Pages

About Me

I'm a YA/MG author represented by Victoria Marini.

I was born in Tennessee, but I don't have a southern accent (which actually got me sent to speech therapy in third grade). I've lived in several other states, including Pennsylvania, Idaho, California, and now Georgia. I've driven across this wonderful country more times than I know what to do with.

I decided to be an author when I was 12. I finished my first novel when I was 15--some friends and I made up characters for a web group, and I used them all, even "El Guapo" (he played the part of wise hermit). I'd post the chapters onto the group page, which gave me a sense of accountability and got me to actually finish it. I believe that novel vanished from existence when floppy-drives went out of style.

I got a B.A. in English from BYU-Idaho, which is where I met my prince charming. We were married in the Logan, Utah LDS temple in 2008. We both graduated college two years later, finishing up right after the birth of our first beautiful daughter. Beautiful girl #2 came along 18 months later, and boy do they keep me busy! Baby girl #3 arrived summer of 2014, but so far she's not as wild as the others.

One of my deepest passions is ballroom dancing. In college I specialized in ballroom Cabaret, or Theater Arts, which basically means lots of lifts and drops. I loved feeling like I was flying. (If you'd like, you can see some of my dance videos.) More recently, I've become nationally certified as a ballroom instructor and I teach at a local studio.

I've studied Spanish, Chinese, and some Italian, though I'm not fluent in any of them.

I play the piano and teach piano lessons.

My happy place comes from a summer I spent working in a bead/jewelry shop on the banks of Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire. I'd make jewelry all morning, then spend my afternoons at the lake with the kids I had nannied for 5 years. It was a glorious summer, and to this day if I picture the reflection of pine trees on water, I can smell the trees, feel the breeze, and hear the kids laughing.

If you have any questions about me, leave a comment or email me at shannoncooleywrites@gmail.com.


2 comments:

  1. For the record, you are crazy talented in so many ways. ;) And your first paragraph made me giggle. Do your family have accents? I never had one but have always assumed it was because my parents (who grew up elsewhere) didn't have accents themselves.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thanks! And no, they don't have accents either (like your parents, they grew up elsewhere). It did cause trouble, though, when people in the south thought I didn't know how to speak...

      I find I have more of an accent now, actually. After having studied different languages, I tend to mimic the pronunciation of whomever I'm speaking with, which frequently makes my husband laugh. Sometimes it sticks for awhile afterward if I've spent much time with them, which is really entertaining. Once I became semi-British for a week.

      Delete

Please leave a comment; knowing people are reading encourages me to keep writing.