Natasha Sheldon

I've decided to completely revamp the website. So from this moment onwards, please be aware that it is a work in progress. I anticipate that the job will be complete in a couple of weeks.

 This is something I've been meaning to do for a while but kept putting off because I never had the time. Then it came to me that I never would have the time if I didn't make it myself.

So I’ve put a couple of projects on the backburner. Hopefully the completely new site will be finished in a couple of weeks.

 I have to say thanks to my fellow writers at Suite101 for their critically constructive comments on the site. I asked if some of them would take a look at it and give me some feedback. They did and they certainly didn’t spare me. But I’m grateful for that (besides which, I’m in the wrong job if I can’t take criticism on the chin)

All their comments were fair, constructive and bang on and they have sparked off all sorts of ideas about what I could do with the site.

As you can see, I've made a start with a clean new format. I’ve also added a contact page. Over the next week or so, the page titles and their arrangement will completely change. At the moment, I’m redesigning the look of the pages and re writing the content. Fingers crossed the finished article will be more informative, interesting and give members and casual browsers a better idea of what I do and what I am about.

I’d certainly welcome any constructive feedback anyone else would like to pass on. So don’t hold back!

Just to let anyone interested know-I am no longer associated with Flying Witch Publications so they should not be contacted if anyone wishes to buy any of my booklets from them.

 If anyone is interested in the booklets, please contact me via the site. Please ignore the link on Amazon. 

Why has the association ended? Well, its a long story and not all mine to tell. But everything happens for a reason and I say cautiously at the moment that it is a good thing. Suffice to say, new and better things are afoot. Watch out for further details.

The first of my recently accepted articles has now been published. its about the Ummayyad Mosque in Damascus and can be found on the Travel Thru History website. Here's the link for those who'd like to take a look without the searching:

http://www.travelthruhistory.com/html/historic52.html

Off now to get some work done whilst Marcus is napping. Hopefully I can reward myself with some downtime in the sunshine this afternoon!

Right, its out on the suite101 website so I can now announce it here-I'm the veteran writer winner of the latest Suite101 challenge.

 Very pleased, mainly because I met the challenge requirements of 15 articles in 15 days. It was a great exercise in organising myself and making the most of my Marcus- free time.

I'm also very happy with the articles In wrote. I predominantly write archaeology articles for the site but I made sure I included some in different areas. I've recently completed a course in baby massage which I can recommend to anyone for calming a fractious baby. This prompted two baby related articles: baby aromatheraphy and baby massage.

I also included two travel articles based on my experiences travelling about the Tunisian sahara (pre Marcus of course!). The sahara really is a breathtaking place and there is so much to experience. My articles explore the beautiful oasis towns, such as Tozeur and also the traditional Berber way of life at the heart of the desert. 

Very quiet of late on this blog but not because I have been up to my neck in dirty nappies. In between bonding with my fantastic little son, I have been writing!

A number of articles due out on other sites-news and links for these when they are published. And hopefully I will soon be selling my Roman Magic booklets direct from the site. I've also been branching out on Suite101. I've been adding to my travel articles and branching out into mother and baby articles by making the most of my experiences so far. There are some articles about baby massage, aromatherapy and the challenges of c sections to new mothers that I hope people will find useful and enjoy reading.

 The Breastfeeding after a c section article is particularly close to my heart. Breastfeeding is so enthusiastically promoted these days and thats no bad thing. But its all rather rose tinted at times and I wish I had known that having an elective caesarean could inhibit milk production, no matter how frequently I fed. It would have saved me a lot of guilt but more importantly prevented marcus spending a heartbreaking 24 hour stint in hospital and a 14% loss of body weight.

So how am I finding the time? A lot of it is down to having an easy going child who takes daytime naps and lets me sleep at night (we're there now but it didn't happen 'overnight'!) . I fit my writing in around him-before he wakes up, during his naps, at night when he goes to sleep. But I also think having a child makes you value and utilize your time better. I haven't exactly sat down and analyized my day but i do find i am getting the same amount done, perhaps a little more in a much smaller window of time. makes me wonder what I was doing before! 

Rather quiet of late but things have been busy since the 11th November! Marcus William was born at 12.31pm. As you can imagine, he's been taking up most of my time. So begins the challenge of juggling motherhood with writing.

Not as impossible as it seems if you have a good baby and are willing to sacrifice even more sleep! I managed to write 30 articles for Suite101 by the end of November. Most were before Marcus's birth but I managed to complete 12 after giving myself a week off to recover from the trauma of the C section.

This helped to make me feel 'more myself' after leaving hospital feeling like I'd been run over by a truck. It was also good writing discipline and has made me realise how much more time can be salvaged from an already busy day.

That challenge completed successfully I'm taking some time off now to spend soley with my son.  But I'm already thinking ahead to the beginning of not only a new year but a new decade and what I want to achieve-as a mother but also as a writer.

Check out my Facebook page for more details (and pictures) of Marcus

Welcome to my blog! Now I finally have the time, hope to keep this relatively up to date with any news about forthcoming projects and new work.

At the moment I'm waiting for the birth of my first baby but I'm keeping busy, which involves some heavy front loading of suite101 articles to tide me over the inital baby moon period. Recent articles look at Etruscan history, art and archaeology and the archaeology of Hadrian's Wall

In the past,  I've submitted quite a few articles based on archaeological sites I've visited to Suite. If you are interested in Middle Eastern Archaeology and in particlular anything Roman related, look out for my latest pieces on the city of Palmyra. The articles (plus some of my pictures) will be looking at what makes Palmyra such a special and inspiring place to visit. It may look like a Roman city but a closer look at the archaeology shows its residents remained proudly semitic.

And if the baby doesn't arrive first, I'm hoping to start a new series of articles on classical myths and the potential inspiration behind them.

Finally, I'm hoping to be selling my Roman pamphlets directly from the website very soon. So watch this space.