Interview with writer J.Q. Rose about "Girls Succeed"

Thank you, Lisa, for hosting me today. I love talking about my interactive e-book for girls, Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women, and the remarkable women who are interviewed in it.

Hello, Readers, I’m J.Q. Rose. Thank you for stopping by. I’m excited to visit with you today. Please leave comments to enter a random drawing for prizes after the tour is completed. More information about that later.

Amazon | Smashwords 

Connect with me online at:

Girls Succeed blog 

J.Q. Rose blog 

Author website 

Bio:

After writing feature articles in magazines, newspapers, and online magazines for over fifteen years, J.Q. Rose entered the world of fiction writing with her first published novella, Sunshine Boulevard, released by Muse It Up Publishing in 2011. With Girls Succeed she returns to her first love, writing about real people. Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things that keep her out of trouble. Spending winters in Florida with her husband allows Janet the opportunity to enjoy the life of a snowbird. Summer finds her camping and hunting toads, frogs, and salamanders with her four grandsons and granddaughter.

Welcome, J.Q. Please tell us about your current release.

Girls Succeed: Stories Behind the Careers of Successful Women profiles fifteen remarkable women who tell us about their chosen careers and the paths they followed to achieve their dream profession.

What inspired you to write this book?

I was stirred to write a book for girls after working four summers at Camp Newaygo, a girls’ residence camp in Michigan. I met the most amazing young women who were counselors and energetic campers who kept life interesting! I marveled at the potential for the futures of these smart, enthusiastic girls. Faced with so many possibilities for careers, I wondered what choices they would make. This e-book is a good reference for them to learn about a career, and the women’s stories inspire and empower girls to follow their dreams.

EXCERPT:

Introduction to Brenda Marshall’s story…not the entire chapter

“I personally measure success in terms of the contributions an individual makes to her or his fellow human beings.”--Margaret Mead

CHAPTER 15

BRENDA “FLOWER” MARSHALL

PROFESSIONAL CLOWN

A Big Red Nose

“If I had known where my red nose would take me, I would have been scared,” said Brenda Marshall. When she first put on a borrowed costume and a big red nose for her church’s Vacation Bible School twenty-five years ago, this young mom had no idea she would eventually be clowning in the United States, Poland, Russia, Hungary, China, Africa, Honduras, and Singapore.

Brenda was a quiet, shy girl in elementary school. She was a straight A student with outstanding penmanship. She was not interested in speaking in front of a group, let alone be funny or silly. In junior high school, Brenda thought acting could be fun so she signed up for the theater class. She loved the art of acting, bringing the written word to life, and hearing the applause from the audience. The thespian or actress continued performing throughout her high school years leading her to major in Theater in college.

Brenda met and married her husband after her first year in college. He convinced her to discontinue theater and enroll in business classes so she could have some skills to get a job. But several years later, she dropped the accounting classes and enrolled in a clown class at the same college.

Her first clowning “gig” or job was for the summer Vacation Bible School at her home church. She borrowed a homemade clown suit that had been a Halloween costume and found some large-sized shoes at the Goodwill store. She stuck a flower in her four-year-old daughter’s Easter hat and secured it to her head to complete her first costume. Brenda didn’t have much experience in clown make up, so she just applied the white face paint and drew on her face. She was a hit. The children loved her. She was thrilled with the experience. She was bitten by the “clown bug.”

“I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing, but I knew it felt right,” Brenda said with a twinkle in her eyes.

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HIGHLIGHTS OF HER CAREER

Citizen Ambassador to Poland, Russia, and Hungary

First woman president of Clowns of America International

Teaches Clown Camp at the University of Wisconsin, University of LaCrosse, Medicine Hat College in Alberta, Canada.

Director and Instructor of the International Clown Cruises aboard Carnival Cruise Line Ships

Taught clown ministry classes in the Summer School of Arts in Penticton, Canada

Adjunct professor at Arlington Baptist College, Arlington, TX

Taught at the clown ministry conference, Joey to the World, and at the Missouri Baptist clown conference

Awards in state and international clown competition in the make-up, parade ability, and skit categories.

Ceslee Conkling Award given by the Cowtown clowns, Alley # 135.

Ambassador of Clowning Award by the Texas Clown Association

Performed in Ghana, West Africa

Leader of the first People to People International Clown Delegation to China

Clown Ministry Impact Award

Performed in public schools in Roatan, Honduras

Taught clowning at a conference of children’s ministry workers in Singapore

Instructor for One Way Street Puppet Festivals, TNT Clown Seminars, and Bring Them in Children’s Ministry Conferences.

Co-creator of “Funnyatrics” at Children’s Medical Center, Dallas, TX

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Clown Organization of America International http://www.coai.org

Mooseburger Camp http://mooseburger.com/camp/index.html

Clowning for Christ http://clowning4christ.com/tnt_clown_retreat.htm

New York Goofs Clown School http://www.nygoofs.com/clown-school#!__clown-school

Sharing God’s Love Through Laughter—A Guide to Christian Clowning, by Brenda Marshall

What exciting story are you working on next?

As soon as I finish up this book tour for Girls Succeed, I will be working with a reading specialist to develop a study guide to accompany the book. My editor at Muse It Up Publishing just contacted me for edits on a new mystery/ romance, Coda to Murder, scheduled for release in February 2013. I plan to research several famous and not-so-famous women in the past who broke barriers such as the first woman to drive across the United States from New York to California in 1909 and Major Stephanie Rader, a World War II WAC who was a spy during the war in 1942. I enjoy research and will continue adding stories to the Girls Succeed blog. And always, there’s a mystery/romance story bouncing around in my brain that I will eventually have to get down on paper, or should I say, typed into a file in the laptop.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I think I felt that first thrill when I saw my byline on my first newspaper article in 1995.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?

I have no full-time job, so I guess I write full-time. I never thought of it that way until my Internet went out and I had to fill my time in other ways. I couldn’t write blogs online, research online, hob-nob with my cyberspace author friends, or promote my writing. I didn’t realize how many hours I had free because I couldn’t promote online. When Muse It Up Publishing released my first e-book, I had no idea before and after marketing was so time consuming. So yes, I can say I write AND promote full-time.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I don’t know how interesting it is, but I write better (I think) when I don my old blue flannel shirt. Maybe because it’s comfortable and I feel cozy when wearing it. It’s also a reminder that I am serious about writing, so I stay more focused on the task I set for myself that day.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A writer. In fact I began writing in second grade. I think it is interesting I wrote the Girls Succeed book about working hard to make your dreams come true. It took me awhile, but now I am finally able to have the job I dreamed about when I was a child.

Thanks for stopping by, J.Q. It’s been a lot of fun.

Readers, here is the contest information J.Q. mentioned earlier: J.Q. will be drawing winners from visitors who leave comments during the tour. The prizes for you or a girl in your life are a $10 Amazon gift certificate, a copy of the Girls Succeed e-book in your choice of format, a “Succeed” beaded bracelet kit, and inspirational note pads. (See the Girls Succeed and J Q Rose blogs for photos and blog tour information.) Winners announced on her blogs on Sunday, November 18 at 9 pm EST. Good luck!