The PINK SOFA Welcomes Sarah England

Sarah England

Sarah England is yet another of the extremely talented fiction writers I have met on social media sites. Her new book: Expected has just been published by the wonderfully named Crooked Cat. The strap line on the cover says: 'Fiery. Feisty. Fun' a description of the heroine Sam Sweet. It could just as aptly be applied to Sarah herself, as you are about to find out. The PINK SOFA, who likes to visualize itself as Fun & Feisty - it doesn't do Fiery due to the flame-retardant upholstery, is very taken with the book, and has stashed its copy behind a cushion to read later when everybody has gone. What you are about to enjoy is not the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Though some of it is. 
Over to you, Sarah ...

 ''My life began when my parents won me at a fairground. They'd wanted a coconut but the gypsy stallholder was all out. I was a strange child, though not as strange as my parents - who came from an inbred hilltop village where everyone had the same surname. To make it easier for the postman each family was allotted a colour - blue or pink etc. And that bit, dead reader, is not made up! Freaky eh?

Sarah's new novel

So hardly surprising that my parents did not so much have my best interests at heart, as to find me a general source of amusement. I first realised this when they took me pony-riding - the pony sneezed and I flew off. Bawling my little eyes out, I looked for sympathy only to find the pair of them helpless with laughter. After that, my dear father would go out of his way to smash me in the face with a shuttlecock during family games of badminton and my dear mother took great hilarity dressing me up in hideous balaclavas for Sunday school. So I grew up quite cross.

Desperate to escape, I ran away to become a nurse and then worked in medical sales, unsurprisingly specializing in mental health, a subject I bring up oh so many times in my work. Then came the disastrous marriage - to one, who, to continue the theme, enjoyed my discomfort so much I questioned his sanity, and once again escaped. By this time I had reached maturity: I was a middle aged woman, bitter and twisted, swigging gin from beneath the roots of a tree. It was then I decided to become a writer.

Sarah's short stories

To date I have had many short stories published in magazines and newspapers, and this year my collection of thrillers 3am and Wide Awake was published by Alfie Dog Fiction. Hot on the heels came Expected - my comedy novel. Thrillers? Horror? Comedy? Yes I agree it's tragic but that's the story of my life so far. I'm odd and it's hardly surprising. I read tarot and have a passion for the supernatural. Many of the stories in 3am are medically or supernaturally inspired - all with bizarre twists. Whereas Sam Sweet in Expected is the perfect role model for hapless dingbats everywhere. Read and be inspired ...

Thank you very much for inviting me onto your PINK SOFA, Carol. It's been lovely lying here pouring out my heartfelt life story and knowing I won't be judged. By the way - what's that white van doing out there? Who are those people with syringes?? Shriek! I couldn't use your bathroom could I? Wouldn't be the first time I've shimmied down a drainpipe - mind you that was before I mysteriously ballooned up to the size of a pregnant heifer ...''

Hahahaha - love it!! If you want to connect with Sarah, and why not - you can contact her via Twitter @sarahengland16  or via her website: http://www.sarahengland.yolasite.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sarahenglandauthor
Sarah's books are available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk and well worth reading. 

Right, while the PINK SOFA fends off the men in white coats with a big stick - anybody got any comments or questions?