{{Short description|American Science fiction author (born 1967)}}
{{Infobox writer |name = William Shunn |image = Shunn, William (WFA).jpg |imagesize = |caption = William Shunn at the 2007 World Fantasy Convention |pseudonym = |birth_name = Donald William Shunn II |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|08|14}} |birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |occupation = Short story writer |education = University of Utah (BS) |period = 1993–present |genre = Science fiction |subject = |movement = |notableworks = |spouse = |partner = |children = |awards = |signature = |website = {{URL|http://www.shunn.net/}} |portaldisp = }}
'''William Shunn''' (born August 14, 1967) is an American science fiction writer and computer programmer. He was raised in a Latter-day Saint household, the oldest of eight children. In 1986, he served a mission to Canada for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but was arrested for making a false bomb threat, for the purpose of preventing his fellow missionary from returning home.<ref>[http://www.shunn.net/terror/terrorherald27.html "Missionary gets day's jail, $2,000 fine for bomb hoax"], Monica Zurowski, ''Calgary Herald'', February 27, 1987</ref>
==Life and career== Shunn received a B.S. in computer science at the University of Utah in 1991.<ref>[http://www.continuum.utah.edu/2007fall/tty.html "Through the Years"], ''Continuum: The Magazine of the University of Utah'', Fall 2007</ref> He went to work for WordPerfect Corporation and was part of the team that developed WordPerfect 6.0 for MS-DOS. In 1995, he moved from Utah to New York City. He left the LDS Church at the same time and created one of the earliest ex-Mormon web sites.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/19970101103844/http://rainfrog.com/bill/mormon.shtml "Mormon Matter"]</ref>
Shunn's first professional short story was published in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' in 1993.<ref>Editorial introduction to "From Our Point of View We Had Moved to the Left," ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction,'' February 1993</ref> He has been nominated once for the Hugo Award and twice for the Nebula Award.
Shunn is the author of a 2015 memoir, ''The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary''.<ref>Shunn, W., [https://www.accidentalterrorist.com/prelude.html ''The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary''], Sinister Regard (November 10, 2015). {{ISBN|978-1941928554}}</ref>
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, he created what may have been the first online survivor registry.<ref>''Journalism After September 11,'' Barbie Zelizer and Stuart Allan (eds), Routledge, 2002, {{ISBN|0-415-28799-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Charles |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/online-help-spawns-hope-for-victims/ |title=Online help spawns hope for victims |work=CNET |date=13 September 2001 |access-date=30 June 2022}} Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20010913185424/http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1014-201-7147460-0.html Retrieved 30 June 2022.</ref>
Shunn is also known for creating a web site, Spelling Bee Solver, that offers daily hints to ''The New York Times'' Spelling Bee. This tool is commonly used within the community of Spelling Bee players.<ref name="BeeTimes">{{cite news |last1=Amlen |first1=Deb |title=The Genius of Spelling Bee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/16/crosswords/spellingbee-puzzles.html |access-date=4 November 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=16 October 2020}}</ref>
==Awards and nominations== * 2001: Nominated for Nebula Award for Best Novelette for "Dance of the Yellow-Breasted Luddites" (''Vanishing Acts,'' ed. Ellen Datlow, Tor Books, New York, NY, 2000) * 2006: Nominated for Hugo Award for Best Novella and Nebula Award for Best Novella for "Inclination" (''Asimov's Science Fiction'', April/May 2006)
==Bibliography== ===Fiction=== * Netherview Station story series: ** ''The Practical Ramifications of Interstellar Packet Loss'' (1998) ** ''Dance of the Yellow-Breasted Luddites'' (2000) ** ''Inclination'' (2006) * ''Strong Medicine'' (2003) * ''Love in the Age of Spyware'' (2003) * ''An Alternate History of the 21st Century'', chap-book (2007)
===Nonfiction=== * ''The Accidental Terrorist: Confessions of a Reluctant Missionary'' (2015)
In 1993 or 1994, Shunn wrote a style guide for standard manuscript format (the generally accepted method for preparing a fiction manuscript for submission to professional markets), based on advice gathered at the Clarion Workshop and elsewhere.<ref>W. Shunn, [https://www.shunn.net/format/introduction.html "Introduction to Proper Manuscript Format"], shunn.net. Retrieved 8 Jun 2022</ref> First published to the web in 1995, this guide (and its later revisions),<ref>W. Shunn, [https://www.shunn.net/format/ "Proper Manuscript Format"], shunn.net. Retrieved 17 Mar 2022. Earlier version published on ''Writers Write: The Internet Writing Journal'', December 1998: https://www.writerswrite.com/journal/proper-manuscript-format-12984 Retrieved 17 Mar 2022. Earliest version published online in late 1995: https://shunn.net/format/original/ Retrieved 8 Jun 2022.</ref> commonly known as "Shunn format"{{cn|date=June 2022}}, has since been adopted by many magazines including Clarkesworld, Analog, and Interzone as a requirement for submissions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Submissions |url=https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/submissions/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Clarkesworld}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Writer's Guidelines |url=https://www.analogsf.com/contact-us/writers-guidelines/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Analog Science Fiction and Fact}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jelley |first=Gareth |title=Submissions |url=https://interzone.press/submissions/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Interzone}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Science Fiction|Biography}} *[http://www.shunn.net Official site] *{{isfdb name|id=William_Shunn|name=William Shunn}} *[http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/ramifications.htm "The Practical Ramifications of Interstellar Packet Loss"] (short story) *[http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/07/16/city_of_angels/ "Love in the Age of Spyware"] (short story from ''Salon,'' 16 July 2003) *[http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/11/10/medicine/ "Strong Medicine"] (short story from ''Salon,'' 10 November 2003) *[https://www.sensesfive.com/2006/06/07/the-missionary-imposition-by-william-shunn/ "The Missionary Imposition"] (personal essay) *[https://www.wired.com/2015/11/geeks-guide-william-shunn/ Podcast of Shunn comparing the Book of Mormon to Lord of the Rings] *[https://www.sbsolver.com/ Spelling Bee Solver]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shunn, William}} Category:1967 births Category:American science fiction writers Category:Former Latter Day Saints Category:Living people Category:American Mormon missionaries in Canada Category:University of Utah alumni Category:20th-century Mormon missionaries Category:American male novelists Category:American male short story writers Category:20th-century American novelists Category:21st-century American novelists Category:Novelists from Los Angeles Category:20th-century American short story writers Category:21st-century American short story writers Category:20th-century American male writers Category:21st-century American male writers