Welcome to New Faces, where you'll meet brand-new romance authors! We're pleased to introduce Shelley Cooper, whose category romance Major Dad is an August Silhouette Intimate Moments release. (SIM 876) Shelley talks about her background and getting that first book published.

Tell us about yourself.

I grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania, a wonderful town about thirty miles outside of Philadelphia. I attended Penn State University, where I received a B.S. in accounting in 1980, and where I also met my husband. For the past eighteen years, we've lived in Pittsburgh. We have two children: Kari, who is twelve, and Mitchell, who is ten.

Are you coming to romance writing from another job?

After college, I worked for three years as an auditor with a Big Eight accounting firm, and another three in private industry. When my husband and I decided to start a family, it was easy for me to decide to become a stay-at- home mom. No other job has ever given me more fulfillment than motherhood and my writing.

What led you to write romance?

I first discovered romances when I was in the seventh grade. This will really date me, but at the time, the only romances available were Harlequin Romances and the romances written by Emilie Loring and Lucy Walker. I inhaled them all. I still remember--vividly--visiting my aunt in Langley, Virginia when I was eighteen. Both she and my uncle were in the Air Force, and she handed me a book written by a fellow officer's wife, saying she thought I might like it. That book was THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, written by non other than Kathleen Woodiwiss. I have always remembered it, and the wonder I felt when I read it.

When I decided, when my first child was an infant, that I really wanted to write, I automatically gravitated to romances, because these are the books that I've loved so dearly over the years, the books that have sustained me through both good times and bad. I love the fact that, no matter what the characters endure during the story, things will work out just fine in the end. Where else can you get that guarantee of a happy ending, but in a romance?

Describe your road to book-length publication.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a slow learner. It took me twelve years, from the time I decided I really wanted to write a romance, till the day, eight complete manuscripts later (one written at least three different ways), that I finally received the call.

In the beginning, I wrote in a vacuum. Then, around 1989, a miracle occurred. I read an ad for RWA in the back of Writer's Digest Magazine. I couldn't believe that there was an entire organization of people like me! I joined just in time to enter the Golden Heart for the first time, and made the semi- finals and got several wonderful critiques. I also joined a local RWA chapter, and formed many wonderful, supportive friendships with other struggling writers. Friendships that I still cherish today.

Two years later, I had an agent and began racking up rejections from Harlequin and Silhouette. I did achieve some success writing confessions, and over the years have sold nearly fifty of them. I also had five short love stories printed in STAR Magazine.

There came a time when I began to sense that my agent was growing less enthusiastic about my work, and I decided to leave her. She was most gracious about my decision, and before we called it quits, she told me why she thought I wasn't selling. In her words, I wasn't writing strictly romance, nor was I writing strictly mainstream. Because of this, I was falling through the cracks. I will be forever grateful to her for this bit of insight, because she was absolutely right.

In 1995, I got a second agent, and began gathering more rejections. A year later, at a conference we both attended, my agent sat me down and told me we needed to have a chat. The good news: I was now writing romance. The bad news: my stories were nice. Nice. No major highs, no major lows, just straight-line, boring nice. Ugh.

I went home from that conference convinced I would never sell. Once I got done pitying myself, I squared my shoulders, dug in, and poured my heart into my next project. The result was MAJOR DAD, a 1997 Golden Heart finalist in the Long Contemporary category, and a Silhouette Intimate Moments August 1998 release. I got the call on July 31, 1997, and I have been flying high ever since. My biggest thrill, though, was when my editor told me that it was the emotionality of my story that convinced her it was perfect for Intimate Moments. No more Ms. Nice Guy for me.

Who's on your hit parade of influential writers

I've already mentioned Kathleen Woodiwiss, Emilie Loring, and Lucy Walker. A number of early (and some still current) Harlequin authors were also a huge influence: Anne Mather, Essie Summers, Penny Jordan, Charlotte Lamb, Carole Mortimer, and--of course--Janet Dailey. In addition, my dear friend Donna Valentino writes wonderful historical and contemporary romances that I admire very much. I also adore Anne Stuart, Linda Howard, and Sandra Brown. The list goes on and on.

What does the family think of having a romance author in their midst?

My kids think it's neat that their mom has a book in the stores, but it really hasn't fazed them one way or the other. My husband has already taken some good-natured ribbing from friends and co-workers, especially about love scenes. He seems to take it all in stride, and in fact boasts that he's my inspiration, which is absolutely true. He is the one person who has been convinced, from the day I started writing, that I would eventually sell. His belief in and support of me has never faltered, even when mine was at my lowest. I think I'll keep him.

Tell us about your plans for future books.

Currently, my agent and I have our fingers crossed while we are waiting to hear about my option book. My editor has passed it on to the senior editor with a recommendation to buy, so hopefully, if things go well, we will hear good news some time in the near future. While I'm waiting to hear, I'm working on three different proposals, and plan to begin writing one of those stories very soon.

Good luck, Shelley!

Don't miss TRR's review of Major Dad.

August 1, 1998