Author Interview: Nadine M. Rosin

My Author Interview today is with a multi-faceted Southern Arizona resident, Nadine M. Rosin. Nadine recently published a unique book, The Healing Art of Pet Parenthood.

Welcome, Nadine! You are involved in a lot of creative things, including your career as an artist. How long have you been writing?
You’re right, Marsha! It wasn’t until my 30’s that I began to paint, but I have been writing since I learned how to write.

Writing has always been an outlet of creative expression, and sometimes therapy, for me. I wrote my first song lyrics when I was 10 and had a huge crush on our babysitter’s older brother who lived next door. “I love Mark...but I don’t think that he loves me. I love Mark...what use could I be to him? To him I’m a child, to me he’s an angel in the dark- ohhh-oh, I love Marrrrrrrrrk.” LOL!!! Believe me, it’s no better with the music! ;-))

Throughout high school and college, I kept journals and wrote poetry and short stories. I always knew that someday I would write a book.

What compelled you to start?
When my dog, Buttons, who was my “adopted” daughter and an 11-year cancer survivor on all natural remedies, died in my arms at the age of 19, I found no pet loss books that fully addressed the depth of my pain. What I did find was a poll conducted by Purina, concluding that 47 million people in the U.S. consider their pets to be their children or family members. I was obviously not alone in the way I felt.

Mine was a profound loss and I knew my healing wasn’t going to occur simply by getting a new dog in a couple of months the way most pet loss books suggest. So instead, I started reading books written by parents who had lost human children. Those books spoke to my deep grief, but of course, had nothing to say regarding the issues particular to the fact that the daughter I’d lost was of the canine persuasion. How does one handle the fact that many people do not understand, let alone respect or honor how devastating the death of a family pet can be?

Eventually I went to the internet, where I found thousands of sites dedicated to pet loss. Almost every one of them had a tribute, or memorial page with hundreds of posts written by people, a surprising amount of which were men, saying things like, “Skipper, it’s been 10 years since you died and I still miss you everyday. I’m so glad to finally have a place where I can say that. Joe S.”

I realized then that the world is full of people afraid to admit how much they miss a pet that has passed away. I now had a mission: to get those grieving pet parents out of the closet with their pain... and to help begin to remove the phrase “it’s just a dog” from the lips of non-pet parents.

So the intellectual answer to your question, Marsha, is - I wrote the book because I saw a need for it. But the REAL answer...the answer from the heart, is found in the story itself, where it becomes apparent to the reader that the book’s unfolding was inevitable and orchestrated - it was all Divine intervention, and I really never had any other choice than to write this book.

You won a contest in 2005 sponsored by the Society of Southwestern Authors. What was your entry about?
I was “a” winner - one of several. My entry was in the poetry division. It was a verse I wrote called “Skyride”. For a few months in my early 20’s, I worked as a bartender in a place called the Skyride Lounge. It was under the el tracks in the Chicago Loop. Next door was an old, cheap hotel with permanent residents: old men living on Social Security checks. Most of them spent their entire day nursing a shot and a beer at the Skyride. The poem is about them: the shells of men whose dreams are long dead, waiting for death to claim them fully.

What type of writing schedule do you have?
Since I am self-employed, my schedule is pretty much my own, so it’s relatively easy for me to arrange time to write. However lately, I spend most of my writing time marketing this book, instead! My favorite time to write is late at night.

How do you handle life interruptions when you are writing?
I like to block out an entire day to write - a day where I have no errands or appointments. I unplug the phone, leave my email program closed, brew a big pot of green tea, and ban myself from YouTube.

Do you write with music playing in the background? If so, is the music likely to be songs with lyrics or only instrumentals?
Only when I can hear the next door neighbors (I’m currently an apartment dweller). In that case, to drown them out, I go to Slacker Radio online and click on soothing New Age Music (no lyrics).

What one thing do you like most about writing? Least?
When I am able, with just a few words, to paint an entire picture that can evoke emotion, I feel completely connected to my Source. That feeling of connection is what I love most about writing. There’s nothing I don’t like about writing - even creative blocks offer a way to grow and become more self-aware.

Do you have another writing project in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it?
Yes! I am a licensed, nondenominational wedding officiant and so one of the things I do for a living is write and perform spiritual wedding ceremonies for couples who don’t belong to a particular church. My focus is on providing very meaningful, heart-opening ceremonies with a lot of symbology and family involvement. My next book’s working title is: 50 Ways To Have a Wedding Without a Church. I’m hoping it will show couples that just because they are not affiliated with a specific church or religion, they are not automatically relegated to having a civil, non-spiritual ceremony. It will contain all the ceremony “secrets” I’ve developed over the past 9 years of officiating for approximately 500 weddings.

What is your advice for other writers?
Go as deep inside yourself as you can. People will relate to what you have written even if you’re writing about situations they have never personally experienced. At the deepest levels of ourselves, we are so alike. Be as honest with yourself and your writing as you can be. When the truth you or your character is telling feels uncomfortable for you, or has you feeling too vulnerable- then you’re being honest enough.

Tell us about your book, The Healing Art of Pet Parenthood.
The book is a memoir...a story. It is my journey, from a highly abusive, upper-middle class childhood that left me shattered, armored and too terrified to love, to the open-hearted, spiritually-aware woman I became through my relationship with a miracle dog named Buttons. She was there for me when my fiancé announced he was ending our relationship. I was there for her when she was diagnosed with cancer and given 6 weeks to live. Our story will take you from the Chicago city lights to the mountains of Tucson, from the Santa Cruz Redwoods to the millionaires of Pebble Beach. It is a narrative about healing cancer naturally, holistic pet care, hope and hopelessness, finding one’s self, and spiritual connection after death. It is the odyssey of two resilient beings as they travel a rocky road into vibrant health and joy. It is a must read for every person who has ever loved an animal, lost an animal, or knows someone who has.

How can readers buy this book?
It is available everywhere books are sold: Directly from the publisher at http://www.wheatmark.com/, all online booksellers (Amazon, BarnesandNoble.com, etc.), or you can order it through any brick and mortar bookstore in the world.

More information, photos and video can be found on my website:
http://www.thehealingartofpetparenthood.com/

What other work of yours has been published?
The Story Teller, 2005 - The Society of Southwestern Authors

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Nadine.
It is an honor to have been invited here, Marsha. Thank you for providing this wonderful forum.