Ginger Rodeghero
I first found writing “fun” when asked to do a creative writing piece in second grade. I still remember my description of dandelions looking like tigers stalking through the grasslands. Giving vivid descriptions to the everyday “normal” brings a new viewpoint to the world around me.
That 2nd grade creativity laid dormant for a long, long, long time while I was immersing my energies in many other challenges. I swam and coached competitively at the national level starting about the same time that budding imagination was brewing. Swimming takes an incredible amount of dedication and time but was definitely rewarding and was instrumental in making me the person I am today.
In high school my love for children began to pull my attention in the direction of becoming a schoolteacher. Nourishing a child’s imagination is a challenging endeavor. I love listening to a child’s viewpoint of the world; somehow their innocent and simple explanations always seem to stop me in my tracks.
I taught until I was blessed with my own 4 children. My husband and I created an ideal environment to raise them, on a small farm in Ohio. Everyday brought a new adventure, whether we were tramping through the creek looking for fossils, chasing 4-H animals around a paddock, or playing soccer in our mini-gym basement. When my oldest son reached junior high age, I decided to homeschool them; they were in agreement so we opened a classroom in our home library. It was an enchanted time! Now they are responsible, productive adults and my greatest life accomplishment.
All four of my children left home within 5 months of one another and we instantly became empty nesters, it was tougher on my husband than one would expect so we started into a new phase of our life. We sold our business, everything we owned and moved to Florida. We traveled with our church throughout the US helping at disaster relief areas throughout 2004- 2006. Then I was hired to run a training program in study technology by the Nigerian government. I spent 2 months in 2006 and again in 2007 traveling throughout Nigeria. I worked with some amazing college professors and had some ridiculously crazy adventures in their country.
The winds of change blew our way again and after 8 years of traveling we decided to open a new business in Florida. My husband is the production brain and I am his boss, the way it should be!
Time has also blessed us with grandchildren, and a whole new opportunity to shape little lives. Seeing life through their eyes got those creative juices flowing again and that is when I began to put my fingers to the keyboard. By working through two courses at the Institute for Writers I was able to get published. Today most of my creative juices are used to write articles for our business.
Reading has always been a passion since my mom first took me to the local library as a small child. I would go home with a pile of books and rapidly digest them. As a child I loved biographies and a true story is still one of my favorite reads. In my teen years I started reading James Mischner and spent many summer afternoons engrossed in his historical fiction. I love the sci-fi genre with all of its “possibilities”. Neil Gaimans “American Gods” and L. Ron Hubbard’s “Battlefield Earth” top my favorites list. Lately, I have been racing through the suspense of Baldacci, Lee and Patterson. The twist and turns in their plots have kept me up late many nights. I have rambled through just about every genre except romance, in my opinion if you’ve read one you’ve read them all.
One day I was in a bookstore and was stopped by the number of books on the shelves. I realized I have so many stories floating around in my head just waiting to be written. My goal is to write a story that will leave an impact on the reader in the same way the many stories I have read have brought me change and growth.
It has become one of my “bucket list” items to share my stories. So between running a business, chasing after my grandchildren, training my mischievous puppy, puttering in my garden and keeping my husband healthy, happy and producing I decided it’s never to late!
Visit my facebook page at Ginger the Author!
