User:Ccmontgom/sandbox

Sharma Shields is the author of the short story collection "Favorite Monster", winner of the 2011 Autumn House Press Fiction Prize. Her fiction has appeared in literary journals including the Kenyon Review and Iowa Review. She is also the author of the novel "The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac". Shields has won awards, including the Tim McGinnis Award for Humor. Shields has worked in independent bookstores and public libraries throughout Washington State and now lives in Spokane with her husband and children. a Shields has worked in independent bookstores and public libraries throughout Washington State and now lives in Spokane with her husband and children.

Her new book, called “The Cassandra,” set at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation, is due out from Henry Holt in 2019.

Life
Shields grew up on the South Hill of Spokane. In 2012 she noted that she was “one of those girls who asked for a horse and actually GOT one.” I

In her senior year Shields was elected the Ferris High School Lilac Festival princess. She also played varsity soccer, edited the yearbook, and was homecoming queen. In an interview in 2015 she noted that she did these things primarily because she felt "compelled" to.

After graduation, Shields earned a degree in English (emphasis on creative writing) at the University of Washington. After graduating she worked at a bookstore, a position she says she loved. In 2002 enrolled in the University of Montana graduate program in creative writing. There, she met her husband to be.

Shields received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Washington (2000) and her MFA from the University of Montana (2004).

Sharma has worked in independent bookstores and public libraries throughout Washington State and also serves on the programming committee for Spokane's Spark Central.

Shields shares a small South Hill home with her two two young children and husband, writer/illustrator Simeon “Sam” Mills, who teaches at Garry Middle School.

Novels
Shield's "The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac" was published in 2015. The book tells the life story of Eli Roebuck, whose mother deserts him when he's 9 years old, running off with a man believed to be a Sasquatch. The story covers the years from 1943 to 2006, and Eli Roebuck seems to be loosely modeled after anthropologist Grover Krantz, a scientist who studied the Sasquatch. In the nove the Sasquatch in the novel is named Mr. Krantz, in an apparent homage. Roebuck's obsession haunts every decision and relationship in his life, most often negatively.

Short Stories
Shield's collection of short stories "Favorite Monsters" was the inner of the 2011 Autumn House Fiction Prize. The publisher's site describes the collection, "Besides being weird, fantastic and surprising, the stories in Favorite Monster are flat-out fun. Always a halfstep ahead of the reader, Sharma Shields dares us to follow her through the twisted mazes of her dark rides, tantalizing us with just enough shocks so that when we come out the other side, we immediately want to go again."

Influences
Shields has often spoken of the influence of Greek mythology on her work, and this is evidenced in her upcoming work "The Cassandra" which reimagines the classic Greek myth. Shields' work frequently contains mythological characters. She has also particularly mentioned Twin Peaks and Steven King's "Misery"

External links and further reading
Category:1966 births Category:Living people

Category:Writers from Spokane, Washington