Nurturing women with creative minds, in midlife, to rewrite their stories.
I write.
i help other women to rewrite their stories.
I am a storyteller.
It's stories that make us human.
That's why I am a writer, editor, and mindful writing coach.
I’ve published 5 books, including a James-Beard-award-winning cookbook, Gluten-Free Girl Everyday, and a memoir in essays, ENOUGH: Notes from a Woman Who Has Finally Found It. You might be one of the thousands of women who have loved and read both of these books.
(My cookbooks always contained as many narrative essays as recipes.)
My work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Food Network, The New York Times, Brené Brown, the Guardian, Newsweek, and The London Times.
And, after years of struggling in fits and starts, I was diagnosed with ADHD at 55. I am, once again, rewriting the stories of who I believe I am.
When I’m not writing or helping other women to rewrite their stories, you’ll probably find me walking along Alki Beach in Seattle, with my husband and 2 kids. We’re hoping to see orca whales while on our way to eat ice cream.
I put my entire heart into everything I do. That includes the work I will do with you.
Welcome.
When we work together — you and me — we’ll create a kind connection.
Also, we’re going to talk fast, laugh a lot, and probably finish each other’s sentences by the end of the first hour of talking.
I’ll type as you talk. You’ll probably think you’re rambling, but I’ll hear the stories and strong ideas in what you’re processing as we speak. Then, I’ll turn that text into writing that shines and clearly conveys what you want to say.
I will help you to write like you.
Work with me.
Need someone you trust to rewrite your stories with you?
I’d love to help you rewrite your stories.
Here are 3 ways we can work together.
1. Hire me as your editor.
You want to work with me. I have 5 published and award-winning books. And I love editing as much as writing. I specialize in developmental editing for memoirs, cookbooks, and fiction.
2. Hire me to be your writer.
You have stories and you want to write them. But writing is not your first love. Still, you need compelling copy for your website, for blog posts, or for email newsletters. I’m your woman.
3. Do you have a book to write? Or a large writing project?
Would you like a project manager/
accountability partner/ writing coach, and part-time editor to cheer you on and set out small steps you can take every day to finish this project with calm connection, instead of chaotic panic? Let’s talk.
Hire me.
Email me
for details.
Join the Wild at Heart and Weird on Top Story-Writing Jam Sessions.
All too often, the stories we tell ourselves are not true.
You can rewrite your stories, in community with other women who will get you, support you, and learn from you.
We need community more than ever now.
Show up on Saturdays at 11 a.m., Pacific time, for mindful story writing time that will foster connections and collective action.
Write with me.
Come write your stories with us,
for free.
"[Shauna James Ahern's] candid voice, which is at times both funny and poignant, guides readers through her life, always with a reflective eye...A courageous memoir by a gifted writer, this is the authentic and honest journey of someone who has sought out a life lived with purpose, and a brave testimony of one woman’s empowerment.”
—Booklist
ENOUGH: Notes from a Woman Who Has Finally Found It
Find your copy.
Read my memoir, ENOUGH,
about my unfurling.
“ENOUGH isn’t just the incredibly well-written story of Shauna Ahern’s life, it's also one of the best accounts of human growth I've ever read. Through abuse, rejection, illness, romance, motherhood, and finally, authentic truth-telling, Ahern leans into the uncomfortable realities of being a person in the world. Reader, do not be afraid. These uncomfortable truths are told so compassionately, so beautifully, you won’t be tempted to look away. This book reveals the big heart of one woman, and in return, shows us so much of what we can hope to become.”
—Ashley C. Ford, author of Somebody's Daughter
“Shauna Ahern’s beautifully crafted collection of essays ferries us through her courageous journey from decades of shame and uncertainty toward a life of agency, freedom, and dignity. Raw and vulnerable, Enough is a testament to the healing power of a purpose-filled life.”
—Lisa Congdon, artist and author of A Glorious Freedom: Older Women Leading Extraordinary Lives
"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom” —Anaïs Nin
This is your time to blossom.
Midlife for women — perimenopause and beyond — is CHAOS. It's like puberty in reverse. The radical and jarring hormonal shifts can throw us for a loop.
All the little tricks we taught ourselves — from middle school on — to suck in our stomachs, to laugh politely, and to withhold our truths from other people for fear that we won't fit in? Those tricks don’t work anymore.
And, if we have ADHD — or any neurodiversity, such as ASD, PTSD, or learning differences — we have even more layers of shame and pretending to shed than most women do.
Give yourself the time and space to rewrite your stories, to find the liberation we’ve been searching for, all these years —to be at peace in our own, wild minds.
I would love to help you rewrite your stories.
