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Thursday, August 20, 2020

Sharley Scott's interesting life


Today we are pleased to feature Sharley Scott with an interview about her latest novel, The Two Lives of Maddie Meadows. It sounds like a fun and relatable story, so definitely check it out!

Sharley Scott is the author of the 'Devon Seaside Guesthouse' novels - Bedlam & Breakfast and B&Bers Behaving Madly. The Two Lives of Maddie Meadows published in early July of this year. The second in the series 'The Gift of a Rose' will be available in the autumn.

Sharley is a guesthouse owner in South Devon. She is thankful to have been blessed with lots of amazing and kind-hearted guests, who are nothing like some of the characters featured in the Devon Seaside Guesthouse series.

The Two Lives of Maddie Meadows is a fictional account, but Sharley has never forgotten how interesting life can be with a toddler. Some of the mischief Josh gets up to will be familiar to all parents. Sharley has carried out the threats she made to her son decades ago and now embarrasses him by telling tales to his girlfriend, although he gets her back by recounting stories about his mum.

Visit Sharley on Facebook and Twitter.


Synopsis:
Maddie Meadows adores her family and loves her work. But she has good reason to keep them separate.

For single mum Maddie, home is a flat on a run-down estate. And family consists of an excitable toddler, a lonely Dad and a younger brother mired in a love triangle.


Meanwhile, professional Madeleine balances a tricky day job, made worse by a jealous colleague. No one at work knows about her other life, and she needs to keep it this way: one of the bosses has made his feelings very clear about single parents and the people on her estate.


Thank goodness for her fun-loving and loyal friends - although Maddie wishes they’d believe her when she insists she has no time for love. Or so she tells herself as she fights to quell her hidden feelings for her gorgeous colleague, Oliver, who comes from the posh part of town.


When her friends line up their ideal man for her – Sean, more beanstalk than Bean – Maddie wishes she’d told them the truth. It’s hard enough juggling two lives. But, with all the added complications, how long will be it be before Maddie’s carefully created world comes crashing down?


Purchase Links:
Amazon UK
Amazon US

What is a favorite compliment you've received about your writing?
Some of the reviews of my books have been lovely. I’m often overwhelmed by people’s kindness and generosity in giving their time to write lovely reviews or to tell me they’ve enjoyed one of my books.

I guess my favourite compliment is that my dad read Bedlam & Breakfast even though he had to use a magnifying glass to do so. A stroke years before had left with limited eyesight and headaches if he strained his eyes, so it was amazing that he was able to read the whole book. He said he enjoyed it too and, believe me, he would have told me different if he hadn’t. We were both honest about each other’s creative work.

Which of Maddie's lives do you relate to more?
I’d plump for Maddie. I was a single parent and lived in a block of flats. Many of the episodes within the book happened to me including, unfortunately, the comments about single parents and people who lived on certain types of estates. I worked full-time when my children were small, although I didn’t work for a council. Maddie behaves a bit better than I did. My fifty-year-old self rolls her eyes at some of the things I got up to with my friends.

If The Two Lives of Maddie Meadows were made into a movie, who would you cast in the lead role?
I have no idea. Should I confess that I rarely watch TV nowadays? I don’t know why, other than I am on Facebook far too much.

What is your go-to comfort food?
I love chips and roast potatoes. Currently, I have a thing for mashed potato with cheese. When I was younger, the staff in the canteen at work called me the ‘potato queen’. For 40p I could get a double helping of chips or roast potatoes, which worked out much cheaper than having a meal.

Once I was invited out for a lunchtime meeting which involved food (the best type of meeting). When I came back to the office my colleagues asked me to join them in the canteen. Although I was full, I asked for a single portion of roast potatoes, as I didn’t want to be the only one not eating. But the lady serving the food laughed off my request – no doubt thinking I only had 20p on me – and, as they were about to close, she shovelled the last of the roast potatoes from the tin. I was afraid that if I didn’t eat them, the canteen staff might not be so generous in future, so I ate all twenty roast potatoes. I waddled for the rest of the day.

Which TV series are you currently binge watching?
Friends tell me about all these amazing thriller series, but I never get around to watching them.

When we were locked down and we had to shut the guesthouse, I watched Call the Midwife while ironing. I hadn’t seen it before but I had read the book. I made it to series five by the time we opened (I didn’t do a lot of ironing). When I told my friend that I was enjoying it, she watched the whole series from beginning to end in two weeks.

I think I am one of the few people who say they should watch more TV.

What is the strangest thing residing in your purse or handbag?
I don’t use a handbag or purse, which might explain why I am always losing things. I drive myself up the wall with constantly having to search bulging pockets in various garments for keys/cards or undertaking a futile search of the bedroom/lounge/car because I have no idea where I last left something. Currently, I am typing with the screen zoomed to 150% because I’ve put my reading glasses somewhere.

This Q&A session is making me realise that I need to make a few changes to my life. Once I’ve found my glasses I might see what is on TV.

Thanks to Sharley for visiting with us and to Rachel's Random Resources for coordinating the interview. 

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