Havre native and novelist visits town for book signing

Havre native and romantic suspense novelist Kimberly Ruff will be at the Havre-Hill County Library Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. to sign copies of all five books in her series, The Broken.

Ruff, who grew up in Havre and graduated from Havre High School, started writing the series after a major government decision left her with nothing but time.

Ruff had been teaching at the American Military University in 2013 when the sequester that was approved by Congress rendered her students without tuition money and her without students.

Since she had some time, she began reading a romance novel.

"I was reading this awful romance novel and I thought, 'I could do better than this,'" she said.

Throughout the five books - "The Broken Road," "Beautifully Broken," "Broken Wings," "In a Broken Dream" and "Broken Together" -  the hero of the novels, Kristine Stone, is not only a native Montanan who ends up traveling the world, as Ruff has, but also runs into problems taken from Ruff's life.

Ruff said she has been in an abusive relationship, had a stalker for five years, was assaulted by a co-worker - those are all things the protagonist faces, Ruff said, adding, "She's a magnet for trouble to boot,"

Despite the similarities in character and events, Ruff said, Kristine Stone is not based on her because she makes different choices than the character would.

Ruff calls her brand of fiction intelligent romance.

"There are some serious issues that are addressed, homelessness, PTSD, international relations," she said.

Ruff lives in Virginia but she has family in Montana and on the Hi-Line. She had just landed in Great Falls Wednesday and said she looks forward to visiting Havre as well as family members elsewhere in the region.