Sri Lanka (Northwestern Province)
At a city there is a certain king; a widow lives at a house near his palace. She subsists by going to this royal palace and pounding rice there; having handed it over, she takes away the rice powders and lives on it.
During the time while she was getting a living in this way, she bore a frog, which she reared there. When it was grown up, the king of that city caused this proclamation to be made by beat of tom-toms, “I will give half my kingdom, and goods amounting to an elephant’s load to the person who brings the Jeweled Golden Cock that is at the house of the Rakshasi (ogress).
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I had lived in Vancouver very briefly as a child and it was during that time when I was first exposed to the art of the Northwest Coast Native American Indians. It was the towering colorful totem poles out in Stanley Park that everyone gazed at with wonder and appreciation. It took about 30 years later during a return trip to Vancouver when Northwest Coast Native American art caught my eyes again.
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Tell us about yourself first.

I graduated high school in 1948 and enlisted in the army for three years.
Next I went to college majoring in English Literature. I later earned a
master’s degree and a doctorate in clinical social work. For thirty years I was
a faculty member at a local university in Philadelphia and served as a
tenured professor. Upon retiring I returned to school and completed an MA in creative writing.

I work out in the gym three days a week. I love reading, writing, films,
classical music, and my two cats, Bandit and The Kid. Oh, and there are also some humans I love amongst my friends and family, but I enjoy solitude
much of the time.

When did you start writing?

I began writing in college where I wrote several one-act plays, which were published in the school’s literary journal. Two of them were performed on the college stage. While in academia I started writing non-fiction related to my professional work. Once in the creative writing program I started writing short stories and began my novel there.

What genres have you written?

I’ve written both fiction and non-fiction. The latter is clinical-scholarly in nature, the former mainstream drama.

Is Silent Battlefields your first book?

No, it is my seventh, but it is my first novel.

Tell us about your first book. What is it about?

It is about the Holocaust and its aftermath almost three decades later on two families. One family is that of parents who are survivors with a young adult son. The other is a gentile family with a husband who was once a Hitler Youth and German soldier. It also has a young adult son. When members of both families begin to meet and interact, startling revelations surface and unexpected relationships develop.

What inspired you to write this book?

I have a friend who is the adult son of Holocaust survivors. He has frequently told me of the effect it had on his parents, as well as on himself. I thought this could be the nucleus of a good story, although I had no idea then how much more complex the plot would become. That emerged during the actual writing process.

How long did it take you to write it?
It took four years to complete, but the actual writing time in years was two-and-a-half, since I took time out to participate as a volunteer in teaching “English as a second language” to immigrants in the United States.

Who is the publisher of your book?

The publisher is iUniverse.

Where is it on sale?

Silent Battlefields: A Novel can be obtained online at www.amazon.com,www.barnesandnoble.com, www.booksamillion.com, and through the publisher, of course at www.iuniverse.com. The book can also be accessed directly by clicking the appropriate link on my website: www.hughrosen.com. It is also on the websites of other major booksellers.

Tell us about your other books/works.

The subjects of my other books are cognitive development, moral reasoning, psychotherapy, and constructivism. Three of the books I am the sole author of, two of them were published by Columbia University Press and the other three I co-edited with a chapter I wrote in each of those three. I have also contributed chapters to other people’s edited books. In addition I co-edited a special issue for an international journal on cognitive therapy. The title of that special issue was entitled, “Creativity in the Context of cognitive therapy.”

What are the major challenges you have faced in your career?

Speaking generally, I was well suited for my career as a professor, educational administrator, and academic writer, all of which I did for thirty years. Things moved quickly and progressively for me and there were no major roadblocks. My major challenge came when I shifted to the creative writing program upon retiring, as then I had to learn to give more free rein to my imagination and transition to a fiction writer from a non-fiction academic writer. The modes of both styles differ considerably.
Has the Internet helped you in your writing career?
Yes. The newsletters for authors have proven to be very informative and useful. The Internet offers a great venue through which to promote my novel.

What do you advise new writers to do?

Don’t strive for perfection in the first draft. Give free play to your imagination. Persevere and keep writing. Ideas will come to you in the process. Revise later. Read books on writing and a variety of fiction. Find an objective reader who will give you honest feedback. In the end, trust your own judgment. Know the rules of your craft, but break them if it’s in the best interest of your story. Expect rejection letters, don’t give up, and have faith in yourself. Creating a world of your own making is an enriching experience.

Once, in a certain lake, there lived a turtle and a pair of swans. The turtle and the swans were friends. They would spend all their free time together telling each other stories, and exchanging news and gossip. The turtle especially loved to talk and chatter, and always had something to say. (more…)