I'm Oprah Winfrey. Welcome to Super Soul Conversations, the podcast. I believe that one of

the most valuable gifts you can give yourself is time, taking time to be more fully present.

Your journey to become more inspired and connected to the deeper world around us starts right

now.

The inspiration for Ruby emerged from Cynthia's own life and family history. Born in

Himsted, Texas in 1961, Cynthia Bond grew up with a love of words. With two academicians

for parents, she and her sister spent long hours watching their father direct plays.

A gifted student, Cynthia wanted journalism scholarship to Northwestern University, but

she says, in an act of rebellion, she moved to New York to pursue a career in acting. She

studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and later performed with the prestigious

Negro Ensemble Company. After she moved to Los Angeles, her life began to suddenly unravel.

She says she became flooded with painful memories of past sexual abuse. Cynthia found hope and

healing in a writing class where the seed for Ruby was planted. It took her more than

10 soul-searching years to complete the manuscript. During that time, Cynthia started teaching

therapeutic writing to troubled young people. Their heart-wrenching stories would also become

woven throughout her novel. In 2014, Cynthia's long-held dream became reality when Ruby was

published to critical acclaim. The original 900-page story will now be a trilogy. The author

is currently working on the second book. Okay, so this is what I want you to know. How

random it is that number one, I choose a book for a book club. We have Oprah Magazine

and Lee Haber, who's an editor, sends me books all the time. And so I was just saying,

you got anything? Send me something. So she sent me a stack, and I literally had the

stack of books, and I picked up this book because I liked the cover. The red cover stood

...