Welcome to episode 360 of Live Happy Now. A sense of humor and a sense of purpose are key ingredients for living a happy life. And this week's guest has plenty of both. I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and this week I'm really honored to sit down with Sharon Gless to talk about her book.

Apparently, there were complaints. Sharon made her television acting debut in 1972 and went on

to embody iconic roles including Chris Cagney in Cagney and Lacey, Debbie Novotney in Queer as Folk,

and Madeline Weston on Burn Notice. Her memoir is a funny and insightful

read that also touches on her struggles with alcohol, marriage, and menopause. Today, she talks about

how her gratitude and sense of purpose have shaped her journey. Well, Sharon, a welcome to Live

Happy Now. Thank you, Paula. I am so excited to have this

conversation because I read this book. I fell in love with this book because it is such an

adventure and you make us feel like we're writing shotgun with you through your life. And what a ride.

What a compliment. Thank you. Well, what made you decide to write it now? Well, actually, how I came by this book is I just was finishing a series called the burn notice, which I did for seven years. We've heard that. Yeah, right. The USA. And it was about to end. And I got a call from CBS, asked me if I'd come in and talk with them.

I thought,

oh,

this is cool. They're going to offer me another series, right? And so I got there in the president's office, Nina Tassler. And Nina, when I walked in the door, said, welcome home. I thought, oh, it's so cool. Right. I've done candy, and laces there. Anyway, so I sat for an hour and talked to them and had a good time. And at the end of the hour, Nina said, you know, Sharon, we own Simon. And she was, so I didn't know that need. And she said, well, we do. And I think you have a book. And I said, well, Nina, I'm not writer. She said, no, but you're a storyteller.

There you go. And I don't remember people even telling me that. And I said, okay, so she had the president of Simon Schuster called me the next day. And I waited a year. I mean, I signed with Simon Schuster. And then waited a year before I even flew to New York to meet him. So you were a little on the bubble about it?

Yeah, I mean,

I'm going to do another series.

You know,

well,

that didn't happen.

So. I even flew in New York to meet him. So you were a little on the bubble about it? Yeah, I mean, now I'm going to do another series. You know, well, that didn't happen. So after I met him, I signed, and I waited a year again before I even started writing. Anyway, then I finally got on board and with their help, I read a book. It took me seven years. Well, it was worth the wait. I got to say. And I mean, it's hilarious. I laughed out loud and read

so many parts out loud that whole time, like all the way through. But it's important to know you

also don't shy away from all that trauma that you went through. And how difficult was it to walk through that again? Because,

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