• Publication Season/Year: Spring 2009
• Publisher: Delacorte
• Release Date: February 10, 2009
• ISBN: 978-0-385-73571-1

Shadowed Summer is…
A southern gothic ghost story, and it goes a little something like this:
Nothing ever happened in Ondine, Louisiana, not even the summer Elijah Landry disappeared. His mother knew he ascended to heaven, the police believed he ran away, and his girlfriend thought he was murdered.

Decades later, certain she saw his ghost in the town cemetery, fourteen-year-old Iris Rhame is determined to find out the truth behind “The Incident With the Landry Boy.”

Enlisting the help of her best friend Collette, and forced to endure the company of Collette’s latest crush, Ben, Iris spends a summer digging into the past and stirring old ghosts, in search of a boy she never knew.

What she doesn’t realize is that in a town as small as Ondine, every secret is a family secret.

The Author: Saundra Mitchell
Location: Indianapolis, IN

A screenwriter and author, I’ve written almost three hundred short films for the Fresh Films and Girls in the Director’s Chair short film series. Half of them have competed on the film festival circuit, and ten have competed in categories which made them eligible for Oscar consideration. My short story “Ready to Wear” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2008, and my first feature film, Revenge Ends, debuts on the festival circuit, also in 2008.

But writing hasn’t been my only job- in the past, I have been a phone psychic, a car salesman, a military linguist, a denture-deliverywoman, and a layup waxer. I’ve also appeared on morning radio shows all over the United States as a guest expert on Urban Legends & Folklore, and The New York Times and BBC interviewed me about my part in exposing the Kaycee Nicole Internet hoax.

Ask me about the great vowel shift, the various theories about Tutankhamun’s death, the Salem Witch Trials, how to make paper, what really happens when you call a phone psychic, the easiest way to make a loaf of crusty bread, how to structure a screenplay, or what an urban legend is really about.

Heck, ask me how fan fiction made my career possible! If I don’t have an answer, I’ll try to find one- or at least point you in the right direction! For free right now, let’s assume you asked me how to format a screenplay- here’s a guide you can use and share for free (How to Format a Screenplay by Saundra Mitchell), and a sample script to go with it to see how things work (Sample screenplay by Saundra Mitchell)!

I’m available for teen workshops on fiction and/or screenwriting, and I’m available to speak about writing, about mythology- both ancient and urban, and on a more serious note, to speak about suicide and suicide prevention.

Additional Information:

Saundra Mitchell’s Presskit

About the Author

A screenwriter and author, I’ve written almost three hundred short films for the Fresh Films and Girls in the Director’s Chair short film series. Half of them have competed on the film festival circuit, and ten have competed in categories which made them eligible for Oscar consideration. My short story “Ready to Wear” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2008, and my first feature film, Revenge Ends, debuts on the festival circuit, also in 2008.  Read more about how to book or contact Saundra Mitchell.