Hi, I'm Shayna!
Shayna Douglas is a Canadian author born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario. Most of her personality can be traced back to fictional characters she idolized as a child and honestly, not much has changed. Her love for writing stems from discovering fanfiction at a young age and a childhood-long habit of chasing the validation of her English teachers.
She holds a degree in Second-Language Teaching and French, as well as a Master’s in Bilingualism Studies from the University of Ottawa, and works as an ESL instructor. Her academic and professional life has always revolved around languages, but fiction remains her first love.
When she’s not writing, she’s likely carrying a book around (just in case), sipping an iced strawberry matcha on the way to Pilates, overanalyzing her birth chart, or taking long drives just to listen to music and stare dramatically out the window.
SHAYNA'S STORY
Shayna Douglas started writing stories about her favourite fictional characters falling in love as a teenager and never really stopped. Common Goals was born from her love of sapphic romance, competitive sports, and the complicated, electric emotions that come with falling for someone you were never supposed to like in the first place.
This book is, in many ways, a love letter to the rink. Growing up in Ottawa, Ontario, Shayna spent every weekend playing ringette, her childhood shaped by cold arenas, early morning practices, and the kind of teammates who feel like family. With Common Goals, she set out to capture that world through a queer lens: the intensity of rivalry, the vulnerability of ambition, and the surprising ways love can sneak up on you when you're too busy trying to win.
Now 26 and based in Canada, Shayna writes the kinds of stories her younger self always wanted to read, where sapphic girls get to be messy, driven, complicated, and deeply in love.
SHAYNA'S WRITING HISTORY
Writing fanfiction has been a huge part of Shayna's journey as a writer. Under the pen name embersofapril, Archive of Our Own has been her space to perfect the agony of a good slow burn, write characters who refuse to admit they’re in love, and balance plot with just the right amount of smut. Her work has resonated with thousands of readers, with The Stars Above Us amassing over 342k hits and Reputation reaching over 241k hits.
It is also through fanfiction that Shayna grew her social media following. Her BookTok account @shaynaslibrary currently has 37.2k followers & her bookstagram account has 15.8k. She posts about her novel writing process & sapphic literature on both of these accounts.
CONTACT
Shayna is represented by Maddy Belton at the Madeleine Milburn Literary, TV & Film Agency.
