Noble Secret

A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Ms. Atley began her collegiate studies in the School of Business seeking an Accounting Degree. Yet, she soon found herself wishing for a more creative outlet. And so, it was not long before she enrolled in the School of Liberal Arts, where Ms. Atley earned a B.A. focusing on English, History and the Classics. Her early years were filled with dance, music and sports like tennis, but reading and history were always hobbies, as well. Oddly enough, it was in middle school when Ms. Atley told the class she was going to be a writer. Not because she thought she had any talent, or was ever told she did, it was just something she liked to do – to make up stories. She honed her talent on her own, and over time her skills began to reap rewards. Her professors were some of the first to remark on her talent, one going so far as to accuse her of plagiarism in her freshman year. And so, with their encouragement, she continued to write. After graduation, however, when life took on a more serious chapter, Sheila suddenly found herself a wife, mother of three sons, and an office manager – writing would have to wait! During those years, she had typed or written out loads of book ideas, strings of verses and paragraphs, dialogues, lines of poetry, to but set them all aside. As time progressed, and the last of her three sons graduated from college, she suddenly found herself able to settle into writing. Her first novel, "Discovering Caroline," was published in 2019. Tragically, just after publication, she suffered an accident that heavily curbed her ability to write. In fact, it would take over a year for her to take up writing again – and those baby steps were fitful indeed, netting few results. As her health improved, she continued to beat out the keys and finally completed the sequel to her first novel. Sheila happily lives in West Texas with her husband of thirty-five years and their chocolate lab.