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, engaging in her ADHD-hyperfocus hobby-of-the-month, or working her day-job as a mental health therapist. She lives in southern Utah with her husband and four 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 four crazy humans to the world. 

In my day-job as a clinical mental health therapist, I love helping others heal by having their own stories be heard, and find the story of their life they want to write moving forward. In my non-writing spare moments, I play video games (Skyrim and Destiny 2 are my faves), enjoy paddleboarding and hiking, learn folk tales and songs to perform as an oral storyteller, go on genealogy hunts for my ancestors, and read way too many books (I lie-- there's no such thing as too many books).