I write young adult and middle grade fiction. Home is in Sonoma County, California, where I live with my husband, two sons (one in college in NY, and one a senior in high school), and two dogs.
My current work in progress, young adult fiction with speculative elements, won the 2019 SCBWI SF South Golden Gate Conference Award for Novel and I was an inaugural Mentee. My critique group runs Better Books Marin, a craft-based workshop for young adult and middle grade fiction writers.
Some favorite reads: I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer, Vampires in the Lemon Grove by Karen Russell.
My favorites growing up: The Dark is Rising series, The Secret Garden, The Catcher in the Rye, and generally any time travel fantasy, preferably set in Europe and ideally involving castles (e.g. In the Keep of Time, A Walk in Wolf Wood).
My day jobs: My husband, our close friends, and I operate a residential home construction company specializing in fire-resistant building methods and home rebuilds. I started out in as a management consultant in San Francisco, and love writing business plans (because, storytelling). Before moving back to Sonoma County, I was in strategic planning and ran a business unit in the early days at Yahoo!. I’ve been involved in several local nonprofits including producing and curating the first seven TEDxSonomaCounty events (hmmm, also storytelling) (see Mac Barnett’s fantastic talk on how kids know way more than adults about reading), and served on the boards of Chop’s Teen Club, Sonoma County Rises, and Sonoma Country Day School.
Shannon Ledger 