Northern Colorado writer Shelley Widhalm is a freelance writer and editor by day who writes fiction during the other hours. She occasionally dabbles in oil painting, drawing and knitting, and once in awhile, she goes outside to run, hike and observe nature. She’s written six novels, a collection of short stories and hundreds of poems, plus she blogs about the writing life.
Shelley’s current projects are literary adult, The Fire Painter, and young adult, In the Grace of Beautiful Stars. Her short stories and poems have been published in several anthologies, and she’s won a few contests.
Her work appears in such publications as Northern Colorado Writer’s 2019 anthology, Rise: An Anthology of Change, as well as Flash!: A Celebration of Short Fiction, Baby Shoes: 100 Stories by 100 Authors, Greyrock Review and Sunrise Summits: A Poetry Anthology. She’s also won a few poetry contests, including third place twice in Poudre River Public Library District’s Battle of the Bards poetry contest and first place in the Loveland Business Team Poetry Contest, plus she has been invited to read at local poetry readings.
Shelley studies fiction writing through creative writing courses, attends writing workshops and is a member of Northern Colorado Writers, Pikes Peak Writers, Mountain View Authors, DazBog Poets, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, plus is a guest member of the Editorial Freelancers Association. She holds a Master of Arts degree in English from Colorado State University and worked in journalism for 20 years, bringing that background to her storytelling ventures. Her work in journalism includes four years at The Washington Times and eight years at The Loveland Reporter-Herald.
After two journalism layoffs, Shelley went into freelance writing and editing and in January 2017 founded Shell’s Ink Services, based in Loveland, Colo. She provides writing, editing and ghostwriting services and can help perfect a project from a short story to a novel. She also offers consultations on writing and editing.
To put it simply, Shelley writes professionally, writes for fun, writes in her free time and writes in her journal. She also writes a poem a day, something she started in 2015. Some are good, some not so much, but what matters is she keeps trying. She also loves her cute dachshund named Zoey, who is her writing partner and the CEO of Barking.
Note: Shelley Widhalm is seeking a literary agent and/or publisher for her literary works.