ABOUT A BIRD

Luanna Rugh is a close friend. I have edited several of her books. In addition, she participated in all six of the Aspen Grove Romance Anthologies.

Luanna’s stories nearly always include animals—usually dogs. Quite a while ago, she began a story with a scarlet macaw as a principal character. Other projects prevented her from finishing it, but I always loved it—especially the opening.

Up in Flames is a romance with lots of complications.

“Nine—one—one. What is the nature of your emergency?” “Our bird’s stuck in a tall tree.” “Young man, this number is for human emergencies only.” “It is. Honest, lady. My mom was trying to get our macaw down. Now her foot is caught and she’s stuck in the tree, too. I didn’t know what else to do.”

A young widow with a son in a new town, a bird stuck in a tree, an unsympathetic fire captain—how can this lead to romance? Lyanna Thomas and her son, Davey, have moved to Aspen Grove Colorado following her husband’s death. When their macaw, Scarlet, decides to go adventuring, a whole new world opens up for the family.

When our writing group had to stop meeting due to the pandemic, I encouraged Luanna to finish the book, and I did the final edit and formatting.

Larry designed the cover. 

Luanna knows all about macaws and parrots because she has one herself. She totally conveys their behavior. Scarlet is definitely a pivotal character in the book.

If you enjoy romance with a sense of humor, you will love this book.

LUANNA RUGH was born and raised on a dairy in Central California. She always loved animals, cats and dogs, cows and horses, not to mention the many wild animals living in the area. At ten, she decided she wanted to become a high school biology teacher.

Her family moved to Southern California the year she entered high school. Luanna followed her path in college until the summer of 1966. She worked at a local restaurant where she met the love of her life, Len Rugh. They were married in February of 1967. A year and a half later, Len was drafted and sent to Vietnam where he was critically wounded, but that’s another story.

When Len returned to California, she finished school and earned two teaching credentials in 1984.

At age fifty-seven, she discovered she could write when she co-authored the first of the six books in the Aspen Grove Romance Anthologies. She contributed to all six of them.

After she and Len published their award-winning memoir, Promises Kept: How One Couple’s Love Survived Vietnam, she decided to stretch her wings, and write on her own. She loves writing animals as supporting characters. In Love From the Sea, a dog plays a major role. In Up in Flames, another dog and a scarlet macaw are lead characters.

Her books are available in paperback and Kindle editions. Most are also available as audiobooks.

She hopes you enjoy reading them as much as she loved writing them.

A Long Time Coming

Sometimes books seem to write themselves quickly. At other times, they may take years. This is the story of one of those.

In 2009, our Aspen Grove Romance Anthology, Seasons of Love, was published. Four authors participated in this one, including Luanna Rugh. (She contributed to all six of the anthologies.)

She began to write a terrific story with one of my favorite openings. However, it became apparent this one had a much longer story to tell than the novella format of the anthologies. So, she set it aside to expand into a full-length novel at a later time.

She wrote “Summer’s Challenge,” a different story, which is included in the anthology. (Seasons of Love is currently being produced as an audiobook. It is available on Amazon in print and ebook forms.)

Also, in 2009, the memoir she wrote with her husband, Promises Kept: How One Couple's Love Survived Vietnam, was published to much acclaim. (It went on to win several awards and continues to sell well among veterans of the Vietnam War.)

Luanna continued to write the anthologies with us while her original story for Seasons of Love languished.

In 2016, while writing a series of short stories she intended to turn into a collection, she began writing a charming story about a puppy who brings two strangers together. This, too, grew beyond the original short story, but she kept on with it until the book was completed. Her first solo work, Love From the Sea was published in 2016. (The dog on the cover is the Rughs’ dog, Gina. She died not long after her big photo shoot, and they are delighted to have her as their cover model.)

Other projects occupied Luanna, but in about 2018, she decided to finish her aborted story, set in Aspen Grove, Colorado, our fictitious town in which the anthologies are set. She brought chapters for review by our critique group, and everyone agreed it was a good story.

However, she had a hard time writing the emotionally difficult middle of the book, so it went back on the shelf.

Finally, I told her she had to finish it. The story was too good not to do so!

I nagged and prodded until the manuscript was finally completed. This week, her book, Up in Flames, was published.

This one features a scarlet macaw, a dog, and a little boy. There’s also a grouchy fire captain. It is a charming story, just as it was when she started it eleven years ago. Here’s a taste:

“Nine—one—one. What is the nature of your emergency?”

“Our bird’s stuck in a tall tree.”

“Young man, this number is for human emergencies only.”

“It is. Honest, lady. My mom was trying to get our macaw down. Now her foot is caught and she’s stuck in the tree, too. I didn’t know what else to do.”

Find out for yourself!

About the Author of Up in Flames:

Luanna Rugh met the love of her life, Len Rugh, while working at a local restaurant in Southern California. A year and a half after their marriage, Len was drafted and sent to Vietnam, where he was critically wounded. Together they wrote their award-winning memoir, Promises Kept: How One Couple’s Love Survived Vietnam, a project which took over twenty years to complete.

She co-authored the Aspen Grove romance anthologies: Snowflake Secrets, Seasons of Love, Directions of Love, An Aspen Grove Christmas, The Art of Love, and …And a Silver Sixpence in Her Shoe.

Her solo works are Love From the Sea, where a dog plays a major role, and Up in Flames, set in Aspen Grove, where another dog and a scarlet macaw are lead characters.

She hopes you enjoy reading them as much as she loved writing them.