About the Author: Shannon Taylor Hodnett

BIO: I'm an Oklahoma girl gone south...halfway between Houston and the beautiful beaches of Galveston, Texas with my husband, son, three dogs, and one hell-spawned cat. After my freshman year at the University of Oklahoma, I abandoned college life for a lucrative waitressing career. One day—inspired by advice from family and an armed forces episode of Family Feud—I joined the Navy where, after two weeks of boot camp, I was diagnosed with a rare, incurable kidney disorder and honorably kicked out. Over the next two decades, I met and married a wonderful guy named Jeff…gave birth to our amazing son, Jack…and received a shiny new kidney from my best friend and now kid-sister, Robin. With a second chance at life, and an appreciation for everything in it, I rediscovered a passion for writing and successfully completed my first novel.

INSPIRATION: My love of writing began with my very first poem about a stinkbug at age four. In high school I was a writer on the staff of our school newspaper and after college I wrote three books for young children, which were promptly rejected by publishers. I set my writing aspirations aside to focus on my son and my health. A decade later, my dialysis treatments stopped working and the need for a new kidney became dire. My best friend, Robin, got tested and turned out to be a match. She not only gave me a new kidney, but another chance at life. I returned to my dream of writing and completed the novel I never thought I'd get to write.

My dream now is to take the rest of this life I've been given and keep writing until the day my story ends. ♥