Today I have the very great pleasure of welcoming Marcie Steele to Chat About Books! 🙂

I have absolutely LOVED every single one of Marcie Steele’s books (and Mel Sherratt’s books for that matter!) If you haven’t read any of them yet then you really are missing out on some cracking reads!

Do you want to get to know the lady herself a little bit more? Or course you do! Read on and enjoy…..

For those who don’t know already, could you tell us about yourself and your book(s) please?

I’m Marcie Steele, the pen name of author Mel Sherratt. I write women’s fiction – feel-good books with happy ever after endings about friendship and love, with a community spirit. I have written four books so far, the latest of which is called The Man Across The Street.

Where did/do you get your ideas from?

Absolutely anywhere. I can hear a song title, I can read a letter in a magazine. I can overhear conversation. Love is all around, as they say! I am never stuck for a book plot.

Are any of your characters based (however loosely) on anyone you know?

No, I have enough voices in my head that I don’t need to do that!

How do you pick your characters’ names?

I have a baby book of names that I skim through. It’s important in my genre to keep the names very stereotypical. For example, Sophie and Beth would be more suited than Mary and Annie. Dan and Ben would be better suited than Craig or Liam. So it very much depends on the genre I am writing in.

Who are your top 5 favourite authors?

Ooh, let me see. I love Tilly Tennant, Beth O Leary, Marian Keyes, Carmel Harrington and Jill Mansell.

If you could meet any author, who would it be and what would you ask them?

Gosh, I have been fortunate to meet SO many over the past few years. I always go to pieces when I meet my favourites so I would actually just like to have a pleasant conversation without feeling like a geek! But I have yet to meet Lisa Jewell – we are like passing ships in the night. I love her lighter and her darker fiction.

Were you a big reader as a child?

Yes, I loved Enid Blyton’s The Magic Faraway Tree and The Secret Seven. I would read anything from the library and loved a trip there each Saturday morning.
Is there a book you wish you had written?

Bridget Jones’s Diary. I remember when it came out and thinking it was SUCH a good premise. The diary, to my knowledge, hadn’t been done before and I thought, well, I can’t do that now… To my surprise, lots of authors went on to do the same and did well. So one day I will write a book in the form of a diary.

If you wrote an autobiography, what would your title be?

The Woman With Too Many Shoes – a little self-explanatory, don’t you think?

If you could invite any fictional character for coffee who would it be and where would you take them?

Bridget Jones. I don’t smoke but I would swig wine and swear to my heart’s content with her, discussing everything men, love and gossip.

Tell us a random fact about yourself

I am terrified of the dark.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on an idea for a psychological thriller, as Mel Sherratt, while working out the plot and ideas for my next Marcie Steele novel.

Tell us about your last release?

It’s called The Man Across The Street

Maybe I’m scared to be happy…

Meet Hannah – she’s been her mum’s sole carer since she was eighteen. Now alone after Martha’s sudden death, Hannah feels lost in the only place she’s known as home, Hope Street. Coming up to a milestone birthday, she’s wondering what her purpose in life is.

Meet Doug – a workaholic, he’s in the office from dusk ’til dawn, and when he has a heart attack. Now on the mend, he needs to de-stress his life and focus on living it, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Doug moves to Hope Street, number 35. Hannah lives at number 34, directly opposite. From the moment they meet, there’s a spark.

But there are secrets too. Hannah’s mum has been keeping something from her, her sister left over twenty years ago, and there can’t be such a simple reason why Doug has moved to Somerley. Can there?

The book feature a host of characters living on Hope Street in the market town of Somerley, also featured in The Somerley Series.

What do you generally do to celebrate on publication day?

It depends where I am, if I’m at home or in London. If I’m at home, I have a lovely leisurely day, thanking people on social media, eating cake, going out for a meal and generally indulging. If I’m in London, it will be more of the same but swapping the social media for travelling, and possibly an event to do in the evening.

How can readers keep in touch with you?

I’m on @marcie_steele on Twitter, at MarcieSteeleAuthor on Facebook and my website is http://www.marciesteele.co.uk All my books are available on Amazon too.

Marcie Steele’s Amazon Author Page

Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions, Marcie 🙂

My pleasure, thank you!