East of Mecca
Sheila Flaherty is an Army brat who grew up to be a clinical psychologist and writer. After earning her Ph.D. from Northwestern University Medical School, she has had a thriving private practice for 30 years—including one year spent living in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Her novel East of Mecca is inspired by her experiences in Saudi, where she secretly counseled American and Arab women. Sheila has placed in several screenwriting competitions, and in 2010 and 2013 she was awarded residencies at the Ragdale Foundation for her work in fiction. Sheila lives near Chicago with her husband and two cats.