NAME/PEN NAME: Rose Green

LOCATION: Currently onan ice floe in North Dakota (kidding, that’s the other 14 months of the year—it’s summer now!)

GENRES: Middle grade fiction, with some yet-to-be-published YA and picture books.

Do you have a particular writing ritual when you sit down to work? If so, describe it.

I can write with a lot of noise around me, but I can’t write to music, not even if it’s wordless. Other than rereading the chapter I last wrote to get into it again, I don’t really have any rituals, but I do need unscheduled time to let my brain wander. I live in a world that is controlled by schedules, but my creative side craves a little chaos. I find that a day in nature can really jump start my creative brain as well. I used to live in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, and whenever I took a day at Yellowstone or Grand Teton, I would always come home overflowing with ideas. These days, any foray into nature helps the ideas sprout.

Do you write for what you think readers want or do you tend to be original and write what you enjoy, confident your ideal readers will find you?

I don’t think I could write something just because of a trend, although if I was already writing in a topic or genre that was already getting some interest, I could see myself leaning into it.

Do you belong to any writers’ groups? Any writing organizations? Or do you prefer to go it alone?

I found a wonderful critique group before my now-college child was born, and never left. Some of our members have branched out to other things, but I’ve really learned a lot from them and look up to them quite a bit. I’ve also spent a lot of years in the SCBWI space and other online areas where children’s writers congregate. I like learning from others, and really appreciate those who are willing to share their thoughts and expertise.

Name your 3 favorite authors or your 3 favorite books. How did they influence you as a writer?

If you cut me open, you’ll find me stuffed with classic fantasy. Narnia, Harry Potter, A Wrinkle in Time. The struggle of the underdog, good versus evil, ethics and loyalty…what I love most is emotional reality paired with speculative plots/settings. I additionally love A Wrinkle in Time because in 7th grade, we had to write to someone who did the job we hoped to do one day. I didn’t expect Madeleine L’Engle to answer—but she did!

As far as current writers, I’ll read anything by Gary D. Schmidt (realistic middle grade), June Hur (Korean historical mysteries), Beth Brower (eagerly waiting for book 9 of the Emma M. Lion series!), or Tatsuya Endo (Spy x Family is my only manga, but both the writing and the art earn stars from me). Again—I like a wide variety of genres, but I want them to feel emotionally true. I strive for that in my writing, too.

If you could tell your younger writer self anything, what would it be?

I would say to just keep writing, that there are always surprises on the path, and to keep going.

What does author success look like for you?

Success to me is a reader finding my book and feeling like it says something real to them. The movie Shadowlands, about the author CS Lewis, has a short scene where Lewis is talking to a university student. He tells the student, “We read to know we are not alone.” I think writing is a bit like that, too. I hope that when I throw my message in the bottle into the ocean, someone else will pick it up and realize my message was just for them.

How do you balance writing, revising, editing, marketing and social media? Any tips you’d like to share?

Finding time when I don’t have to respond to anyone and can just let creativity flow is tricky, but I can usually fit in editing anywhere, since it’s a much different cognitive skill. Marketing is by far the hardest! I don’t balance that very well. I don’t find social media as much of a burden as some; I think that as you engage authentically and organically within the space of people who like the same kinds of books that you write, you can build community that way. Still, we only get 24 hours a day, and sometimes you have to pick and choose what to focus on.

Have you ever hidden something true inside a work of fiction? Why, or why not?

Nearly everything I’ve written has had something true inside of it. The external shape may be different—I have never actually turned invisible, or met with a mad scientist—but many of the internal struggles my characters have had are ones I know about firsthand. I don’t know how a person could write without some of their human experience leaking into the book.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I suspect the world will be very different in 5 years from what it was 5 years ago. I hope to be writing new things, exploring new genres, branching a little into illustration (perhaps with some of my own picture books?).

Website:

https://rosegreenbooks.wordpress.com

Where to buy your book(s): Amazon, anywhere Ingram distributes to (ie you can order through your local bookshop), or a variety of other digital sellers around the world that you can find here: https://books2read.com/luckinlittlejoe or here: https://books2read.com/MindOverAntimatter