Shanna Wynne

The Third Person Bio

Shanna Wynne is the mother of two children who exhibit demonic qualities on a regular basis.  Perhaps because their father is a devil in disguise, or maybe just because Shanna’s a weirdo.  She lives in Lawton, Oklahoma, and while she enjoys the small population of the moderately sized city, she prefers cooler climates and one day dreams of living in a densely wooded area in the north east.  She writes ghoulish stories that terrify and perplex the mind, with just a splash of humor to make the medicine go down.

Shanna made her literary debut in the online magazine, 13 Human Souls, with her story, “Proper Training.”  Since then she has appeared in various markets online, as well as in print in Darkened Horizons Issue 6, featuring her story, “The Witch Tree.”

Right now she’s working on a short story collection cataloguing the followers of the pagan god Bahulia, a creation from the dark recesses of her mind.  As well as two novel projects: one a fantasy with a splash of darkness, and the other a fable about the monster in the closet.

The First Person Perspective

I was born in Houston, Texas.  The same year Freddy Krueger was set upon the world.  (Isn’t that a strange coincidence?)

The goofy child in the picture on the left is indeed me.  She’s got a mischievous twinkle in her eye, doesn’t she?  Or maybe it’s a goofy, “I don’t know what I’m doing,” twinkle?

I tended to be pretty silly in my younger years.  I was once sitting on the counter, pushing around a gallon of milk and amusing myself.  Unfortunately, I pushed the milk too close to the edge. It fell over and I didn’t let go.  The milk hit the floor and I quickly followed.  That wasn’t the only time I’ve fallen and bumped my noggin.

My life has been full of these brain jiggling jolts, so I don’t need to go into all of those stories.  Just imagine an All-Terrain-Vehicle flipping into a brown-water bayou, the screen falling off a two-story window, and many other strange circumstances.

Does this have a point?  Not really.  Maybe it offers some insight into how my mind works.  Maybe it’s just a funny story that leaves an opening for other funny stories.  (That are only funny in 20/20 hindsight, of course.)

But getting to the really juicy stuff…

I have been telling stories since I learned to talk.  I was very physical when I told stories, waving my hands in the air, getting up and acting out the scenes.  To amuse themselves my family would have me sit still, with my hands tucked under my legs.  They would watch as I struggled to find the words that usually came so easily to me.

I started actually writing the stories down on paper in kindergarten.  In fact, my very first publication was a short-short story I wrote about my dad that was published in a school compilation during second grade.  I still remember the funny print the school used and how everyone ooh‘ed and aah‘ed over it.

Except for a long period where I battled a tenacious bout of writer’s block, I have never really stopped writing.  The act of writing, of putting words on paper, helps me exorcise my own personal demons–and usually entertain myself, and hopefully others, in the process.

Though I love to write, I never really considered it as a career until my husband prompted me to pick up the pen again.  His determination and confidence in me gave me the inspiration I needed to end the writer’s block and I started writing again.  Since then I’ve had a few stories published and written many more that are still looking for homes.  (See my eyebrows waggling?  Publishers?  Are you listening?  I have a lot more stories to sell!)

Sorry about that.  Sometimes I’m overcome by an urge to be weird.  It’s a compulsion.  Rather unsightly.  I’m working on it.  I promise.  Don’t leave. Stick around, just a little longer.  I’m almost done.

It makes me happy to write in the horror genre.  Frankly, I enjoy being scared.  I see monsters in every closet, under every bed, and peeking out at me from that weird hole in the ceiling.

While I do enjoy writing in other genres, I will always call the horror genre home.  Most people find the paranormal a terrifying subject, but I relish in it.  I’m hoping one day to buy a haunted house and live in it.  I live for ghosts, ghoulies, evil faeries, monsters, shadows and all the other creepy crawlies that go bump in the night.

I dream big dreams, of one day being the next ‘Master of Horror’ (or Mistress, if you prefer) and knowing that millions of readers across the globe love to pick up my books and scare themselves silly.

I agree with Stephen King, in that “if you don’t dream big, what will be left when the Bad Ass Patrolman comes around and cuts you down to size?” [Paraphrased from King's non-fiction book, On Writing.]