When I Press Stop:
A Memoir of Loss
Preorder now.
Forthcoming from Finishing Line Press — October 2026
A poetry memoir about love, loss, and finding your way back.
When my husband Eric died suddenly from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in June of 2022, I didn't know how to hold what had happened. I only knew it needed to be witnessed.
I started writing. What I thought would be essays became poems. And the poems kept coming until they told the whole story — our love, his illness, the brutal speed of it, and the long, quiet work of rebuilding a life.
When I Press Stop unfolds like a novel in verse. It is a book about grief, yes — but also about caregiving, about motherhood, about the strange resilience that arrives when you have no other choice.
The manuscript was named a semifinalist for the Donna Wolf Palacio First Book Poetry Prize.
Presale: June 22 – August 28, 2026
With Finishing Line Press, presale numbers directly impact the royalty rate for the life of the book. If this story speaks to you, preordering is the most meaningful way to show your support.
Preorder When I Press Stop beginning June 22.
Hear the poems
Before the book, there were readings. Follow along on Instagram and YouTube where Rose shares poems and excerpts from When I Press Stop — including pieces like Early Morning Routine and The Show Must Go On.
CJD Awareness
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare and rapidly progressive neurological disorder. Eric's story — and this book — are part of a broader effort to bring awareness to CJD and to the families navigating an illness that moves faster than understanding.