By Gillian Graham

Staff Writer

“Never put a date on your dreams.”

That, said Mary Fremont Schoenecker, is the message she spreads whenever she talks to people about her late-in-life decision to become a published author. At 81, Schoenecker has published three books and just signed a contract with her publisher for a fourth.

Schoenecker, who lives in Venice, Fla., was in Saco last week to promote “Moonglade,” the second book in a series set in the area. She signed books and talked with readers at the Blue Elephant Café on Pepperell Square, where a scene in the book features owner Reuben Bell.

Though she and her husband live on the Gulf of Mexico, Schoenecker said she quickly fell in love with the Biddeford-Saco area when she researched her family history. After retiring from a career in education, she moved from New York to Florida and wrote a column for a local newspaper. She also wrote a children’s book that won awards but was never published.

“I got a lot of rejection letters and I got discouraged, so I put it on a shelf,” she said.

Around that time, the youngest of her four children began a genealogy search and uncovered tales of a relative who was a Civil War surgeon.

“He had such an interesting life and he married such an interesting woman, I thought they’d make a great book,” she said.

With her son’s encouragement, Schoenecker wrote “Four Summers Waiting,” her debut novel published in 2006. She used authentic diary excerpts and letters to chronicle the struggles and hopes of a young woman who strives to balance her love for a Union surgeon with her father’s opposition to the war.

Though busy with conferences and networking with other authors, Schoenecker decided to try her hand at a contemporary series. That decision came around the time she traveled to Maine to learn more about her grandmother, whose family moved to Biddeford from Canada to find work in the mills.

“I wanted to see where she came from. I just fell in the love with the area,” Schoenecker said. “I was very inspired by the area.”

During her time in Maine, Schoenecker and her husband, Tom, visited downtown and coastal Biddeford, Saco and Ocean Park. They also stopped at Blue Elephant Café, where she spread her research material on a table and caught Bell’s attention.

“Reuben took an interest in what we were doing. I looked at him and said ‘would you like me to put you and your café in this book?’ That’s how it all started,” Schoenecker said.

Bell said he readily agreed, and even granted special permission to the publisher so names wouldn’t have to be changed.

“I thought it was a lot of fun,” he said.

Schoenecker published “Finding Fiona,” the first in the Maine Shore Chronicles series, in 2008. Set in Maine, it is the story of teacher Maddy Fontaine, who finds herself traveling back to 1905 when the mills were going at full steam. “Moonglade,” second in the series, tells of Clare, who finds a corpse and becomes involved with the murder investigation.

Schoenecker said she recently signed a contract for the third book in the series, which she expects will take about a year to write. While she works on the book, she will continue to speak to book clubs and at libraries, always spreading the message that it’s never too late to follow your dreams.

“It’s remarkable she has the ambition and enthusiasm,” Tom Schoenecker said of his wife. “She gets energized when she gets in front of a book club group. It’s inspiring to me.”

For more information about Schoenecker and her books, visit www.maryschoenecker.com.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.