Alyson Sheldrake Interview Published on: 26, Jul 2021

I had an aunt that worked at Cadbury’s, and every Easter, birthday and Christmas she would appear with these giant carrier bags full of chocolate treats. It’s no wonder I have a sweet tooth!

I adored reading the Famous Five books by Enid Blyton and being fascinated by their adventures. I loved George and Timmy the dog, and imagined myself in the books, experiencing everything that happened along with the characters. I devoured books every night when I should have been asleep in bed; I sat huddled under the blanket with a torch. I can remember reading the entire Sherlock Holmes series as well when I was about nine years old.

I love the freedom of being creative and seeing the idea that I have in my mind being translated onto a canvas in front of me. I find it very therapeutic and satisfying. I enjoy working with clients and creating a unique piece of art for them. Clients often send me a photo of their new painting hung on the wall in their home, and I always get a real thrill when that happens.

My husband, Dave, and I enjoyed travelling and finding new places and countries to explore. We always said that we would ‘never go back to the same place twice’, then a last-minute break to the Algarve in Portugal changed all that. We fell in love with a little fishing village called Ferragudo, and I calculated we returned there seven times in the following two years! One day we sat in the sunshine in the square enjoying a coffee, and both of us said to each other, at exactly the same time, “I could live here”. And so began our quest to find the perfect Algarve home.

Having bought our house in Ferragudo and then waiting a further five years before we could move out here to live permanently, we then spent seven happy years living our dream life in the Algarve. After that time, we decided we wanted to down-size and move to a more rural and peaceful location on the west coast. My first book, Living the Dream, recounts our story to that point, and at the end of the book, I described the sale of our Ferragudo house and the purchase of our new home. I finished with a teaser, ‘perhaps I will write a sequel’, and so many people wrote to me and said, ‘I can’t wait to read more, when will your sequel be released?’ that I thought I had better start writing again! The result was Living the Quieter Algarve Dream, which I released in November 2020.

Never give up on your dreams. Dream big – and pay attention in your art and English classes at school – one day you will actually be making a living from these subjects!

I have received so many wonderful reviews for this book, and it regularly has that magic orange #1 Bestseller badge on Amazon too. I think one of my favourite lines in a review is a simple statement from a fellow author, Beth Haslam, who writes the fabulous Fat Dogs and French Estates travel memoir series. She said about Living the Dream: “The author’s love for their adopted country shines through her writing.” I think that sums it up perfectly.

I have honestly enjoyed every single step of the journey so far. Each time something new crops up that I have never done before, I relish the chance to investigate and research it, and find out how to do it. I wish I could crack Amazon advertising though—that is still a deep dark hole that I am exploring!

Ah-ha! You know me too well; I have some of my best ideas for my writing either in the shower or at 4 a.m. I have learnt over time to take careful note of these ideas that come through in a flash—they are often gems.

When we first moved out here, I started a blog, mostly as a way of keeping in touch with friends and family. It seemed easier to write a blog post than keep sending the same story to lots of people. Over time, the blog grew and before I knew it, we were recording over 100,000 views a year. It has been a fantastic way of sharing information about the Algarve, events, places to visit, and also Dave’s wonderful photographs.

Ha-ha! Well, honest answer? No! He’s read parts of all of them, and he will say that he already knows what is in them as I always chat about them as I am writing them. He prefers audio books, so perhaps I had better start investigating that option!

I was slightly stunned, as it was only a few years previously that I had taken the brave step of leaving my secure job as a police officer to work in the field of education. My rise to the heady heights of Director, in charge of over 130 schools, seemed to happen so quickly. I was thrilled, of course. It was a demanding and challenging role, but it soon became apparent to me that the department and the job came with an extra layer of issues that were almost impenetrable. It was certainly not an easy role.

I think there are two things that I have found most useful. The first is to write the first draft for yourself, then to edit and hone your manuscript with the reader in mind. The second is to recognise there has to be a moment when your book stops being ‘your baby’ and becomes ‘a product’.

I am actually in the middle of curating a series of three anthologies under a new Travel Stories Series banner. I have been lucky enough to make friends with many other travel/memoir writers, and I have invited many of them to write a chapter each for a series of new books, covering a range of different travel and ‘new life abroad’ themes. It has been a fascinating and most enjoyable time bringing all of their stories together.

I have been so impressed with AllAuthor, and especially the wide range of professional banners and promotional materials I have been able to produce through the magic tools on the website and the weekly mailings. I also reached the final twenty in the cover contest with my first book cover too, which was very exciting. I am promoting two of my books through the site and I love the weekly tweets and extra features available. In fact, I must go and create more animated GIFs.