Rosetta Diane Hoessli

Rosetta Diane Hoessli

I’m an only child. And unless you’re an only child as well, you’ve got no idea how insane a lifestyle that can be for a little kid. Where my friends had siblings to play with, compete against, confide in, and even stand up for, I lived in my head. From a really young age I created my own games, told myself stories, and even acted out imagined scenes and dialogue in the privacy of my bedroom.

My dad, a WWII veteran, was in the Air Force for twenty-six years and became a reporter/photographer, an intelligence analyst, and a military historian. My poor mother tried to be a good 1950s housewife and followed him all over the world, me in tow, until he finally decided it was time to settle down.

Consequently, I spent the first seven years of my life sleeping in the back of an ancient Plymouth station wagon as my parents attempted to satisfy their wanderlust between every duty station. That car saw us through the canyonlands of Arizona, the mountains of Idaho, and the deserts of California. After that, they sold the car and we headed for a two-year tour of duty in the Orient.

My parents were wildly creative and insisted on living their lives on their own terms. They were both writers and artists. My dad was a self-taught musician who played several instruments, my mom was a terrific blues torch singer, and they entertained with their band throughout the west coast until Mama decided that was no way to raise a kid and they stopped.

An insane way to grow up? Yes, but wonderful. Exciting. Lucky. I had the greatest education a kid could ever have. I experienced different cultures with all five of my senses. I walked in the history of other countries and learned to keep an open mind. And the more I absorbed, the more detailed the stories in my head became.

I'm a writer who was made, not born. My love of reading, making up stories, and ultimately writing them down is a direct result of the unconventional way I grew up. Because my parents were creative themselves, they encouraged me. Because they were both from large families, they understood how lonely being an only child could be. And so they left me undisturbed in the internal world I created.

I started reading at four years old, and the characters in those books were my closest friends - especially when we were on the road, which seemed like most of the time. And I remember so clearly my first daydream, when I was a very little girl. I had to clean my room, a chore I hated, and I was determined to find a way to make it fun. I imagined I was on a wagon train - don't ask me why. But I was with my family when we were attacked by Indians, and everyone (except me, of course) was slaughtered. I managed to get away, stumbling through rivers and mountains and God knows what all, until I came upon a deserted cabin. I opened the door, went inside...and decided it would work if I just cleaned it up.

So, I survived an Indian attack, became an orphan, experienced 'Naked and Afraid' long before it ever came on television, and nearly starved to death wandering through all that wicked terrain - but I got my room clean. And, believe it or not, it's a daydream I still use even all these years later (minus the orphan part) because I still hate housework and I still need to make it fun.

I crave solitude if I'm planning. If I need to get organized in my head, I drive toward the desert in west Texas or move my furniture around. Although I was raised by musicians and I love music, I can't write at all if I hear it anywhere in the house. I get sidetracked and find myself making up another story to go with the lyrics, so I have to write in total silence if I'm ever going to get anything accomplished.

I'm naturally shy and prefer to watch people rather than have them watch me, but I love the company of readers and other writers, so I hope you'll respond to this post. If you have comments or suggestions, please feel free to make them. I've told you a lot about myself, but I'd love to hear from and about you!

Books

Whispers Through Time

From the series: Whispers Through Time

Sierra Masters is alone, successful, and believes she’s content – until her world collides with the past to show her who she really is.

When the only man she has ever loved appears with a proposition that could alter her future, she turns him down - but then, after experiencing a prophetic dream, decides to take a risk in order to uncover the...

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Tip the Piano Man

An isolated child, invisible to the world, is resigned to the darkness - until two loving strangers bring her into the light.

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...

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Series

Whispers Through Time

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Other Writing

RAG LADY by Susie Black (Prequel to Book One of A Holly Swimsuit Novel)

Reviewed by Rosetta D. Hoessli, Author

***** (Five Stars)

RAG LADY, by Susie Black, is a scream of a book – mostly. Our heroine, Holly Schlivnik, is...

DEATH BY SAMPLE SIZE, by Susie Black (Book One of A Holly Swimsuit Novel)

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

***** (Five Stars)

FROM THE COVER:
Everyone wanted her dead…but who actually killed her? The last thing...

ABANDONED, by Margaret Tanner (Book One of the Snowbound Western Women Series)

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

**** (Four Stars)

Set in the 1870’s, the novella ABANDONED, by Margaret Tanner, accomplishes much in few...

DESERTED, by Margaret Tanner (Book Two of the Snowbound Western Women Series)

Book Two of the Snowbound Western Women Series

Reviewed by Rosetta Diane Hoessli, Author

**** (Four Stars)

DESERTED, the second novella in the...

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Praise

WHISPERS THROUGH TIME takes the reader on a whirlwind adventure, traveling from present day, to the late 1800’s and the massacre at Wounded Knee, then to the mid-1970’s and the infamous standoff at the Oglala Sioux reservation. It is powerful, thought provoking, and unfailingly realistic. As an added treat, the author’s talent for description whether it be the location[s], foods, people, or speech patterns feels effortless. The characters—and the South Dakota badlands must be considered a character—literally jump off the pages. Well done!

Based on a scale of 1-5, Whispers Through Time earns a 7.

– Kat Henry Doran, Wild Women Reviews

WHISPERS THROUGH TIME, by Rosetta Diane Hoessli

A bad case of writers’ block was the least of author Sierra Masters’ problems when a man
from her past suddenly showed up with shocking information. After Hunter Davenport—once
the love of her life—revealed a Masters family secret, Sierra then questioned every aspect of her life and how to go forward knowing the truth of her past.

WHISPERS THROUGH TIME, the remarkable debut novel of author Rosetta Diane Hoessli, is
nothing short of an epic masterpiece. The author has woven a heart-wrenching tale of good
versus evil that unflinchingly bares open the despicable treatment of Native Americans by white people. Hoessli paints a vivid picture so detailed that readers can hear the cries of the dying, smell the acrid odor of death, and feel the ground tremble as a herd of bison roams the sacred land.

The story moves at a heart-pounding pace with a whiplash of a rollercoaster ride of
emotions through an intricate plot. The cast of flawed, but believable characters drive a
complicated story that grabs readers by the throat and never lets go. Readers find themselves
rooting for the protagonists from the beginning to the end of the tale. Hoessli creates enough
conflict with a backstory to keep readers turning the pages to see how it turns out.

Hoessli has written a cleverly plotted tale that deftly weaves ribbons of fantasy into a taut
plot driven by betrayal, love, loss, trust, family ties, and the inner strength one must summon to face adversity created by both human fallibility and fate and meet one’s challenges head-on rather than looking away. Part romance, part historical thriller, part mystery, part paranormal fantasy, part redemption with a second chance at life and love, WHISPERS THROUGH TIME will capture the imagination of readers who enjoy a love story fueled by a mix of fantasy and reality and believe that things are not always what they appear to be.

WHISPERS THROUGH TIME has more than earned the five stars this reviewer has awarded it.

– Reviewed by Susie Black, Award-Winning Author of Holly Swimsuit Mystery Series

TIP THE PIANO MAN, By Rosetta Diane Hoessli
- Editorial Review, Veridion Smart -

There are stories that entertain, and then there are stories that reach inside you, grab hold of something you forgot was even there, and make you feel it all over again. TIP THE PIANO MAN is one of those rare novels. From the very first page, Rosetta Diane Hoessli doesn't just tell a story – she gives you a soul to hold, a child to protect, and a history that echoes louder than any dialogue.

This book is brutal in its honesty and tender in its hope. Through the shattered silence of a six-year-old girl named Piper, whose voice has been stolen by trauma, we meet a cast of characters so real they breathe off the page. Luke Callaghan, haunted by regrets and hardened by a life that never offered him safety, is forced to face the possibility that the most broken parts of him might be exactly what a lost little girl needs. And then there’s Madison Wagner, the fierce, compassionate psychologist who refuses to give up on either of them.

This is not a comfortable book. It doesn’t pull punches or dress up pain in palatable language. But what it does offer, through layers of darkness, resilience, and an unflinching look at the failures of the system meant to protect the most vulnerable, is truth. And healing. And love, in its most painfully beautiful forms.

Rosetta Diane Hoessli has written a novel that is both an indictment and an anthem. It indicts indifference. It indicts silence. And yet, more powerfully, it sings an anthem for second chances for the ones who were almost lost, and for the rare few who fight to find them again.

If you’ve ever questioned whether fiction can change you, read this book. If you’ve ever needed proof that damaged hearts can still beat in rhythm with another’s, read this book. TIP THE PIANO MAN isn’t just a story. It’s a plea, a promise, and a hand reaching out in the dark.

You’ll carry Piper with you. You’ll root for Luke. And by the end, when the silence begins to break, you’ll feel something shift – not just in the story, but in yourself.

– Editorial Review, Veridion Smart

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Blog

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