Goosegirl: So, how did you "meet" Rose and where did her story come from?
Denise: The story idea came to me first. My son had bought his first car and I went with him to the DMV to get license plates. It was a hot and humid summer day and the room was stuffy and crowded, thus lots of cranky customers. As any writer knows, a good story needs conflict so I told my son that having a character who worked at the DMV would be awesome. My son thought I was nuts, but the idea stuck with me.
I’d just written a heavy, dark urban fantasy/paranormal thriller (Chosenwhich will be released in September) and I needed to write something lighter and more fun. Chosen had a little boy who saw visions of the future so I thought “What if I take that same idea but make it lighter?” So Rose’s crazy, mundane visions were born. But Rose herself still didn’t exist. At that point, she was a nebulous woman who worked in a DMV and had visions.
It was when I decided her mother would be overbearing and abusive that Rose came to me. Once that piece fell into place (and this all occurred in one afternoon. It rarely works this way but Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes was like a lightning strike all the way around) I sat down to write. Twenty-Eight is first person so Rose stuck herself in my head and told her story. She just poured out.
If I could be friends with any of the characters I’ve created, Rose is the one I’d want to live next door to. She’s sweet and funny and has the most fantastic outlook on life. I LOVE that she’s been repressed all those years, but ultimately takes responsibility of her own behavior. I love that she could have easily fallen into a victim mentality but chose to pick herself up and change her own future.
I know what you’re thinking. “Uh, didn’t you create this character?” And while I did, the characters all become very real to me and tell me how they react to situations. I think that’s why readers tell me that my characters seem so real. It’s because they are. In my head.
Goosegirl:
Did you ever have a time where you came up with a list of "wishes" like Rose?
Denise:Yes, although I never wrote them down. After my husband died five years ago, I realized that life is short and there may not be a tomorrow. If I wanted to do these things, I needed to do them NOW. The biggest one on my list was to complete a novel. I did that in December 2009 when I participated in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. But I will say, my own personal realization spurred Rose’s in the story. And when she’s walking in the park and faces “the undeniable proof of my mortality” I’d had the same experience a few years earlier.
Goosegirl: I was sad to leave Rose when the book ended. I felt like I was just getting to know someone who I thought would be a fun friend. Will Rose be back?
Denise: Rose will definitely be back. I love her too much to not experience her life more. I have three more books plotted.I started on the second Rose book but put it on hold to edit the second book of theChosentrilogy,Hunted,which I plan to release in November. I hope to have the second Rose Gardner Mystery, tentatively titledTwenty-Nine and a Half Reasons,published by next summer. Rose will struggle with her long distance relationship with Joe while her sister Violet encourages her to not limit herself to her first relationship. I may switch the plot around a bit with the mystery, so I hate to say too much about it but will say that Mildred, the president of the Busybody Club, will be a more prominent character.
Goosegirl: Do you see yourself in Rose, or is she modeled after someone you know?
Denise:I think Rose is more like me than any of my other characters; however, I think she’s sweeter than I am. I have a bit more snark. ;) She’s also not modeled after anyone. I know some authors do that, but I’d be worried I’d offend someone if they found out. Plus, like I mentioned above, each character I write is real to me. They live in my head so I think I’d find it limiting to base them on someone.
Goosegirl: Is 28 1/2 wishes your first book or do you have others?
Denise:Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes is my fifth completed book. It was the third book I wrote. I wrote it last July and finished the first draft in 30 days. It was an incredible rush. Rose took control and told me her story. I heard her voice in my head and even started talking in a southern accent, because that’s how I heard her. I drove my kids nuts.
I have two more books coming out in the fall,ChosenandHunted, and a completed young adult novel about an alternate universe that is still making the agent querying rounds. The first book, that NaNoWriMo book will never see the light of day. I’ve promised to haunt my children if they ever release it after I die.
Goosegirl: So Denise, Rose's neighbor Joe is quite the conundrum! Do you have a "Joe" in your life?
Denise:Ha! No, no Joe. I wish. ;) But I wouldn’t mind have a Joe living next door. In fact, out of all the male characters I’ve created, Joe would be the guy I picked out for me.
Goosegirl: Denise, thank you so much for chatting with me! And thank you for letting me read your book. I know I have told you this several times, but I loved it!
I can't wait for the next Rose Gardner book to come out!
So.........
You are going to want to read this book!
And Denise has graciously offered
a book to one of my followers!!!
She is offering the winner
their choice of a signed paper book
or an Ebook!
If the winner chooses the paper
book, she will sign it and send it directly to you!
So, to enter, please leave a comment
and make sure you leave an email address so
I can contact the winner. The winner will be randomly chosen and anounced Thursday, July 28th!
And if you don't want to wait to win you can get your copy at these places.
I remembered that I had some "Dora The Explorer" fabric in my stash and decided to make a dress for the youngest sister.
Then Ahnalin saw this Tina Givens "Butterfly" fabric in my stash and asked if I would make a dress for one of the sisters with it.
Hm.....are you sensing a theme here?
You see, the Dora fabric also had little yellow butterflies in the print!
Well, you can't have two sisters with butterfly dresses and not make one for the third sister!
And this is the big sister dress.
As I was cutting out, er actually tearing the skirt pieces for the big sister dress, I caught an edge somehow. And the fabric just ripped in the wrong direction! I barely had enough of this gorgeous fabric left in my stash for this dress, as it was, But after the skirt tore the wrong way, I had to improvise.
Instead of freaking out over my mistake (well, I did that a bit anyway!!), I chose to look at this as a "Creative Design Opportunity". We found this beautiful plaid in my stash and VOILA!
I asked Ahnalin to model the middle sister dress, as I don't have 3 mannequins.
She asked me what "Butterfly" meant in Spanish, so we looked it up.
The word is "Mariposa".
She said the word made her want to TWIRL!
So twirl she did!
We are praying that the little girls who receive these "Mariposa Dresses" twirl with joy while wearing them!
We pray that they sense the love that was poured into them during sewing.
We pray that, like the butterfly, they will experience new life!
