Speakman (Editor), Shawn: - Shawn Speakman grew up in the beautiful wilds of Washington State near Mt. St. Helens. After moving to Seattle to attend the University of Washington, he befriended New York Times bestselling fantasy author Terry Brooks and became his webmaster. Under Terry's tutelage, Shawn completed his writing certificate at the prestigious Maui Writers Conference before finishing his contemporary fantasy novel--The Dark Thorn. He was a manager at one of the largest Barnes & Noble Booksellers in the country for many years but now owns the online bookstore The Signed Page, manages the websites for authors Naomi Novik and David Anthony Durham, and freelance writes for Random House at Suvudu. Shawn is a cancer survivor, loves dark beer, and currently lives in Seattle, Washington.