Sharon van Ivan lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her two cats, The Duke and Earl.  She was born in Brooklyn New York and couldn’t wait to move back to New York when she grew up.  Her parents divorced when she was a baby and she lived with her mother in Akron, Ohio, until she returned to New York in her early 20s.  There she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and was a working actress for many years.  But she was always writing.  Her debut as a playwright was when she was 10 years old and living in Sacramento, California.  She wrote about the hardships of a young girl in Mexico.  The play was so good, it was presented to the whole school.  Sharon was mortified and did not write again until high school.  Then when she had a writing assignment, she would dream about it the night before, and write it just before class.  She was an A student in English.  Not the most popular person in school, however.

Growing up with an alcoholic and, therefore, mentally ill mother and a mostly-absent father (plus a slew of stepfathers) was a challenge that Sharon met head-on – as she had no choice. Later in life when she did have a choice, the patterns had already been set and she followed a similarly disastrous road until she found show business, a great psychiatrist and the love of her life, the renowned realist painter, Charles Pfahl.

Purchase Juggle and Hide on Amazon.

Q: What’s inside the mind of a memoir author?

A: Memories – both good and bad – that have been with me throughout my life. The memories are like slides stuck in a corner of my brain that I need to sort out so that I can go on to write about other things.

Q: Tell us why readers should buy Juggle and Hide.

A: Juggle and Hide has a great cover.  It’s a photo of a painting – also entitled Juggle and Hide – that my husband worked on while I wrote the book. I also believe my story might help others who suffered by growing up in a parent’s alcoholic blackout and then going on to become alcoholics themselves -- even though they swore they never would. And how they came through it all. We are all survivors.

Q: What makes a good memoir?

A: People learning how do deal with their troubled lives. How to live with something horrible from childhood, or even later – even now – and then being able to see that they’re not alone.  We can survive even some of the darkest times, accept our losses and move on without fear if we can relate to others who have experienced the same horrors or similar horrors.

Q: What is a regular writing day like for you?

A: I always begin the day by writing in my journal.  Otherwise, I’m sad to say that I am not very disciplined as a writer and I am high-level procrastinator.  Every day is different for me writing-wise unless I’m really caught up in a project and then I’m writing all day every day. Very erratic way of writing.

Q: What do you find most rewarding about being an author?

A: Completing a project. Being able to stay home and create something from nothing.  Well, not actually nothing.  And people.  I am one of those who who listens all the time to what people are saying: on their phones, in a restaurant, anywhere.  It often doesn’t mean anything at the time, but something important may come out of it later.