It took Cynthia Bond a full 10 years to write her debut novel, Ruby -- a feat in and of itself, but especially impressive considering the fact that the author had originally intended to follow a much different career path.
Years ago, Bond seemed poised to become a writer when she won a journalism scholarship to Northwestern University. The Texas native had grown up as a gifted student with a love of words, but, in what she calls an act of rebellion, Bond passed up her scholarship and instead moved to New York to pursue a career in acting. She went on to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and later performed with the prestigious Negro Ensemble Company.
Though she was finding success as an actress, Bond couldn't shake the feeling that something didn't feel quite right.
"I never was completely comfortable as an actress. Never," she tells Oprah in the above video from "Super Soul Sunday." "Before I would have a performance, I would literally just get sick. I just would feel horrible."
Many might walk away from a career that evoked those kinds of feelings, but Bond felt a responsibility to continue following this particular path. "That's what my dream had been, so you have to do this dream," she explains.
Of course, a calling has a way of finding its way to you even when you haven't consciously chosen it. In Bond's case, her true calling was writing.
"I've always written," she says. "Even when I was preparing for a character, I would write an entire essay about them, like a little short story. That's how I made sense of that."
"[Something] that goes beyond whatever the pages of the script say," Oprah says.
"Right," Bond nods.
Bond's novel, Ruby, is the latest selection for Oprah's Book Club, 2.0.
Bond's full interview with Oprah airs this weekend on "Super Soul Sunday," on March 22, at 11 a.m. ET on OWN. You can also stream the program live on Oprah.com/supersoulsunday or Facebook.com/supersoulsunday.
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