Beth Szillagyi has been a sheet metal worker for almost thirty years and has been writing ever since she learned how. She won several writing contests in high school and college, and spent five years as a journalist in the Army National Guard. Her 'pet' magazine when she started in the construction business was Tradeswomen Magazine, where she published ten stories about being the lone woman amongst a sea of men. (Note: The magazine is now, unfortunately, out of print, but back issues are still available on the Internet, of course!)

Her current book, Notes From Rainbow Bridge, was inspired by her own angel dog, Cassie Jane, after whom the main character in the book, Chloe, is closely modeled.

Her first endeavor, Hey Lady! Your Tin Snips are Showing! started out as a short, non-fiction version that was first published in Tradeswomen Magazine in the early 1980s. It later found its way to "Hard-Hatted Women," an anthology published by Seal Press in 1988, and finally to Cosmopolitan Magazine in September 1991.

She had written the full-length version of the story during this time in first person format. When a publisher suggested the story would sound better in third person as fiction, she changed it again, and all of this with one of those ancient IBM Selectrics where you have to change the entire ball of type if you want a different type font. (Giving away her age here, too...)

Beth lives and plays in Illinois with her husband and best friend, Bob, who is also a construction worker, and her two dogs, Jake and Teddy. Bob's children inspired her second book Cobwebs in the Broiler, the story of how Val learns how to be a step parent by the seat of her pants.

She hopes to be able to retire in the next year or two so she has more time to write, volunteer at the no-kill animal shelter and perhaps take an art class or start playing the piano again.

 

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