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| Fiction and Non-fiction Books by J. Q. Rose |
Hello and welcome to the Focused on Story Blog!
I chose the title of this blog because I love stories!! Reading them. Writing them. Teaching how to write or tell them. Listening to them.
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| JQ presenting a life storytelling workshop |
I broke into the writing business after we sold our flower shop and greenhouse operation in 1995. (uh-oh..that may be a spoiler if you're reading my memoir, Arranging a Dream!)
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| Pumpkins growing in our garden. |
I learned a lot about writing for a newspaper and about writing crisp, to-the-point articles. I did not like it when Rich had to shorten the story to make way for advertisements! That's when I learned all the essentials, such as location, people or business names, time and dates for events, had to be at the beginning of the article. I always appreciated his editing the stories to improve the readability.
When we decided to make our fifth-wheel camper our home full-time in 1998, I wrote about the RV industry for magazines and newspapers as we meandered across the country. I also wrote for e-zines, now known as online magazines, as a garden editor. The internet became my best friend for articles.
After a while, I tired of writing non-fiction stories and turned to creating fictional stories, a love of mine since I was in second grade.
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| Your Words, Your Life Story |
On this blog, I also encourage folks to write their fiction and non-fiction stories. I have many articles about helpful tools for writers.
Life Storytelling Evangelist!
I am a storyteller, and I believe everyone has a story to tell. In fact, I am such a life storytelling evangelist, I created a journal from the life-storytelling workshops I have taught through the years. Your Words, Your Life Story: A Journal for Sharing Memories helps to guide readers through ways to spark memories and record their legacy for their families and friends, and/or publish them for the world to read their messages.
Listening to Stories
Do you remember listening to your teacher read a story out loud to your class? Mrs. Beyer, my 8th grade, yes 8th-grade teacher, always read a story after lunch. Even at 13-14 years old, our class loved listening to the story. I had to read the heart-wrenching ending to Charlotte's Web because Mrs. Beyer was so emotional, she couldn't continue. Have you read Charlotte's Web? You'll understand.
When I taught third grade, I made a point to read to my kids after lunch every day. Every year, I read Charlotte's Web, and we all shared a teary moment.
Diana Kathryn Plopa invited me to read a story out loud for her series of Indie Authors Read Aloud, so I am sharing the video with you. I hope you can take time for a break and enjoy listening to the beginning of Terror on Sunshine Boulevard. Some day I'll have to tell you the back story to this book!
The reading begins about 5 minutes into the video.
Click here to watch.
Do you love to listen to audiobooks? Do you love to read to kids? Please leave a comment below. I enjoy receiving feedback. Thank you.
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| Quick Tips on Vegetable Gardening by J.Q. Rose |
Podcast https://anchor.fm/diana-kathryn-plopa/episodes/Episode-Three-with-J-Q--Rose-and-Terror-On-Sunshine-Boulevard-e1etgkq
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHrZvVix9sE&t=5s
