Rose Walken describes herself as nontraditional. Nowhere is that clearer than in her journey to publishing.

She was born a reader, but not in the way one might think. From as far back as she can remember, her life and home were filled with books, avid readers of books, and lists of books she and her bibliophile mother, stepmother, and grandmother planned to read next.

That love of reading would spark her creativity and feed her curiosity to the point it could no longer be contained. Her interests, besides reading everything she could get her hands on, include crafting, gardening, floral design, photography, sewing, and an insatiable need to make things look aesthetically pleasing. Wherever she is and whatever she has planned for the day always includes time for her many projects.

Her educational and professional career followed the same off-the-beaten path approach. She began her career in horticulture, then moved to floral design and accounting. The order and presentation of numbers and data play a central role in her writing and inspired her to write her first novel, The Raven’s Call.

When she’s not creating and fiddling with trinkets and tools, she spends as much time as she can with her favorite “projects” — her two children, a 13-year-old bookworm son and a 3-year-old bookworm-in-training girl, her cats, Jane and Austin, and her ever-patient and deeply supportive partner in their East Coast home.