Sharon Shinn

Author profile

born

January 01, 1957 in The United States

gender

female

website

http://sharonshinn.net/

genre

Science Fiction & Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

About this author

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I’ve been writing stories and poems since I was eight years old. My first poem was about Halloween: "What is tonight? What is tonight?/Try to guess and you’ll guess right." Perhaps this inauspicious beginning explains why it took me till I was in my thirties to sell a novel. It occurred to me early on that it might take some time and a lot of tries before I was able to publish any of my creative writing, so I pursued a degree in journalism at Northwestern University so I’d be able to support myself while I figured out how to write fiction.

I’ve spent most of my journalism career at three trade and association magazines—The Professional Photographer (which, as you might guess, went to studio and industrial photographers), DECOR (which went to...more I’ve been writing stories and poems since I was eight years old. My first poem was about Halloween: "What is tonight? What is tonight?/Try to guess and you’ll guess right." Perhaps this inauspicious beginning explains why it took me till I was in my thirties to sell a novel. It occurred to me early on that it might take some time and a lot of tries before I was able to publish any of my creative writing, so I pursued a degree in journalism at Northwestern University so I’d be able to support myself while I figured out how to write fiction.

I’ve spent most of my journalism career at three trade and association magazines—The Professional Photographer (which, as you might guess, went to studio and industrial photographers), DECOR (which went to frame shop and art gallery owners), and BizEd (which is directed at deans and professors at business schools). My longest stint, seventeen years, was at DECOR. Many people don’t know this, but I’m a CPF (Certified Picture Framer), having passed a very long, technical test to prove I understood the tenets of conservation framing. Now I write about management education and interview some really cool, really smart people from all over the world.

I mostly write my fiction in the evenings and on weekends. It requires a pretty obsessive-compulsive personality to be as prolific as I’ve been in the past ten years and hold down a full-time job. But I do manage to tear myself away from the computer now and then to do something fun. I read as often as I can, across all genres, though I’m most often holding a book that’s fantasy or romance, with the occasional western thrown in. I’m a fan of Cardinals baseball and try to be at the ballpark on opening day. If I had the time, I’d see a movie every day of my life. I love certain TV shows so much that knowing a new episode is going to air that night will make me happy all day. (I’m a huge Joss Whedon fan, but in the past I’ve given my heart to shows all over the map in terms of quality: "Knight Rider," "Remington Steele," "Blake’s 7," "Moonlighting," "The Young Riders," "Cheers," "Hill Street Blues," "X-Files," "Lost," "Battlestar Galactica"...you can probably fill in the gaps. And let’s not forget my very first loves, "The Partridge Family," "Here Come the Brides" and "Alias Smith & Jones.")

I don’t have kids, I don’t want pets, and all my plants die, so I’m really only forced to provide ongoing care for my menagerie of stuffed animals. All my friends are animal lovers, though, and someone once theorized that I keep friends as pets. I’m still trying to decide if that’s true.

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combine editions
Books by Sharon Shinn

Average rating: 3.83 · 41,840 ratings · 3,906 reviews · 36 distinct works

	Archangel (Samaria, #1) 4.07 avg rating — 3,544 ratings — published 1996 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Summers at Castle Auburn 4.01 avg rating — 3,071 ratings — published 2001 — 2 editions	My rating:
	Mystic and Rider (Twelve Houses, #1) 4.04 avg rating — 2,625 ratings — published 2005 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Jovah's Angel (Samaria, #2) 3.87 avg rating — 2,171 ratings — published 1997 — 3 editions	My rating:
	The Alleluia Files (Samaria, #3) 3.89 avg rating — 1,892 ratings — published 1998 — 4 editions	My rating:
	Angelica (Samaria, #4) 3.89 avg rating — 1,773 ratings — published 2003 — 6 editions	My rating:
	The Safe-Keeper's Secret (Safe-Keepers, #1) 3.76 avg rating — 1,733 ratings — published 2004 — 6 editions	My rating:
	Reader and Raelynx (Twelve Houses, #4) 4.02 avg rating — 1,605 ratings — published 2007 — 5 editions	My rating:
	Dark Moon Defender (Twelve Houses, #3) 4.03 avg rating — 1,629 ratings — published 2006 — 5 editions	My rating:
	The Thirteenth House (Twelve Houses, #2) 3.76 avg rating — 1,705 ratings — published 2006 — 6 editions	My rating:

More books by Sharon Shinn…

Series by Sharon Shinn

Samaria Published Order (6 books)
by Sharon Shinn

3.92 avg rating — 13,908 ratings

Samaria Chronological Order (5 books)
by Sharon Shinn

3.92 avg rating — 13,908 ratings

Twelve Houses (5 books)
by Sharon Shinn

3.93 avg rating — 9,570 ratings

Safe-Keepers (3 books)
by Sharon Shinn

3.83 avg rating — 4,471 ratings

Troubled Waters (2 books)
by Sharon Shinn

3.97 avg rating — 1,304 ratings

More series by Sharon Shinn…

Upcoming Events

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Quotes by Sharon Shinn

“A truth that no one knows is still the truth.”
― Sharon Shinn, Jenna Starborn

tags: inspirational , truth

77 people liked it

“Do you love me?" he asked.
I fell silent.
"For the rest of it is glitter and noise," he said. "At the heart of it all is love. You make that choice, and you go forward from there.”
― Sharon Shinn, Summers at Castle Auburn

51 people liked it

“We cannot go backward. We cannot erase time and events. Bit we can go forward, hand in hand, hope in our hearts and love lighting our way.”
― Sharon Shinn, Jenna Starborn

tags: love

43 people liked it

See all Sharon Shinn's quotes »

Polls

OCTOBER SCIENCE FICTION: This poll decides which 2 novels move on to the run-off poll for our October SF Book of the Month.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

15 votes, 24.2%

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

10 votes, 16.1%

Slow River by Nicola Griffith

9 votes, 14.5%

Archangel by Sharon Shinn

7 votes, 11.3%

Grass by Sheri S. Tepper

7 votes, 11.3%

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand by Samuel R. Delany

6 votes, 9.7%

Time Travelers Never Die by Jack McDevitt

5 votes, 8.1%

Dragon's Egg by Robert L. Forward

3 votes, 4.8%

62 total votes

4 comments

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