Author Spotlight: Shannon Hale Intro

Hi Guys!

I am so very excited to write on pretty much my very favorite, super talented, incredible, outstanding author....

Shannon Hale!!

Here's a lovely little photo, if you don't mind....



Here's the bio, from her website:

New York Times best-selling author Shannon Hale started writing books at age ten and never stopped, eventually earning an MFA in Creative Writing. After nineteen years of writing and dozens of rejections, she published The Goose Girl, the first book in her award-winning Books of Bayern series. Book of a Thousand Days, a standalone novel for young readers, is a Cybils award winner. Princess Academy won a Newbery Honor and is followed by best seller Palace of Stone and upcoming Forgotten Sisters. Her Ever After High books have been runaway bestsellers.

Her books for the adult crowd are Austenland (now a major motion picture), Midnight in Austenland, and The Actor and the Housewife. With her Husband Dean Hale she has written two graphic novels: Rapunzel’s Revenge and Calamity Jack, and illustrated the chapter book The Princess in Black. Shannon’s books have been translated into many languages and studied in classrooms from elementary schools to universities. She spends her days as a stay-at-home mom to four young children in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Not only is this author totally amazing, but I got to meet her (squeeeeee!!). She has written several books, such as....

• Princess Academy
• Princess Academy: Palace of Stone
• The Goose Girl 
• Enna Burning
• River Secrets
• Forest Born

Graphic novels, such as....

• Rapunzel's Revenge
• Calamity Jack

And a ton more. I'm not even kidding--those are only, like, half her books. The ones I listed are geared more towards a middle-grade level.

When I was younger, Shannon Hale was my idol. I've read a few of her books more than once, which is really saying something because I hardly ever read a book more than once. I remember the first time I read one of her books (Princess Academy) and I just fell in love. With the characters, the writing, the setting. It is really, truly beautiful. As I read more of them, she officially became my favorite author. 

I love Shannon's writing because of how poetic it is. A lot of the time, it really is like reading a poem. This mainly applies to her medieval-time novels. Despite the (sometimes) fancy words and sophistecated-ness of it all, she still manages to make it fun and really very interesting. 

I will be doing separate reviews for most of the books mentioned above in the days/weeks/months to come. I would encourage you to read some of them and tell me what you thought!

For more info on Shannon and her great works of literature, click here.

Happy Reading!

The Paige Turner