Who is Rotten Rosie?

"Rotten Rosie" is an endearing nickname given to me by my late mother. She used to call me “Rotten Rosie” (lovingly), usually when I would outsmart her, which was happening even at the ripe age of two and three years old. This story—and all potential future Rotten Rosie stories— is based on the actual memories and events that my mom would recall about my childhood. She loved her Rotten Rosie, and it is my hope that you will too.


Thank you to my wonderful illustrator, Surya, who brought my vision to life and perfectly captured the essence of Rosie in her drawings. Thank you to my sounding board and support system—Owen, Lillian, Ashley, Lindsey, and Alex 

I dedicate this book to my beautiful, late mother, Joanne. Who created Rotten Rosie, both literally and figuratively. These stories would not exist without her. Or me. 

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About the Author

Rosalie Rose has been writing stories and poems from an early age. In elementary school, she wrote a poem about the shadows on her bedroom wall; the principal loved the story so much that she printed it in book format and added images.

This inspired a nine-year old Rosalie to fall for a classic publishing scam in the Penny Saver Magazine where she was invited to submit a poem to a poetry contest, with the prized author receiving the opportunity to pay lots of money to have their work published in a collection with all of the other submissions. Could Rosalie's mother see through the scam? Probably! But to a nine year old, the prospect of having a work published and bound in a beautiful hard cover book was a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

Rosalie has continued to write and create, often turning to writing as an outlet to cope with the many adverse events she has overcome in her short 30 years of life. Her works range from deeply personal poems and stories about grief, to entertaining poems about her mother calling her an "ass," and most recently, the Rotten Rosie collection of stories. 

When she is not writing, Rosalie enjoys spending time with her fiancee and loudest supporter, Owen; her sister, Lillian; or cleaning up after her pets, Winnie, Chowder, Skipjack and Opal. She also enjoys cooking, baking, baseball, documentaries, and music.