I’m originally from Leeds, but I moved to the island of La Palma in the Canaries, just off the North West coast of Africa to work as a software engineer for six months. I met a local man in the Isaac Newton Telescope and I’ve stayed for 30 years so far. In 2011 I retrained as a Starlight Guide - a tour guide specialising in astronomy - and up until the pandemic she showed visitors around the same telescopes. (Sadly there are no visits available at present, due to COVID-19)
I’ve published three books:
- "A Breathtaking Window on the Universe" is a guide to the Observatory on La Palma (also known as the Roque de Los Muchachos Observatory, or the European Northern Observatory) The book is aimed at normal people, with lots of photos and anecdotes, and a full glossary of the technical terms. You can see a panorama of the observatory at https://www.360cities.net/image/roque-de-los-muchachos-observatory-la-palma-canary-islands
- "The Seer's Stone" is an illustrated anthology of children's stories set on La Palma, mostly during historical events like the eruption of the San Antonio volcano in 1677, or the solar eclipse of 1959.
- "The Dodo Dragon and other stories" is an anthology of quirky science fiction, available as an ebook.
I’m currently looking for an agent for "Murder by Starlight", my whodunnit set in the observatory, and planning another whodunnit set in La Palma's national park, "Pinch Me". My website is http://sheilacrosby.com
