Shelia E. Bell
Years
by Barbara Ragsdale
S
helia Bell began writing during her teen years, poetry,
essays and speeches that were for herself as well as
others. However, her validation as a writer came when
her first full length fiction novel My Son’s Wife:The Beginning
was published in 2000. She followed that success with a
non-fiction book about the loss of a loved one. “These two
independently published books led to the ‘writing bug’
for me.”
The realization that Bell had transferred from an amateur
writer to the professional category came when she was offered
her first book deal from a major publishing house. It was the
heady world of five-figure advances and selling thousands of
books. “I’ve never looked back, but I understand that writing
for me is a God-given gift.”
Over the years she has admired other authors, but none
as much as J. California Cooper, the award-winning author
of books, short stories and plays. “Her deep, moving style
of writing is different from anything I’ve ever read. I love to
read her stories.” Shelia longed to meet the author in person.
Sadly, Cooper passed away before that was possible.
There are usually two questions authors are asked to
answer: 1) How do you find time to write? and 2) Where did
you get the idea for your book? For Shelia, the first question
has an easy answer. “Writing is part of me. It comes naturally.
I don’t find time to write; I make time to write. It’s who I am
and what I do.”
The second question has many sides to the answer, but
essentially it involves relationships, imperfect situations
and less than perfect people forced to react to very human
events. The series began with My Son’s Wife: The Beginning
and book 9 in the series has been released. “I had no idea the
book would be the start of a series and that it would be as
successful as it is today. It remains one of my best sellers.”
Another part of the answer to the second question involves
selecting a writing genre. Many authors struggle with trying
to find the category appropriate for their writing. Not so
for Shelia Bell. The publishing house for her first novel
10 Southern Writers
was actively looking for “Christian fiction.” She researched
the field, tailored her work to meet the guidelines and her
manuscript was accepted. Into Each Life went on to win
numerous awards and was included on many bestseller’s lists.
“I am a woman of faith, a Christian, and I always knew
I did not want to write books that were too racy or erotic.
I consider my books to be edgy Christian fiction with loads
of drama.” That description must be accurate since her
readers love the stories.
Her beginning series, My Son’s Wife is set in her
hometown, Memphis, TN. Little research is needed even
though the author has left the “Blues” city and moved to
“Music City”. The series is contemporary in events and
relationships, but at times needs research to answer medical
and/or legal questions so the stories remain realistic.
One cannot write about Shelia Bell without referencing
the project closest to her heart, a God-given vision: Black
Writers and Book Club Literacy Association (BWABC).
Literary Festivals are held throughout the country to stem the
tide of illiteracy. For five years BWABC brought best selling