Maw Books Blog

The interview we’ve all been waiting for!!  Shannon Hale!  Shannon is the Newbery Medal author of Princess Academy, as well as her other beloved books including Book of a Thousand Days, Rapunzel’s Revenge, Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Austenland.

Shannon wasn’t just gracious enough to stop by for a visit but she answered the questions you submitted!

Maw Books:  Welcome Shannon!  It’s my pleasure to host you today on the Maw Books Blog!  First, congratulations on the success of Rapunzel’s Revenge which you co-wrote with your husband Dean.  Can you briefly describe the process of writing with your husband.  Was it easy? Did you have differences of opinion?

Shannon Hale:  No, we are always in absolute agreement and have never had a disagreement in 8 years of marriage. Ha! No, it really was a good experience. We talked plot together, then I wrote the first draft, leaving holes for him to fill, and then he’d go through and rewrite, filling holes, then I’d go through and rewrite, and now we can’t remember who wrote what.

Maw Books:  What’s on your nightstand right now?  And what are some of your favorite authors that you always recommend.

Shannon Hale:  Right now I’m reading Ed Brubaker’s Captain America omnibus and an ARC from Janette Rallison–My Fair Godmother (terrific!). I hate to ever mention authors because I’ll leave people out, and so many are friends of mine. But people can check out my Squeetus Exclusive interviews for some great recommendations: http://oinks.squeetus.com/squeetus_exclusives/index.html

Maw Books:  One of my favorite features on my blog is to ask authors to share a favorite recipe.  Would you care to share a yummy favorite?  Something for that zucchini?

Shannon Hale:  I’ve been making zucchini soup, which is sauteed onions and zucchini, simmer in chicken broth, puree, then add salt, pepper, nutmeg, cayenne powder, and cream.

Maw Books:  Sounds like just the thing I need.  In fact, I have leftover chicken on the bone and zuchinni, I just might make this tonight!

Amy BTW M from Amy’s Haiku Haven asks:  I was wondering if you are going to write any more adult novels along the lines of Austenland (you know like a romance)? What future projects do you have in mind that we should be on the look-out for?

Shannon Hale:  Amy, you are a dear to ask. The Actor and the Housewife will be out in May ’09. It has a similar feel to Austenland, though it’s bigger, meatier, and right now I’m so in love with it. I hope you will be too.

Carrie K:  I would love to hear if there was ever a response from Colin Firth after Austenland came out.

Shannon Hale:  So would I, Carrie! Nothing. But how long can he ignore me? I ask you?

Stephanie from The Written Word:  I wrote a review of Austenland (which I loved - you can see it here and compared it to the PBS series of reality TV (mostly Frontier House and Texas Ranch House) where modern day people get to experience life for five months in a completely different time period. Austenland reminded me quite a lot of this series. Have you ever watched any of them? If not, where did you get your inspiration?

Shannon Hale:  I saw the Regency House Party, and I was terrified! I’d already been writing the novel for years when it came out and I was so scared it was going to be too much like my book and would kill it. But it wasn’t. Whew. I really enjoyed the series though. But no, the PBS shows didn’t influence the book. After falling in love with the BBC movie, I just thought, wouldn’t it be fun to go somewhere and have an immersive Austen experience? That was in 1999. It took a long time to write.

Bea:  Would you share a little bit about your writing process. I’d especially like to know if you are a meticulous planner (e.g., outlines; character sketches).

Shannon Hale:  Bea, nothing about me is meticulous. Nothing. I do outline for about a year before writing, though it’s loose and subject to change. I’ll character sketch if I’m in a tight spot. I wing it all pretty much.

Serena from Savvy Verse & Whit: What impact did achieving an MFA degree do for your career as an author and why?

Shannon Hale:  Serena, I don’t think the MFA directly impacted my career, at least it had nothing to do with whether or not anyone would publish me. But the two years giving myself permission to be a writer were helpful to me, gave me courage and time to figure out my writing process and voice.

Abbi:  What was the publishing experience for you, and what advice would you give to others on getting published?

Shannon:  Abbi, I get into some detail about that in one section on my site: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/mince_writing.html

Abbi:  How did you find the genre you were most comfortable with writing?

Shannon Hale:  The easiest answer is, whichever genre you’re most comfortable reading. I like lots of books. My books for adults are quite different than my YA fantasy, and the graphic novels have been fun too. As my reading choices change, I imagine my writing will too.

Traci from Traci’s Book Bag: I have read and loved Goose Girl, Enna Burning, and River Secrets, and the covers were almost as lovely as the stories within. Did you have a lot of input when it came to creating the cover art?

Shannon Hale:  Nope. The publisher decides all that. They do consult with me, but at later stages when the cover is about finished. They just repackaged the Bayern books with quite different covers.

Amber from Amber Stults:  Do you think being a Newbery Award winner creates extra pressure when you write a new book? Or is it one of those things that you try not to think about?

Shannon Hale:  Amber, I was super lucky in that River Secrets was done and at press when I got the Newbery news, so I didn’t have to worry about measuring up. And my current project at the time was Rapunzel’s Revenge, a graphic novel and so different from Princess Academy that I didn’t feel pressure to make it match. Then I did Book of a Thousand Days, which I think might be my best work. And it didn’t get any Newbery nods. So that showed me how I have no control over that stuff. So I think I dodged a bullet all around. But I do know authors who felt that pressure in a huge way.

Jenn M. from Knowledge Tree:  How do you get a zucchini that big. I want one! I can’t grow a decent zucchini in my garden. They get about 5 inches max.

Shannon Hale:  Jenn, I’m ashamed of how big my zucchinis get. It means I don’t get out there often enough to notice and pick them until they’re taking over. I have three zucchini plants and spent hours picking out beetles by hand and squashing their innocent babies inside those shiny little eggs. I committed mass murder for those vegetables, and I deserve big ones.

Megan & Denisha, two of your younger readers: We really enjoyed your book Princess Academy. We really enjoyed how you made it exciting and let your readers want to keep on reading until they finished. It was very dramatic when her sister got hurt, we thought she was going to die! What gave you the inspiration to write the book? How long did it take you to write the book? How did you make it so exciting?

Shannon Hale:  Thanks, Megan and Denisha! I have lots of stuff about that book on my site: http://www.squeetus.com/stage/books_academy.html. It’s hard to explain how ideas come. I think it helped that I’ve read lots of books in my life and worked hard on my writing for 20 years before I wrote that book. It was the fastest novel I’ve written, taking me about a year. And it’s so worth it knowing that you liked it.

Maw Books:  Thank you so much Shannon for joining us today!  It was a blast!

Check out the Maw Books reviews of Rapunzel’s Revenge, Princess Academy, Austenland, Book of a Thousand Days, and my thought on meeting Shannon at children’s book festival, and lastly, the Rapunzel’s Revenge release party.  Shop all of Shannon Hale’s book in the Maw Books Amazon store.