Some important events

Even while I work a temporary day job an hour away from my home office and writing room, author events still go on. On Thursday of this week I was interviewed again by Cyrus Webb on Conversations LIVE about my memoir Leaving The Hall Light On. This year we spent a little more time on the impact of mental illness on a family, and I was thrilled to tell the audience about our son Paul's music career. Paul showed an interest in music ("I want to watch a record" "play more Cat Stevens, Mommy") from the time he was a little boy. It just blew me away that Cyrus reread my entire book in preparation for this second interview. Cyrus, you are an interviewer extraordinaire! Please listen to Cyrus and me here: Author Madeline Sharples returns to Conversations LIVE *** And I'm very excited to announce that Sonia Marsh, author of Freeways to Flip-Flops and editor of the My Gutsy Story Anthology, and I will participate on a panel to discuss "Relationship Building: The Secret to … [Read more...]

Live radio and a rave review

I was thrilled to be interviewed by Cyrus Webb yesterday on his live blog talk show, Conversations LIVE! Radio. We discussed mental illness, suicide, and finding meaning in life after unthinkable tragedy. What I took away from that conversation is the importance of having these conversations openly and truthfully without pretense. That these are hard subjects is a given. But we must bring them into the light so that others will benefit. If we say the mental illness and suicide words often enough we will have a chance of erasing stigma. Only then will people begin to acknowledge their illnesses and seek help. Only in that way can we save lives.   I was also most impressed that Cyrus acknowledged his failed suicide attempt almost at the start of our interview. This shows the extent of the honesty in our discussion. Here's the interview. Please listen. As my publisher at Dream of Things, Mike O'Mary said: Could be the most important 20 minutes you spend today. And … [Read more...]