Featured Interview With Rose Rosetree

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Before answering these questions, you’ve already seen my publicity photo here. So here’s a little inside info about that: For a decade, my husband Mitch has taken all my photos. (Professional photographers have always creeped me out; not a problem with them personally. Just that I prefer saying “Cheese” to a photographer who loves me.)

Anyway, here’s a useful photo tip for any of you who are also a bit too old to look good in selfies, etc. Mitch purposely uses an early model digital camera. Resolution is lousy. But that’s fine by me, because it smudges years off my face.

Back to answering the official questions…

Born and raised in New York City, since 1982 I’ve lived in a suburb of Northern Virginia. No pets, unless you count my garden. (I’ve been known to name plants. Also, my car, for that matter.)

Given these questions, I’m going to switch gears when responding to this survey, and introduce my next-to-most recent book. Unlike the newest release, my memoir actually fits one of the categories listed here.

Given where and how I was raised, it’s nearly impossible how I would become that unlikely thing, a spiritual teacher.

(In my case, that’s a teacher who’s spiritual but not religious. Although plenty of my students do belong to different religions. Basically, I’m into helping people to use their full potential in life, however they define that.)

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
Very likely, that fascination with reading books began when I was three. According to my mother, I that’s when I started reading. Not that I’d qualify as precocious in any other way.

For instance, also according to my mother, I couldn’t hold up my own head until I was more than a year old. (In part, the memoir I’ll introduce you to here… begins with my glass-box start in life as a preemie, altogether a somewhat reluctant participant in my own birth.)

When did I start writing? Fortunately, I began book writing at age nine, long before my pencil-and-paper writing became legible. In college (Brandeis University), I had the luxury of majoring in English and American literature, studying with remarkable professors who gave me the heart to keep writing.

Never took a creative writing course, though. That could have squashed me like a bug.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Currently my faves are nonfiction authors; usually that’s also what I write, haha!

Favorite genres include self-help (Maryanne Wolf), creative nonfiction (David Sedaris), memoirs (Maya Angelou), history (Robert Caro), poetry (Gerard Manley Hopkins), and the history of ideas (“Timetables of History).

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Spanning my life from birth to age 23, this story invites readers like you to follow every step of my halting, stumbling journey; a journey of waking up to being myself as a person; a New Yorker’s journey, replete with ever more colorful characters and vignettes, including…

* Discovering my purpose in life at age five, in the operating room; then promptly forgetting it for decades.
* My teenage bedroom featuring the “pin-up” image of… Picasso’s eyes.
* My one-on-one encounters with Timothy Leary and Ram Dass.
* Becoming a highly insecure (yet inspired) TM initiator.
* Moving Maharishi Mahesh Yogi to tears.

BIGGER employs a “gradually-maturing-voice” style of writing, as I evolve into a kind of work that, by now, I’ve now done for over 50 years, serving as a spiritual teacher.

With its myriad teaching tales and universal truths—this one-of-a-kind life chronicle aims to resonate on many levels, maybe even jump-starting a reader’s self-recognition.

Although each of us has a unique path, sometimes another person’s memoir can help us see our own life just a bit clearer-and-dearer.

How long did this memoir take me to write? In Japan, during my spare time while teaching personal growth seminars for VOICE, I flowed out the first draft in 2010.

Back in America I wrote and self-published a bunch of other books, then decided to bring this one to life. (No surprise that I backburnered BIGGER: Talking about myself isn’t what lights me up, not compared to writing about anything else.) In 2014, the edits and rewrites began. By 2018, suddenly, it was Publication Day.

No matter which book I write, I’m fully committed to make that wad of inspiration come alive. Unsurprisingly, that happened with this story of my early years. Maybe somewhat surprising, yet understandable if any of you readers are also on the shy side, I published this first memoir at age seventy.

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Featured Interview With John Sauer

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a midwestern guy, handspanked and corn fed. I am the eldest in my family and the wandering one. I left home at 18 and have lived in the north, south and southwestern US. I now live in the Pacific Northwest with my wife and two dogs.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I was fascinated with books and reading very early on. I was an active reader by age 4 and one of my earliest memories is being curled up on a couch with my dad while he read Travels With Charlie to me. I wrote my first story in first grade, an adventure about two soldiers who go into a cave to hunt a werewolf. Since then I have written a few books on video game strategies and a few video game scripts but fantasy and science fiction are my first writing loves.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I am a sponge for good post-apocalypse fiction and other realm fantasy, as long as it is not too romance smooshy. My current favorite authors are DJ Molles and Will Wight. I have a soft spot for Stephen King because of the Stand. For hard, factual end-of-the-world writing William R Forstchen is the man in my eyes.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Divided Man Book One is the story of what could have happened if the prayer of the Ghost Dance had been answered by the universe. The Ghost Dance was a religious movement that swept the Native American tribes of the west and southwest in the late 1800’s. Its believers thought that by dancing the sacred dance, the land would roll up and reveal the world as it had been before white men came and took away their way of life. There were variations depending the shaman who had the vision. Some included good white people, some excluded everyone but Native Americans.

In the Divided Man Book One the world has ended in global war. Most of the human population is gone and the veil between the spirit world and our has been opened. Every god known to man has returned. Some good and some evil.

Out of the ruins, two are called. One to save the Tree of Life. One to drag it to darkness. Stripped of his soul by the elk-headed god Manitou, Luke Kimball is on a spirit quest that binds his fate to the Tree and the dark intent of the Wendigo. In a land where the roles of god and man have no clear boundaries, time is fluid, and the tragedies of his past await his return, Luke will have to kill a god to succeed. Or become one.

The book combines Native American Mythology, pure fantasy, time travel, military action and a lot of soul searching, wrapped up in realistic action and adventure.

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Featured Interview With D.F. Kennedy

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I live approximately fifty miles northeast of St. Louis in the village of Kane. I was raised around this area. I left right after graduation and joined the United States Air Force, where I served just shy of 8 years before being medically separated.

I am the mother of three adult children, grandmother of four, and mother of one spoiled dog, Elise. Elise works hard when I write. She keeps guard of the area around my feet, more like snores, as I write.

I am a pantser. I don’t outline and plan before I write. I have a story in my head, and I sit down and type as it plays out. I never know the story’s ending until midway through the book. Then the ending changes multiple times.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve always loved to read. Reading provided a great escape for me. I began journaling early, and that is when I began writing. Roughly fifteen to twenty years ago, I acquired a desire to write “my story,” but I knew because of the subject matter, the story would need to age like a fine wine before seeing the light of day.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I don’t have a favorite author. I’m not big into having a favorite of anything. I just recently discovered I do have a favorite color—Red.

I write thriller, suspense, mystery, and romance all rolled up together. I plan on trying my hand at several genres.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Whole Truth is book two in the So Help Me God series. The Whole Truth begins right where the first book left off. The reader finds Dahlia and Roland on a mission to find forevermrshughes, but most importantly, the sender of the mysterious black dahlias. But before that can happen, they embark on vastly different and dangerous paths, discovering a new nemesis.

The first book, The Truth, introduces the reader to Dahlia Frost. She’s a new author who wrote and published a novel, Daddy Issues, under a pen name. When her identity is mysteriously revealed once her ex-boyfriend makes a grand entrance at her book signing, bringing with him the national spotlight. Determined to succeed against all who bet against them, Roland and Dahlia find themselves threatened, stalked, kidnapped, and torn apart by deception. And that is just by those who call themselves family. Finding their way back to each other, vowing no more secrets will come between them, their love and commitment are immediately tested.

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Featured Interview With L.M. Bracklow

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Luana and I’m a twenty-six-year-old Peruvian author. I was raised in Lima and that is where I currently live. I’ve lived here my entire life, actually. I’m a big fan of horror movies and true crime. And yes, I do have pets! A blue Staffy named Aquiles, and a German shepherd named Apollo. My family and I are dog lovers. There’s nothing I enjoy more than reading a book in bed with Aquiles lying beside me.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I’ve loved books for as long as I can remember! When I was in high school, they made us read around twelve books a year and I really enjoyed it. I think that was what made me fall in love with reading. However, I didn’t start writing until I was twenty-two. I had no idea I wanted to be a writer until then. I was watching a YouTube video about the universe and an idea for a book popped into my head. My writing journey began then. I did write that first book, but I never published it. A year later, I came up with the idea for The Islands of Iros. And here I am now.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’m a huge middle-grade fan so I have to say Rick Riordan, Shannon Messenger, Jessica Townsend, B.B Alston. I also really like Stephen King, Donna Tart, Leigh Bardugo, Madeline Miller and Alexandra Bracken!

My favorite genre to read is Fantasy, fantasy, fantasy! I read romance occasionally, but fantasy books have my heart. Psychological thrillers are great as well. I love plot twists and the unexpected!

I wouldn’t say I’m inspired by one person in particular, but by good writing in general. Reading a book with great writing makes me want to improve my own skills, to better myself as a writer.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
I really enjoy watching anime so my biggest inspirations for The Islands of Iros were One Piece, Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen. TIOI is a fun, middle-grade adventure filled with pirates, magic, friendship, sirens, and lots of sword fighting! I’m currently working on the second book in the series. There’s a lot more to come!

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Featured Interview With Maeve Birch

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I grew up in the Appalachian foothills, in the land of cows and corn. In the spring when they’d put manure on the fields, I smelled it through the school bus windows for a week. When I was a teenager, my dad retired, and we moved further into the mountains. To my chagrin, none of the other teens at my high school were interested in nature outside of deer hunting season. I spent many summer days alone in the woods behind our house, digging fossils out of the mountainside, identifying tree species, and bringing home minnows from the creek. One day I sat so still that a fox passed three feet away from me, ignoring my presence entirely. Back then I encountered horses briefly from time to time, but never really got a good look at them outside of trail rides and chance encounters. It wasn’t until I moved back to the east coast after college that I sought out horses to interact with. I have never owned my own horse, it has always been at other barns, either horse rescues, boarding stables, or lesson barns. Far from being a disadvantage, this has allowed me to get to know a wider variety of horses and learn more about them than if I had only one horse to interact with. I’m so glad I’ve had the opportunity to work with many equines. At home I have two cats, both tabbies. One is a complete cuddle bug and the other is the most adorably stubborn being I’ve ever come across. My spouse is supportive of my equine obsession, but never really got into horses like I did. I’m grateful that I can track horse manure into the house on occasion and he doesn’t complain.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My mother was a librarian, so I grew up with books. Trips to the public library were a weekly occurrence. Finishing a good sci-fi novel while hiding under the bed covers with a flashlight happened more than my parents would’ve liked. Threatening to take away a book mid-read convinced me to get my homework done. I wrote poems and short stories beginning in elementary school, but every time I’d attempt to write a novel, I’d get halfway through it and lose track of the plot. What I needed was a topic that I cared passionately enough about to carry me through my first full-length book. The first glimmers of this memoir were initially journal entries, and it unfolded from there. In all, it took me a little over a year to go from journal entries and an outline to a finished, self-published book. Childhood me would be proud.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I love reading nonfiction books about horses, wildlife, and gardening. I’m inspired most by those who mix their spirituality with the natural world. Books like Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and The Tao of Equus by Linda Kohanov led me toward my own integration of lessons learned from other species into my life and my spirituality. I also love Doug Tallamy’s books, including Nature’s Best Hope. Those inspired me to turn part of my backyard into a miniature meadow, which is a source of great joy and bountiful nectar. The smell of the blooming goldenrod in autumn is absolutely indescribable. In the winter, when the garden is asleep and the barn pasture is absolutely frigid, I read in the evenings. Sometimes I even start memoirs.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
Standing in a Field With Horses is the story of the beginning of my time with horses. Initially I struggled greatly with codependent behavior, and it showed in how I interacted with horses. Horses are fantastic at pointing out where you’re lacking boundaries. That’s part of why they make such great partners in equine therapy programs. In my case I was also plagued by an inability to be a “dominant leader” towards horses. If you’re around traditional horse barns for any significant length of time you’ll hear phrases like “He’s taking advantage of you,” “Get after her,” or “Tell him who’s boss.” There is an overarching assumption that horses are out to pull one over on the humans, and will take advantage of us, or hurt us if we let them win any disagreement. In answer to that, horses are often handled with unyielding strength and rigid expectations. I couldn’t do it. I felt a deep-seated discomfort with controlling a horse’s emotional expressions when sometimes I could “hear” the horse in my body and my mind, telling me that something was wrong. It wasn’t them trying to dominate the human, it was pain, fear, or something else unrelated.
Over time it became soul-crushing. The memoir is about my quest to find my voice. I needed to share what I was seeing, hearing, and feeling from the horses. In the book there’s animal communication, moments where I failed miserably, and wonderful and mysterious happenings that I still can’t explain. I admit, some chapters made my editor cry. It’s not an easy book, but it’s an important one. Not just for equestrians, but for anyone struggling through something like codependency or fear of judgement. The emergence of equine positive reinforcement training and equine behavior studies closely mirror the rise of mental health awareness and falling away of punitive parenting and office culture in the human world. Horses are social creatures just like us. It’s no wonder, then, that we find a little piece of our own relational landscapes in the behavior of a herd of horses.
Emerging from the other end of writing this book, I have a community. There are others out there who don’t want a rigid control of horses anymore. The book is a cry of “We exist! You’re not the only one who feels like this.” I hope that’s what readers get out of the memoir. If nothing else these stories will take you on an adventure into the world of a misfit horse enthusiast, trying to find a way to be in the presence of horses while staying true to herself. Come, stand in a field of horses and listen… you might hear more than you expect.

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Maeve Birch’s Website

Featured Interview With Michael LaReaux

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I was raised in a suburb of Oakland, California in the 70s and 80s. It was a great place to grow up. Our street was like a little United Nations, so I got exposed to different cultures and beliefs from a very young age. Now I live thousands of miles away in the Maine woods, with my wife, my cat, and my two rambunctious dogs.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
My fascination with books started at a very young age. I read both Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer when I was in first grade. I probably started writing back then, but I don’t have anything from that time. I remember vowing to write a monster novel with my friend Richard, but we never did it. We were too busy whipping apples and playing detective.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I don’t have a favorite genre anymore. It used to be fantasy and science fiction, but now I read a little more widely. Stephen King, David McCullough, Michael Connelly, Guy Gavriel Kay, Jane Yolen, Mary Stewart. I also like reading about interesting people who aren’t necessarily writers, like Jay Blades the guy behind the hit show “Repair Shop.” I want to read about a little bit of everything.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
“A Place to Run Free” follows the journey of Jake Phillips through the afterlife of pets. Suspended from school, Jake sneaks out of his room and heads down to his spot near the river. A bad decision and some thin ice plunges him into freezing water. He wakes up in a vast forest populated by dogs. Jake discovers that the afterlife isn’t the one promised to him in church. Something dark lurks in the deep shadows among the trees, stealing away dogs. Jake is determined to find out what is taking the dogs, and rescue them if he can. He’s helped along the way by the animals he meets – Blue, a steadfast horse, a clever rat named Azrak, and many others. Jake’s journey leads him through deep forests and golden grasslands, searching for the truth behind the missing animals. It’s a journey of high adventure, tragedy, loss, and ultimately, love.

Featured Interview With David Ross

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
Born and bred in the ‘burbs of Sydney. It’s a city surrounded by fantastic national parks to hike in as well as a stunning coast.

And where I grew up, I was so fortunate to live right near, what we call, the “bush”. It was remnant eucalypt forest. It was such a wonderful place to spend my childhood, being able to spend my time with my friends on our bikes surrounded by nature.

It was only later in life that I realised how much of an impact that had on me. Today, I am once again living right next to the “bush”, allowing my teenagers to experience something special.

It is also paradise for the family pet, Pippy the wonderdog. She is a kelpie, an Australian working dog breed, and just the most loving pet that we could ever hope to have.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I probably only realised recently that my fascination with books was always there. Since I was a kid. I grew up fascinated with Australian Indigenous stories like The Rainbow Serpent. The mythology, the connection between humanity and nature, just the deeply different mindset to that which dominated my world was an eye opener. And then, I found To Kill A Mockingbird. It was a game changer for me.

I’ve been writing plenty of articles for ten years, extolling the need for leaders and organisations to adapt to a rapidly changing and turbulent world.

But, Confronting the Storm had to be my first book.

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
My reading tastes are pretty eclectic and a favourite genre is difficult to pin down. Perhaps it depends on my mood at the time.

In years gone by, I loved works by Stephen King and Clive Barker. I loved the way that they fleshed out a story, gave the characters and location a history, as was the case for me with It. When Clive Barker was at his peak, however, I’ve never come across anyone who would come remotely close to what he could achieve with respect to the ideas, imagery and worlds he would develop in his fantasy books.

Nevertheless, I love how Kinky Friedman gives me a guilty laugh when reading his books or how I can’t put down the crime thrillers written by John Connolly or Jo Nesbo – or even the stories by Tim Winton.

However, no one has ever inspired me to write non-fiction more than Rachel Carson. Just as Harper Lee fuelled a fire for social justice issues, so too Carson lit a fire under me. Somehow, I had never heard of her until I was studying environmental and ecological issues at university, many years after she wrote Silent Spring.

She had been hearing stories about the impact of pesticides on human and ecological communities. The way she communicated what was happening left me numb before fueling a passion that remains to this day. Her work and courage were transformational in how we saw the world, facilitating the development of environmental legislation.

I can only dream to follow in her giant footsteps.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
While I commenced writing Confronting the Storm just before the pandemic started, in actual fact, the book had been within me for at least ten years.

You see, working as a strategist and a peacemaker at the intersection of corporate strategy, government policy, community, and the natural environment, I see how the traditional story of leadership has adversely impacted upon lives, livelihoods, and the planet. Like Rachel Carson, I get to hear stories that never leave me. Similarly, I hear about the stresses that executives are experiencing as we live in times of momentous and turbulent change, where trust in our organisations is in crisis.

There has to be a better way.

And so, in Confronting the Storm, I argue provocatively that the leadership styles that have been celebrated for centuries are now an obstacle to progress. Just reflect on that for a minute.

Instead, we need a more collaborative style of leadership if we are to successfully deal with the storm of complex social, environmental, and economic challenges and opportunities now faced.

My argument is amplified by some of the most inspiring global leaders who are successfully confronting the storm – including a former Prime Minister, former Foreign Minister, and one of Fortune magazine’s ’50 Greatest Leaders’ and more!

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Featured Interview With Nicole Gauder

Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
My name is Nicole. I am a Spiritual Alignment Specialist, Mental Healer, and Author. I was raised in Canada. I still live in Canada. I love animals. I have 2 cats. I love to read and write. When I am not writing or reading, I am meditating. I also love to teach others of the higher truths of life and to help people live up to their true power and potential.

At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
It was right before my teenage years that I realized that I loved to read. I only recently started writing within the last year (2022).

Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I have many favorite authors. Some of them which have shaped my journey have been : Wayne Dyer, Louise Hay, Abraham Hicks, Mooji, Neale Donald Walsch, Eckhart Tolle, Deepak Chopra, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Norman Vincent Peale, Emmet Fox and Ernest Holmes to name a few. I love to read anything that helps with my growth and ascension. This way I can teach others and help them with their growth and ascension. All of the authors above, and many more have inspired my writings.

Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book is called Conquer Stress: The Overthinker’s Guide to Peace and Happiness. It is the first book in the Mental Health Series.

Conquer Stress: The Overthinker’s Guide to Peace and Happiness provides you with the motivation and inspiration you need to change your mindset and turn your life around. Focusing on key aspects in chapters such as 16 Empowering Beliefs, Turning Your Negative into Potential, and Following Your Heart to Happiness, this book will guide you on your journey to peace.

Helpful tools, reflections, and exercises are included as an added supplement to assist you on your journey in calming your mind. The secret is to align yourself with the happiness that you seek. Find happiness now. Be your own truth and start the journey of following your heart to peace and happiness.

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