Shawn McLain started writing short stories in High School to entertain his friends. He used his creativity to entice volunteers at work to participate in extra hours and duties and add humor to memos and performance reviews. During this time, it was suggested he use this creativity to write a book, so he did. Shawn wrote his first novel, Respect the Dead, in response to a popular zombie program. He wanted to see how normal people would react while not having the most disagreeable people always coming out on top. While also answering many questions he had through the years about zombies. His second book was Nothing is Certain, another zombie story. Shortly after finishing Nothing is Certain and starting work on a potential sequel to Respect the Dead, Shawn wrote The Grey Girl, The Haunting of Sterben House. The story follows a young woman who dies. She returns as a ghost trapped in a house of horrors. She is helped by a young man and his family to escape the evil and curse that bound her. Shortly after finishing what he thought to be a single story, fans of the story began to ask for a sequel. Two additional Grey Girl Novels have also been published, The Van Tassel Murders and The Saint Mary's Horror, with the final book in the series already in revisions. 

In addition to writing fiction, Shawn writes promotional commercials and wording for the Pennsylvania Cable Network.