Shawna Mayer started writing short stories in high school for her history classes. Her teachers' enthusiasm for her work encouraged her to write more. Once she was in college, she was drawn to enroll in English and writing classes until she figured she'd better major it. After taking a break for a few years to pay off her student loans she returned and got a Master's degree in English with a specialization in writing. Shawna has an interest in dark subject matter and has read extensively about true crime, cults, and obscure, morally ambiguous historical figures. Her vacations usually incorporate at least one visit to a cemetery. Her partner of a decade will ask, "so who's buried there," when she suggests a vacation destination. She's been published in the Illinois Times, the Quincy Herald-Whig, Six-Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak, riverrun, Fine Lines, Slab, Halloween Haiku II, Every Day Fiction (online), heavytable, and many more that she has lost track of over the years.