Rose grew up in a small rural community north of Whangarei in the North Island, Aotearoa, New Zealand. As a little girl she would staple together crookedly cut pages to make her own hand-written and illustrated books.

 

In her forties she finally decided to stop talking about writing a book and just do it. She went on to write five children’s picture books over the next 10 years. She has written both fiction and non-fiction for children with a focus on emotional literacy and problem-solving. Whether writing for children or adults, Rose enjoys the challenge of unpacking big ideas. 

Most recently Rose has found herself unpacking the ways women are affected by societal and religious messaging, and how this plays out in our everyday lives. She believes that beliefs can become rigid containers, uncomfortable and restrictive, even smothering.

 

Rose’s writing  invites women to choose an alternative, more life-giving approach: that our beliefs are more like deep, refreshing springs, able to be drawn from again and again. If rigid, beliefs can end up ‘caging’ us; if they are springs, they can free us to be truly and unapologetically ourselves, affording us more peace and inner confidence. This is the focus of Sacred and Sane: Six Pillars for keeping your faith without losing your mind, as Rose reflects on her own fatigue from what she now recognizes as unrealistic societal and religious expectations.

 

Rose shares her lived experience and looks more closely at the expectations on women of faith: what do we actually mean when we refer to concepts such as service, sacrifice, the nature of sin and selfishness? Is self-care appropriate and how do we manage self-care in a culture of busyness, constant availability, excellence and accommodating others’ demands?  

 

Rose’s current focus is on connecting women and doing this in various ways: whether online or in-person; such as the creative community she co-facilitates with Shannon, where women are offered the opportunity to listen, see, share, support, celebrate and champion one another in life, in every season… in everything.