|
Sara
Ruffini’s “First Daughter’s Jewels”
Times-Herald, November 6-19, 2003, by Michele Wojciechowski
Hamilton
resident Sara L.G. Ruffini never set out to be a writer. But
somehow, that’s exactly what she became. Her first young adult
novel, “First Daughters’ Jewels,” was published this year
by Publish America.
Sara was
working as a junior high science teacher when she and her
husband began talking about having children. Sara made the
decision to work as a stay-at-home mom, though she still hadn’t
thought of writing as her next career.
While
at home with her then-newborn daughter Liz, now in eighth
grade at St. Anthony of Padua School (son Vincent, now a third-grader
at the school, would come along years later), Sara thought
about her own mother who had died shortly before Liz was born.
Her mom had been a writer, crafting short stories and poems.
Although she had them published in local poetry society books,
she never had the courage to send them off to a publisher
or magazine. And that got Sara thinking.
“I decided
to give this a shot and take the chance that she never did,”
says Sara.
Sara began
by taking a course through the Institute of Children’s Literature.
She then began writing non-fiction science articles for publications
like school-age science newspapers because science was what
she knew.
While
taking her second course at the Institute, Sara came up with
a compelling idea that would lead to things she had never
dreamed. Sara’s assignment was to write a 500-word scene that
she would eventually use in a 2,500-word story.
Sara recalls
that this was during the early 1990s, when the Roman Catholic
Church was going through the first highly publicized sex abuse
scandals. It got her thinking “What if someone were wrongfully
accused for someone else’s ulterior motive?”
She soon
wrote a scene in which a priest gives an innocent hug to a
teenage girl while another priest walks by.
Her next
assignment was to expand upon that scene, and, as Sara recalls,
“That’s when it took on a life of its own.”
Sara kept
writing and spoke with an instructor at the Institute to figure
out what to do. She learned that she would need at least 10
chapters and 20,000 words for a young adult novel. Sara told
her instructor that she had written that much already.
After
switching to a novel writing class, Sara began sharpening
her book. “And 12 chapters and 23,000 words later, here we
are.”
Last fall,
Sara researched publishers who were looking to produce the
kind of book that she had written. In November, 2002, Publish
America asked to see her entire manuscript, and she submitted
it to them the week before Thanksgiving. She was told that
anywhere from six to eight weeks would pass before she would
get their response.
But in
four weeks, on December 27 to be exact, Publish America told
Sara that they wanted to publish her book. “First Daughters’
Jewels” was on the market on the first day of spring, March
21 of this year.
Although
it seemed like everything happened in a whirlwind, Sara has
really enjoyed her publishing experience. She’s gotten a lot
of compliments about the book—from everyone from local priests
and nuns to her own family. Growing up one of five children,
Sara used the kind of dinner-time banter that she grew up
with in her book. Her father laughed at that, and her younger
sister was pleased that although Sara used some autobiographical
material, “You didn’t slam any of us.”
Sara has
begun writing for a sequel to the book; some young adults
who have read it have asked for one. “They want to see what
happens next to Lauren,” says Sara.
But the
greatest compliment of all, Sara says, has been that she has
become “cool” to her daughter. “When [Liz] saw the book for
the first time, she was absolutely thrilled,” says Sara. “It’s
beginning to wear off now, but for a couple of months, I have
been cool to my daughter. There’s no greater reward!”
Sara L.G.
Ruffini will be signing copies of her book, “First Daughters’
Jewels,” on November 8, at the Carroll Community College Foundation
Book Fair, at 1:30 p.m. in the Great Hall area of the Administration
Building.
|
