Rosalie Rayburn

The book The Power Of Rain is the first in a planned series of mysteries featuring my character, Elizabeth “Digger” Doyle, a gifted young reporter with a keen eye for exposing corrupt politicians. The second book in the series, The Sunshine Solution, where Digger comes in conflict with powerful forces bent on revenge, is scheduled to come out later this year. The inspiration for the books came from my years as a journalist with nearly a decade of writing about the antics of city government for a local New Mexico newspaper.

Before settling in New Mexico in 1998, I lived most of my early life in different countries, including France, England, Ireland, Norway, and Saudi Arabia. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Trinity College Dublin and started my newspaper career freelancing for the Irish Times and Irish Independent. I began writing short stories about the Protestant/Catholic social conflict. The Irish broadcasting service, Radio Telefis Eireann, broadcast six of my stories as part of an initiative to showcase promising young writers.

I spent five years in Stavanger, Norway where I became news editor for the English language paper, Saga Weekly, contributed to the trade magazine Norwegian Oil Review, and hosted a weekly news, music, and information program on a local radio station. Local publishing house Dreyer Bok contracted me to translate a memoir of Norwegian emigrants to the US, which was published in English as Norsemen Follow the Trail. Later, while accompanying my husband in Saudi Arabia, I landed a contract with the UK publisher, How To Books Ltd to write the business guidebook Living and Working in Saudi Arabia.

After returning to the United States, where I was born, I spent 18 years as a staff writer for the Albuquerque Journal covering topics such as business, local government, and energy policy and regulation. 

Living in so many countries has given me an appreciation for differences in cultures. Learning new languages is a hobby of mine and I have always tried to pick up at least a few expressions wherever I travel. I found being able to speak conversational Spanish was invaluable when I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2015. The 500-mile (800 km) trek from St. Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in the Spanish province of Galicia, is one of the many routes followed by pilgrims since the early Middle Ages to the site revered as the burial place of St. James the Apostle.

Cycling is another passion of mine. While in New Mexico, I was a member of an active cycling club that organized multi-day trips throughout the state and in neighboring Colorado. One of my greatest joys was to participate four times in the two-day 150-mile MS150 event to raise money for research into a cure for multiple sclerosis.

Now retired, I divide my time between the US and Portugal where I have contributed to the online lifestyle magazine Portugal Living and write a blog about international retirement in Portugal  (Oh, and I’m learning Portuguese, of course!)