Los Angeles – California – USA
I was born in Guyana, a former British colony on the northern coast of the South American continent. As the only English-speaking country on the continent, Guyana’s historical, cultural, and economic development are linked with the Caribbean Region and is a founding member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
As a young idealist in the 1970s, I dedicated seven years to the religious life as a Catholic nun and high school teacher of art and geography.
In 1987, I migrated with my husband and two sons to Fortaleza, capital of the northeastern State of Ceará in Brazil. For fourteen years, I worked as an import-export manager.
My sons and I migrated to the United States in October 2003, settling in Los Angeles, Southern California. Submerged in the creative arts world of Hollywood, I started writing articles about international trade issues and US-Brazil trade, as well as fictional short stories.
As a form of self-therapy, I began working on a novel. You can learn about my journey as a writer on my author’s website. My debut novel, Under the Tamarind Tree, was released on August 12, 2019. You can learn more, read reviews, and purchase a copy using links to booksellers on my author’s website at Under the Tamarind Tree: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus.
My second novel, The Twisted Circle, released on August 24, 2021, is now available for sale. Inspired by real events, it is an evocative story of two nuns torn apart by obsession and entitlement, and ensnared in a twisted circle of deceit within a whitewashed church. You can learn more about the making of my convent novel, read reviews, and find links for purchasing a copy at The Twisted Circle: A Novel by Rosaliene Bacchus.
I am currently working on my first book of creative non-fiction.
Three Worlds One Vision 
Cool Beans! 🙂
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Thanks, David. That’s a new expression for me 🙂
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Your Welcome! 🙂 I stole it from my son’s girlfriend. 🙂
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Rosaliene,
If you haven’t seen this article, I think it might be of interest: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/upshot/the-benefits-of-economic-expansions-are-increasingly-going-to-the-richest-americans.html?ref=economy&_r=0&abt=0002&abg=0
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Dr. Stein, thanks so much for sharing this article. Yes, we live in a period of great inequality in the US and worldwide. Disturbing and challenging for making a living. Worse yet as a writer.
To understand how America got to this point, I’m currently reading The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century by Paul Krugman. It was published in 2003, the year my sons and I arrived in the USA, before the global financial collapse in August 2008.
Are we the people up to the challenge of changing our capitalist way of doing business?
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You are welcome for the link. With respect to your question, I do think we are up to it. For me, however, the follow-up question is whether we will need to endure another financial meltdown before the groundswell of public opinion demands it. Paul Krugman’s column in today’s “NY Times” reports survey research indicating the average American does not yet grasp the full extent of the disparity between the salary he makes and what the heads of corporations make.
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If your book is turned into a movie, can you get me work as an extra? No acting ability required, I need the money, and I can write up the experience as a great feature article.
Speaking of experience, your own provide such an interesting source of multiple perspectives that I’m sure your fiction has a future – probably a bright one!
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Thanks, Claire. Right now, my main goal is to find an agent/publisher to get my novel out to readers.
It would be great to have it turned into a movie 🙂
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I was just kidding! (not about your work,about getting me a job (-:
FYI, you really have to get an agent in order to be considered by a mainstream commercial publisher. Academic presses w Latin American Studies programs would consider fiction (and never expect agents)
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Rosaliene — might you be familiar with Clarice Lispector, a Brazilian author who died in 1977. Is she worth reading? Thanks.
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Dr. Stein, I’m not familiar with her work. (During my years in Brazil, my focus was on growing as a professional.) According to research I’ve done on literary Brazilian websites, she’s one of the most acclaimed authors of modern Brazilian literature. During the period 1944 to 1977, she published 17 books, three of which were children’s books. She also received several literary awards.
Judging from the love that Brazilian readers have for her work, I’d say that she’s worth reading.
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Thank you for taking the time to research her, Rosaliene. This book review is what caught my eye, from today’s NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/12/books/review-clarice-lispectors-the-complete-stories-sees-life-with-existential-dread.html?_r=0
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Thanks for the link to the review. Lispector sounds like a complex personality and writer to explore. Enjoy.
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Congratulations, Rosaliene!
I have nominated your blog for the Real Neat Blog Award.
More about this nomination is at
https://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2015/11/09/real-neat-blog-award-congratulations-to-all-nominees-3/
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Thanks for the nomination 🙂
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It is well deserved 🙂 Best wishes for your writing!
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Thank you Rosaliene for following Hundredgivers blog – I appreciate your interest in the posts!
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Hi Rosaliene! Best of luck on the writing journey. My father is from Bernice and I’ve always wanted to visit Guyana. I grew up in St. Lucia instead and so my head is filled with stories set in St. Lucia, which I hope to be able to write soon. New follower here 😁
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Thanks, Jam. Glad to have you on board. What’s holding you back from sharing your stories? The best way to get moving is to write that first sentence no matter how imperfect or silly it may sound.
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Just popped by to thank you for liking my post about Britain’s EU referendum.
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Hi Rosaliene, it’s a pleasure to meet you!! Thank you for visiting and liking my blog, I appreciate it and wanted to return the favor. Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! ~Steph
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A wonderful Labor Day weekend to you, too!
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Hello, I wanted to come over to thank you for following my blog and to return the favor. As one of your other readers commented your blog is an interesting concept and once I get caught up on blog visitations I look forward to stopping by and catching some of your articles. Have a nice weekend! Steph
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Thanks, Steph. I look forward to staying in touch through the blogosphere.
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😃
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Hi,
Very nice to meet and learn more about you. Thank you for following my blog, I will certainly take time to visit yours as well 🙂
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See you on the blogosphere 🙂
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I just checked out your novel page, and I had no idea that Guyana was still a British colony as recently as the 1950s. That’s crazy! I know that colonialism tends to leave scars that take many years to heal, so I wonder if the effects of the colonial era are still being felt in Guyana?
I’m also curious about the nature of US-Guyana relations. I know the US has a habit of taking advantage of other nations, so I hope the same isn’t happening with Guyana…
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Thanks for dropping by, Josh. In Guyana, as well as Britain’s former colonies in the Caribbean Region, they still suffer the effects of colonialism. America has its diverse ways of controlling economic policies in Guyana and other countries in the region.
Is there any nation on Planet Earth that does not gain, lose, or suffer in some way or the other under America’s foreign policies and its exploitative/profit-making transnational corporations?
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Hi Rosa, I am coming to Boston for attending International conference at the end of November 2016. I wanted to talk to you regarding the visit and your suggestions with the travel. Please let me know how can I contact your through mail.
Thanks.
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That’s great news, Amrita. Will be in touch.
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I just nominated you for the ‘Three quotes, three days’ challenge: The rules of the challenge are:
1. Three quotes for three days.
2. Three nominees each day (no repetition).
3. Thank the person who nominated you.
4. Inform the nominees.
And it doesn’t have to be three successive days.
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Frank, it’s kind of you to think of me. This will be quite a challenge for me in terms of time. It’s good to know that it doesn’t have to be three successive days. So forgive me if I take a while to begin and complete this challenge.
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Hi Rosaliene
I just started to write a new novel which will be part-set in the jungles of Brazil and came across your blog in research. (I’ve not been fortunate enough to visit Brazil)
Best of luck with your writing goals
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Thanks, Ben. All the best with your new novel. Writing about a place you’ve never been will require lots of in-depth research.
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So lovely to meet you Rosaliene! I’m in Los Angeles also – work at a place called the Peace Awareness Labyrinth and Gardens (known as a Spiritual Oasis in LA!!)
Sending you blessings, gorgeous energy on your blog. Debbie
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Thanks, Debbie. Blessings to you, too ❤
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Rosaliene, I just finished reading ‘The Jumbie Tree’ – what a touching story! Your writing makes me feel like I am walking beside that young girl who loves art, seeing her world through your eyes. She even loves the French Impressionists and van Gogh, just I as do.
You wrote, “Bertha Williams is like the Victoria regia water lily that blooms in splendor above the dark muddy ponds in the Botanical Gardens.”
Perfect. 🙂 Your words throughout the story painted her character vividly in my mind. She became my teacher, too.
I am looking forward to reading so much more from you – and would love to see any art work that you have shared online. Thanks so much for visiting. I think your own words sum up my own feelings well. You wrote:
“Even in the autumn of our years, it is not too late to take that first step in doing
something we have always dreamt of doing. Naysayers abound. Adversity
abounds. But there is always a way, even though it may mean taking that unknown
path through the thicket. We never know who we may meet along that path.
Everyday, on the streets and byways, we pass by unsung heroes –
men, women, and even children. We are not alone.”
http://www.rosalienebacchus.com/writer/TheJourney.html
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Sunny, thanks for reading “The Jumbie Tree” and for your generous comments. You can find the links to my short stories published in the Guyana Journal online magazine at my writer’s website: http://rosalienebacchus.com/ShortStoriesbyRosalieneBacchus.html
Sad to say, I stop drawing and painting when my family and I migrated to Brazil. The trauma of surviving abandonment snuffed out all of my creative inclinations. When my sons and I moved to the USA, they re-emerged but found expression in writing.
The only sample of my art work available online are sketches of moths I did during my last year as a high school art and geography teacher in Guyana’s forested northwest region. You can view them at https://rosalienebacchus.blog/2012/07/08/moths-beauty-concealed-in-darkness/
I look forward to sharing your journey on the blogosphere 🙂
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Trauma from abandonment – I am familiar with these wounds. I am sorry for your experience, but happy that you have put your gifts into writing. Thank you for the links. I am looking forward to more reading. My best wishes for you. 🙂
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🙂
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Simply amazing!
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Thanks for dropping by 🙂
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I’m glad you found your way in life, and I am sure you are helping many find theirs. I know from my life that finding one’s way is sometimes quite accidental at times – meeting the right person or getting the right encouragement at a time when it is not coming from others. Some obstacles early in life take a lifetime to unravel, but it is possible that the insight derived from such a winding path increases one’s natural wisdom, which is the most and best one can hope for in life. It is possible even to make do with little guidance from ones parents if the inner flame never dies but becomes more and more insistent.
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Thanks for your kind comments, Dlugose 🙂
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Good one
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Thanks for dropping by, Kingsley 🙂
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You are welcome
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What an amazing life you are living! I’m following you from today. Lovely to meet you here on WordPress. 🌹🙋♂️
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Ashley, thanks for your kind comments. I also look forward to our connection on WordPress 🙂
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