INTERVIEW WITH RACHEL LOWENSTEIN

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About the BOOK

Rachel Lowenstein Love Behind the Silence to draw to an end the trilogy but also illustrate how often Deaf family members are isolated because of the lack of communication.

In Love Behind the Silence, Olli Rose O'Connor Bergstrom, a Deaf artist, begins her journey into protective custody in the middle of a shootout. Witnessing her uncle being

shot, she is helpless as she is dragged into safety. Communicating only in American Sign Language, Olli Rose struggles with her situation, her lack of communication, a stalker, and an unexpected attraction on a Pacific Northwest Island.

JDBOOKS has the privilege of an interview with author Rachel Lowenstein

What are your goals for this book?

My goal for Love Behind the Silence, first and foremost, is that the readers enjoy the story. If they haven’t read any of my other books, they want to.

Secondly, and specifically for Love Behind the Silence, I wanted to show a Deaf character that wasn’t a stereotype. Olli Rose is like most Deaf people I know, including

myself, and I wanted to show what many Deaf individuals experience daily.

How did you come up with an amazing title?

Each of the O’Connor Sisters Trilogy had a title that reflected some of what the character was experiencing. I chose the word “SILENCE,” precisely because most people think the Deaf World is silent, but the music and noises for the Deaf are visual.

Please list up to 5 ideal target audiences for your book:

1. Romance readers

2. Sisters/Twins

3. Readers with family and friends with disabilities.

Is your book based on your own life in any way? If so, please explain:

Love Behind the Silence is not based on my life except Olli Rose being Deaf and sharing

many of the same situations I, as well as most Deaf people, experience every day.

What are your FIVE key messages or themes you want audiences to remember about you

and/or your book? Are these themes relevant to current news topics, society, the world, or

life in general?

My life is colored by people of different religions, races, sexual orientations, sexual identities, and different abilities. Therefore, my books are populated with the same people. The message that I would share with my audience is despite all of our differences

we are one big family. Each of us, no matter where we are in our journey in life, deserves

to be respected, appreciated and loved. I hope that my books relay those themes.

If you could give your younger self some advice about the writing process, what would it

be?

Don’t wait! Don’t be afraid! Believe in yourself…others do!

What time do you usually start writing, and what do you find the hardest part of the

writing process?

The hardest part of the writing process is making time. As a teacher, wife, mother, and

grandmother, sometimes I put everyone else in front of what I need to do. I actually put in

on my daily calendar – Raj L Time – and do my best to sit down at those times.

Depending on the day, I start after breakfast but most often before or after dinner.

How has writing changed you?

Writing has made me more focused, and even though I have always been an observer, I

tend to watch much more. Everything is a story that’s just waiting to be told.

What do you like to do when you are not writing?

When not writing, I enjoy cooking, reading, watching television, and walking the local

trails with my husband and our fuzzy boy, Eli.