Sharon Emmerichs was born in Sweden to American parents and grew up in Wisconsin near Lake Michigan. She confounded her kindergarten teachers by showing up to school able to read and has spent most of her life with her nose in a book and a pen in her hand. She has been a writer all her life, from the time she scribbled “words” and pictures on pieces of paper, stapled them together, and called it a book. Her love of stories later translated into an English degree, and then she went on to get her MA and PhD in medieval and early modern literature…and because she collects degrees the way some people collect stamps or baseball cards, she will soon graduate with her creative writing MFA in fiction. She currently teaches Shakespeare and early British literature to university students in beautiful Alaska, where she lives with Juneau, the derpiest Siberian husky ever.

Sharon’s debut fantasy, SHIELD MAIDEN, a feminist Beowulf retelling, was published in the UK by Head of Zeus and became an instant Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller. It will be published in the US by Orbit in October 2023.

 

https://sharonemmerichs.com/index.html


Praise for Shield Maiden 

“A rousing and romantic mythological fantasy that boasts a heroine with a generous spirit, an unshakable will and a dragon’s fury” 

 — H. M. Long, author of Hall of Smoke

“Casts a superb spell…Shimmering with detail, with a propulsive plot to match.” 

 — D. K. Fields, author of the Tales of Fenest series

“Fantastic fun…An entrancing story of power and peril, presenting a side to the sagas we have never seen before.” 

 — Ian Green, author of The Gauntlet and The Fist Beneath