Ryan Jo Summers

Have you always loved reading? Tell us about your ]irst memories of falling in love with a book.

Yes, I have always loved books. I don't recall what age I actually began reading, but I do recall Hirst memories of my room decorated with a long bookshelf. It was about twelve feet long, three shelves high and full of books - and a few stuffed animals. By the time I was nine or ten, I was saving my babysitting money to go down to the mall. Three times a year we made the day-long trip to the mall, and I always hit up the bookstore. I'd spend hours perusing the shelves, and leaving with at least two stuffed bags of books to hold me over until the next trip. Many of those childhood favorites have followed me into adulthood. And a strong memory of my love of books was in my middle school years. We lived in a house bordered with a big swath of woods and a creek. I'd take a book out there, wander deep into the woods, sit upon either a sunwarmed rock or on a shady log beside the creek, listen to the forest noises, and read whatever paperback I'd happened to bring. Because I longed for my own horse, so many of those books revolved around horses and the kids who loved them. To this day, I still can't pass up a horse and their child story. Most get passed on to my horse-crazy niece nowadays. My goal in life is two fold: 1) ensure she never runs out of good horse and child reading material, and 2) ensure she gets a horse of her own one day.

When did you decide you wanted to actually write a book of your own?

I was ten years old.There was a family event that my young mind could not understand. I felt it was completely unfair and I was heartbroken. In an effort to give voice to my feelings, I took pen to paper and just wrote a story - partially Hiction and partially truthful recap. I drew pictures and gave it a title and stapled the whole thing together like the pages of my books on the shelves. It was only later I realized I had written a book. I had never considered myself a writer because I assumed one had to be a college professor or in the leagues of doctors and scientists to be a writer. In my teens, once I knew everyday, average people could write, I decided to try writing a full-length young adult novel. I ended up writing two; one not too bad and one so-so. From there, late teens and early twenties, it just graduated based on what I was currently reading.

Have you pursued any other careers?

Yes. My dream was to be a veterinarian. With my love of animals, it seemed the most logical career choice. Life happened and I became a veterinary technician instead. It was a fantastic career and I truly loved it. All the highs, and all the lows, the challenges and the mundane, I always felt I was doing what I should be doing. I did take a break for about ten years, and bought a pet boarding kennel and became director of a breed rescue organization. Again, I loved what I did--good days, bad days, and routine days. Later I returned to my vet tech love and eventually retired and now I own a pet sitting business.

What inspired you to write contemporary romance and inspirational stories?

What is really humorous is that I don't see myself as a romance novelist. I am not a particularly romantic person and enjoy living solo far too much to bother with falling in love--with the exception of my book boyfriends. I do love comparing the heros of my books. However, that appears to be the genre niche I have fallen into. I was merely writing the kind of stuff I was reading at the time.... I'd Hinally graduated from girl and horse adventure stories to Harlequin and Silhouette love stories.Inspirational is rooted in my deep faith. Whenever the plotlines of the story allow, my faith bubbles up and Hilters through the minds of my characters. I must say inspirational is my favorite element to include in a story if possible.

How do you ]ind the characters and storylines that inhibit your books?

Everywhere, and I do mean quite literally everywhere. I observe my surroundings, and I am a people watcher, and I read all the time. A name on a plumber's van, a particular car at a stop light, a lost bouquet of Hlowers, and a hundred other things have all found their way into my stories. Overheard snippets of conversation - just a line or two - can create a whole scene in my mind. Songs are great fodder for ideas. A drive along the highway can offer a bevy of possibilities. I always carry a notepad and pens to record ideas and dialogue for current works in progress or upcoming projects, or just a juicy thought for my future Hiles.

What parts of writing are the most rewarding? The most challenging?

Writing is the most rewarding. I love to write. Just the creating process. The unbridled, creative, outpouring of thought and birth of characters, setting, storyline. It is utterly fulHilling and satisfying. The part that follows is the hard stuff. Editing. More Editing. Cutting, dissecting, rearranging, and analyzing. It's tedious, sometimes painful, many times frustrating, and I tend to feel it is keeping me from moving on to the next story I need to write.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

Spare time is such a precious commodity for me, I tend to guard it. My nieces hold my heart. I want to spend all available time slots with them. Watching them grow up is my life's pleasure. Since I own a pet sitting business, I have… well, business to take care of. I pet sit, and have clients, team members, schedules, payroll, and legal stuff to constantly oversee. There is always - no exaggeration - always something to deal with. I also have my own menageries of pets to enjoy, snuggle, and care for. From the youngest to the oldest, someone wants something all the time. I keep a Hlock of chickens. Watching the sun come up over the mountain as I toss their morning grain and listen to them cluck and crow as they dig the ground throughout the day is my mental break. I like to dig in the dirt myself, planting and tending the small gardens around my yard, and watching my Hlowers bloom. Watching the rain fall from my porch with a notebook, coffee, and a dog at my feet is another of life's pleasures. Bonus points if it's following an afternoon of gardening. I also like to paint and enjoy the process of creating the picture on canvas, or bringing the ceramic to life with details or creating the carousels with color and design. Remember the spring hobby horses most of us rode as kids? I remove the metal frame and springs and create carousels by putting the body on a base, install a pole in the center, paint the horse and embellish the saddle and bridle. Creating something from nothing or a blank slate is rewarding in and of itself.

What is on your bucket list for the future?

I am working on a script for a podcast. My brother-inlaw turned my study into a mini-recording studio and I developed a podcast skeleton. Now I am three chapters into writing the Hirst book I want to record (Not an audio book, just me reading the script of a story I wrote speciHically for this). I hope to have several chapters/episodes published before the holidays this year. I also have rewrites and series I am working on. Right now, I have to catch up on edits and a couple installments of a series I am working on now (book 1 is already out) and then catch up on other long term projects that have lingered. Basically a project clean up before I can move forward with new projects.

What is the one thing you would really like readers to know and understand about you?

Fun fact: I have not watched television since the early 2000's. 2004 was the last time I regularly watched television. I caught a few movies from 2005 to 2010. Since then, I decided I prefered to spend my time hanging out with the people I care about, the pets I love, the books I enjoy, and the nature that inspires me. I do catch a trailer off YouTube sometimes, or a 6second news bite - just enough to get the jist of what people are talking about. However, I do not miss television/movies or the like. My life is crammed full already, and I feel if I took 1 or 2 or 4 hours out to be entertained by movies or tv shows, that time could have gone to read a book or plant a garden or watch the rain or write another story.