Shelagh (that's the Irish form of Sheila!) Watkins was born in Lancashire , UK and graduated from the University of Leeds before she moved to Scotland , where she completed a course in Information Technology at the University of Glasgow . She has many interests, including artwork, computing, reading and all forms of writing.
Shelagh began writing in 1998, and wrote her first novel, The Power of Persuasion. The story, set in Scotland, is about a married woman in her mid-forties, who writes a letter to a national newspaper in response to features written by one of the paper's freelance journalists, who has quite a reputation as the newspaper's theatre and film critic.
In 2004, Shelagh wrote her first children’s novel, Mr. Planemaker's Flying Machine. Although written for children, there is more to the book than just a story but readers are left to figure out the underlying philosophy for themselves.
In October 2005, one of Shelagh’s poems, Hope for a Safer Place, was chosen for inclusion in the anthology, Stories of Strength, which was written in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to help raise money for Disaster Relief charities.
Shelagh’s first short story, Leo's Daughter: Mistress of the Web, was accepted by Universe Pathways Magazine, a Greek sci-fi and fantasy magazine, in February 2007 and appeared in Issue 5 of the English version of the magazine.
Here is Shelagh’s own account of her experiences in publishing.
For more information, visit Shelagh’s website at:
http://shelaghwatkins.co.uk/
