My Reading Journeys: Author Spotlight Angela Ruth Strong

Welcome Today we have a fun treat!

A chat with Angela Ruth Strong

Hi Angela. I am happy to catch up with you to chat.

I am totally fascinated that you're in Seattle. Maybe there are some readers out there who haven't heard your news. So what are you doing in Seattle?

I always said I'd be a flight attendant when my youngest graduated, so my baby graduated and now--voila--I'm a flight attendant.

So I managed to catch up with you in Seattle. I thought you live in Idaho.

The airline based me in Seattle to start out with, but thankfully I get to transfer home to Boise!

Well tell us about you have gotten to do while your in Seattle! What Cool places have you found in Seattle.

There's lots of cool stuff here. The original Starbucks, Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, ferry rides to Bainbridge Island, and I even found a two-mile hike through the woods to a harbor with a coffee shop. I've been exploring with the nine roommates in my crashpad, my husband came up with me the first time, and my kids are each getting to visit. My daughter will be here on the 15th, which is my chemoversary (two years since my last chemotherapy treatment), and we plan to visit the Pop Culture Museum where they are currently displaying costumes from Disney's heroes and villains. We might also take the Seattle Underground tour. But the place I least expected and possibly had the most fun at is the Funko Pop Headquarters. I made a bobble head that looks like my husband for his birthday

Besides the bobblehead pictured above, I was able to give Jim exactly what he wanted for his birthday. That's right. My airline is transferring me home to Boise in May!!!

That is super exciting! It's great you've had a chance to see the sights around Seattle . . .

Thanks for sharing your fun Seattle days!

So you've started your new career how exciting!

If I was jet setting it around the country I would be checking the restaurants. Then the antique shops. Then the book stores.

What spots do you like to check out in new places?

Oh yes. So many. Old Town Scottsdale is my favorite new place so far, and I got to go to Canada for the first time ever. I'm really hoping to get an overnight in Spokane tomorrow so I can meet up with author Nicole Deese for dinner in the setting of her latest book, All That it Takes.

Since traveling so much has your writing schedule changed?

I can take writing with me everywhere, but I'm actually on reserve, so when they aren't sending me on trips, I'm getting paid to write. That was my plan anyway. It's been a little hard to write with nine roommates, but once I'm transferred home it should be the perfect combination of careers. I'm also reading more now because we're allowed to read on flights between carrying the trash bag up and down the aisle.

What city do you hope to be able to visit.

While based in Seattle, most of my trips have been along the West Coast, which I'm already pretty familiar with. Once I get based in Boise, there will be more trips east. A lot of my classmates are based in Chicago and have offered to show me around. I also really want to visit places I've only read about like New Orleans (Uncle Tom's Cabin) and Atlanta (Gone with the Wind).

What is the most interesting or surprising thing about being a flight attendant?

It's not just pouring drinks and making announcements that nobody listens to. It's about preparing people for emergencies and saving lives. During our training, we had what's called "hell week" where we watched documentaries of plane crashes. One guy even fainted. I haven't had any emergencies yet, but on my last flight, I had three air marshals board because of a government official flying with us.

Research and collecting ideas while you traveL would be fun. Can you give us a hint of what your working on?

I really want to write a crash pad series now. I'm living with an assortment of ages, races, and religions all crammed under one roof.

Me in Seattle before my roommate gave me extensions!

It's thought-provoking, and there are so many possibilities.

What (not who) do you miss when you travel?

I miss my gym classes. Working out on my own is not the same, though I certainly get my steps in at some airports.

If you could take the 'Who' you miss with you to any city where would you go? And why?

I CAN take my who with me, though it hasn't worked with his schedule yet. I tried to get him to fly to Salt Lake with me on his birthday last week, but he had a work presentation the next morning. Some Palm Springs and Tuscon trips include two overnights with a whole day to hang out at the resort hotel. That's what I'm hoping for. Easter in Arizona is the absolute best.

My favorite airplane movie scene was when Richard Gere took Julia Roberts to San Francisco. What is yours?

Aww... The first one that comes to mind is at the end of The Wedding Singer when Adam Sandler sings I Wanna Grow Old With You. On my flights home, Delta has been putting me in first class lately, and, in my head, I keep hearing Billy Idol's line: "One of our first class passengers would like to sing you a song inspired by one of our coach passengers. And since we let our first class passengers do pretty much whatever they want, here he is..."

Have you met anyone famous while

flying?

Besides the government official I mentioned above, I think I might have met a DJ. He looked like a DJ, and his last name was Spinz. I had to call him "Mr. Spinz" when I served him in first class, but I was like, That can't be his real name... As a gate agent I met a lot of athletes, Dr. Phil's son, and the kid who plays Kyle XY. I'd never heard of Kyle XY before, so while my young co-worker freaked out, I just squinted my eyes at the actor, trying to place him. Sorry, Kyle.

Angela it has been do fun catching with you in Seattle. Stay in touch and come again to share your adventures with us!

Thanks so much for having me!

I might write in different genres, but each book includes my fun and fast-paced style. Whether a character is swinging from a rope swing, swing dancing with the love of her life, or swinging a gun toward a villain who wants to kill him, I hope that when you're done, you'll want to swing back by the bookstore to pick up another one of my light-hearted and life-changing adventure.