About Shannon

Do you have a go-to snack or beverage while you write?

I always begin with coffee.

Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what type of music inspires you?

When I write, music is almost always the background. I play either albums of a favorite artist, such as Owl City or Sandra McCracken, or one of my YouTube playlists (especially Mellifluous).

What advice would you give to aspiring writers looking to improve their craft?

Write the story, again and again. The only way to master anything is through doing it.

How do you come up with names for your characters?

For every book, I have a general theme for naming. There are always exceptions to the theme—names that are chosen for a particular meaning or ethnicity, or as an allusion.

In The Time Door, my theme was old-fashioned, and usually biblical, first names paired with last names that sounded a little more suited to the space age. David Killiam and Margaret Killiam are prime examples. So, in another way, is Manasseh Cruz—a first name that a Puritan might have had, and a last name that a Puritan definitely would not have had. Donegan Moynihan, on the other hand, is pure Irish—the ethnicity being the consideration. Jephthah Baines, the name of the White House chief of staff, was designed both to fit the theme and to share the initials of a historical White House chief of staff (Josh Bolten).

What is your favorite book?

With many candidates … Till We Have Faces, by C. S. Lewis.

What is your favorite genre to read?

Science-fiction. Fantasy is a close second … but still clearly second.

What books did you read as a child?

The very earliest books that I read were Dr. Seuss, Curious George, and the Berenstein Bears. As I got older, I began to read other series: the Boxcar Children, the American Girls, the Magic Attic, Mandie, Nancy Drew, and the Hardy Boys.

I also read the Little House books and the Anne of Green Gables series. But for reasons of quantity rather than quality, other books loomed larger. I spent so much time with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, whose adventures never seemed to end.

If you could live in any book’s story world, which book would you choose?

Middle-Earth is grand, but there is too much in the way of dark lords and undead stalkers and man-eating trees. Narnia is charming, but werewolves are real there and winter has been known to last 100 years. I would live in the world of The Wind in the Willows because I appreciate how everyone lives comfortably and independently without jobs.