When little Piper Callaghan appears at Hope’s Home, too traumatized to speak after discovering her murdered mother’s body, Dr. Madison Wagner hopes to make the child’s possible father, writer Luke Callaghan, take responsibility for the bloody chaos he’s apparently created. For his part, Luke has his own story and refuses to be patronized.
But when they discover Piper is the victim of prominent citizens profiting from an online international child sex ring, Madison and Luke understand they’re in this fight together. And guiding them from beyond the grave is a murdered young mother seeking retribution…and atonement.
Madison and Luke must prevail against overwhelming odds, or their relentless pursuit of truth will hurtle them toward a shocking reality neither ever anticipated.
Hello book lovers! Today is a day where I will be writing another author spotlight for a well-accomplished author whose work I have loved. As you know book lovers I love learning about authors and the inspiration behind their work, it fascinates me and adds to the depth of the book because the reader will be able to better understand it. That is how the author spotlights were created because I soon discovered that you lovely readers ALSO love learning about author’s, so I am excited to tell you a little bit more about Rosetta Diane Hoessli whose book Tip the Piano Man thrilled me from beginning to end! I personally would recommend this book to all of those that love thrillers and captivating tales but really the book can be read by anybody as it is flawlessly written and highly enjoyable. With today’s author spotlight, a biography of the author and an interview between me and Rosetta Diane Hoessli will be shared, and I hope that you book lovers enjoy reading it! To kick this off here is an author bio about the wonderful Rosetta Diane Hoessli!
Rosetta Diane Hoessli (called ‘Ronni’ by her friends) has been a freelance writer since 1985, publishing articles in McCall’s, Christian Herald, and many other smaller forums. A winner of national and state-wide writing contests, she has served as senior feature writer, columnist, and executive editor for three (3) regional publications – two in San Antonio and one in Houston, Texas.
Ronni also collaborated with New York socialite Jeanette Longoria in Longoria’s self-published book entitled Aphrodite and Me: Discovering Sensuality and Romance at Any Age, co-authored biographical novel Falling Through Ice with Carolyn Huebner Rankin, and edited a book of short stories, Working On the Wild Side, compiled and written by Florida Fish and Wildlife officer Jeff Gager.
Today, Ronni focuses most of her attention on writing historical fiction and traveling with her husband, Kevin, in their RV. They reside in San Antonio, Texas with one fur-kid, near their daughter and two grandchildren.
Now, how wonderful does Rosetta Diane Hoessli sound?! Rosetta Diane Hoessli is a truly exceptional writer and I hope that you lovely readers have a read of the author’s work because you will not regret it! Please see below an interview between me and the author and I hope that you enjoy Rosetta Diane Hoessli’s answers to my questions, they are incredible and provide some great advice too!
Thank you for joining us today at Red Headed Book Lover! Please tell us more about yourself.
I’ve been alive for a long time, so I’m not sure where to start! I’ve been writing for most of my life. I began writing, really, because we were an Air Force family and traveled a lot, both here in the states and overseas. I’m an only child, so I was kind of a shy kid and spent a lot of time in my own head. I was about four when I started reading, so writing stories just came naturally. My dad was an intellectual – a military historian, an intelligence analyst, a brilliant photographer, and a self-taught musician. My mom was a homemaker, an artist, and a gifted blues singer. So, I was raised in a very creative home, surrounded by all kinds of books and lots of music. To be honest, I don’t really remember a time when I wasn’t writing or creating something.
I’ve been married to my high school sweetheart for more than fifty years, and the secret to our longevity, I truly believe, is that we’re polar opposites – but we complement each other perfectly. We have one daughter and two grandchildren, and we all live in San Antonio, within ten miles of each other. When I finally put down my roots here when I was thirteen and my dad retired from the service, they went down deep. I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
We’ve rescued dogs and wolfdogs since the early days of our marriage, but now we’re down to a single golden lab named Brock. (He should be called Blockhead, but…there it is.) We love to travel together in our travel trailer, and that’s where many of my stories come together. I love to cook and entertain our friends and family, so we try to have a get-together with everyone at least once a month. When I’m working and I’m on a roll, I have to stay focused and my whole life is turned upside down – but I really try to keep it balanced.
Could you please tell us readers about your book and what inspired you to write it?
TIP THE PIANO MAN is a deeply personal, emotional, and very honest story about trauma and the healing that can come from real human connection. The mystery follows Piper, a six-year-old little girl who’s made up her mind to stop speaking after going through something terrible, her possible father Luke Callaghan, a man facing the pain of his own past, and Dr. Madison Wagner, who’s fighting to keep them both together. I try very hard to show the cracks in the foster care system, the weight of guilt for those fighting for children, and how being truly seen by someone who loves you can change everything. I hope it speaks for both adults and little ones who’ve been hurt and ignored, and reminds us that love, even in its hardest form, can still heal.
TIP THE PIANO MAN is very hard to synopsize – almost impossible, to be honest – because so much of the story is based on the truth. Each character is constructed from a real person; the story itself is something I watched, to some degree, unfold. Very little came from my imagination. It’s a mystery/suspense novel with the backdrop of pedophilia on the Internet, children falling through the cracks of the courts, and corrupt legal officials who see an easy way to use these little ones as a method to gain personal wealth and power. But it’s also an exciting adventure/mystery with characters who validate the power of second chances, and how almost anyone can be redeemed.
TIP THE PIANO MAN is also a story I’ve lived. As we walked through the courts with a very young child by the hand, I received an education I never wanted. As we battled the system and watched the way it often abused its tiniest victims, TIP THE PIANO MAN began to develop in my mind – but it wasn’t published for another 40 years. You have to remember, I was a typical 1984 suburban mom when I was thrust into a cesspool I didn’t even know existed. All I knew to do, when I finally stepped away, was write about it.
And so, I created a story, peopled by characters I’d loved and worked with. For example, Lacy Callaghan, the mother of the mute little girl Luke Callaghan may have fathered and Dr. Wagner is trying to save, is based on a woman I knew well. Yet, in the book, she’s dead. Still, she’s fighting from beyond the grave to guide these warriors toward victory to save her child, and many others. I had written this book countless times before Lacy came to life in my mind and in the story.
I was told by so many people not to write this book, not to put myself back there, but I knew that TIP THE PIANO MAN was a novel I had to write. If I never wrote anything else in my life, I had to write this book.
What would your advice be for aspiring writers?
I had to think about that one, and I can’t give just one piece of advice. I think I have to say, most importantly: Develop a really thick skin and never, ever give up. Lots of people will tell you to get a ‘real’ job. They’ll tell you that your writing is a nice hobby, but now it’s time to grow up. But my advice is, fight for your right to be who you are.
Learn your craft, then write what YOU want to write. That doesn’t mean not to listen to constructive criticism or the writing suggestions of others, but don’t let it change your vision. Remember, you’re the only one who can tell your story from your particular vantage point. Even though it might be a simple, ordinary tale, no one else can tell it the way you can. It took me years to learn that because I was the kind of person who hated confrontation and wanted everyone to be happy. That seems to be indicative of only children, but it never works, and I had to learn to trust myself. Keep discovering new things, keep experiencing life, and, most important, keep writing. Finally, practice self-preservation and stay away from negative or cynical people. They don’t benefit anybody.
In your opinion, what is the most important thing about a book?
I don’t think anything is more important than the characters that live in a story, followed by a strong sense of place. In other words, if both those things are memorable, if I can see and feel the characters in a deliciously described location – whether it’s a small town, a big city, or a fantasy world – and if I can walk empathetically in their shoes, I can forgive a weak story because it’s going to live and breathe on its own. I believe – and this is just my opinion – that characters make the story, not the other way around.
What is your writing process like?
I just wrote a blog on that, and the truth is, I don’t have one. I’m not even sure what that is. I know I follow an undemanding daily routine just because it helps me stay focused and gives a little balance to my life, but that’s about all I can say about an actual process. Otherwise, I just write. Sometimes I write all day, sometimes all night – I did fourteen drafts of TIP THE PIANO MAN over a period of nearly 40 years – but, obviously, there were times I shelved it because life got in the way. My dad died, a friend of mine went to prison – in other words, we have to live life. But I muddled through four drafts of WHISPERS THROUGH TIME while I was the managing editor of three different Texas publications. I have to stay busy, I love to think, and writing is just something I have to do. If I’m not writing, I’m thinking about writing and how to make it better.
What kind of research do you do, and how long do you spend researching before beginning a book?
I’m a researchaholic! I love to research. No matter what my subject matter is, I’ll research it to death. I have to be careful that I don’t let it get in the way of writing the actual book.
Like I said earlier, TIP THE PIANO MAN was loosely based on personal experiences in 1984, so I didn’t have to research the subject of child sexual abuse/exploitation/trafficking because I’d already lived it. But when I decided to bring the mystery itself into 2022, that’s when the real research began. I had to learn all kinds of new techniques being used in social work and law enforcement, and I had to learn about secret search engines, hidden organizations, and how these people find children on the Dark Web. I had to study the science of profiling perpetrators and child victims. The research to update that book was phenomenal.
On the other hand, my historical mystery WHISPERS THROUGH TIME – the first book in my series by the same name – required at least a year of intense research of the fun kind. I read Native American history books, watched documentaries, traveled through the Texas Plains, Indian Country, Colorado, Wyoming, and up into South Dakota with my husband in our RV. I interviewed Lakota elders and American Indian Movement (AIM) leaders, and so on. You name it, I researched it. It was an education in itself and completely changed my life. I could probably get another ten books out of it.
Currently, I’m researching the ranching industry in the Texas Plains/Canyonlands/Panhandle area and the Comanche Indians following the Civil War as I write the second book in the Whispers Series, tentatively called JOURNEY OF THE HEART. It’s about a novelist who discovers she can travel in her mind, through visions, from 2007 back to the 1870s, as she helps solve a family mystery involving her best friend, a Comanchero treasure still hidden in a secret canyon, and a captured girl with flaming red-gold hair who won the heart of a Comanche chief nearly 200 years earlier.
Do you have a set schedule for writing, or do you only write when you feel inspired?
The inspiration comes when I get the initial idea for a book. But the truth is, if I only wrote when I feel inspired, I’d probably write about two days a year. As I just wrote in my blog, my dad always said, “Writing is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration.” And he was right.
But I have to have a schedule because a good portion of a writer’s work is marketing, whether you’re traditionally published or self-published. I hate to market, I really do, but it’s a must in today’s digital environment. So, I have to find a healthy balance between writing, researching, marketing, reading, and spending quality time with my family. So, when I finally get to sit down to really write, inspiration has very little to do with it. In fact, if I actually have an inspiration during a routine work session, I’m truly surprised.
Do you read much and if so, who are your favorite authors?
I have to admit, I don’t get much opportunity to read new books for pleasure anymore. Nowadays, I read books I’ve always loved and maybe have read a dozen times in the past because I want to study why I love them so much, why they’re so good, and why they’ve stayed with me for so long. If I read a newer book that I’ve never read before, I almost always read it to review it. And that, like I said, goes along with marketing. However, when I review a really good book, that’s a wonderful bonus!
My all-time favorite book and author is EXODUS, by Leon Uris, and that’s because I had an incredible accelerated senior English teacher who gave us a term paper assignment to choose a book (out of more than 100, some of which were banned), and dissect it, literally. EXODUS was the book I chose, and when I finished the assignment, I knew I had to be a writer. I’d never had so much fun in my life. I was 17.
So, EXODUS is my favorite book ever because of its powerful (almost poetic) prose, incredible characters, brilliant setting of England, Cypress, and Israel – and the fabulous (mostly true) story that author Leon Uris concocted. (The movie, starring a too-gorgeous Paul Newman, was a pale shadow of the book.)
Another of my favorite novels is CASHELMARA, a family saga authored by the incomparable Susan Howatch. Even though she’s written dozens of other historical novels, this one is still my favorite. Back in the day, I loved Gothic mysteries (and still do), so I used to read everything by Victoria Holt, Mary Stuart, and Daphne DuMaurier. In terms of unforgettable characters, I don’t think anyone has ever created any more extraordinary than Scarlett O’Hara, Rhett Butler, Mammy, and Melanie Wilkes in GONE WITH THE WIND, by Margaret Mitchell.
Lastly, when can we readers expect to read more wonderful books from you?
That’s up to my publisher, and whether or not they want to publish it! But I’m hopeful that The Wild Rose Press will take on JOURNEY OF THE HEART no later than the end of 2026 – that’s my goal, at least. I’ve been asked to do a sequel to TIP THE PIANO MAN – and it’s definitely ripe for one – but I don’t know if I can do it. My head space and my heart have to be aligned, and I don’t know if they are. But you can be sure, no matter what happens, I’m going to keep writing!
Its official book lovers, I am obsessed with Rosetta Diane Hoessli! If you have liked what you have read about the author and are interested in learning more, then please do have a browse of the links below! You will not regret it.
Goodbye for now book lovers,
