DR. SHEILA SCHWARTZ
Professor emeritus, SUNY

Noted author, educator, lecturer, and consultant.

Dr. Schwartz's most recent novel is "The Little Terrorist". She engaged in research for "The Little Terrorist" in Gaza, Israel, Athens, Masada, and at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D. C. This novel, which deals with a little terrorist, a girl trained for the intifada, recounts mass events of terrorism from the Athens Airport Massacre to the World Trade Center bombing. Among the familiar names in this book are Osama bin Laden, Mohammed Atta, Ali Abu Kamal, Adnan Yunis, and Marwan Kreeshat.

The book deals with major themes such as the destruction of the innocent, the uncertainty of daily life, the necessity for forgiveness, the ability to continue despite personal tragedy, and the possibility of love across the barriers of race and nationality.

Read the First Chapter of The Little Terrorist.

Dr. Schwartz has published sixteen books; novels, anthologies, adult fiction, young adult fiction, adult non-fiction, young adult non-fiction, and college methods books. One of her Young Adults novels, Like Mother, Like Me, was made into a CBS film, Like Mom, Like Me, which starred Linda Lavin. She has taught writing at every age level and to populations as diverse as Elderhostels and inmates in correctional facilities. In her work for the Writers' Digest Criticism Service she edits manuscripts and prepares them for publication. She is available for book readings and signings, the teaching of writing workshops, and for lecturing on writing and literature. She has been employed by the University of Pittsburgh to teach writing courses for their Semester at Sea (SAS) on an ocean liner that goes halfway around the world.

Sheila Schwartz has been teaching writing and film study at Rio Caliente for eight years. Workshops are held every November and February. You can visit their website at www.riocaliente.com and you can email them at riocal@aol.com.

Her newest novel, The Little Terrorist, is an amazingly prescient, prophetic picture of the terrible events of September 11. This wildly romantic, tragic and joyous love story is set against the background of contemporary terrorism. It is a story of survival and the courage to rise above tragedy and build a new nuclear family out of the ashes and rubble of the past. An engrossing, sensual and emotional read!

Like Mother, Like Me (iUniverse, 2006) - This is novel about a college professor's daughter's embarrassment when he runs off with a student, leaving his wife and daughter devastated. Jen, the daughter, becomes so involved with her mother's problems that she is unable to deal with her own. Just in time, Jen meets Peter,and is ready to give up mothering and be a teenager herself for a change. A tender, heartwarming story about adolescence--a mother's and a daughter's --forgiveness, and growing up together.

Growing Up Guilty (iUniverse, 2006) is the story of a young girl's coming of age at the onset of World War II. Susan finds it difficult to understand life, caught between a hostile mother and a passive father. It is also difficult for her to understand the political forces swirling around her.Her life changes when she meets Sol in high school. At his home, Susan finds a different world of laughter, intellect and love. Susan's story is in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor but her coming of age problems are universal for all teenagers struggling to find themselves.

The Hollywood Writers’ Wars, the story of the Hollywood Ten and their lawyers. The story of the battle to form the Screen Writer’s Guild is for the first time told fully and in riveting detail, based on diaries, letters, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and hundreds of interviews with members of the Hollywood community. Brilliantly recreated is the political turmoil that shattered the Hollywood community through the 1930’s and into the 40’s—leading to the House Un-American Activity Committee and the blacklist

The Solid Gold Circle the story of a damaged girl who vows to marry a man rich and powerful enough to protect her from the harsher realities of life. After she marries Jeff, her dreams become reality. Their lives change when they join YPO, the Young Presidents Organization, the Solid Gold Circle of the title. Then, having everything, Ellen begins to find that this is not the life or the man she wants.