Shannon's mother says she was a storyteller from birth, jabbering in nonsensical baby-talk. Once she could speak, she made up stories and bribed younger siblings to perform them in mini-plays until an elementary school teacher introduced her to the wonder of written fiction. At age 10, Shannon began to write books, mostly fantasy stories where she was the heroine. Her award-wining books include The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, Book of a Thousand Days, and Rapunzel's Revenge.