Sharon Desruisseaux is a constant learner. Only 40, her list of professions and accomplishments reads like someone twice her age. Farmer, insurance claims examiner, artist, paralegal, novelist . . . and that’s just the beginning. (She has temporarily given up making hats using an ancient technique and has taken up television production.) And all the while raising three daughters.

Name: Sharon M.  Desruisseaux (Brooks)

Age: 40

Town: Chesterville

Favorite nicknames? I used to be called “Brooksie” growing up. Our whole family anglicized our name from Desruisseaux to Brooks back when I was a kid and it stuck, before my little sis (Kristin) took it . . . lol!

Despite your young age, you have a long resume, including artist, teacher of art and theology, author, hat maker, insurance agent, sheep farmer and property claims examiner. That last one seems the most exciting, but which of your many professions have you enjoyed most, and why? The most important was my love of art and writing, and in later years my sheep farm. Fiber farmer would be the term used, since I work with the wool from the sheep and we don’t put them on the table for supper! I love them as I do our dogs and cats.  . . .  As far as which profession I loved best: All of them. I could never live a simple life. I don’t know how and I do not want to! Life is way too short and there is so much out there to do and to learn about! There is a lot I want to learn. My latest is trying to start a TV show on Mt. Blue TV and I am learning how to produce and direct a show, as well as learning about the cameras they use. I guess, I really truly appreciate the value of life and I love to make each second valuable and to learn all I can along the way!

You’re in the process of writing three trilogies. Briefly, what are they all about and what’s your motivation? Well, my goal is to have the first book of each series published so I am able to complete the rest.

The novel, “Cleopatra Selene, Legacy of the Sun and Moon,” is now out. I have one more book to (the series) and it has a very historic and tragic ending, though not to all of the characters — don’t worry! That period in history was well documented and there is a wealth of information that one can tap into. Excellent canvas for my imagination.

The next novel (in the second series), “Au Set, the Woman” is about the Goddess Isis as she might have been before the mythology evolved around her. I placed her in an actual time frame of Pre-Dynastic Egypt in 3,500 BCE. I would like that series to take apart some of the ancient mythology and to find some basis of where it could have sprung from. So many cultures out there — it could keep me busy for a while. This last novel is due to be released probably in the beginning of next year.

The most current novel (which is in the third series) is about my ancestors Marie (Rollet) Hebert and Louis Hebert. I discovered their very existence when I was researching my family tree and noted that they were the first French family to settle in Quebec. They had arrived with Samuel Champlain in 1604 to Port Royal in Nova Scotia and then settled in Quebec City for good in 1618.

You grew up in Massachusetts but came to your senses and moved to western Maine. Any culture shock remaining? Miss Mass.? Absolutely on that! I had to change my plates as soon as I could when I first moved in — I tried to hide it! But in a town like Chesterville, they knew even before I moved in. It took a while, but I feel totally at home now. The only culture shock remaining is when I visit Mass.: I ALWAYS seem to forget about the traffic. I think that there might be a psychological block on that! I used to drive into Quincy daily on Route 128. I still have nightmares of that commute. As a matter of fact, when we first moved up here we noticed the lack of “the traffic report.” So we made up our own silly version for Chesterville. I am still in constant awe of the raw nature up here. I still find myself falling on the front lawn and gazing in wonder at the gorgeous night skies so filled with stars — you can see the Milky Way! I have been more than inspired living on a farm up here. It has certainly placed me in tune with my historical characters in just living on a farm up here. I feel like I was always meant to be here.

You’re both a history buff and a world traveler. Is there any place you dream about visiting (or living)? I wouldn’t go that far. But, I have traveled a bit. I set a goal and run for it. I would love to go back to Egypt, for obvious reasons. I would also like to go to places less frequented by the average tourist. I like to jump off the beaten track I guess. To see places as they should be seen by the people who live there and not what they want us to see. I avoid five-star hotels like the plague and would prefer to backpack it if possible and to stay in a tent.

Word on the street is that one of your talents is making hats using an “ancient technique” from your herd of Icelandic sheep. Can you describe what this ancient technique is? That is something I stumbled upon not too long ago. I wanted to find out what technique was actually used in making hats as the ancients would have done. Crocheting as we know it . . . only dates back a few hundred years, and knitting only the past hundred or so. What I found in my research was that a much older technique was used before that. They found ancient fragments in Norway and Sweden dating back to approximately 4,000 years BCE or so. It fascinated me. … (The technique) is certainly not easy and the items are made from several long pieces of wool using a wooden or bone awl. It is not from one long ball of yarn, either. The fiber items are made from the continuous weaving together of long pieces of string. So, they lasted longer since they cannot be unraveled as can modern items made from crocheting or knitting. It resembles weaving when it is done and looks very unique. That is something I am working on in my spare time, which has not been there lately!

You have three daughters. What is your biggest wish for them? I guess that they, too, are able to reach for their dreams. I want to do everything in my power to get them there, as my parents have done for me. They are very special and I hope for them to find careers that bring out their talents, and to not have to enjoy their talents on the side, as I have had to while I have been raising them.

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