Science, mental illness and love make novel memorable

‘Banana Kiss’ to be focus of talk at Princeton Public Library

By: Hillary Parker
   When Bonnie Rozanski set out to learn more about quantum theory and consciousness, she ended up penning a love story about two patients in a mental institution, one saddled with schizophrenia, the other struggling with manic depression.
   From her imagined romance sprang a kiss — a "Banana Kiss," to be exact — the title of Ms. Rozanski’s debut novel. Though she has not been published previously, she is a prolific writer, having already written five other novels and six plays, to boot.
   On Tuesday, Ms. Rozanski will speak about "Banana Kiss" and the writing process at the Princeton Public Library at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Carolyn Llewellyn Champlin Writers Talking Series. Her second novel, "Borderline," will be released next year by Porcupine’s Quill Press, which published "Banana Kiss" in 2005.
   "I start out with an idea rather than a character," she says. "I start out with an idea and I look for a good story for my idea."
   Often, her experiences living in various spots throughout the country (her husband is Rider University President Mordechai Rozanski; she notes they’ve moved between academic venues many a time) and her past careers in business and academia make their way into her stories and characters. Even her retail experience at The Bon Marche in Tacoma, Wash., where she started as a secretary and became department manager, found its way into "Banana Kiss."
   While she always loved to write, even at a very young age, it wasn’t until she had racked up a variety of experiences that she finally felt ready to devote herself to it full time.
   "I was one of those people who felt that I hadn’t lived enough, that I didn’t have enough to write about," she says, admitting that she actually burned the first novel she ever wrote.
   Reading works by physicist Roger Penrose, she became fascinated with the idea of observers changing the very thing they observe simply by the fact that they are looking at it. "The only way I could do it would be to put it in the words of an unreliable narrator," she explains, and thus was born the character of Robin, a woman with schizophrenia who believes she is God and created the world by looking at it.
   As she wrote the story, she decided Robin needed a love interest. Enter Derek, a man with manic depression. While Ms. Rozanski’s research taught her that manic depression can border on psychosis, she was also aware that many afflicted with the disorder function reasonably well. "I needed a voice somewhere between Robin’s and the sane world," she says.
   When she first completed the novel, she discovered that she hadn’t fully explored the idea she set out to investigate. Rather than burning this novel, though, she wrote 15 pages from Robin’s point of view and interspersed the commentary throughout the book.
   She also made sure to include scientific findings based on extensive research of both mental illness and Mr. Penrose’s ideas throughout her story.
   In many of her other writings, Ms. Rozanski actively tries to incorporate scientific findings in her fiction. Calling it "science fact fiction" to distinguish it from science fiction — a genre she doesn’t write — she says writing fiction about scientific principles allows writers to explore life’s biggest questions. While she hopes it is an up-and-coming genre in the publishing world, she’s not necessarily optimistic.
   After all, she’s already had an agent tell her that she really liked "Banana Kiss" and proceed to turn it down, saying it targeted young adults and adults. Publishers won’t take something between genres, she was told. Even now, with one book already published and another on the way, she’s working hard to find an agent and break into the U.S. publishing market. Porcupine’s Quill Press is based in Ontario, Canada.
   Nonetheless, she remains optimistic, and happy. When she isn’t at her desk working — she keeps a regular workday writing schedule from fall through spring — she loves to spend time with her son and his wife and his family, who recently moved to Lawrence.
   "I will baby-sit any time, any place," she says laughing, clearly thrilled that her 16-month-old grandson now lives just a few minutes away from her house, located just across the street from Rider.
   Whatever the future holds, she’s content, for now, to share her thoughts and connect with readers through "Banana Kiss" — her exploration of quantum theory-cum-romance championing stereotypes about people with mental illness.
   "Our society, we think of it as mostly a society of sane people," Ms. Rozanski says, "but there are a lot of outliers. There are people who are just as interesting, and even intelligent, who don’t fit in, and they have a part in the world as well."
   Truth be told, it seems Robin and Derek aren’t the only ones who fell in love in the pages of "Banana Kiss."
   "I became really seduced with the characters," Ms. Rozanski admits.