After writing for many years, Skye Stuart has found her passion:

writing the stories of forgotten women. She's dedicated her life to

seeking them out and bringing their imagined stories to life.

She looks forward to writing many more books about forgotten women.

Historian Barbara Tuchman defines history as "simply a good story" and award-winning "Forgotten Female Felons" is a book of "good "historical fiction short stories about the early women incarcerated in the Colorado Territorial, Prison in Cañon City, from 1872 to the early 1900s.

The bones of the stories are based on facts, then woven with elements of history, culture, and human nature, specifically female. Stuart has created a unique book about an overlooked piece of the American west. These women’s stories cast light on an overlooked thread in the tapestry of the American West and are just as valid, real, and interesting as the explorers, soldiers, and cowboys.

Using original never-before-accessed prison intake sheets and other historical documents, weaving their accounts with compassion, truth and imagination, award-winning author Sherry Skye Stuart skillfully tells these women’s imagined stories and restores their dignity as women, weaving their accounts with compassion, truth and imagination.

These women from our collective past faced many of the same challenges that contemporary women confront today. Issues such as female sexuality, abortion access, pregnancy and childbirth, domestic violence, addiction and economic instability remain as relevant now as they were then.

Delve into Catherine’s tale, a renowned midwife sent to prison for committing abortion.

Weep at Lizzie D.’s tragic stories of abuse and addiction.

Delight when Gertie's typewriter becomes the vehicle for telling her story sixty years later.

Chuckle when Bertha’s granny decides to use her fancy dresses to make a crazy quilt.

Explore the inner workings of the prison Female Department through the writings of two Matrons - Catherine and Susan.

"Forgotten Female Felons" is a book that you'll long remember, stories of secrets, stories and second chances.

"Skye has taken real life stories of women who served time behind bars of the Colorado women's institution to create inspiring short fiction. These stories explore some of the heartbreaking realities of these women and the strength and courage they had to overcome the hardships of life. It is truly a wonder to see the history of women in corrections brought to life when it is so often overlooked."

Stacey Cline, Director, Museum of Colorado Prisons and Morgan Eskridge, Museum Assistant.

"FORGOTTEN FEMALE FELONS takes readers on a deep dive into life behind bars for 19th century Colorado Women. Based on years if hands-on research, Sherry Skye Stuart crafts short stories from actual prison records. She brings to life the tales of desperate women making hard - sometimes rash - choices and facing the consequences. Modern readers will relate to many of the difficulties these gals weathered. readers will cry as they read tales of despair, hope and resilience. And they will cheer as they read about the power of second chances. This book creates a greater appreciation of the strength and grit of our female ancestors."

Kimberly Burns, award-wining author of "The Mrs. Tabor" and "The Redemption of Mattie Silks."

2025 Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. 3rd place Unpublished Historical Fiction Book “Forgotten Female Felons.”

2025 Oklahoma Writers Federation Inc. 1st Honorable Mention Short Story – Western “Catherine.”

2023 Women Writing the West 3rd place LAURA Short Fiction "Mayfield."