In a previous incarnation, Rose was an educator who worked with at-risk adolescents. She left that behind to write and live on the beautiful West Coast with the love of her life and her two fur children, Ginger and Spice.
Rose on writing....
Lisa: What do you write?
Rose: Realistic contemporary young adult.
Lisa: Why do you write what you do?
Rose: I was an educator for many years. Kids and teens are the world I lived in, the world I know.
Lisa: Do you have a favorite background noise you like to have going while you write (TV, Music, kids playing)?
Rose: I don’t enjoy silence while writing but lyrics tend to distract me. So I listen to instrumental, mostly solo piano or spa.
Lisa: Do you have a favorite snack you have while writing?
Rose: I never eat while writing. I use that as an excuse to get up and stretch and give my brain a break. I do enjoy a Werthers with a vanilla flavoured coffee though.
Lisa: What are you working on?
Rose: I have several projects on the go right now but the most relevant one to our conversation today is Mags’s story. Mags is a secondary character in Cutting to the Chase who insisted on her own story line. Becky, another secondary character, is also demanding to be heard. I suspect she will be the next focused writing project.
Lisa: Do you have a new release?
Blurb: How do you fix something you didn't break?
Lizzy certainly doesn't have the answer. All she knows is that she needs to survive senior year, then get as far away from her dysfunctional family as possible. In the meantime, when she can't take the pressure, she eases it with the sharp edge of a razor blade.
But, she's been cutting deeper and her thoughts are growing darker.
Until she meets Michael. With him she finds relief.
Now, maybe—just maybe—she can make it.
Lisa: What a teaser of a blurb! Is this a stand-alone book or is it part of a series?
Rose: It is definitely a stand-alone, but as I explained above, two more characters are getting a chance to tell their stories. But they are not a series, not dependent on one another, merely connected.
All about Rose....
Lisa: What is one thing you would love to learn ‘one day’?
Rose: To paint. I always loved cartooning but I was never very good at any other type of visual art. I did a lot of research on painting when I wrote Cutting to the Chase as it is a passion of Lizzy’s. It reignited the desire to try it. We went to a paint and sip in the fall. I loved both the painting and the sipping, although I fear I was much better at the latter.
Lisa: What is your least favorite ‘adult’ task, and why?
Rose: I hate to make the bed. What’s the point? It just gets messed up. I must confess that I rarely do it.
Lisa: Do you have any hobbies outside of writing?
Rose: Music is probably my favorite pastime. Before moving, I was very involved in musical theater. My husband and I also had a trio with a good friend. That was great fun.
Lisa: Have you traveled – even if in your own province or state – and what was your most memorable/favorite destination?
Rose: When I finished university, my husband and I left for a year and backpacked. We traveled throughout Europe, into North Africa and over to Turkey. We’ve had many travel experiences since, but nothing tops that year.
Lisa: Do you have a ‘keeper shelf’ of books? If so, take a picture and share it here. What is your most re-read book and why?
Rose: Because of a long distance move, I had to pare down. I also write historical fiction, so I had a lot of weight in non-fiction books. Many of the fiction had to go. Most of the fiction keepers are from a broad spectrum of genres and age groups and kept mostly because I have connected with the authors personally. I rarely re-read a book, but I have re-read Diana Gabaldon’s first book, Outlander. I do intend on re-reading Mary Stewart’s Merlin trilogy to see if it stands the test of time. I loved it so much when I was a teen that I wrote to her. I was thrilled when she wrote back from Scotland, telling me she was busy working on the third installment.
Lisa: Do you have any pets, currently or in the past? Did you have a favorite?
Rose: I have two fur babies, Ginger and Spice. Two Lhasa Apso sisters, they bring laughter to our household every day.
Lisa: Do you have a dream car?
Rose: I’ve never been into cars. So long as I can get from point A to B, I am happy.
Thank you so much, Rose, for sharing your writing life as well as a bit about your personal life! Congratulations on the new release - I'm looking forward to reading it!
Be sure to visit Rose and find out what else she's up to at:
Website: http://rosephillipsya.blogspot.ca/
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/rosephillipsya/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosephillipsya (@rosephillipsya )
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rosephillipsya/
Excerpt of Cutting to the Chase (February 2017 - Evernight Teen Publishing)
Chapter One
The metal is cool against my leg. I want to put it away, shove it back in the cabinet out of sight, and forget it exists. But I can’t. Instead, I tip it and drag it across my skin, scraping slowly. Chills run down my spine, making me shiver. I spread my legs wider, allowing my hand to slip to my inner thigh, totally giving in to it, edging the corner of the razor blade in. It’s easy. Flesh is soft.
I hold my breath and wait. The first crimson drop hits the water. The silent splash echoes in the room, shouts in my mind—then it disappears into watery nothingness. The buzzing in my head softens Mom’s angry words to whispers. I can breathe now and my heart starts to thump normally. The sharp pain eases. I draw the blade in a straight path. I love how the skin folds away. Like pulling the strip on a Babybel. Except I’m the cheese inside out.
“You’ve been in there thirty minutes!”
I pull at the roll of toilet paper and press a clump of it against the cut. The little shit can wait.
“I timed it. Thirty stinkin’ minutes. You don’t own the freakin’ washroom!” The door reverberates from his banging.
“Shut up.” I wipe, but I’ve gone deeper this time and it keeps dripping. Crap! Grabbing more tissue, I manage to smear the blood, the mess looking a lot like my watercolor attempt last week. Mrs. Opal had described it as a sailor’s warning, whatever the hell that means.
He pounds the door again, obviously totally pissed. “I mean it, Lizzy. Get out!”
I pull up my panties, then wad some more tissue and hold it against my skin, carefully tugging my jeans with my free hand. Sucking in my stomach, I pull my hand out, leaving the padding there. My heart is pounding again, so loud in my head I can barely hear Midget muttering. I pull up the zipper and snap the jeans, looking around like there’s someone watching me or something. I don’t know why I’ve done it in here today. It’s not my usual spot. I rinse the blade, slip it into my front pocket, then turn and look at the bloodied mess bloating in the basin. Screw it.
You can find Cutting to the Chase at:
Evernight Teen Publishing
Amazon
Great interview! I can't wait to read Mags' story.
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