Jeanne Rhodes-Moen
 | I was born and raised in Maryland, just outside Washington, DC. I didn’t know until I hit my early 40s, but ADHD has been a hidden complication in my life, but it’s given me a creative spark that I’ve put to use, both through my jewelry work and now in my writing. I attended Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. I received two separate B.A. degrees, one in psychology and one in math secondary education. After a brief attempt at teaching eighth-grade math, I turned to a skill I’d learned from my then-fiancee, Bjørn. I went to visit him in Norway, and he taught me the basics of filigree jewelry. I picked it up very quickly, thanks to the hyperfocus aspect of ADHD. |
In 1991, I married a Norwegian citizen with diabetes and complications. Norway has universal healthcare, so it was either move there or live in my parent’s basement with him, a ton of cats, and no health coverage! He passed in 2003, but we had as good a life as we could because we were in a country that puts its people’s welfare first.
With two daughters and what seems like a whole other lifetime of experience, I moved back to the US and released my first book. Silver Threads: Making Wire Filigree Jewelry is a how-to book published through Kalmbach Books. Kalmbach closed their Art Jewelry book division a few years ago, but I have re-released it as Print on Demand, and it can be found on Amazon.com.
I settled in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2005. I raised my daughters on my own, attempting to make it by doing my jewelry work, lapidary, and jewelry photography for other jewelers. All self-taught skills, aside from my late husband taught me the very basics of cutting, shaping, and soldering filigree. Now, I’ve been working to bring a series of novels, The Apara Chronicles, to fruition. If you wish to stay in the loop as to when and where they will be available, please sign up for my newsletter below:
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I’ve been lucky and privileged to have the help of a local woman, Nicky Rae, who’s been writing RPG systems and literature for decades. For the last two years, she’s been mentoring me with my writing as well as proofreading and editing for me. Through her assistance, I’ve improved my books dramatically and applied these skills to a unique take on an old subject. We’ll be working on the RPG and will be releasing it after the books start hitting the market.