Shannon Hale

Shannon Hale (born January 26, 1974) is an American author of young adult fantasy and adult fiction, including the Newbery Honor book Princess Academy, the Books of Bayern series, two adult novels, and two graphic novels that she co-wrote with her husband.

Early life

Shannon Bryner^[1] was born in Salt Lake City, where she attended elementary school.^{[citation needed]} She began writing at the age of 10.^[2] She attended West High School. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Utah^[3] and a Master's Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Montana.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Before writing professionally, she wrote while pursuing acting in television, stage, and improvisational comedy, as well as studying in Mexico and the United Kingdom. She spent a year and a half as an unpaid missionary in Paraguay, then returned to the United States to earn her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah and a master's in creative writing from the University of Montana. Hale also worked as an instructional designer, developing web-based training for Avaltus and Allen Communication before becoming a full-time writer.

Her first published book, The Goose Girl, met with numerous rejections until it was finally published in 2003.^[2] In 2004 her second novel, Enna Burning, which follows Enna, a minor character from The Goose Girl, was published. The third installment in the Bayern series, River Secrets, was released in September 2006. By then Hale had earned numerous awards for her 2005 release, Princess Academy, including the prestigious Newbery Honor. A sequel to "Princess Academy" came out in 2012, called "Palace of Stone".

She has published three adult novels, Austenland, The Actor and the Housewife and Midnight in Austenland (a sequel to Austenland). She and her husband Dean Hale have also published a graphic novel, Rapunzel's Revenge. A sequel, entitled Calamity Jack, was published in 2010.

A young adult fantasy novel and the fourth book in the Books of Bayern series, Forest Born, came out in 2009.

Personal life

Shannon has four children with husband Dean Hale: son Max (b. 2003), daughter Magnolia (b. 2006), and twin girls Dinah and Wren (b. 2010). The family resides in South Jordan, Utah.^[4] She is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.^[5]

Works

The Books of Bayern series

• The Goose Girl (2003), ISBN 1-58234-843-X
• Enna Burning (2004), ISBN 1-58234-889-8
• River Secrets (2006), ISBN 1-58234-901-0
• Forest Born (2009), ISBN 1-59990-167-6

Princess Academy series

• Princess Academy (2005), ISBN 1-58234-993-2
• Princess Academy: Palace of Stone (2012), ISBN 1-59990-873-5

Austenland series

• Austenland (2007), ISBN 1-59691-285-5 - premiered as a movie in January 2013
• Midnight in Austenland (2012), ISBN 1-60819-625-9

Rapunzel's Revenge series - co-authored with Dean Hale, and illustrated by Nathan Hale

• Rapunzel's Revenge (2008), ISBN 1-59990-288-5
• Calamity Jack (2010), ISBN 978-1-59990-076-6

Ever After High series

• Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends (2013), ISBN 0-31640-122-6
• Ever After High: The Unfairest of Them All (2014), ISBN 0-31628-201-4
• Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends #3 (2014), ISBN 0-31628-209-X

Standalone novels

• Book of a Thousand Days (2007), ISBN 1-59990-051-3
• The Actor and the Housewife (2009), ISBN 1-59691-288-X
• Dangerous (2014), ISBN 1-59990-168-4

Awards

• 2003 Josette Frank Award, Goose Girl^[6]
• 2006 Newbery Honor, Princess Academy^[7]
• 2007 Whitney Award, Book of a Thousand Days^[8]

References

External links

• Squeetus - Official Site
• Little Red Reading Hood - Fan Site
• Miss Erin Interview with Shannon
• Chris Rettstatt's Interview with Shannon Hale
• Shannon Hale at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database