Cynthia Ruchti is our guest today.

She wrote a book called Miles from Where We Started.

Today, Cynthia will share the story behind her story.

These no-longer-newlyweds want out of this road trip—and their marriage. Too bad they can’t find the off ramp. 

Weeks away from their one-year wedding anniversary, Mallory and Connor Duncan can’t even agree on how to end their marriage. But when a last-minute crisis lands them on a three-thousand-mile road trip together, Mallory wonders if their story may not be over after all.

The trip begins to unravel before the key is even in the ignition. When an at-risk, trouble-seeking eleven-year-old is unexpectedly thrown into their travel plans, close quarters get even tighter. Soon, the couple believes this whole experience will spell disaster.

Their first year of marriage hasn’t been the arm-in-arm togetherness Mallory and Connor expected. But is it possible they will find a new beginning at the end of the road?

Learn more and purchase a copy.

What inspired you to write this book?

One of the current crazes I find fascinating is the Tiny House fad. For years, people have thought the American Dream included bigger everything—cars, houses, yards, kitchens, and their accompanying mortgages. Then words like “downsizing” and “smaller carbon footprint” and “living small but debt-free” starting creeping into conversations.

People of all ages—college students, newlyweds, retirees—are getting rid of an accumulation of “stuff” and financial responsibilities and cramming their lives into as little as 250 square feet of space on wheels so they can live simply, as off-grid as possible, and free to take their home with them on adventures.

I’ve watched the craze with great interest, more than a little longing, and a smidgen of skepticism about how long a couple would find it “adventuresome” to reduce their wardrobes to what will fit in a one-foot by one-foot cubbie or climb a ladder to a loft bed when recuperating from bunion surgery.

As a novelist, I started toying with the idea of what happens to relationships crammed into small spaces. And what if the relationship was already in trouble? And what if I added an at-risk pre-teen to the mix?

Discovering the tear-drop style camper (not much bigger than a washing machine) set the stage for me. Imagine a 3,000 mile, three-week forced camping trip—on which both the husband’s and wife’s jobs depended—when the couple is on the verge of calling it quits. Yeah. That kind of conflict.

The fun part of writing the story was discovering the depths of emotion and the role of both the settings to which they traveled and the people they met along the way. Isn’t it true of all of us that we end our journeys miles from where we started?

Sounds like a very interesting story! Thanks for sharing.

Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed-in-Hope through award-winning novels, nonfiction, devotionals, and through speaking events for women and writers.

Her books (26 to date) have garnered numerous industry award honors. She serves as the ACFW professional relations liaison, and is an agent with Books & Such Literary Management.

She and her grade school sweetheart husband live in the heart of Wisconsin, not far from their three children and five grandchildren.

You can connect with her at www.cynthiaruchti.com.

Follow Cynthia on social media: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

Cynthia is giving away a copy of Miles from Where We Started. Follow the directions below to enter.

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