Interview with “Sweet Romance” Author Ruth J. Hartman

Ruth Hartman is a published romance author and licensed dental hygienist. She lives in rural Indiana with her husband. Ruth’s “furry children” are her cats Maxwell and Roxy. She’s pretty sure Max is German. He likes eating sauerkraut out of the pan.

Hello Ruth. Please tell us about your new book. What happens when a dental hygienist falls in love with her patient?

Grace Hart meets Bruce Gardener when he shows up in her office as a new patient. She’s a smitten kitten from the get-go. But doesn’t think anyone as good-looking as Bruce would take a second look at her.

This sounds like a fun book to read. Where did you get your inspiration for this book?

I have a friend who used to be a dental assistant. She met her husband when he sat in the dental chair where she worked. I thought it was such a cool story, and used a hygienist instead of an assistant.

With the rule of no dating patients, the couple has to find creative ways to meet. A Reviewer wrote, “This brings a lot of humorous scenes to the story. Ms. Hartman keeps Flossophy of Grace flowing with a quick wittiness that made me laugh out loud several times.” Is it difficult to come up with humorous scenes?

Not usually. My imagination is pretty vivid. Weird stuff happens to me all the time, and I use that in my writing. My husband says I find the most unusual things amusing.

So your sense of humor is natural, I take it. What does your family think about your writing? 

My husband just shakes his head and calls me a “sap” because I love writing stories with goofy humor and happy endings. My family always tells me they’re proud of me. 

Hey, "goofy humor" with happy endings is what makes me laugh. I love it. Okay, now it’s time to tell us something about the real you that we’ll never forget.

My whole house is decorated with stuffed animals. Mainly cats. Anymore, my husband will often get me those instead of flowers for my birthday or anniversary, because he knows I love them so much!

Thank you, Ruth, for such a fun interview. Now we know the real you: The cat lover who writes humorous romance stories! I love it. I would like my readers to read a few paragraphs of chapter one from your book. I love it:

Chapter One

“Ouch!”

That was the fourth time she’d been bitten since lunch. She hoped they weren’t doing it on purpose, but sometimes she wondered. Maybe it was a pint-sized conspiracy. It was fall break for the elementary schools. All the elementary schools. That meant her dental hygiene schedule was crammed full of little people. There were kids yelling in the waiting room. Kids squirming in her patient chairs. She even heard a little girl loudly warbling her ABC’s in the bathroom. She felt like Mr. Rogers. She needed a cardigan sweater. Won’t you be my neighbor?

Grace loved kids. She really did. They were funny and sweet, and loud and annoying. They asked the most interesting, offbeat questions. And she normally looked forward to doing their prophies (cleanings) since their tiny mouths had less square footage than most adults’. But sometimes the little people tended to tell her too many intimate details about their parents she’d rather not know. Ever. And they all seemed intensely hyper today. The hooligans who weren’t bouncing like pogo sticks were playing trampoline on the waiting room chairs. Had their parents given them all ultra doses of Mountain Dew before their appointments? That would be wrong on so many levels. She’d had enough of the little guys for today. It was usually a nice reprieve from a day full of adults, but enough was enough. They had worn her down to a frazzled nubbin. Where was that cardigan sweater?

Since she’d arrived at the dental office at 8:30 a.m., she’d done twelve patient prophies, taken seven sets of tiny x-rays (that’s when the unfortunate biting incidents took place), given ten grape-flavored fluoride treatments, and instructed (or tried to) all of the little darlings how to remove the ick from their teeth with a toothbrush. She also dutifully handed out what seemed like 5,092 stickers. Whether the kids behaved like lambs or hyenas, they all got stickers. Unfortunately, she noticed several of the sticky handouts found their way to the recently painted waiting room wall. In between all of the patients, she cleaned her patient chair areas and helped with getting her instruments ready to be cleaned and sterilized. All in her spare time. She was pooped.

She looked at her yellow cat-face clock on the wall. It was almost time. In forty-five blessed minutes, she’d be finished with her last patient of the day. Thank goodness! It couldn’t come soon enough. Whoever it was, she wanted them done and scooted out the door, toothbrush in hand, as soon as possible. The only thing she knew about her next patient was that it was a man, and that he was fairly new to town. Other than that, she had no clue what to expect. Grace desperately hoped he wasn’t one of those men who thought he was good-looking in his plaid pants, white belt, and bad toupee. She always had a hard time holding back a snicker in those situations. She grabbed the last, lonely chart from the pink plastic holder on the wall and wearily called out the name.

“Bruce Gardener?”

As Grace looked up to greet her new patient, the sight that entertained her eyes nearly knocked her on her size-twelve backside. Good grief, he was gorgeous.

What happens when a dental hygienist falls in love with her patient? Visit Flossophy of Grace.
You may also visit Ruth at her blog: R J Writes.