Shiela S Stewart

Raised on a rural farm in Saskatchewan, Shiela Stewart relied on her vivid imagination to fill her days.
Never did she realize that her need to tell a story would someday lead to becoming a published romance author. In the fall of
two thousand and six, Shiela published her very first book and hasn’t stopped since.

When not writing, Shiela spends time with the love of her life, William and their three children. She has a strong affection for animals
which is evident in the five cats, one dog, three turtles and ten fish she owns. Some of her passions aside from writing are drawing
and painting and proudly displays her artwork in murals in her home.

Her favorite time of day is sunset and loves to stargaze.

Sometimes I wonder if I was born with a pencil in my hand. Writing for me has always been a joy, and at times, a necessity. As a child I wrote songs and enjoyed the attention they brought to me. As a teen, I wrote from the heart, feelings I couldn't tell anyone else about. Poetry seemed to come easy for me back then, and I wrote plenty. But there was romance in my heart long before I knew what true romance was.

At the tender age of sixteen, I wrote a play for my sisters elementary class, titled, Ma Needs a hearing aid, and is loosely based on my father (though he has no clue it was ever written) The play was a huge success, and the chicken I am, couldn't even go to the showing for fear it wouldn't go well. I never thought I was good enough.

I married a wonderful man when I was nineteen and together we have three wonderful children. I dabbled for the next few years, writing poetry for my hubby and my children, while the stories piled up in my mind. I wanted to write about love, about romance, but felt it might be too risqué. I had no idea there was even such a thing as a Romance writer. Then I picked up a Nora Roberts books and a lock inside of me was released.

I wrote for years, free hand, filling binders of my work. There were so many stories fighting their way free inside my mind. At times, I couldn't keep up and wrote two to three novels at once. But I never thought I was good enough.

Six years ago, my hubby, the pushy man he is, told me it was time I started looking into publishers. I politely told him, "What, are you F%&^% nuts, I am not that good." So he picked up the phone and called a local Publishing company for me. Within a week I had a booklet with Romance Authors and Publishers. I began researching, and felt overwhelmed. I continued to write.

I began sending out manuscripts without a clue as to what was expected of me, and received plenty of rejections. Then I began researching Publishers on line ,and, Bingo, I learned you needed a query and synopsis, word count, description of work, and education. YIKES! They want an education background and previous published work. I had neither.

Having dropped out of school in grade nine to help my ailing parents, I was afraid if Publishers found out I was uneducated, they would laugh me off the face of the earth. I continued to write while raising my children, being a dutiful wife, sister, daughter and yearned to have my work out there for others to read. My hubby pushed me, and I continued. To date, I have well over seventy completed manuscripts, most in rough draft, but the ones I think are good enough I have edited and placed on my website.

More rejections came in, and I began to doubt myself, once again. I was on the verge of tossing in the towel when I stumbled across a writing contest on line. Most of me went, "Get real, you'll never win", while a small part of me said, "But maybe...". So I sent in Awaken the Demon, and became one of four finalists. That alone was a major accomplishment for me. I lost, but I had gotten farther than I ever had before. And I plugged on, sending in more of my stories to the editor. To my utter shock, she was interested in one of my books.

Kidnapped, my first novel, will be available through Linden Bay E-Publishers on February 1st, 2007. Blow me over, I actually did it. LOL

In my spare time, I tend to my family, four cats, one dog, eight fish and three turtles. I love to sing and dance as well as use my creative mind to continually change the decor in my house. I love to sit and watch the sun set, and lay in my hubby's arms while we gaze at the constellations in the dark night sky. My favorite flower is the Orchid, my favorite color is blue. I have a fear of moths, which my family exploits any chance they get. And an utter fear of Flying. I am the second youngest child of seven, three brothers, three sisters, and auntie to a large amount of nieces and nephews. I love a good scary movie, and a comedy that makes my sides ache.

My greatest wish: To finally have a honeymoon with my hubby of 24 years.