Sara Sheridan is a Scottish activist and writer who works in a variety of genres, though predominately in historical fiction. She is the creator of the Mirabelle Bevan mysteries.
Biography
Born Sara Louise Goodwin, Sheridan comes from Edinburgh and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. She is a former member of the Society of Authors Committee for Scotland and the Crime Writers Association. From 2009 to 2015 Sheridan sat on the board of writers' collective, '26'. She both managed and took part in the 26 Treasures projects which took place at the V&A, Kensington, the Museum of Childhood, Bethnal Green, The National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh and the Museum of Childhood, Edinburgh. The resulting book, 26 Treasures won the Literature Category at the British Design Awards 2013. Sheridan also ran the organisation's annual charity advent calendar, 26 Stories for Christmas.
Work
Sheridan's first book, contemporary commercial fiction, Truth or Dare entered the Sunday Times top 50 when it was published in 1998. It was nominated for the Saltire Prize and was also listed in the Scottish Libraries Top 100 Books. In the successive two years Sheridan wrote two more novels in the same genre, Ma Polinski's Pockets and The Pleasure Express. During this period, she also co-wrote two short films, Fish Supper starring Lynda Bellingham and The Window Bed, which was nominated for a Sky Movies Max Award in 2001. She was then commissioned by specialist publisher Barrington Stoke to write a novella for reluctant readers, called The Blessed and The Damned. In 2003, she switched genres to historical fiction and funded the move by ghostwriting. She now writes two series of historical novels: one based on the real lives of late Georgian/early Victorian adventurers and a series of 1950s cosy crime noir mysteries featuring her fictional ex-secret service heroine, Mirabelle Bevan. . In 2017 On Starlit Seas was shortlisted for the . Sheridan has also written a children's picture book, which was inspired by her relationship with her niece and a pan-European picture book written with her daughter. Sheridan occasionally appears as a commenter on TV and radio in the UK. She has reported from both Tallinn, Estonia and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates for BBC Radio 4. She has contributed to several British newspapers, including writing blog articles for The Guardian in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. She has also appeared, talking about history and feminism on RTE radio in 2017 and 2018. In 2013 she appeared on The History of the Lady on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. Sheridan also writes blog articles for the Huffington Post and occasionally writes for the BBC online and as a cultural commentator on BBC Radio Scotland. She also writes TV-tie in books. One for the second series of ITV's hit drama series, "Victoria" based on the life of Queen Victoria and most recently for ITV's adaptation of Jane Austen's last, unfinished novel: Sanditon. She has also written non-fiction for Historic Environment Scotland, which was included in the David Hume Institute's First Minister's Summer Reading List 2019. A portrait of her by Scottish artist, Sophie Mckay Knight the result of a creative collaboration, was featured by The GuardianArt & Design column in 2015 before going on to public exhibition in the National Gallery of Scotland. In 2016 Sara co-founded REEK. with her daughter, make up artist, Molly Sheridan – a fragrance company that speaks out against the lack of female memorialisation throughout history and challenges beauty industry norms. REEK's fragrances memorialise 'heroic, unapologetic and passionate women from history to the present day' and its first scent was launched in 2016 in memory of the Jacobite women. It has been called the 'first feminist fragrance'. In 2017 the company launched an eau de parfum in celebration of the memory of witches.
