Location: United States
Member Since: Aug. 23, 2012

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Ruthanne Reid

Biography

Ruthanne Reid writes about elves, aliens, vampires, and space-travel with equal abandon. She has a degree in piano performance she never uses, a second (slightly better used) degree in Biblical Science, and currently lives in Phoenix, where the nights are glorious for the imagination. She is the author of the series Among the Mythos, and churns out free short stories every couple of months. Something of a mad book-gifting fairy, she believes good stories should be shared.

Ruthanne’s love of Middle Earth, urban fantasy, and deep space birthed a strange world with undercurrents of faith and magic, villainy and heroism, courage and fear (along with swords and lasers, on occasion). Ruthanne believes that struggle in stories matters. It reflects our own struggles with life’s stumbling stones. Good stories remind us to love and live for something outside ourselves, and she hopes her stories do just that for those who read them.

If she has a theme, it is this: keep fighting, and keep pushing toward hope, because the struggle is worth the finish-line.

Smashwords Interview

What motivated you to become an indie author?
Literary agents made me do it. Sort of.

Essentially, after I'd racked up nearly 200 rejections for "The Sundered," the last half-dozen agents had the most interesting reactions. They would (1) ask for the full manuscript, (2) tell me how much they loved it, then (3) apologize because the publishing industry would not take a risk on weird, and since my book was weird, they couldn't sell it, even though they loved it.

I was told if I changed the protagonist's gender, or added a love story, or changed the ending so it would be more "normal," then they could sell it.

The last agent rejection I got was the kicker. With the partial manuscript in hand, he gave me the same spiel about being unable to take it because it was weird... then asked me for the full manuscript because he HAD to know how it ended.

That was confirmation for me. Traditional publishing is wonderful, but I didn't fit into that mold, and perhaps I never would.
Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?
Oh, dear. I do. It was a My Little Pony story. The Princess Pony (I really don't recall her name - it was 30+ years ago) was kidnapped by the snake kingdom, who MURDERED ALL THE OTHER PONIES, but she was so sweet and precious they just couldn't kill her.

I was eight, okay? I also typed the whole thing on my mom's typewriter with red ink because I thought it was pretty. The snakes taught Princess Pony all their strange snake-magic, and she became completely kickass and had adventures defeating Darth Vader.

Pink and kickass. The Force. And she spoke snake. I dunno, it made sense at the time.
Read more of this interview.

Where to find Ruthanne Reid online

Website: http://amongthemythos.com
Twitter: @ruthannereid
Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://amongthemythos.com/blog

Where to buy in print

http://amongthemythos.com/books

Books

This member has not published any books.

Smashwords book reviews by Ruthanne Reid

  • The Untold Tale on Jan. 23, 2016

    Damn. So let me tell you about this book. No, that's no good, I'd spoil it. Let me wax philosophical about this book. It isn't what you expect. When you think you have it figured out, it isn't that, either. And all the things you expect because you've read other books? It especially isn't that. This is probably the most intelligent and lovingly critical (or critically loving) treatise on fantasy I've ever read, and yet it isn't actually a treatise at all. It's a story. No, hear me: this is a STORY. STORY. It follows the story to the real end, beyond where fantasy books usually stop. It's terrifyingly practical, and the middle bits get so dark that I said, "Damn, she can't fix this!" in the middle of our local Big and Tall store while my husband tried on swimsuits. Hear me, reader, book-lover, story-collector: Frey fixes it. The right way. The only way. When you hit that dark part (believe me, you'll know), keep reading. (You may need a break to curse in a department store, but that's excusable.) Read to the end. In fact, that quiet, gloriously non-climactic last few pages are solidly some of THE most satisfying I have ever read. They're like a sweet ocean sound after the boom and crash of a terrible storm. So, there: I did not spoil it. I wouldn't dare. Get your thinking cap on, steel your heart (it's gonna hurt), and thank the author. This Story is a hell of a ride, and I, a lifelong fantasy-lover, am deeply glad I read it.