Authors Interviewing Characters: Susie Orman Schnall
By Susie Orman Schnall, author of We Came Here to Shine
We Came Here to Shine is uplifting historical fiction featuring two bold and ambitious women who navigate a world of possibility and find out what they’re truly made of during a glorious summer of spectacle and potential…
Gorgeous Vivi is the star of the Aquacade synchronized swimming spectacular and plucky Max is a journalist for the fair’s daily paper. Both are striving to make their way in a world where men try to control their actions and where secrets are closely kept. But when Vivi and Max become friends and their personal and professional prospects are put in jeopardy, they team up to help each other succeed and to realize their dreams during the most meaningful summer of their lives.
We Came Here to Shine is a story of ambition, friendship, and persistence with a fascinating and informative behind-the-scenes look at the extraordinary New York World’s Fair.
Here, author Susie Orman Schnall poses as a New York Times reporter in the summer of 1939 to interview her main characters…
Susie: Hi, my name is Mrs. Schnall and I’m a reporter for the women’s pages at the New York Times. I’m doing an article on women working at the fair. Tell me, please, dears, what are your names?
Vivi: I’m Vivi Holden.
Max: Maxine Roth, but not a soul calls me that besides my family and only on the direst of occasions, so please call me Max.
Susie: Can you tell me a bit about your jobs?
Vivi: I’m Aquabelle Number One in Billy Rose’s Aquacade. I’m really an actress, well, I was an actress. I mean, I hope one day to be an actress again. But my studio sent me here to swim in Eleanor Holm’s role after she was injured. So, now I’m swimming. At least I’m trying my darndest to.
Max: I work for Today at the Fair, which is the fair’s daily newspaper. For now I’m just editing event listings, but I’ll be writing articles any day. I really want to work at the Times though. Can you get me an introduction to your editor?
Susie: You’re both so lucky to be working at the fair this summer! It’s marvelous. Have you spent much time touring around?
Vivi: I’ve barely had a minute to breathe will all the rehearsals and what not. But I’d like to walk around the Government Zone and see the pavilions for all of the exotic countries I hope someday to visit!
Max: I’m not really a fair type of gal. But I did ride the Parachute Jump a few times—what a thrill!
Vivi: There really is so much to see, what with all of the different zones, and the different exhibits, and all of the wonderful places to eat! And the flowers, my goodness, there are so many flowers. It’s beautiful!
Max: A bit crowded, for my taste, but yes, it’s beautiful. Especially the Lagoon of Nations all lit up at night. Don’t miss the fireworks show every night at 9.
Susie: Vivi, your job seems so glamorous. Tell me, what’s it like swimming in the Aquacade?
Vivi: Well, there are some wonderful things about it like getting to work with Johnny Weissmuller, who is more handsome in person than in any of his pictures, and wearing these gorgeous costumes, and I do love hearing the roar of that crowd. You know, the amphitheater seats 10,000 and we sell out almost each show. But, sometimes we’re freezing cold, our dressing rooms are pretty dank, and my hair is just awful considering I have to keep it coated with a mixture of baby oil and Vaseline so it stays put in the pool. All in all, though, it’s better than I thought it would be, and a million times better than when I first arrived.
Susie: And you, Max, I know you’re still a college student, so is working at Today at the Fair everything you hoped being a journalist would be?
Max: Not really. Off the record, my boss is a bit of a chauvinist who doesn’t believe women—or girls, as he calls us—should be writing newspaper articles. I’m not one to wait around for my ship to come in though, so I’m figuring out how to show him what I’m capable of. I hope after I graduate and work in a real newsroom, I’m given more of an opportunity to prove myself based upon my merits rather than my gender.
Susie: Anything else you’d like our readers to know about you or your work here at the fair?
Vivi: Um…
Max: Yes, actually, there is something I’m sure your readers would love to know. We’re planning—
Vivi: Max!
Max: What?
Vivi: You can’t say anything!
Max: Why not?
Vivi: Because if anyone finds out—
Reader: you’ll just have to read We Came Here to Shine to find out what Vivi and Max have planned!
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Susie Orman Schnall is the award-winning author of four novels. Her latest, We Came Here to Shine, is historical fiction about two ambitious women—one of whom is a swimmer—and their summer working at the 1939 NY World’s Fair.
Follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/susieschnall
Find out more about her on her website: https://susieschnall.com/
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WE CAME HERE TO SHINE
Set during the iconic 1939 New York World’s Fair, two intrepid young women–an aspiring journalist and a down-on-her-luck actress–form an unlikely friendship as they navigate a world of endless possibility, stand down adversity, and find out what they are truly made of during the glorious summer of spectacle and opportunity…
“An ode to female friendship that pulses with momentum and left me breathless.” –Fiona Davis, national bestselling author of The Chelsea Girls
“A remarkable novel about the challenges women face and the courage they must summon in order to lead the lives they deserve.” –Lynda Cohen Loigman, author of The Two-Family House
Vivi Holden is closer than she’s ever been to living her dream as a lead actress in sun-dappled L.A., but an unfair turn of events sends her back to New York, a place she worked so hard to escape from. She has one last chance to get back to Hollywood–by performing well as the star of the heralded Aquacade synchronized swimming spectacular at the World’s Fair. Everything seems to be working against her, but her summer in New York will lead to her biggest opportunity to find her own way, on her own terms…
Maxine Roth wants nothing more than to be a serious journalist at the iconic New York Times, but her professor has other plans. Instead, she’s landed a post at the pop-up publication dedicated to covering the World’s Fair–and even then, her big ideas are continually overlooked by her male counterparts. Max didn’t work this hard to be the only–and an unheard one at that–woman in the room.
When Max and Vivi’s worlds collide, they forge an enduring friendship. One that shows them to be the daring, bold women they are, and one that teaches them to never stop holding on to what matters most, in the most meaningful summer of their lives.
PRAISE FOR THE SUBWAY GIRLS
“Feels perfect for fans of Beatriz Williams and Liza Klaussmann.” –Taylor Jenkins Reid, author of Daisy Jones and The Six
“Feminist at heart …Fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid and Camille Di Maio will adore this book.” –Jennifer S. Brown, bestselling author of Modern Girls
“Perfect for fans of Fiona Davis’s The Dollhouse, this engrossing tale highlights the role that ambition, sexism, and true love will forever play in women’s lives.” –Amy Poeppel, author of Small Admissions
Category: Contemporary Women Writers
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