Interview with M.Rose Peluso
Hi M.Rose Peluso, thank you for agreeing to this interview.
Oltobooks : Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
M.Rose Peluso : Hi, my name is Maryanne Peluso but I used the Pen Name: M. Rose Peluso in the writing of my memoir in order to protect the identities of the individuals mentioned in my book. I am a former Catholic Religious Sister, Graphic Artist, and Educator. I had a 10 year-long career in the Graphic Design industry before leaving it behind to enter Religious Life (the Catholic Convent). I suffer from a rare and life-altering chronic painful condition known as pudendal neuropathy. I am now working part-time as a Senior Caregiver.
Oltobooks : What are your ambitions for your writing career?
M.Rose Peluso : I am really not launching a writing career. I really only had one story to tell - my story and the Lord's and this has been written and told in my memoir, "Behind the Tapestry: My Discovery of God's Grace Amidst Chronic Pain and Loss."
Oltobooks : When did you decide to become a writer?
M.Rose Peluso : Again, I don't really consider myself a writer. I just had this one powerful story that I needed, felt compelled to share with the world. My journey to bringing "Behind the Tapestry" to the public began in the fall of 2015.
Oltobooks : Why do you write?
M.Rose Peluso : I needed this powerful story of God's love and mercy to be told to the world. And to share my incredible story of chronic pain and internal healing with other chronic pain sufferers out there - in order to give them some hope.
Oltobooks : What made you decide to sit down and actually start something?
M.Rose Peluso : The Lord put it on my heart to tell my story of my chronic painful condition and my time in the Catholic Convent. I had been sensing for quite a while beforehand that this was something He wanted me to do. And when I could no longer "ignore" His promptings to write this story, I finally gave in and began putting pen to paper, so to speak.
Oltobooks : Where do your ideas come from?
M.Rose Peluso : Again, "Behind the Tapestry" is my memoir. So, this idea was a very real and lived experience.
Oltobooks : What is the hardest thing about writing?
M.Rose Peluso : The hardest part of writing my memoir was knowing what to include in the book and what not to say. But since a memoir is not an autobiography and instead centers on a theme - I knew that anything that wasn't directly related to that theme could be left out.
Oltobooks : What is the easiest thing about writing?
M.Rose Peluso : The easiest part of writing my story was that I didn't really need to do any extensive research because again, this was my lived experience.
Oltobooks : If this book is part of a series, tell us a little about it?
M.Rose Peluso : Unfortunately, "Behind the Tapestry" is a stand-alone book. And not just a stand-alone book but my one and only book.
Oltobooks : What are your thoughts on writing a book series?
M.Rose Peluso : I have no intention of writing another book.
Oltobooks : What is your favourite positive saying?
M.Rose Peluso : "Lord, because of what I can see, help me trust in what I cannot."
Oltobooks : Where can you see yourself in 5 years’ time?
M.Rose Peluso : I am really not sure. I suppose doing whatever it is and wherever it is the good Lord calls me next.
Oltobooks : What advice would you give to your younger self?
M.Rose Peluso : I would tell a younger Maryanne to never give up. To keep taking one day at a time and to continue to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus.
Conversation By :
Oltobooks Team
I sat so merry in my abode
Loving hands around me
I dreamt of such glorious days
One day i would see
I remember the day I left
My room
I closed the door behind me
One quick look again
Then walked away
The room which would always remind me
The glorious days I had dreamt
I did merrily spent
How little did I then know
Life turns on a dime
My room is now not as it was
When I closed the door
Behind me
My room now is a prison
But not how one would invision
It is one of sorrow and grief
Sadness burns into the bare walls
I catch my breath
And weep
Why did thou'st doth betray?
The room which once embraced me
I ask with riddled heart
Jagged and torn
Which wicked riddles have I thus sought?
I sit still
I am now my room
No dreams as once before
I age before my open door
In my room long ago
I sat merrily in my loving abode
Loving hands did hold me
All gone
My room and myself
Now one
Two thrust to be together
Forever
Alone