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William Shunn

Goodreads author profile

url

http://www.goodreads.com/shunn

born

August 14, 1967 in Los Angeles, California, The United States

gender

male

website

http://www.shunn.net

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror, Nonfiction

member since

May 2008

About this author

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William Shunn was born in Los Angeles in 1967 and raised in Utah in a devout Mormon household. As the eldest of eight children, he was expected to serve a two-year mission for the LDS Church at the age of 19. He was sent to work as a missionary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but after six months was convicted of mischief and expelled from the country. (The complete story is told in his memoir The Accidental Terrorist, currently available as a serialized podcast.)

Shunn graduated from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in 1991 with a degree in computer science. Shortly thereafter his short fiction began appearing in the premier science fiction magazines. Since 1993, his stories have appeared in Salon, Asimov's Science Fiction, The Magazi...more William Shunn was born in Los Angeles in 1967 and raised in Utah in a devout Mormon household. As the eldest of eight children, he was expected to serve a two-year mission for the LDS Church at the age of 19. He was sent to work as a missionary in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but after six months was convicted of mischief and expelled from the country. (The complete story is told in his memoir The Accidental Terrorist, currently available as a serialized podcast.)

Shunn graduated from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City in 1991 with a degree in computer science. Shortly thereafter his short fiction began appearing in the premier science fiction magazines. Since 1993, his stories have appeared in Salon, Asimov's Science Fiction, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Science Fiction Age, Realms of Fantasy, Electric Velocipede, Storyteller, and elsewhere, including best-of-the-year anthologies. His work has been nominated for the Hugo Award and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award, and twice for the Nebula Award.

A small collection of his stories, An Alternate History of the 21st Century, was published by Spilt Milk Press in 2007, with an introduction by Cory Doctorow. A short horror novel, Cast a Cold Eye, co-written with Derryl Murphy, will appear from PS Publishing in 2009.

Shunn served three years as a national juror for the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. He has also worked as a software developer (notably for WordPerfect Corporation and Sesame Workshop), and on September 11, 2001, he created what may have been the first online "survivor registry," where people in affected cities could let friends and loved ones know they were okay.

Shunn moved to New York City in 1995, leaving the Mormon church at the same time. After twelve years there, he moved with his wife Laura Chavoen to Chicago in 2007, where he is now a full-time writer. Among other projects, he is working on a novel-length expansion of his Hugo-nominated novella Inclination. He and Laura are proud owners of a soft-coated wheaten terrier named Ella.(less)

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Books by William Shunn

Average rating: 3.90 · 79 ratings · 16 reviews · 7 distinct works

	Inclination 4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2006	My rating:
	An Alternate History of the 21st Century 4.40 avg rating — 5 ratings — published 2007	My rating:
	Year's Best SF 13 by David G. Hartwell (Editor), Robyn Hitchcock (Contributor), Gwyneth Jones (Contributor) 3.80 avg rating — 49 ratings — 4 editions	My rating:
	Science Fiction: The Best of the Year, 2007 Edition by Rich Horton (Editor), Ian Watson, Christopher Rowe 3.36 avg rating — 36 ratings — published 2007 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Beyond the Last Star: Stories from the Next Beginning (Darkfire, Volume V) by Sherwood Smith (Goodreads Author) (Editor / Contributor), Gregory Feeley (Contributor), Ilsa J. Bick (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 2002	My rating:
	Trochu divné kusy 3 by Martin Šust (Editor), Jay Lake (Goodreads Author) (Contributor), Claudia O'Keefe (Contributor) 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2007	My rating:
	Cast a Cold Eye by Derryl Murphy (Goodreads Author), William Shunn (Goodreads Author), Charles de Lint (Introduction) 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	My rating:

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William's Writing

The Accidental Terrorist: My Adventures as a Foot Soldier in the Mormon Army (Nonfiction)

2 chapters — updated Mar 29, 2010 04:35pm

Description: A memoir of my time as a youthful Mormon missionary, culminating with my felony conviction and expulsion from Canada. Available in full as a <a href="http://www.shunn.net/memoir/">serialized podcast</a>.

Inclination (Science Fiction & Fantasy)

1 chapters — updated Mar 29, 2010 04:35pm

Description: Jude Plane is a teenage boy who lives in a cloistered religious enclave on a giant space station. Jude's faith forbids him from using advanced technology, but that resolve is put to the test when his father sends him to work outside the enclave, unloading freight at the station's hub. There Jude makes friends stranger than any he's known, and finds himself confronted by choices he couldn't have imagined just days earlier, including whether to embrace his new life or his old. The original novella was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon awards in 2007.

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William's Recent Updates

William Shunn is now friends with Tina
Apr 01, 2012 11:26am
William Shunn is now following Chavoen's reviews
Apr 01, 2012 08:22am
William Shunn added: Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King	My rating:
Nov 11, 2010 03:19pm
William Shunn added: The Affinity Bridge by George Mann	My rating:
Nov 11, 2010 03:18pm
William Shunn added: Comfort to the Enemy and Other Carl Webster Stories by Elmore Leonard	My rating:
Nov 11, 2010 03:17pm
William Shunn added: 52 Pickup by Elmore Leonard	My rating:
Nov 11, 2010 03:16pm
William Shunn added: Love Like a Dog by Anne Calcagno (Goodreads Author)	My rating:
Nov 11, 2010 03:14pm
William Shunn added: City Of God by Tom Grimes	My rating:
Nov 02, 2010 04:22pm
William Shunn added: A Stone of the Heart: A Novel by Tom Grimes	My rating:
Oct 26, 2010 02:36pm
William Shunn added: The Slightest Distance by Henry Bromell	My rating:
Oct 25, 2010 02:13pm