Northfield Writer: Shannon Tassava

“I’ve always been a writer at heart,” says Northfielder Shannon Tassava.  When Shannon was a toddler, her mother published nonfiction essays about motherhood and family life, and Shannon grew up writing stories and poems of her own.  But as an adult she was sidetracked from her writing for several years while she pursued a doctorate in clinical psychology.  Then, after the birth of her first daughter, she decided to put her career on hold and become a full-time stay-at-home mom.  Soon after she moved to Northfield, while she was pregnant with her second daughter, her writing began to flower again.

She started with a blog, Mama in Wonderland, where she writes about the extraordinary challenges and the tremendous rewards of raising children.  Shannon says, “Writing became my way to stay sane and process my experiences of modern motherhood, and also a way to connect with other parents, especially at-home mothers, about the chaos and glory of this extraordinary job of raising children.”  

Soon she began submitting her essays about motherhood to “a variety of web-based and print magazines and literary journals.”  Editors were impressed by her fluid writing, and by her unblinking looks at the ups and downs of modern mothering, and the acceptances began to pile up.  Her work has appeared in print in Macalester Today, Motherwords, Girlfriends, and the Northfield News, and online at The Mothers Movement Online, WorkItMom.com, and MotherVerse.com.  

In October, one of Shannon’s essays will appear in the Seal Press anthology P.S. What I Didn't Say: Unsent Letters to Our Female Friends.  She also writes a monthly Q&A column (“Ask Away”) and a women’s health and wellness blog (“Living Well”) for the new women’s website PriorityMe.com.

“I'm excited to be writing on a regular basis for women of all ages and stages about issues related to work-family balance, stress management, and learning to live well despite all the stresses and pressures of life,” Shannon says.  

Her essays are full of tenderness and toughness, and the practical wisdom that comes from being in the daily thick of parenting.

Shannon’s ultimate goal is to write a book—a “survival guide” for stay-at-home moms.  Despite the pressures of motherhood—the skipped naps, the sleepless nights, the constant scrambling from preschool to playdate—Shannon is right where she wants to be.  

“I live in a literary, writer-friendly town where I am blessed to raise my babies full-time and write about it on the side, something that, if I had really thought about, I'd have always said was all I ever wanted out of life.”

To find Shannon’s writing online, check out the links in the left sidebar of her blog, Mama in Wonderland.