Sometimes, an interview is so much more …

PRIME – October 2014 By Debbie Gardner debbieg@thereminder.com This is not the first time that Suzanne Strempek Shea has been on the cover of PRIME. She appeared nearly 10 years ago, after the publication of her seventh book – and fourth work of fiction – “Becoming Finola.” I remember meeting Strempek Shea in downtown Springfield just outside of Edward’s Books, muse for her non-fiction work, “Shelf Life – Romance, Mystery, Drama, and Other Page-turning Adventures From a Year in a Bookstore,” for the interview for that story. The center of the city was a much different place a decade ago. Though the retail landscape was still smarting from the loss of Springfield’s last remaining downtown department store with the shuttering of Steiger’s in the mid 1990s, there was still a reasonable mix of shops in the old Baystate West Mall – then called Tower Square. The streets still bustled daily with a mix of workers and shoppers – especially during the noon hour – and then-familiar restaurants such as Tilly’s, Café Manhattan and The Student Prince did a brisk trade. I recall the meeting so clearly because I kept stumbling over the title of Strempek Shea’s book – “Becoming Finola” – mispronouncing the second word of the title as “Fiona” so many times the frustrated author finally became exasperated and felt compelled to correct me. Sheepishly I explained the source of my stumbling tongue. At the time my then four-year-old son, Evan, was obsessed with the first “Shrek” movie, and the promotion that was being run by Burger King. The fast food chain was giving away watches featuring the “Shrek” characters, and Evan was coveting the watch bearing the likeness of the character, “Fiona.” I had heard the name “Fiona” so many times in the days leading up to the interview; it was seared into my brain. We both had a good laugh over my error, and I came away from the interview not only with a great story about the latest work of a popular local writer, but a contact whom I have reached out to many times over the years in the context of a number of stories – from her work with BayPath College’s (now Baypath Univerity’s) annual Writer’s Workshop to her many book signings to her work with budding high school writers through several local programs. The world of book publishing – like everything else – has changed dramatically since that long-ago chat, something Strempek Shea and I discussed when we met at an East Longmeadow coffee shop in early September to talk about “Make a Wish, But Not For Money,” her latest work of fiction. She noted that with the advent of self-publication, it was easier for a writer to get his or her work published, but much harder for that same writer to get any attention for his or her book. Even established publishing houses, such as the ones she works with, no longer do the majority of the promotional work for an author, leaving the hawking of one’s work to the same person who struggled to produce it. “Part of my day [is] to think about where I’m going to do another event,” Strempek Shea, who regularly mails promotional postcards about her new works to bookstores, libraries and other places that might host an author’s night, said. It’s not a chore she minds. A former journalist, Strempek Shea said the story-seeking reporter in her made her a self-starter who’s always done some of the promotion of her books, even when it wasn’t necessary. And as always, she praised the support of her readers, those book-buyers and magazine readers who have made it possible for her to make writing her career for the past 20 years. “I’m so grateful again, and it’s all because of readers, of people who came to the first reading of [my last non-fiction book] ‘This is Paradise,’ who came to the first reading of [my first novel] ‘Selling the Lite of Heaven,’ who have been so kind along the way. “It’s just been a blast,” Strempek Shea said.