Shelley Stoehr -

Recently Published

"Go Go Girl" in Lips Poetry Magazine, Spring 2025

"It's All Whoring" in The Packingtown Review, Spring 2025

Upcoming Publications

Girls Girls Girls (full-length memoir), Legacy Books Press, TBP Summer 2026

In the recession-scarred landscape of 1990s New York City, a young writer and dancer faces a brutal economic reality: no one will hire her, not even to bus tables. When she impulsively takes a job as a topless dancer, Stoehr begins a nine-year journey through the misunderstood world of sex work—a journey that runs parallel to her struggles for artistic recognition and personal autonomy.

From the neon-lit stages of New York City to the debauched clubs of San Francisco, Stoehr chronicles the dualities of creating art while being objectified and of finding camaraderie among fellow dancers while enduring an increasingly abusive marriage. With unflinching honesty, Stoehr dismantles the stereotypes and stigma surrounding sex workers, revealing the humanity, resilience, and sisterhood that flourishes behind the curtain of societal judgment.

Publications

Chapbooks

Glitterotica

Poetry Chapbook

Short Works

Short Fiction, CNF, and Poetry

Young Adult Fiction

Crosses

Nancy and Katie are best friends with one big thing in common -- they both cut themselves, “Not by accident, we do it purposely -- and regularly -- because physical pain is comforting, and because now it has become a habit.”

Weird on the Outside

When sixteen-year-old Tracey runs away she finds that making ends meet in New York City for a young girl with few real skills is nearly impossible.

Tomorrow Wendy

“I’ve discovered that if you wear a big enough hat, no one worries much about what’s going on inside your head,” says Cary. And no one, not even her boyfriend, Danny, knows about the things inside Cary’s head. Especially the feelings she has for Wendy, a girl with bright green hair and hard-candy sadness in her eyes.

Weresisters

Sixteen-year-old Kyra has no recollection of her life before age ten. One leg is so badly damaged that she has to walk with a brace. And all she wants in her junior year of high school is to be cool. Instead, she becomes a werewolf. Torn among allegiances to her father, her newly discovered family, and the werewolf pack, Kyra must learn to control the beast within and find a way to stop the madman who threatens to destroy them all.

Selene is a beautiful, tough leader of the meanest gang in school—and a werewolf through and through. She is on the top of the world and plans to stay there. Then Selene kills a human and unleashes a murderous rage that threatens to turn her into a mindless, violent beast. Terrified of what she might become, Selene runs away. She must find a way to regain her humanity, and she must do it quickly, because someone is following her…

Middle Grade Fiction

Saving Bone

Izzy and bff Seven set out to rescue a dog, Bone, from its abusive owner. Although they fail repeatedly, they cannot stop trying. Then Izzy learns a truth about Seven and realizes it isn't only Bone who needs saving – it's Seven.