A Book About "Under the Rose"

*Short Book Reviews from Readers who have read Under the Rose:*

"A beautiful story! Though life brings thorns, this book brings hope as Sandy and Rob learn to love and forgive." - Michelle Sharman.

"Under the Rose is a story of how new friendships can bring needed healing. It is a coming-of-age romance that blossoms from a place of pain and forgiveness." - Abigail Lee.

Meet the characters in Under the Rose:

His name was Rob Hagan.

I remember writing my novel, Under the Rose, thirty-two years ago. When I created my character Rob Hagan, I had thought about writing a story about a young, moody teenage boy. He was distressed and a type of person not everyone wants to be his friends. He moves to the town of Churchill, searching for new friends and a place to belong.

But first, my story begins with the main character, a teenage girl named Sandy Hulling. She becomes interested in Rob, her new neighbor who lives across the street from her. She likes Rob, and she tries to befriend him.

New Look! Modern Updated 2023 Book Cover:

The story:

Under the Rose is a young adult Christian novel. I had set the story in the year 1990 in a small town named Churchill. Sandy's parents, John and Nancy Hulling, brought up their daughter in a Christian home. In the story, Sandy and Rob, the two neighbors, meet at an abandon church in the woods one day.

Sandy confides in him that the church is her haven. After some time, they meet up at the abandoned church together, and their friendship blossoms like a rose. Sandy strives to uncover the hidden cause behind Rob's deep despair. She had a feeling that Rob might try to kill himself. She gradually helps him in overcoming his dark past and the agonizing tragic moment that left him utterly broken.

World building and drawing a map of the town:

Being an author, I also had to learn how to draw so that I could imagine the setting where the story takes place. (LEFT) I drew the first map of Churchill in the early 1990s. (RIGHT) Then I drew another map of the town. I published this town map of Churchill in the First Print (1999).

Writing influences:

When I was a student in college, I read many novels by American and English authors. They inspired me and I wanted to write like them.

My favorite author was Nathaniel Hawthorne. He wrote his stories in third person and in long narrative prose. His writing influenced me to write my book, Under the Rose, in that way. My story begins with a prologue and ends with an epilogue to establish the setting of the story. What is also different is that readers will read Sandy's inner thoughts in italicize throughout the story. This is also another influence I picked up from reading another author (who is no longer living), but this author used a lot of inner thoughts or internal monologue for each character. Sandy is the only character to have inner thoughts. I liked to use this often to show my main character's feelings and thinking.

Under the Rose began as a short story assignment I wrote for my writing class.

The Beginning:

My novel, Under the Rose, was a short story called "Full Circle." I began writing my story as a writing assignment for a writing class. It was first typed on a 1970s Smith-Corona electric typewriter. In 1990, I worked on revising the short story for my class as a writing project. I transformed the story into a novel on my 1988 Brother word processor typewriter.

The whole story was first typed on a 1988 Brother word processor typewriter.

In 1994, I had another title for the story before settling on the title Under the Rose. Eventually, I self-published my novel in 1999, but made some edits until I finally published it in 2001. It was a satisfying success. Only a few people knew about my book and were happy for me. My family and friends were my supporters and fans.

A few years later, after I had published my novel, I reread Under the Rose again. And I had an unsettling feeling in my heart. I wished I could do it all over again. Make it better. One problem I had before I published my book was that I could not afford or hire an editor to help me review the book. Back then, self-publishing companies had limited services for authors. So the first print left me disappointed. I wrote my novel on a Brother word processor and then I transferred it to Microsoft Word, on a computer operating system - Microsoft Windows 95, and the grammar checker on Microsoft Word did not check for every grammatical error. Grammar checkers in the early 1990s were not as advance as it is now. Also, I did not pursue to market or promote my book. But I was only happy that I wrote a novel, and published it, and had some of my closest friends read the book. I also felt that when I wrote my novel I was young, and an inexperienced writer. I was struggling to find a steady job as well.

Later, I had thought that I should go back to reedit my novel, Under the Rose. After my experience writing and publishing Jahar, the Boston marathon bombing story in 2018, I wanted to revise my old novel and make it better. There were many changes and edits done to the novel. So, I have to say, Under the Rose is a Revised Edition, but for many people, this will be their first time to read the story. I am glad that I have another chance and desire to republish my book again, so more people can read my novel. It tells the readers something about me...how much I love to rework this story that I wrote many years ago. Sometimes, I can't believe I wrote a novel. It is very challenging to write a story and to finish it. It takes a lot of motivation, energy, and your whole life to write a good story. It takes time and years to edit a book, to make it perfect, so it can shine.