Mary Shannon

Hi, there. I’m Mary Shannon. This won’t be in faux first person because, honestly, everybody knows we write our own biographies. And I won’t get into a lot of blah, blah, blah, “ain’t she wonnerful” crap. You can judge for yourself. I thought bullet points might be best for this—nice and pithy:

· Born: May 25 in a time when Boomers roamed the earth in diapers and teachers could still whap your knuckles if they didn’t like that look on your face.

· Lived in: Griffith Park in a Quonset hut, various homes in the San Fernando Valley, followed by various homes in Redondo Beach. My family was manically peripatetic. Then, off to San Francisco for the Summer of Love, Santa Barbara for education, coming to rest in the Los Angeles foothills. I’m done.

· Education:

• Twelve years of Catholic school—represent!
• Eight years of community colleges. BA from UC Santa Barbara
• Mid-life MA from Cal State Northridge

· Employment: Movie theater cashier, long distance phone operator, office drone, professional temp worker, English professor.

· Personal: Married. Two sons. No pets as they tend to become coyote lunch in short order.

· Writing philosophy: I wouldn’t if I didn’t have to.

And that’s where things stand at the moment. Stay tuned for updates when I manage to finish one of the many middle-grade novels I’m working on, send it to an agent, get this agent to take me on, then fantasy-hope it gets published.