About Me
Odessa Rose was born and reared in Baltimore, Maryland, which serves as the backdrop for her fiction. She spent her childhood surrounded by books, for her mother is a voracious reader of horror, in particular Stephen King. When she was nine, Rose read a short story in Reader’s Digest. The eloquent way in which the author wove words into story so fascinated Rose that she was compelled to announce to her mother that she wanted to be a writer. Her mother’s reply was, “Well, write, baby.” Rose took her mother’s encouraging advice and began writing short stories, which she shared with her classmates during lunch and a teacher, who told her that her writing held promise.
However, Rose did not take her writing seriously until she entered Coppin State University in 1992. She originally planned to major in nursing, but after taking a World Literature course, Rose could not ignore her passion for language. She loved analyzing stories, exploring the way writers made connections to the world through their characters and settings. She also loved the way her words looked and sounded on paper, loved twisting, bending, stretching, pulling and pushing words to have them say what she at times had difficulty expressing or understanding. At times she had trouble believing the words came from her own mind. Rose changed her major to English and began writing her first novel, Water In A Broken Glass, which explores a woman’s inability to accept her homosexuality and the problems that arise in her quest to deny her own existence.
In 1997, Rose became pregnant with her first child and earned her B.A. degree in English. She continued her studies at the University of Maryland at College Park. While helping her husband care for their newborn son and taking courses, Rose began revising Water In A Broken Glass, for shortly after entering College Park, she landed a publishing deal with La Caille Nous Publishing Inc. However, being a wife, mother, student and writer was a bit overwhelming, so Rose took a year off from school. She worked full time and wrote at night. Upon completing the novel, she returned to school and while promoting Water, which was released in September 2000, she became pregnant with her second son, taught freshman English, took courses and completed her thesis. In 2001, Rose received her M.A. degree in Literature.
Afterwards, Rose went to work as an instructor and counselor at a GED and Job Readiness Program for at-risk youth. While helping kids attain their GED’s, find employment and go off to college, she began work on her second novel and became pregnant with her daughter.
The publication of Water In A Broken Glass opened the door for Rose’s literary future. She has since completed two novels–In The Mirror, which is due out June 2011, and Kizmic’s Journey. She is a member of the Black Writers Guild of Maryland. She lives in Baltimore with her husband and their two sons and daughter.