Fully Awake Dreamers – Ru Tripodi

Introducing Fully Awake Dreamers

Welcome to the new segment on my blog. It’s all about finding out about those people who sit around behind the computer screen and make things, they also are predominant writers and my friends! I’d love to be able to branch out and interview people who were not friends or I knew of but, one thing at a time. So without further ado I introduce the mind of Ru! You would have seen her beautiful words on Friday. Make her feel welcome!

Tell us a little about yourself and what you write.

Hello! My name is debatable, but I go by Ru a lot of the time. I like to write fantasy, sci-fi, historical, romance, horror and whatever else tickles my fancy at the time. I’ve been known to write bad poetry upon occasion.

What is your burning writing desire about?

It changes at any given time, to be perfectly honest? Sometimes I’m twitching to write fantasy, other times I could really use a nice romance. I’m extremely unfocused, as a writer. But then, that’s nothing new? I’ve been writing, drawing and just generally living in my head since I was a kid. Creating places and populating those places with people who all have their own thoughts, feelings and motivations has always been the driving force behind everything I do.

Are you working on anything right now? Can you give us a little bit of a sneak peak?

Yes – several things, actually. No. //pokerface!!// …. loljustkiddingMandiwillkillmerooofffllll~ Here’s something I don’t know if I’ll ever do anything with! Enjoy:

The fog closed in thickly around them, as the last shreds of moonlight ducked behind the abnormally thick cloud cover above. Dark, winding tendrils of barren trees reached for the old, cobblestone roads clicking under their feet, the sounds all the more hollow for the desolate atmosphere. The faint glow of enchanted orbs illuminated the immediate area before them, but did little to nothing to penetrate that nearly opaque wall of spider-silk hued ill will. Somewhere behind her, she could hear the soft grumbling of the group’s resident diplomat, Lord Lucaeus of the Silver Accord. Also a vampire, which she didn’t feel any which way about, really. Being undead, with blood that had dried up in her veins some several centuries ago, it wasn’t as though it made much difference to her one way or another. Although admittedly, there was a kind of novelty factor she found refreshing about the whole thing, in not being the only creepy critter around, that is.

“It’s too quiet,” he mumbled, voice barely above a whisper, yet even that seemed loud compared to the utter silence that surrounded them.

“Dampening spell.” That remark had come from a dark shrouded figure, whose very form seemed to phase in and out of existence, like a faintly glowing shadow. High Mage Weiss, of Dark Weaver infamy. There were few who knew their stuff quite like that guy, so when he said things which made utterly no sense to someone whose powers were innate enough that she never paid much mind to what she was tossing out, it forced a certain amount of attention upon the situation. What could she say? In life, she’d been a fighter and in death, not much had changed, save for her heavy affinity for runic mayhem.

“So, they’re rollin’ out the red carpet for us.” Faint murmur from the heavily armored Dark Wraith, her armor clinking pointedly, while she reached around to draw her sword. “Whatever floats their boats, for all the good it will do them.” Overconfident? Not like she didn’t have reason to be.

Frowning though, from the diplomat. She didn’t even have to turn to look, to know it was happening. He was the sort of guy whose voice betrayed a great deal of what he was thinking or feeling at any given time and the beginning of his lecture couldn’t hide his exasperation at her attitude regarding this mission.

“This is not an assault. It is a diplomatic meeting. Please, bear that in mind, before you get all kill-happy. Our first order of business is to make contact with these people; not create an international incident.”

Dry, faintly eerie laughter came from the shadowed mage, now moving up beside the knight herself. “Save it, whiny. We all know what direction this encounter is going, so let us simply be prepared for the inevitable.”

“That doesn’t mean we have to go in there with the attitude of–”

“–of what? Wanting to stay in one piece? I have no intentions of ending up someone else’s spell components this night, Sir. We will do what we came here to do, but I assure you, at the first sight of violence, this place will become a crater. I dare not risk the consequences, should something befall you.” They were there to protect the diplomat, after all and their instructions were very clear. Protect him first: mission second. Nice to know they were on the same page, but to be fair, she and Weiss generally were. “For your conscience’s sake, I hope you’re as smooth a talker as they say you are.”

Aeria laughed outright, the sound far too echoed and disjointed to ever have come from a living thing. “Darlings, darlings. You both have great hair, your shoes are cute and definitely neither of you looks fat in those jeans – now can we please focus on the fact that they have us totally surrounded and two more steps will put us in a binding circle?”

What nourishes your dreams besides writing?

Drawing, coffee, listening to music, coffee, daydreaming… cupcakes?

What inspires you?

Music is a big inspiration for me. Also doing a lot of reading into other genres. I try pretty hard to not limit myself to one arena or one style of writing. Different stories and different worlds might require different styles of storytelling, to get the right feel across to the reader.

What’s the biggest ting you’ve learned from writing?

Not to give up. Not to automatically hate everything, just because it’s mine. You ever do that? Just assume that because it’s your writing, that it’s not good enough to share? Or even good enough to continue working on? I’m still learning how to cut myself a little slack and just trust in my own process. It’s slow going, but I’m getting there.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome when it comes to your writing?

Uuuhhhh… Consistency. What I mean there is, writing on a regular basis. I tend to go on these binges where I’ll write chunks of chapters at a time, crank out 10k words at a clip, then… Take months to return to it. Or worse, never return to it at all! I get so frustrated with myself when that happens!! I honestly do need to just make sure I write something every day. Even if it’s just a couple hundred words. Even if I hate it. Just something. You can’t edit something, if you’ve never written it in the first place.

What advice can you give to buddying writers?

WRITE. That’s my advice. Just plain write. I don’t care if you don’t like it! I don’t care if that scene isn’t working! I don’t care if you can’t find a different word for ‘said’! I don’t care if your head hurts and your arms feel like jelly and the cat is lying on your keyboard and that gif set on Tumblr is freakin’ hilarious! Write. Whether it’s one word or one thousand – just write.

Are you dreaming fully awake and how did you get there?

Psshhh! Of course! I’ve always been this way! We’re going to blame my mother. Pretty sure this condition is genetic…

About the Dreamer

Ru Tripodi is a varied writer, whose attention span likes to wander far more than what is likely conducive to finishing any given project.  She lives in the middle of the Appalachian Mountains, Pennsylvania, with her daughter, her cats and a collection of assorted ‘other’ strays she’s managed to pick up along the way.  Sometimes she likes to draw things, most times she likes to drink coffee and when they’re in season, she has an unhealthy obsession with persimmons.  They are the perfect muse food.  Seriously.