K.C. (Katherine) Shaw knew from an early age that she would be a writer when she grew up. She was also convinced she'd be a zookeeper, ballerina, artist, and chauffeur, possibly all at once. Writing won.

Shaw's first published piece of writing, a poem about a hummingbird that netted her $4, appeared in Cedar Rock Magazine when she was twelve. Her goal of publishing her first book by age thirteen (because Gordon Korman did) seemed well within reach despite her not having actually finished writing an entire book at the time.

But it was many years later before Shaw made her next writing sale. In 1999, Sheep!, a magazine for professional shepherds, published an article by Shaw (under the name Katherine Dazazel) about marketing wool. Shaw sold several more articles in the early 2000s, until she ran out of ideas and interest in nonfiction.

It wasn't until 2007, when Shaw was temping in a sales office, that she decided to apply the perseverence she saw in the salespersons at work to her writing career. She began to send stories out to magazines until each story sold.

It worked. In March 2007, she sold "Night Court" to Cats With Wings. Three days later she sold "Final Episode" to the 2007 Triangulation anthology. All told, that year Shaw sold nine stories, and a tenth reached the semifinals of the Writers of the Future contest (Fourth Quarter).

Shaw attributes a large part of her current success in writing to her brief but educational membership in the Pittsburgh Worldwrights. From August 2007 until she moved out of state in December, the group's workshop-style critiques helped her immeasurably, and her skill in writing has continued to improve as a result. She has also had the opportunity to work with many excellent editors.

Shaw was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in East Tennessee, where she lives today. For her day job, she is a test proctor at a state community college.  She can be reached at kcshaw123 [at] gmail [dot] com.

1 June 2008