Shirley
Hailstock: Phenomenal Woman
By Michelle
Monkou
Shirley Hailstock
did not burst onto the romance fiction scene as a one
hit wonder. Dedication, persistence and desire carried
her through, perhaps even lifting her over obstacles to
become a powerhouse in the romance genre and specifically
in the multi-cultural romance group. Thirteen books later,
Shirley can look back on her hard work as she continues
to garner new legions of fans. His 1-800-WIFE (BET Books)
hit the shelves in April 2001 to rave reviews. Maya Angelou
wrote a poem called "Phenomenal Woman" as an anthem representing
women's strength, femininity, and pride. Shirley can lay
claim to this archetype as we have only begun to see a
small measure of her positive influence on the industry.
Shirley's awards
and accolades consistently pour in, many times on the
same book. For instance, More Than Gold (BET Books, Nov.
2000), won the 2nd place Mystery/Suspense Clara Award
(Neighborhood Press 2001), Contemporary Hero/Heroine of
Color Award (Affair de Coeur 2001), Booksellers Best Bet
Award winner (Greater Detroit Romance Writers 2001), Golden
Quill Award (Desert Rose Romance Writers-Phoenix 2001),
2nd place Venus Award (Heart Rate Reviews 2000) and on
and on and…. WRW invited Shirley to give us a peek into
her world.
President
of Romance Writers of America - have you stopped pinching
yourself, yet? When and why did you decide to run for
president?
I decided to
run for president the night before the deadline to put
your name on the ballot. The reason for running had to
do with issues I felt were a hold-over from my year as
the PAN Liaison. I felt there was unfinished business
that needed to be completed and if I left, the organization
would have to begin from scratch with new players. Also,
some of the personal issues in my life were alleviated,
leaving time to devote to RWA.
When you
joined RWA in 1988, what was your initial goal/aspirations?
In 1988 my
goal was to get published. I was working on a book and
I needed information about the genre and the publishing
business. I went to the library and discovered RWA in
the Book of Associations. For almost a year I only got
the RWR for writing information. Then I discovered my
chapter (New Jersey Romance Writers, but we've also claimed
her in WRW).
Is there
any fear about juggling the new responsibilities and maintaining
a writing career (and then, there is family)?
I have a motto:
You can do anything you want to do. I am more organized
than most people. Organization was one of the skills identified
when I took those tests way back in college. I like being
busy. I find I get more done when time is compressed.
Also, in the intervening years since I joined the board,
more and more day-to-day work has been passed to the staff
at the office. The job is not quite the time consumer
it used to be (that is if we don't have some major problem
arise).
Speaking
of family, how do your children react to your continued
successes? Have they designated you to the level of heroine-worship
or are you just plain old mom?
I'm just plain
ole mom. Children's problems, however trivial, are monumental
to them. It doesn't matter if I win an award, their homecoming
outfit or going to parents night is much more important
in their eyes. They tend to be proud when I come to speak
at the school or to participate in career day. My son
loves to drop names of people he's met. Of course, when
he says it, he's elevated the association to personal
and most intimate friend.
Looking
over your career, it appears that you are a planner, persistent,
goal-oriented. How close is this to the truth?
That's an absolute
truth. I can be spontaneous too, so I'm not totally anal.
I plan those things that can be planned, my books, my
career, my goals.
What is
a part of you that others rarely see?
What people
don't see or think is that I have down time. I imagine
most of my friends think I'm a dynamo at home. I wish
I were. I wish I could write faster. I spend many leisurely
hours sleeping, watching television, taking a class, or
just doing nothing.
What prompted
the BS in Chemistry? MBA in Marketing? And the desire
to join the space program?
In high school
I had a wonderful chemistry teacher and I loved chemistry.
It wasn't a stretch to go to college for that. After graduation
there were no jobs due to a very bad economy. I entered
grad school and took the MBA in Marketing because there
would always be business jobs.
I read that
you started writing romances on a dare. Is that the tried
and true way to get you to do something?
No. I am very
selective about my acceptances of dares. I suppose I always
wanted to write. I just had never identified it as a goal
until my friend stated it. After I started the story,
I found I loved the process. In school when I wrote things
they were for a class, a requirement and I was simply
fulfilling that. When I started writing the book, it was
only for my satisfaction.
Did you
ever doubt the detour to writing after your initial rejections?
And please say that you got rejected.
Did I doubt
I'd ever get published, yes! Many times I'd get rejected
(and I got rejected for years) and think I didn't know
anything. The next day I'd put on my "I'll show you" attitude
and go back to work.
For those
who may be green with envy, what's a weak spot that you
need to overcome?
I choose not
to answer this. I don't think I want people to know.
Darn! What
battle cry do you want to tell the masses of an organization
with over 8,000 members?
Battle cry,
assumes a war. I am hoping that is not the case. RWA is
an advocate for the authors and I'm hoping we can achieve
some goals for the membership that have been withheld
from them.
With such
a massive group, interests and expectations may collide.
How do you propose to expound a message of diversity and
inclusion?
From the past
few years certain areas of concern have come up and they
seem to have prioritized themselves in things like copyright
issues and use of pseudonymns. I believe we also have
to look at the future of RWA and where we plan to be in
the changing face of publishing.
You have
launched a successful career writing multicultural (African-American)
romances. Since 1994 when you were initially published,
how has that market changed?
There are more
publishers looking for stories by and about African-Americans.
The market, which publishers assumed was small, is much
larger than they anticipated. The emergence of readers
groups across the country and the rallying of these groups
to the African-American novels has shown that there is
a very large market and one that is expanding in both
the African-American and cross-over markets.
If you
had a magic wand, are there any trends or current practices
that you would change to improve the marketing of the
multi-cultural romance industry?
I'd change
the attitudes of the readers so they viewed the books
as romances and not multi-cultural romances. The stories
stand because of the characters and their decisions, not
due to their race. At the core, it's a love story.
What can
readers expect from you in 2002?
I've just finished
a manuscript for a family reunion story called Family
Affair. It will be released from BET in August 2002. It's
part of a three-book mini-series by three authors (Geri
Guillaume, Eboni Snoe and myself) and are the separate
stories of three female cousins.
Where would
like to be in five years, in terms of career?
I'd like to
be financially secure with my writing income. I would
love to quit my day job and be able to maintain my lifestyle.
I'd like to be able to write more books using the time
I now spend at the office.
What would
you like to say to aspiring authors?
Read, Read
Read. Read everything, not just the kind of books you
want to write. Read good books and bad books and analyzed
them. Find out what you liked in the book and why you
liked it. More importantly find out what you didn't like
and why you didn't like it. Then when you write your book,
write a better book. Write the best book you can, but
write.
Thanks,
Shirley. It's been a pleasure.
Michelle
Monkou
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