Sheila Mary
Taylor was born in Cape Town beneath the towering slopes of Table Mountain. Her
Scottish parents, both serious academics and writers, despaired of her, as the
things that turned her on as a youngster seemed far removed from their serious
world of academia.
And no wonder.
Cape Town was a distracting paradise to grow up in: mountain climbing, surfing
in the glistening waters of the Indian Ocean, roller-skating, riding, hunting –
and parties galore. She did it all, although the thing she loved most was
dancing, and until she was twenty-three when she met Colin, her husband-to-be,
on a visit to the UK, she wanted to make ballet her career. But having been
surrounded by wall-to-wall books from an early age, and listening to music
almost non-stop as her father played his hi-fi classical records so loud it was
like having an orchestra in the house, was bound to have a belated influence on
her. Yet it was only much later that these two strong influences – combined
with the clock-ticking heartbreak of her youngest son Andrew being diagnosed
with teenage cancer – would change her life and kick-start her writing
career.
Her plethora of
unusual activities: jockey in amateur
ladies’ races, exhibition roller skating in night-clubs, a spell of acting and
directing, secretary to a diplomat, creator and editor of a dramatic society
magazine, dancing in the Royal Albert Hall, and above all, living in exciting
exotic places around the world with Colin, her mining engineer husband of
almost sixty incredible years – have all enriched and inspired her writing.
Twitter:
@AuthorSMBelshaw
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sheila.belshaw
LinkedIn: Sheila
Belshaw
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