Shirley Schooler enters the scene with her first book, THE RED SEA PLACE, a touching novel about one woman’s struggle to please everyone, but in the end she winds up losing touch with herself.  Welcome to Roundtable Reviews.  As a debut author your name will be unfamiliar to the majority of readers, can you share a little about yourself? 

Thank you.  It’s true that THE RED SEA PLACE is my debut novel.  The term “debut novel” implies that this is only the first of many, which makes me smile, because I’m not that young.  I don’t usually mind revealing my age but, for your purposes, let’s just say I’m old enough to collect Social Security.  Some other things to know about me:   

Marital status: Married twice.  My first husband died in 1988.  I remarried in 1991.  Your female readers will love this: My present husband, Bill, was 60 when he married me.  He had never been married. 

Seminal event(s) in my life: The death of my mother when I was eleven.  My father died the following year.  

Fondest memory: My mother reading to me before I went to sleep at night.  It was she who instilled in me a love of reading.  I could hardly wait to learn to read myself, so that I could read any time I wanted to.  That is why she shares the Dedication page of THE RED SEA PLACE with Bill, who has put up with a lot during the seven years it took to write the book. 

Education: High school only, but extensive reading makes it seem as if I’ve had more formal education than I’ve actually had.

How did the story idea for THE RED SEA PLACE come about? 

This is a difficult question to answer.  I had saved a newspaper clipping about a young woman who managed to locate her birth parents after her adoptive parents were killed in an automobile accident.  To make a long story short, they were both single again (after having married others) and ended up getting married, which made their daughter very happy.  I began to speculate about what might happen if a young woman, also an adoptee, searched for her birth parents and found out her birth mother was married with two children.  I had intended the novel to focus on JENNIFER, the adoptee, and how her discovery impacted her life.  Instead, that became a sub-plot and the focus shifted to her birth mother, LAURA.  I never understood what fiction writers meant when they said, “The characters took over the story.”  Now I do.

Curt was such a jerk!  Part of me hoped Laura would dump him permanently.  Are their any plans to continue this story?  I’d love to see Laura and Gary together again. 

I’m glad you thought CURT was a jerk!  That’s exactly what I hoped to convey!  I  understand your desire to have LAURA take up with GARY again.  When I was younger, I would have wanted that too.  But that would have defeated the purpose of the story, which was to have LAURA grow and become her own person, instead of  being just an appendage of a man.  Yes, I’m considering a sequel.  I can’t take seven years to write it, though!

Many first-timers find promotion the hardest part of writing.  How do you handle promotion?

Promoting a novel, like writing it, is a lot of work.  You have to be willing to give up enormous amounts of what would normally be “free time” to do it.  I had business cards printed up and distributed them everywhere I went.  I’ve gleaned many tips from the AOL message boards (on writing, publishing, etc.) as well as writing website message boards.  I spent a lot of time and effort on ideas that didn’t pan out.  On the other hand, when I asked you if you would review my book, you very graciously offered me an interview.  I sent a private E-mail to one of the people on the AOL boards, which resulted in an invitation to do a “live” interview with a local newspaper group.  This group owns my nearby home town newspaper too, so the interview will be published in that as well.  Sometimes you get lucky too.  I met a couple of people on-line who have been very helpful.  I was in a Hallmark store and very casually mentioned the book.  The sales clerk offered to pass out my business cards to her customers.  I brought in a “sample” copy of the book, together with a “synopsis, website, and E-mail” poster, which Bill prepared.  Melanie, the clerk, said she was “talking the book up” at her other job as well.  She gets to read and keep the “sample” copy.  It’s a lot of trial and error.  To sum up: Think, seek out information, on the Internet and elsewhere, and PERSEVERE.    

How about the road to publication?  How much of a struggle was that for you?

 I don’t mean to be a “downer,” but the road to publication is long and hard also.  First, I copyrighted the book.  Then I wrote query letters to the few publishing houses that still consider unknown authors.  No sale.  I contacted a number of agents.  Nothing.  Then I put the book on a “literary viewing service” website.  I also put it on a website supposedly frequented by editors, agents, etc.  Again, nothing.  Finally, I went into an AOL  chat room, where I learned about PublishAmerica.  I contacted them.  They asked to see the manuscript.  Two weeks later, they E-mailed me that they would like to publish the book.  I did not pay them to publish it.  One drawback is that they don’t promote the book.  I’m convinced this book would never have been published if PA hadn’t offered, not because the book is no good but because, although I had previously published short stories, personal experience and personal opinion pieces, and done some writing for the local newspaper, I am not well-known.  These are hard times for authors.  Again, it’s a matter of patience and perseverance.  I just think people need to know what they’re getting into.

The cover art was perfect.  It truly conveyed the image I had of Laura and her struggles.  Who chose the artwork?

This one’s easy!  PublishAmerica gets all the credit for the cover art.  I have no talent along those lines.  They do allow you to design your own cover, subject to their approval.  If you elect to have them do it, they submit it to you for your approval.

Do you write by a set schedule?  How do you organize your writing time? 

Do I write by a set schedule?  I wish I could say YES.  But I have to be honest.  The answer is NO.  How do I organize my day?  Again, I have to be honest.  I wish I could say that I organize my day around my writing, but I don’t.  I know this is against all the rules.  I have to do better, if I hope to write a sequel.  My only excuse is that, knowing the realities of the publishing world, I didn’t expect RED SEA to be published.

What’s up next for you? 

A sequel, I hope.  At present, I’m very busy promoting THE RED SEA PLACE.

How can readers contact you? 

Through my website, www.redseaplace.com. 

THANK YOU!