INTERVIEW WITH RUTH HARTZLER

 
Ruth Hartzler is an internationally best-selling and award-winning author of Mysteries and Cozy Mysteries. Ruth started her career as an Amish romance author, and her Amish romancesare published by Harlequin. She is best known for her #1 best-selling 2015 series, Safe House, featuring a WITSEC agent hiding in the Amish community. Ruth is the recipient of several All-Star Awards (author and book).

INTERVIEW

If you had to describe yourself in one sentence, what would you say? 
 
I’d say, “Oh no! I’m not very good at describing myself in one sentence!”
 
I’d say I work too hard and need to send more time in the garden.
 
What do you do when you’re not writing? Any interesting hobbies?
 
Sometimes it feels as though all I do is write. I love to garden, bake, and read. I know some might not consider those hobbies interesting, but I guess I do. My friends rescue dogs and cats, and I like to visit with them and help out.
 
Tell us three things about yourself that might surprise your readers.
 
I love horses. I can ride, but I prefer to hang out with my horsey pals, brushing their manes and having a little chat. I do not like washing the dishes, so I was excited to get my dishwasher. And I don’t like chocolate, even though I seem to eat it all the time.
 
I once drove an Amish buggy, and at a fast trot. It was around a farm, not out on the road. I was a bit scared at first, but it was a lot of fun.
 
I’ve always wanted to be able to sing, but I have a terrible voice. When my children were young, they cried when I sang.
 
I’m also bad at math, which is why there are more than three things.
 
What genre did you start out writing? Have you changed course? Is there another genre you’d like to try someday? What is it?
 
I started out writing Amish Romance and now I write Cozy Mystery. I adore both genres. I am moving into the Thriller genre too with a novella in the upcoming anthology, Summer of Suspense. I’m blessed to be in the company of fifteen amazing authors in Summer of Suspense, which releases on August 6.
 
If you could go back in time and do something differently at the start of your career, what would it be?
 
Starting a new career is a learning process. I would tell myself to relax a little more and trust that everything will work out for the best.
 
Do you have any writing goals you haven’t met yet? What are they?
 
I absolutely love the cozy mysteries on Hallmark, so to have one of my books adapted for television, preferably by Hallmark, would be wonderful.
 
What are you working on now?
 
I’m having a lot of fun working on Confection is Good for the Soul, the third book in my new cozy mystery series, Amish Cupcake Cozy Mysteries. The main character in this series is Jane Delight, who left the Amish at the age of sixteen. On her fiftieth birthday, Jane discovers her husband is leaving her for a college student. Jane goes back to Pennsylvania to live above the cupcake store owned by her Amish twin sister. Jane’s roommates are feisty octogenarians who are not what they seem. There is also a naughty cat.
 
As I’m no spring chicken, I prefer to read books with older protagonists.
 
What is the most important thing you’d like readers to take away from your books?
 
My childhood was strict and unpleasant, and I used to escape into books. I remember loving Narnia books, and I would like my readers to feel happy and at peace at the end of my books. Life brings storms, but the storms do pass, leaving a rainbow. As my father always quoted, “All things work together for good!”
 
Anything else you’d like to share?
 
I’d like to thank the Suspense Sisters for inviting me!

True Confections is Book 1 in the Amish Cupcake Cozy Mystery series

When her husband of thirty years runs off with a college student named Cherri, Jane Delight returns to Pennsylvania to work in her

Amish sister's cupcake store. Having lost everything in the divorce, Jane now finds herself sharing an apartment with two elderly ladies and their quirky cat.

But there is no time to despair. A man is murdered in the cupcake store, and now Jane and her sister, Rebecca, are the prime suspects. Enter brooding detective Damon McCloud, a Scot with a tragic past and a desire for justice.

Can Jane solve the murder, wrangle her new roommates, and stop herself from falling for the detective?

Or will she never get her new life on track?

Ruth is giving away a print copy of TRUE CONFECTIONS. (Anywhere in world - your choice of standard print or Large Print) and an ebook copy of True Confections (Amish Cupcake Cozy Mystery Book 1).*To enter leave a comment, along with contact information!