Alyson Sheldrake, Artist and Author



Alyson Sheldrake, Author and Artist

This week’s featured guest needs no introduction, the gifted Alyson Sheldrake. She comes to us from the beautiful Algarve, Portugal. She’s living the dream as a professional artist and best-selling author. Her recent memoir, ‘Kat the Dog : The remarkable tale of a rescued Spanish water dog’ is a #1 Bestseller on Amazon and has been awarded a KDP Select All Stars Bonus for the 5th time in the last 7 months. Since its release, it has won six awards. 

Alyson has a wonderful artistic monthly newsletter called ‘Snapshot!’. She writes about her art and books and her husband Dave’s photography. She features notable artists and authors and she generously shares travel tips, recipes, and news about life in Algarve. She highlights the work of animal charities in the Algarve and much more. You’ll have to subscribe to her newsletter. It feels like a glossy magazine in a digital format. 

So, without further ado, here’s my interview with Alyson Sheldrake. 

1.Tell me about yourself. 

Hello, and thank you for inviting me to be featured on your wonderful blog.
My name is Alyson Sheldrake, and I am originally from Birmingham, in the UK. I have an honours degree in sports, and I am also a qualified teacher. I have ‘A’ levels in art and English Literature. That may explain my passion for painting and my love of writing, but perhaps not why I spent 13 years working as a Police Officer before leaving the Force to work my way rapidly up the education advisory service to become a Director of Education.

Giving up an illustrious and successful career in education may have seemed a crazy thing to do. But the creative call of my paints and brushes became too loud and insistent a sound to ignore. I escaped the dreary grey British weather together with my husband Dave, a professional photographer, almost 13 years ago and we set up my art studio in the beautiful sunny Algarve in Portugal.

I now spend my days either in my studio painting or writing, or out with my husband and his camera exploring the many beautiful and unspoiled beaches of the Algarve, and the hidden ‘local’ villages that dot the Portuguese landscape, together with our beautiful rescued Spanish water dog. 

2. Can you give me a brief Synopsis of your books in one sentence? 

I have written three travel memoirs in my Algarve Dream Series. I am the author/curator of the Travel Stories Series. My latest book, ‘Kat the Dog : The remarkable tale of a rescued Spanish water dog’ was released in May 2022. 

3. What genres do you write in? 

My books so far have been travel memoirs. Kat’s story is a memoir with a difference as the main character has four legs and a ‘waggy’ tail! 

4. What inspired you to write your books? 

When we first moved to the Algarve to live permanently, I started a blog about our life here. Pretty soon it grew into a professional award-winning blog. Lots of our ‘personal’ stories no longer fit the format, so I saved them on my laptop. Everything seemed to happen to us, and so many people said to me, “You should write a book about your adventures.” So, I did! Once I had self-published ‘Living the Dream in the Algarve, Portugal’, I was bitten by the writing bug and I haven’t looked back since! 

5. What message did you want your readers to take from your books? 

From my travel books, the message is that life is an adventure, and we should dream big dreams and go for it! From Kat the Dog, my biggest hope is that more people will adopt a rescue dog as a result of reading her story. 

6. What’s the most challenging aspect of writing for you? 

Once you have self-published a book, the realisation that the work has only just begun. There is so much to learn and master about marketing and promotion as an indie author. I’m still learning new things all the time.

7. What’s the most rewarding aspect of your writing? 

Receiving wonderful messages, emails and reviews from people who have loved my work. Especially for my bestseller, ‘Kat the Dog’. I even had someone contact me to tell me they had adopted a rescued Spanish water dog as a result of Kat’s story. That was such a special moment for me. 

8. Are you currently working on a book now? 

I’m playing around with some ideas for a new book which will be fiction rather than memoir. It’s early days and I’m just letting things brew in my head at the moment. 

9. How many hours do you write in a day? 

Typically, when I am in full flow. I tend to get up early around 5 a.m. and write for a couple of hours before taking our new rescue dog Zara out for her morning walk. I find it much easier to concentrate when the world around me is still asleep! 

10. If you are not writing, what are you doing? 

I am also an artist, so you will often find me in my studio working on my latest creation. I also write a monthly newsletter/magazine called Snapshot! which is often over 100 pages long each month, so that keeps me busy. 

11. What would you tell emerging Indie authors? 

To write from your heart and worry about the editing later. Find a good mentor who will support you and encourage you, and don’t be afraid to ask daft questions! There is always someone who will know the answer to anything you need to know about indie publishing. 

12. What do you do for marketing? 

My newsletter is my main focus each month, and I also run a couple of successful Facebook ads. I have a detailed press pack on my website for ‘Kat the Dog’. I have several Facebook groups that I am a member of. They constantly challenge me to do better with my marketing. I find other author’s success stories to be very inspiring. 

13. If you were a fruit or a vegetable, what would it be and why?

I’d be a banana! I have Rheumatoid Arthritis which I manage with a very strict Autoimmune Protocol ‘diet’. I eat, on average, about 3 bananas every day! It’s a wonder I haven’t turned into a banana already! 

Thank you again, Alyson for letting me feature you. If you want to know more about Alyson and her body of work, feel free to click on the links below.

https://www.alysonsheldrake.com/
https://www.facebook.com/AlysonSheldrakeAuthor
https://www.facebook.com/ArtbyAlysonSheldrake
https://www.instagram.com/alysonsheldrake/

Snapshot! newsletter signup:
https://www.alysonsheldrake.com/news/

Check out my 5 Star review for ‘Kat the Dog: The remarkable tale of a rescued Spanish water dog’ as posted in Amazon, GoodReads and BookBub.
The Coconut Wireless by Simon Michael Prior

Back to Top