Today on the blog we welcome author Amanda Paull with her guest post ‘The Scott Family Short Stories‘ as part of the blog tour for her new book ‘Pedalo Pandemonium’ which was released on 19th July 2019. This post contains affiliate links.

My name is Amanda Paull. Well, that’s my pen name, not my real one, which helps to keep my writing separate from my day job. I grew up in the North East of England and couldn’t wait to move away. However, after studying and then living both in England and abroad, I returned to the North East and wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else now.

Going to Grammar school in the days when teachers wore black caps and gowns, and walloped at will, wasn’t much fun for a shy, quiet child like myself. So, I just kept my head down, did my homework and tried to stay invisible. I used to love daydreaming and making up stories in my head, but I never thought about writing them down. In those days, writing wasn’t an enjoyable pursuit, it was more of a time to tow the line and avoid being hit by a flying blackboard rubber. I was the type of pupil who would have been mortified to have ‘made’ a teacher launch one at me, so I would have shown respect by not ducking.

A short career in teaching was a revelation, to put it mildly. After going back to University, I settled into my current post in the public sector, where I am very happy. It was Jim, a work colleague, who suggested around 12 years ago that I write a book. Apparently, my contribution to coffee break conversations always seemed to be either tragic or hilarious. But to me it was just normal stuff. No-one would want to read about that.

Then, a couple of years later, while sunbathing in Mallorca with my boyfriend, who is now my husband, and a glass of Cava, the idea of writing a humorous fiction novel came to me. I didn’t need to make it all up though as I had a plentiful supply of funny real life snippets. To get started, I studied creative writing through the Open University, which fitted nicely around my job and, to my delight, was absolutely nothing like school.

I also write Women’s Fiction. Pictures in the Sky was my debut novel, and I am currently writing my second, Painting Bananas.

The Scott Family Short Stories

Hi,

My name is Amanda Paull and I live in the North East of England with my 3rd – and last – husband. I have a sensible job in the public sector and prefer to use a pen name to keep my writing anonymous.

I have always loved the name Amanda, and Paull was my grandmother’s maiden name. Writing is my hobby, but I would like to write full time one day. I love writing the Scott Family Short Stories, but they were never intended for publication. I wrote A Christmas Day Kerfuffle as an assignment for a creative writing course, which I embarked on to learn how to write a novel. It was easy to write as it was inspired by the first Christmas morning my boyfriend (now my husband) spent with my family. Although the characters were fictionalised, I did picture my real relatives as I wrote.

Ben is definitely inspired by my husband. The real Ben was looking forward to Christmas brunch with the confidence of a man who still believed my family was ‘normal’. It was when my brother called in for a quiet cup of coffee ‘before the stress begins’ that he started to look worried. By the end of brunch, he was completely bewildered. The thing that makes me laugh about that story is that some readers thought it was a bit too much to endure in one go – Exactly … welcome to my life!

As I studied how to write my novel, I was inspired to create more Scott Family stories to help me to learn about self-publishing. Some ideas were inspired by real life, but they are mostly fictional. Although short stories aren’t very popular or profitable, I do love writing them.

There is a scene in Let’s Dance that was real. It took place the first time my husband met my family. It is where Maureen demonstrates her approval of Ben by bringing out a silicon dog poo (much to my mother’s disappointment, she can no longer find this…). She tries to make her son Colin show Ben, but Colin is embarrassed and refuses. It ends up flopping into the middle of the dinner table. My husband is from a reserved family and had never seen the like in his life. I am still amazed he wanted to see me again.

The latest story, Pedalo Pandemonium, was inspired by our holiday to Mallorca last year. We stayed in a wonderful, family-run hotel. It was perched on top of a cliff on the coast and at the foot of mountainous area. My husband wanted to take his bike because Mallorca is where the professional cyclists go to train. Pedalo was fictional except for the taxi transfer, which was a mix of a terrible transfer from the airport to the hotel, and a much worse one back. Needless to say, he now has his own bike box, and in future we will be transferring by coach, not taxi!

Thank you for reading this. I do hope my story makes you and your readers giggle. If anyone would like to catch up on the other stories, there are four in total. The first one, Let’s Dance is free from most e-book retailers and there is a free link to the second one at the back of it. I’d love to know what you think of them, Amanda 🙂

Laura and Ben are still together, against all the odds. Laura’s Family the Scotts are adorable – but they wreak havoc wherever they go. The couple have survived first date silicon dog poo, Christmas mayhem and even dodgy marshmallows.

Their future together may have looked doomed on more than one occasion, but here they are at the airport – eating bacon sandwiches and watching planes take off, as they wait to board their flight to Mallorca.

A whole week in an idyllic Spanish fishing village. Just the two of them. Away from their families and the usual chaos. Wonderful.

What could possibly go wrong…?

If you enjoyed the first three books in the series, you’ll love reading all about the couple’s romantic trip to Mallorca. Download it today, put the kettle on, put your feet up and get ready to have a good old giggle.

www.amandapaull.co.uk
@Apaullfiction
Goodreads

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