About Shannon


I wrote my first book, "The Secret of My Magic Powers" when I was ten years old.  Self published and illustrated, I held in my hands the laminated dreams of a young writer.  I went on to write a dozen more books which now grace the bottom of a large plastic bin in my guest closet.  Having adolescent ears made of clay, impressionable and easily molded, I believed that being a "writer" was a hobby, not a career.

In 1993, I went to college picking my major as a girl picks out a Friday night outfit, and I changed it just as frequently.  Floundering through life, poor and tired of waiting tables, I focused on my most lucrative option - information technology.  I still wonder how a certified math-phobic ended up working in the field of computers, but I held my own and worked my way to management.

I married in May of 2004.  Tired of the daily grind and being stuck in a job I was good at but didn't love, we decided to start a family and had my first child in 2005.  I quit my career in software analysis to take a break, slow down and become a Mom.  Two years later I had my second son and I'm still wondering when the break is coming!

After struggling with infertility and two difficult pregnancies I turned to writing to sort through the myriad of emotions I was feeling.  My blog was my companion during the lonely days of pregnancy and early motherhood.  I still had a passion for writing, but being a full-time Mom left little time for hobbies (or showers, or shaving my legs) so I wrote when I could.

Somewhere after the birth of my first son, I blinked and he turned five years old.  I was a wife and mother of two and I still hadn't decided what I wanted to be when I grew up.  Over a bottle wine with a honest friend, the question was asked of me, "What are you going to do when your kids go to school?"  I answered, "I guess go back to work, but what I want to do is write."

Motherhood has changed me profoundly.  My children have taught me to slow down (Wait for me, Mom!), appreciate the everyday miracles (watching my two healthy boys play in the sandbox) and do what makes me happy (Can we have ice cream for dinner?)  I definitely took the long way around, but 25 years later, I have discovered "The Secret of My Magic Powers."  It's just like I tell my boys, "Use your words."