About

The Short, Official, Third-Person Version:
Shallee McArthur is the author of THE UNHAPPENING OF GENESIS LEE. She originally wanted to be a scientist, until she discovered she liked her science best in fictional form. When she’s not writing science fiction and fantasy for both the young adult and adult markets, she’s attempting to raise her son and daughters as proper geeks, playing video games, or sewing her own clothes. She has a degree in English from Brigham Young University and lives in southern Utah with her husband and three children.

And because people always ask, her name is pronounced "shuh-LEE." But she answers to anything that sounds remotely close.

She is represented by Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.


The Rambling, More Personal Version:

Born and raised in Utah, I’ve been writing since I could hold a pen. Initially, I stole all my ideas from the Story Club in Anne of Green Gables, but I eventually gravitated toward original work. My YA sci fi, The Unhappening of Genesis Lee, debuted in 2014 from Sky Pony Press. I am represented by Hannah Bowman of Liza Dawson Associates.

credit Erin Summerill Photography

I grew up on a steady diet of Star Trek and The X-Files, and worked diligently on my own weird fiction on an old DOS computer equipped with WordPerfect and neon text against a black background. I spent my summers writing and doing experiments out of an old science book. Once I decided that my preferred method of scientific discovery was discovering what I could do with science in my fiction, I switched from a microbiology degree to an English one. I graduated from Brigham Young University in 2007 with a BA in English and creative writing.

In my last year of college, I met and fell in love with my soon-to-be-husband. We were married a year later, and made a goal to go on a 20-year-anniversary trip to Hawaii and have people still asking us if we're newlyweds.

We've also contributed three crazies to the world. Our son is a befuddling combination of a mellow mama's boy and a hyperactive demon. He giggles like an evil villain, sings his own theme music, and gives spectacular hugs. Our older daughter would like to be Batman and a ballerina when she grows up. She is also a self-declared "cat-human," and gives us plenty of cat-nuzzling daily in lieu of us having an actual cat. Our toddler is obsessed with Moana and dogs. Her favorite word is "uh-oh," which tells you just about all you need to know about the status of cleanliness at my house.

I write science fiction and fantasy every spare moment I can get. In my non-writing spare moments, I play RPG video games (World of Warcraft, Diablo III, and Guild Wars 2 are my faves), sew my own clothes (vintage, nerdy, or a combo of the two make me happy), go on genealogy hunts for my ancestors (from Virginia to Sweden to the Netherlands--mostly online so far), and read way too many books (I lie-- there's no such thing as too many books).