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Sheila Quigley goes blind half way through her new book

Jun 28 2009 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

CRIME writer Sheila Quigley’s latest novel almost failed to see the light of day . . . she went blind halfway through penning it.

Sheila Quigley

The grandmother-of-eight was in the middle of writing new book The Road to Hell when her eyesight swiftly deteriorated until everything around her was engulfed in a thick, foggy haze.

Sheila – who made headlines when she clinched a £300,000 book deal for her debut Run For Home – had been diagnosed with cataracts in 2004, but she was too afraid to seek medical help, despite fears she would completely lose her sight.

But terrified she would never be able to write again, let alone see her family, Sheila finally took the plunge and had the cataracts removed at the “fantastic” Sunderland Eye Infirmary.

With the cataracts removed, Sheila, of Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear has now been able to finish The Road to Hell and she and her loyal army of fans can’t wait for its release through her new publisher Tonto Books, based in Blaydon, Gateshead.

She said: “I went blind when I was writing this one, from my cataracts, and it was horrendous.

“I refused to have the operation because I was terrified – the idea of someone cutting my eye open was terrifying– so the book was a mess.

“I waited months and months and I couldn’t see anything before I finally had the operation.

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