Wednesday 19 February 2014

Shades On! With Madelyn Mogan



Throughout February I am having a number of special peeps join me for some warm winter sunshine. All my guests will be answering four simple questions. So slip on those shades and settle down to meet today's fabby guest, Madalyn Morgan



Thank you for inviting me to share a little winter sunshine with you, Pauline.  It’s freezing and snowing here.  Get the sun-loungers out; I’m on my way …


Bikini or swimsuit?

Ha ha!  It’s been a while since I wore a bikini.  It’s definitely a swimsuit for me these days, with a sarong tied round my waist when I walk to and from the beach or pool. 


Share a memory from your childhood

My most wonderful childhood memory is when I visited America at the age of eleven and lived on an Indian Reservation in Granite Falls, Minnesota, for six weeks.  I was adopted into the Dakota Sioux Tribe and some years later given my native name, Wacantkiya Win.  I believe I’ve already told you about it, so I’ll tell you about another lovely childhood memory that I have. 
For the first five years of my life, mum and dad took me to Brighton for our summer holiday.  We stayed with dad’s aunt Ciss who lived in a lovely garden apartment in a magnificent Victorian half-moon Crescent.  Our days were spent on the beach, or going to other nearby beaches and taking a packed lunch. 



My lovely mum and dad – and me scowling in the middle

In the evenings, when I was about four or five, mum and dad would go to the hotel on the corner for a drink.  Daddy always popped back with a treat, a bottle of beer for aunt Ciss, a bottle of Vimto for me, and bags of crisps and nuts.  Great-aunt and I would play cards, she would read me stories, or we’d listen to the wireless.  Mum and dad were always back in time to put me to bed, even so I was allowed to stay up later than I did at home and thought I was very grown up.  I loved being with my great-aunt Ciss.  Mum used to say, “Be a good girl and look after aunt Ciss,” so I thought it was me who was looking after her.  Of course, it was the other way round, but great-aunt Ciss never let on she knew and let me play at taking care of her. I was probably bossy even then.  Happy days. 


Favourite summer drink and why?   

In England, on the rare occasions that it’s really hot, I like a bottle of Sol with a slice of lime.  When I go with my friend to her apartment in Spain, we drive to Fuengirola and have lunch in one of the little squares.  It’s usually so hot by midday that, having drunk copious amounts of bottled water during the morning, we’re ready for something more interesting at lunchtime.  So we sit outside a small cafĂ© beneath an umbrella, drink cold beer, and watch the world go by.  In the evenings, it’s a glass of chilled white wine on the balcony overlooking the sea, before dinner.  Bliss!


Poolside or beach for soaking up the sun's rays, and favourite place?

I don’t sunbath.  I enjoy being out in the sun, but not lying in it doing nothing.  I love the beach and I love being poolside, for different reasons.  I like walking along the beach in the early evening, or sitting in a beach bar looking out to sea.  I’m fascinated by the vastness of the ocean, it frightens and excites me because I’m drawn to it (which is why I’d never go on a cruise).  However, if I’m relaxing and catching the last of the sun’s rays, it is poolside sipping a glass of chilled white wine.  

I enjoy reading the interviews with your fab friends round the pool.  Having read some of their books, it’s nice to know more about them.  The interview with Geri Dunlop, where she said she was a winter person, reminded me of the last time I was in America.  I am not a winter person, I love the summer, as long as it isn’t too hot.  The English summer is fine for me – when we have one.  The spring and autumn in Spain is even better.  However, I’d like to share this photograph with you. 



Driving a snowmobile – Minnesota – winter 1992

The photograph was taken when I was in the US in 1992.  Winter in Minnesota is very cold.  Out in the country, on the reservation in Granite Falls, the temperature can drop to 40 degrees below zero.  That is cold! 





Foxden Acres on Amazon, Paperback & Kindle: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BCX59LE/ref=rdr_kindle_ext_tmb

Thank you for interviewing me, Pauline.  Can I come and sit round your pool again before the publication of my second novel, Applause?  The launch date is March 25th – I’ll bring my shades. 



Madalyn Morgan - Fiction Blog: http://madalynmorgansfiction.blogspot.co.uk/
Madalyn Morgan - Non-Fiction Blog: http://madalynmorgan.blogspot.co.uk/
Madalyn Morgan - Website: www.madalynmorgan.com
Facebook – Madalyn Morgan Author



There is another fab peep joining us again tomorrow, so please pop by…. Thanks!



6 comments:

Gilli Allan said...

I enjoyed your poolside chat with Pauline, Madalyn. There can't be many people who can claim to have been adopted into a native American tribe! I'm with you on the great b suit v bikini debate, although... if I had my own private beach!!!! I do lie in the sun a bit, when I have the chance, as I am paranoid about getting sunburnt in uneven patches across my shoulders. Could spoil the look when I next wear my ball gown.

Unknown said...

Glad you enjoyed the poolside chat Gilli. Pauline is a great hostess. Yes, there are all manner of things you could do if you had your own private beach. As for my strapless, backless ball gown, the only balls it get to see these days are mothballs. xxx

Pauline Barclay said...

Hello Gilli, great to see you here and maybe that private beach could be yours if you win the lottery.... we can dream :) Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your next ball!

Pauline Barclay said...

Hi Madalyn, it's always a pleasure having you here and what a fab story about the Indian tribe! x

Unknown said...

Thank you Pauline. It's always an honour to be interviewed by you - and on such a fabulous blog.

The Dakota people are fabulous. I took down lots of notes when I went back to visit grandma Cavender in 1992. I shall have to write about her and her ancestors. She was a truly amazing woman. x

Unknown said...

These are wonderful glimpses into the deeper you, Madalyn! I'm originally from South Dakota (for those not intimately familiar with US geography, SD and MN are neighbors; I lived only an hour away from the MN border). I know much about the Dakota Sioux tribe. What an honor that you were adopted into it!