Q&A w/SheilaRoberts author ofBetter Than Chocolate
Debbie - HiSheila, welcome to the General Fiction book club forum
Shelia - Thanks, and thanks hugely forallowing me to come visit you.
Can you tell us a little about your newest released novel?
I’m very excited about this book. It’s afun read (at least I hope it is!) about a woman who’s trying to save the familychocolate factory. She and her mother and sisters come up with the idea ofhosting a chocolate festival. This sounds great to the rest of the town moversand shakers since the town is in an economic slump. But thiings don’t go assmoothly as our heroine hopes they will. When the bank’s about to foreclose,when you don’t have a lot of time to pull together something so big, whenMother Nature isn’t cooperating, and when you’re attracted to your arch enemy,well, it’s not so easy. (And of course, it shouldn’t be. All good heroines needto struggle!)
Is it part of a series?
Yes, this is the first book in a seriesof books set in the fictional town of Icicle Falls, which is based on one of myfavorite towns: Leavenworth, Washington. By 1960 Leavenworth was on the vergeof becoming a ghost town. The town literally reinvented itself and today it’s acharming alpine village and a tourist destination spot. I love that kind ofsuccess story.
Sheila, I was looking on your website at your biography, itsays you once owned a singing telegraph company. Could you tell us a bit aboutyour background and how it all led to your becoming an author.
Well, I’ve always loved to write so mywriting and my music have run on parallel tracks all my life. The singingtelegram company was great fun. I also sang in a band and that was fun, too.And I still dabble in music, especially songwriting. My songwriting buddy and Iwrote a country song and made a music video based on one of the story lines inmy November release, MERRY EX-MAS and I can hardly wait for my readers to getto see that.
I also saw on your website a link to your blog.
Do you think blogging is a good way to connect with your readers?
I do. It gives readers a chance to findout what’s going on in my life and what I’m thinking. (Well, if they’reinterested.)
How else do you connect with your readers?I have a Like page onFacebook and I tweet. (I’ve met some wonderful people doing that. I have thebest readers in the world.) And, of course, I do lots of book signing partiesin my area. For this book the theme is chocolate madness and I’m bringing ...you guessed it, lots of chocolate.
Do you write full time?
Yes, I do.
Did this release day give you as many butterflies as yourvery first one did?
Release day is always fun and exciting.With my first book I didn’t know enough about the business to have butterflies.Later in my career I did, though. Now, I’m just plain happy on release day. Ofcourse, I want people to buy my book and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writingit, but that sort of thing is out of my control.
Walk us through a normal day in the life of Sheila Roberts.
Oh, my. Well, a typical day will alwaysinclude writing and a smidge of housework. After that, it varies. There areusually errands to run, friends to hang out with, fun things to do. And, likeall good moms, I harass my kids on a regular basis. My hubby and I go dancingonce a week. I love to play tennis and do that as often as I can. And I’ve justtaken up golf so today I was at the driving range practicing. Come evening,after all my adventures, I’m usually crashed on the couch watching a movie onTV. Now that the new season of DANCING WITH THE STARS has begun I’ll be gluedto the set watching that. (They need an author – me!- on there.) Then it’s offto bed to read. And weekends, well that’s for partying with friends, havingcompany for dinner, doing something with the family.
Tell us something that would surprise us about you
I’m a hypochondriac. (This, my friends,is the dark side of imagination.)
Sheila I see you have many events coming up, including manyat Barnes & Noble locations on the sightings part of yourwebsite.
Is this the best way to find out where you’ll be?
Thanks for asking. Yes, we always postmy appearances on the website.
Sheila thank you for taking the time to let us know you alittle better.
Good luck with the novel.
Thank you so much and, again, thanks forhaving me!
Here are Shelia’s Barnes & Noble events:Thursday, October 25th,8 p.m., Chocolate Madness book signing, Olympia Barnes and Noble, Olympia, WA
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