Featured Author: J.Q. Rose

 

BWL Publishing Mysteries by J.Q. Rose
Click here to discover JQ's mysteries at BWL Publishing

Hello and welcome to the BWL Publishing Insiders Blog. Thank you to BWL Publishing for featuring authors on the blog. Today it's my turn to introduce myself to you.

Life Experience is Fodder for Authors by J.Q. Rose

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard

I always thought of horror writers as eccentric, peculiar people. But my perception changed when a horror story sprang from my own mind. You can imagine my surprise when my first publisher categorized my novel as a mystery/horror tale. That made me a published author of horror stories. BWL Publishing released that revised horror story as Terror on Sunshine Boulevard, the perfect read for this scary month.

Right away, I must tell you I am not an eccentric, peculiar person. I am just a regular woman who is an aunt, sister, sister-in-law, wife, mother, mother-in-law and grandmother. I like eating a burger at McDonald's, shopping at Walmart, and reading mystery novels. But, perhaps some would think my childhood was different. You see, my father was an embalmer and funeral director. I was reared in a funeral home.

An author’s life experience shapes the stories in their minds. I based my romantic suspense, Deadly Undertaking, on growing up as a funeral director’s daughter. The story is fiction, but my funeral director brothers helped me with some details for the story. So, it is loosely based on the real funeral business. The keyword here is loosely.

Deadly Undertaking

In the story, I include how I helped my mom and dad in the business. I dusted caskets, set up the display of funeral arrangements for the visitation/funeral, hauled them to the church for the funeral service and rushed in after the service to load up the flower car to race out to the cemetery to set the flowers up around the gravesite. I always felt the colorful flowers from friends and family helped to soften the stark setting of the casket among the tombstones. I loved working with my parents and doing something to comfort grieving families.

Arranging a Dream: A Memoir

                                       To be released by BWL Publishing on January 1, 2021 

My husband, Ted, and I dreamed of being entrepreneurs in the greenhouse business because he had a hobby house attached to the garage at our home in Marseilles, IL. Instead of working at his dead end job in a windowless building, he was ready for a new challenge and so was I. We made that dream a reality when we purchased a greenhouse operation along with a flower shop.  I used the knowledge I gained from setting up the funeral arrangements in my future role as a floral designer.

Revealing my life experiences as a mom, floral designer and business owner, I penned my memoir, Arranging a Dream a Memoir. BWL Publishing will release the paperback book in December and the digital book on January 1, 45 years to the day we became entrepreneurs. This work of creative non-fiction is about that first year when we became shop owners and moved to a town of strangers with our one-year-old baby girl. We had no friends or family in that city and no experience in the fresh flower business!

Come along with me and discover the laughter and tears, the struggles and triumphs that first year as I learn about the floral industry, floral arranging and motherhood.

About JQ:

            J.Q. Rose, author

Whether the story is fiction or non-fiction, J.Q. Rose is “focused on story.”  She offers readers chills, giggles and quirky characters woven within the pages of her mystery books. Her published mysteries are Deadly Undertaking, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard and Dangerous Sanctuary released by 

BWL Publishing. 

Using her storytelling skills, she provides entertainment and information in articles featured in books, magazines, newspapers, and online magazines J.Q. taught elementary school for several years and never lost the love for teaching passed down from her teacher grandmother and mother. She satisfies that aspect of her character by presenting workshops on Creative Writing and Writing Your Life Story. 

J.Q. features writing tips on the Focused on Story blog and hosts guest authors from diverse genres.  When J.Q.  isn’t writing, she stays out of trouble with photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and traveling with her husband. They spend winters in Florida and travel up north in the summertime to be with their four grandsons and granddaughter.

Connect online with J.Q. Rose

J.Q. Rose blog 

BWL Publishing

Facebook 

J.Q.  Rose Amazon Author Page 

Goodreads

The Rose Courier October 2020 Edition

Want to keep up-to-date, with JQ? Sign up for the Rose Courier delivered to your inbox once a month. Click here to subscribe for articles, excerpts, prizes, freebies and more.

 

Thank you for stopping by.

Have a safe and Happy Halloween!