Sheila Flaherty is an Army brat who grew up to be a writer and clinical psychologist. She earned her Ph.D. from Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago, and has had a thriving private practice in the Chicago area, except for one year spent in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. While in Saudi, Sheila’s compassion led her to practice counseling secretly with American and Saudi women. This experience inspired her to write East of Mecca, a story about women within the confines of a violent, oppressive, male-dominated society. Sheila has placed in numerous screenwriting competitions, including the Nicholl Fellowship, Big Break, BlueCat, and Table Read my Script:London. East of Mecca was a Finalist in the 2018 Socially Relevant Film Festival in New York and a Finalist in the 2005 CineStory Screenwriting Competition. East of Mecca was awarded a Silver Nautilus Book Award in Fiction for 2015, is IndieReader Approved with a 5-star review, and named one of the best self-published books of 2016 by IndieReader. East of Mecca has a near 5-star review from over one hundred readers on Amazon and is also an Amazon Best Seller in Middle Eastern Literature. Flaherty has been awarded three residencies at the Ragdale Foundation for her work in fiction. Sheila's life mission is to enlighten, inspire, and empower others for the greater good. A majority of all profits from sales of East of Mecca will go toward providing funding for women and girls to meet their most profound needs.