- How did you start writing?
My path to
writing fiction was not direct or predictable. It began after I retired from a
job that only included nonfiction writing for press releases, grants, op-ed
articles, and testimony on public policy issues. I was president and executive director
for the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Massachusetts, an organization
dedicated to promoting active participation in our democracy.
My creative writing
journey started with a mysterious occurrence when I found three pennies neatly stacked
on a windowsill during my last sad walk through my mother’s empty apartment. I was
convinced there was a magical and hopeful message in those pennies that would
be perfect for a picture book.
Aware that I
had no clue how to begin this project, I signed up for online courses,
workshops, and conferences to learn the craft. What an eye-opener! There was so
much to learn, and it wasn’t easy, but soon I discovered I couldn’t stop
writing even after receiving some withering comments on a homework assignment. Simply
put, I had found my passion. In the process I decided to put aside the pennies
picture book, because I found my writing voice in middle grade fiction.
Swallowed by a Secret, a middle grade contemporary
mystery, is now published, and I am officially on the wild author’s ride.
- What are some middle-grade books you love?
There are many books I love, but I always put Katherine
Paterson’s classics, The Great Gilly Hopkins and Bridge
to Terabithia at the very top of my list. There is an elegant
simplicity to her writing of these heart-wrenching books that are the epitome
of a page-turner.
Some more recent middle-grade novels that should be on everyone’s to-be-read list are Where the Watermelons Grow by Cindy Baldwin, Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams, and One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. These books are full of guts, sorrow, and courage and leave you crushed when you read the words “The End.” You want to know what is next for those characters you fell in love with.
◆
2020
Readers' Favorite GOLD MEDAL winner for Children's Mystery
◆
2020
Moonbeam Children's Book Awards SILVER MEDAL for Pre-Teen - Mature
Issues
One
dead father. One lying mother. One giant secret.
12-year-old
Rocky's father dies suddenly, and he learns the "his heart
stopped" story is bogus. Immediately after the funeral, his
mother sticks the For-Sale sign in the lawn and whisks them out of
town as if living there has become too dangerous. As his trust in his
one remaining parent unravels, Rocky is determined to crack the
secret about how his father really died.
For
Rocky, the road to the truth involves eavesdropping, snooping, and
listening to advice from his dead father who urges him on a risky
journey.
Will
Rocky have to rethink who was the father he thought he knew?
Sometimes it may be better to let a secret stay hidden.
Born
in Boston with the accent to prove it, Risa lived within ten miles of
the city for decades until a recent move to the neighboring Ocean
State.
For many years, Risa worked in a nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting active participation in our democracy, with a special focus on voting and elections.
Risa's deep dive into creative writing started with finding three pennies in a neat stack in a completely empty apartment that belonged to her mother. It's a long story.
When not writing, Risa is reading, exercising or doing therapeutic ironing (yes, there is such a thing.)
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