Shirley’s nov­el The Blood Lie won the Simon Wiesen­thal Muse­um of Tolerance’s annu­al book award. Her work has appeared in mag­a­zines and news­pa­pers nation­wide, includ­ing Cos­mopoli­tan, Salon, Good House­keep­ing, Chica­go Sun-Times and Mia­mi Her­ald. She grad­u­at­ed from Cor­nell Uni­ver­si­ty and is an alum­na of the Rad­cliffe Writ­ing Sem­i­nar Series.