Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I have been writing all my life, but in recent years have had the opportunity to focus on my true passion, fiction. I’ve published one novel, White Oak; one self-help book, Living Happy, Joy and Free; and one elementary history book, Arkansas Heritage.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
I initially was writing a complicated book with basically two stories, a fantasy novel and the dual story of the author living in a haunted hotel. Beyond, really took the center stage with its unique plot and so I took the other story out of it. I resisted doing this for some time. I have ADD and it really helped me to go back and forth between stories.
Beyond is the story of Laura Haskell, an established boozy author of fantasy fiction who lives in the notoriously haunted Crescent Hotel in San Francisco with her prodigious white German Shepherd, Cloud, who sees the ghosts and occasionally shares his point of view with readers. Laura inherited the hotel from her famous Madam grandmother “Elizabeth Schuster, who haunts the hotel and carries the secret of who Laura’s grandfather is. Laura becomes motivated to sober up when she meets and falls in love with Sean Wilson, the man responsible for proving ghosts exist by utilizing artificial intelligence and “seeing” dogs. Through Sean’s innovation, they are able to find out who her mystery grandfather was. The couple’s courtship persists despite Sean’s grueling travel schedule once he gets a contract with FilmFlix for a television series and culminates in a storybook wedding in a Scottish castle. When Sean dies unexpectedly, devastated Laura is able to reconnect with him in the afterlife through his technology and Cloud’s assistance.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I’m a morning person, I try to never write when I am hungry, angry, lonely or tired. I try to cleanse my mind of resentments and toxic topics. I let my fingers do the talking with my muse.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I’ve read thousands of books, they have all changed me except for the ones never finished.
What are you working on now?
I’m about to release Beyond. Once it is launched I will return to the other novel that was wrapped inside of it, titled The Two Moons of Merth.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
GoodReads.com, Facebook
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Read, read, read!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Mind your own business.
What are you reading now?
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
What’s next for you as a writer?
Publication of everything I write.
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
Any thick classic from Russian writers, A Tale of Two Cities, The Art of Racing in the Rain and the Overstory.
Author Websites and Profiles
RUTH MITCHELL Website
RUTH MITCHELL Amazon Profile
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