What exactly is art; who defines it; who makes it, and where in Atlanta do poets, thespians, and artists congregate and create? We’ll use this space to catch up with a few…some you may know; others we hope you’ll be pleased to make their acquaintance.

School was never out when I was a kid, even during the summer. My mother – an elementary school teacher and a lifelong learner, even now as she is challenged with dementia – is still learning and relearning new things.

Instead of kickball, hide-n-seek, or riding my bike, I was at the library making friends with Amelia Bedelia, Encyclopedia Brown, Ramona, Beezus, and Henry, and any other book I could read to get my Summer Reading Club gold stars. I still love children’s books and enjoyed reading Megan Rogers’s debut, “Rosie Finds Her Shine.”

A former dancer with the NFL, when Rogers is not at her own dance studio, she is spending time with her husband and three kids between West Georgia, Ponce City Market, or one of her favorite restaurants, like No Mas Cantina in Castleberry Hill. She also loves hanging out at her local Marriott lobby when she wants to finish some work, read, or drink her coffee to escape the chaos of her day-to-day life and grab a quiet space a few times a week.

What inspired you to write “Rosie Finds Her Shine?” Where did Rosie the reindeer come from, and how did she end up in a children’s book?

One year, during recital season at my performing arts studio, my staff and I wanted an original concept. I genuinely credit God for the concept of Rosie. He planted a seed inside my heart that day. My mom and I both loved the recital concept, and she’d remind me every Christmas that she felt the story was too good to be performed only once and that I should turn it into a children’s book.

Rosie longs for a life on the stage, dancing with the North Pole Prancettes. However, she is surrounded by family and friends who encourage her to do what is most sought after by reindeer: working with Santa’s sleigh. Once brave enough to tell her family what she truly wants, she heads to camp to become a professional dancer. Still, she has to summon the courage to audition. When she finally does, her happiness radiates when she dances, causing her hooves to do something she’d never seen before: shine red! In response, the head Prancette tells Rosie, “Sometimes our gifts need a little time to prime.”

Rosie finds her shine after facing several types of fears and challenges in the story; there are so many takeaways, but the main one is that when we believe in our gifts (even through hard work and fear), we can experience a joy that will shine through us in our own way. I want children to lean into their God-given talents and gifts rather than strive to be “just like” others. Not every reindeer can work with Santa’s sleigh; some must perform with the Prancettes.

Megan, I was sorry to read about the death of your mom, Amy, in 2020. I read an interview in which you said she had been a true Dance Mom and inspired the story about Rosie.

Yes. I believe Heart wrote the song ” If Looks Could Kill” for my mom. She was hot-headed and stubborn. Like most, she was not perfect—but perfect for me. She was fiercely competitive and knew I’d be a dancer early on, so she threw me into every dance and stage opportunity she could. 

When I was around 9, she was diagnosed with Addison’s Disease. That was when things started going downhill. She had to quit her job in Atlanta. But she wanted me to dance so badly that to pay for it, she began working for the dance studio as a seamstress, receptionist, and, at times, babysitter for the owner. 

Doctors didn’t know how to treat her illness correctly, and I remember her struggling and medical bills piling up. By the time I turned 14, she was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. Even through her mastectomy, chemo, radiation, and all her body endured, she never missed one of my dance performances. She fought Addison’s and cancer for 23 years, and even near the end, wanted to hold on to watch my own children dance.

How did she inspire Rosie?

In one of her few opportunities to travel due to her illness, she and my aunt went to New York City to see her favorite dance group, the Rockettes, perform live. I cannot stress enough how Thanksgivings in my house revolved around watching the Macy’s Day Parade. So, of course, she brought home a Rockettes ornament as a souvenir that nearly became our tree topper that year. However, I accidentally dropped it while helping her decorate the tree one Christmas. Yes, it broke. 

Luckily, my husband was able to fix it. Still, from then on, the Macy’s Day Parade became my mom’s annual time to tell the story of her broken ornament. So, when we did the first “Rosie the Reindeer” stage show at my dance studio, I made sure Rosie traveled to NYC to become the first reindeer to become a Rockette.

What would you say was your mom’s shine?

In a way, I couldn’t appreciate mom’s shine until I became a mother myself. Keeping little humans alive, nurtured, and actively engaged takes tremendous energy, and I am perfectly healthy. Though she was gravely ill for decades, she kept fighting to be there for her family as long as she could. Her shine was being that fiercely competitive and stubborn mom I talked about earlier. 

Megan, you wear many hats—daughter, dancer, wife, mom, and author. If you could go back in time, what lesson would you have wanted your younger self to learn, and at what age would you most want to know it?

• As a daughter, Roosevelt’s quote, “Comparison is the thief of joy,” would have been helpful when those pesky teenage years kicked in.

• As a dancer: Savor the moment, for its fleeting” Unknown. I didn’t realize my personal dancing would end when it did due to an injury, and this would have come in handy in my early twenties.

• As a wife: “Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12. We married by age 23 and a lot of life happened in those first few years…this would been a good lesson for me then.

• As a mom: “Grief and motherhood can coexist. It’s okay to hold joy in one hand and sorrow in the other; both are a testament to your love.”- Unknown. I needed this at age 33 when Mom died, and my second daughter was only six months old. 

• As an author, Every day as I continue down this new and unexpected path, “God doesn’t call the equipped; he equips the called.”- Unknown. 

I’ve always admired dancers—using your physical body as art is truly amazing. What was one of your most memorable experiences as a professional dancer? I follow the Taylor Swift as Books Instagram account, where they match a Taylor Swift photo/outfit with a book cover. Which would match well with “Rosie Finds Her Shine”?

One of my most memorable moments was when I was dancing with the Georgia Force Arena Football Team, and we competed on America’s Got Talent. It was the most electrifying audience, and the stage lighting was killer. It helped that we loved the dance we were performing! I remember when the YouTube video came out with our audition, and we all watched it so many times. It felt like we were rock stars just getting to be featured on a segment of the show—even though brief—it was super cool.

Find out more about Rogers and Rosie here.