Meet Shawn
I was raised on forty acres of land in the northern part of Baltimore County, Maryland. It was lovely and idyllic and could be easily romanticized, but it was also a bit lonely. I had horses, dogs, cats, pet rabbits, mice, and snakes as well as siblings and probably preferred them in that order, but I also had books and a mother who loved them. Seems a small thing, but she gave me access to her extensive library and nourished my soul with Willa Cather, Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, O. Henry and more. She read voraciously and wasn’t too good for a romp with a Jackie Collins novel. If it was in print, she would read it, and likewise so did I. She was especially proud of the fact that she had smuggled an unabridged copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover from Europe in the late 50s.
I was lucky enough to learn to read by way of an experimental phonetic alphabet and so, by the age of six, I was able to “write” anything that popped in my head without much of a struggle. And thus, the storytelling began.
I earned my bachelor’s degree at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and my Master of Arts in Writing at Johns Hopkins University. In between the two degrees there were amusing stints as a freelance copywriter, a bookstore clerk, and a florist. I raised a family, adopted a menagerie of stray animals, and gave wings to two children. But always, I was writing.
My short stories have appeared in a number of literary publications and I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to the tireless efforts of generous staff readers and editors who often volunteer their time to gather the best works from around the world and then present them, beautifully formatted and often free to the larger world. Their gift is my blessing.
I live with my husband and an assortment of sassy rescue animals in Baltimore City where I write novels and short stories in a room of my own. These are stories I am compelled to tell, my way of examining the ways in which our hearts are tethered to one another.