Alyson Sheldrake was born in Birmingham in 1968. She has always loved art and painting, although she found little time for such pleasures, working full time after graduation. She joined the Devon and Cornwall Police in 1992 and served for thirteen years, before leaving to work in the field of education. She became the Director of Education for the Church of England in Devon in 2008.

Once her husband Dave retired from the Police, their long-held dream of living in the sun could become a reality. Alyson handed in her notice, and with her dusty easel and set of acrylic paints packed and ready to move, they started their new adventure living in the beautiful Algarve in Portugal in 2011.

Alyson is the author of the award-winning and popular Algarve Blog, and has also been a keynote speaker for several years at the annual 'Live and Invest in Portugal' international conference. She is also a feature writer for the Tomorrow Algarve magazine.

She is an accomplished and sought-after artist working alongside her husband Dave, a professional photographer.

The first two books in her Algarve Dream Series, entitled 'Living the Dream - in the Algarve, Portugal' and the sequel, 'Living the Quieter Algarve Dream' were full of useful advice, enjoyable adventures, and hilarious stories of their Algarve life in the sun.

The third book in the series, 'A New Life in the Algarve, Portugal' is an anthology of life stories of other people who have also made the Algarve their home.

She is now busy compiling her new Travel Stories Series of anthologies, covering the globe with tales of travel and adventure.