to pay the bills and tending to family responsibilities. I also make every effort I can to support artists in my local community.
Tell us about your book!
My book 'Rubies From The Heart: Dark Poetry' is literally 20 years in the making. It is my first volume of professionally published poetry. These pieces have been written at
different periods of my life over a very long time span. They cover a wide range of subjects and contain my observations of society and human behavior. I am very eager to share this book with an audience and owe a huge debt of gratitude to Metamorph Publishing for making it happen.
What is your writing process?
My writing process may be difficult to describe. I've known many writers and fellow poets who feel the need to write at least one thing on a daily basis. However, this has always been difficult for me to do. There have been many times when I have not written a single phrase in months and when I force myself to put pen to paper I freeze up. Then, from out of nowhere, it all comes out in such a flood that I work furiously to get it all down on paper. What I've been doing the past couple of years is remind myself to write down any random thought or idea that I have so I can refer to it later and build upon it. I've also attended small writers' circles that have been very helpful and encouraging. What we do at these circles is give each other a writing prompt and then take however many minutes to write down the first thing that pops into our heads. I've actually built a few poetry pieces using this method.
What makes your work unique?
I would like to think that what makes my work unique is that I tend not to use traditional forms of poetry. Usually, when I first tell people that I'm a poet, they make
the assumption that all of it rhymes and that it's all about flowers and other happy things. While I have no issue writing about positive and beautiful things and rather
enjoy it, my work usually follows what I like to call a more realistic, no holds barred view of life. If some find it offensive, so be it. Art itself is a subjective thing and can be left to each individual's interpretation of it. As for the nonfiction books that I'm planning I hope to provide a view of these subjects that the public at large may not be aware of, while putting a fresh spin on the style of writing itself. This will be challenging, but I welcome it and hope that my work will be embraced.
What can we expect from you in the future?
Right now I'm actively working on a short story for an anthology and more poetry. I'm also in the early planning stages for revising and completing a screenplay for a short film I hope to direct and release, along with a nonfiction book. I also have ideas for two more nonfiction books. I'm also tentatively scheduled to participate at two local area events to meet readers, promote my work and do spoken word performances of my pieces.
Thanks for the interview, Cynthia. It was great to learn more about you!
I will be adding Cynthia's book to my Awesome Indies page as soon as I get a chance to get it updated. (I have almost a dozen in total to add, and this gem will be among them!) In the meantime, if you want to learn more about Cynthia Ruby, and her current or upcoming projects please visit the links below.
LINKS:
Tweets with replies by Cynthia Ruby (@CynthiaRuby2) Twitter
AUTHOR BIO
Cynthia is a poet and writer based in West Texas. She has written and performed spoken word pieces at local area events and was the 3rd place Grand Slam winner and Haiku Death Match Winner at the 2013 100,000 Poets for Change event in her region. Cynthia is a past member of the Permian Basin Poetry Society. She has recently been nominated for Metamorph Publishing's 1st Annual Summer Indie Book Awards of 2016. Her work has also appeared in high school, university and independently published anthologies. In addition to writing, Cynthia supports and helps publicize underground metal music, filmmakers and artists in her community. In 2015, Cynthia made her acting debut as a creature under her legal moniker in a nominated short film entry for the Permian Basin Horror Fest. In addition, she recently became a member of the West Texas Film Commission. She is tentatively scheduled to appear as a Poet On Demand during the Books In The Basin event in Odessa TX on April 9-10 2016 and may also appear at Forrest Fest in Lamesa TX on April 14-16 2016.
