Pump Up Your Book Chats with Sheila Roberts: ‘Small Change’

Sheila Roberts lives in the Pacific Northwest. She’s happily married and has three children. She has had twenty-five books published, both in fiction and nonfiction under different names and in different languages.  Her novels have been optioned for book clubs and film. Her book Angel Lane was an Amazon Top Ten Romance pick for 2009. When she’s not hanging out with her girlfriends or hitting the dance floor with her husband, she can be found writing about those things dear to women’s hearts: family, friends, and chocolate.

Sheila’s latest book is a women’s fiction novel titled Small Change (St. Martin’s).

You can visit Sheila at her website (http://www.sheilasplace.com). You can also find her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/_Sheila_Roberts) and

Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/pages/Sheila-Roberts/76502579853?ref=ts).

About Small Change

Rachel, Jessica, and Tiffany all share a difficult secret: they’re all struggling with major financial problems. A sudden divorce has turned Rachel from a stay-at-home mom to a strapped-for-cash divorcee about to enter the workforce for the first time. Tiffany’s spending has been out of control for years, and her mounting credit card bills have put a major strain on her marriage. And Jessica just had the rug pulled out from under her. After struggling her entire life to make ends meet, she’s just gotten engaged to a man with a big bank account…and now he’s asked her to sign a pre-nup.

When the women share their problems at their weekly crafting group, they decide to band together to take control of their finances. As they struggle to bring balance back to their checkbooks and their lives, they learn that some things in life, like good friends, are truly priceless.

Thank you for this interview, Sheila. Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later?  Do you remember your first published piece?

I wrote tons of stories as a kid. My poor third grade class had to listen to them all!

What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?

The slowness of it all. It takes a long time to find the right agent, the right publisher, your readers. In short, it takes a long time to become an overnight success! J

Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life?  Do you have support?

I’m married. I’ve always worked my writing in around my family. And my social life! I love to write though, so it’s not hard to find time. And yes, I have support. My husband is my number one patron of the arts!

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing?  Where do you like to vacation?  Can you tell us briefly about this?

I love to go to movies, go dancing, have friends over, read, and travel. Oh, and play tennis, ping pong, and volleyball! We recently visited old friends in Germany and had a wonderful time.

If you could be anywhere in the world for one hour right now, where would that place be and why?

On a cruise ship! A cruise is like a never-ending party with lots of fun activities and great new people to meet.

Who is your biggest fan?

My daughter. (Although my husband runs a close second!)

Where’s your favorite place to write at home?

In my office. No distractions. J

Do you have any pets?

Not now.

Tell us a secret no one else knows.

Ha! Are you crazy? I think not. J

What’s on your to do list today?

Well, writing, of course, but as all you writers out there know, there’s a lot more to this business than writing.  So, I have people to contact, interviews to do (which I love!), a manuscript to edit and… oh, yes, at some point I need to clean my house.

Now I’ve got a couple of fun questions for you.  If Tom Hanks, in the movie Cast Away, unearthed a copy of your book, how would that help him find a way off the island?

Oh, poor guy, he wouldn’t. All those money tips wouldn’t do him any good at all. OTOH, I think the book will be an encouragement and help to any woman who needs help floating her financial boat.

You have a chance to appear on the hit talent show for authors, American Book Idol, with judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara Dioguardi and the newest addition, Ellen DeGeneres, to determine whether your book will make it to Hollywood and become a big screenplay where you’d make millions of dollars.  What would impress them more – your book cover, an excerpt or your author photo – and why?

Oh, wow, hard question! I think my book cover rocks. (It is so pretty.) But then so does my story. Hmmm, isn’t that a little like what they look for on American Idol, the whole package? I’m saving my author photo for Dancing with the Stars!

You just got word that your book has received the 2010 NY Times Bestselling Book Award and you have to attend the ceremony to give an acceptance speech.  Anyone who’s anyone will be there and it’s your shot for stardom.  What would you say and who would you thank?

First I’d probably say, “Darn! I knew this was coming and I still couldn’t take off that twenty pounds!” Then I’d say thanks to my wonderful agent for believing in me and sticking with me all these years and thanks to my great editor and the whole fabulous team at St. Martin’s. And I would have to thank my longsuffering husband, who helps me with the business end of my career.

I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in (put month you are touring here) via a virtual book tour.  Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?

The online community is a great community of readers and Pump Up our Book is a great company. Sooo, it’s a perfect match.

Thank you for this interview, Sheila. Good luck on your virtual book tour!

Thanks for having me and helping me get the word out about Small Change.

You can visit Sheila’s tour page here.

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