Sometimes projects are left undone, simply because life interferes. That was certainly the case for Doris Schneider — many years separated the start and completion of not one, but two novels — but now the local author is making up for lost time with the publication of two books in two years.

Sunday, Riverwalk Gallery and Arts Center will host a reading and book signing of Schneider’s work “Borrowed Things” and “By Way of Water.” Both are fictional accounts set in small town in coastal Carolina: “Borrowed Things” is a contemporary story of a recently divorced and recently retired woman searching for a new place and a new sense of identity; “By Way of Water,” is a story of adolescent love set in 1965.

Schneider, a retired theater professor, has long been a writer — her name is attached to a textbook, articles for professional journals and numerous short stories — and it was 10 years ago that she started, and finished, the first iteration of “Borrowed Things.”

“The first time I wrote it, it was way too personal. It was more therapy than anything. A friend read it and said, ‘Very nice. Give one to each of your daughters and write another one,’” Schneider laughed. “I was a little deflated but I also didn’t feel like I had a great deal of confidence in it to begin with.”

Later, she would pluck two characters from “Borrowed Things” to create the protagonists of “By Way of Water.” That too, would be set aside, unfinished. But a decade later, now living in Washington, Schneider decided to take another crack at the first book, prompted by a journaling group she’d joined, and rewrote “Borrowed Things”

“Readers liked it and asked for more. So I spent this year completing the second novel, ‘By Way of Water,’” Schneider said.

She’s since dedicated time to marketing her self-published books, which are now available online in both paper and eBook versions.

“The most fun I’ve had as an author was speaking to book clubs. I got to know the women who read my book and what touched, amused, or shocked them. In the process of hearing other people’s reactions to the story, I learned things about my characters — and ultimately myself — that I had never dreamed,” Schneider wrote in a press release.

At Sunday’s event, Schneider will discuss her work and read excerpts from each novel. Though which excerpts she chooses often depends on the listeners, selecting passages that accurately reflect the quality of writing, and at the same time, give listeners a peek into the characters’ stories, is of primary importance. And open discussion will follow.

“I like opening the floor for people to ask questions because that just makes it more interesting for me — to get input, instead of me just talking to people,” Schneider said.

The reception, reading, discussion and book signing will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Riverwalk Gallery and Arts Center, 139 W. Main St., Washington. The public is invited to attend. Schneider’s books can also be found at Amazon.com.