On the road again

I've updated my events page. Look out Michigan, here I come! I've just posted the public events, so I may be at your schools or signing stock in your local bookstore as well. But I'll most likley be offline for all of next week. Ouch, my heart hurts just thinking about how much I'm going to miss Max. In a weird way, it's a comfort to me that one of the kids will be coming along, albeit in utero.

Website is updated! We posted hastily, so all the kinks aren't worked out yet, but the new design will be easier for me to upkeep as I keep adding books onto the list. And we finally have the river secrets section up, so some fun stuff for those of you who have read it or to keep those of you busy who are waiting for a library copy.

Currently reading: The Life of Pi (still getting into it)

Currently writing: book of a thousand days. My editor believes this will be the final draft, and that TERRIFIES me. I have a hard time letting go. "But wait...did I do...what if...and if I neglected to...?!" I think I'll do two more drafts. Well, actually, it'll end up being three. Last week I read through the book, making notes. This week I enacted the notes and am making more changes. When I finish this draft, then I'll go do another run through. I'm terribly pleased by this book. Bad sign, I know! But Dashti, the main character, she's become a real pal and I just love telling her story. (it'll be out fall 2007)

On the backburner (for now): the fourth Bayern book (no, I won't be giving any more details than I already have. Remember--I am The Spoiler Freak); sequel to rapunzel's revenge (the art is looking SO amazing for RR! You guys are going to eat this one up); and next adult novel (20,000 completed! And will stay that way for perhaps another year).

Austenland is moving swiftly into production. Copy edit completed, cover design even now being hatched by my brilliant editor and the Bloomsbury folk. They sent me pages of the interior design (title page, font choices, that sort of thing) and it looks so GORGEOUS. Very exciting. This was a small side project I've been fiddling with for seven years and I never thought it would actually see publication, so everything about this book is dessert for me. Just a big ol' bowl of carrot pudding with rum sauce. Or whole grain oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. With milk. Or pumpkin pie with real whipped cream. Or fudgy mint chocolate brownies. With milk. Gotta have the milk.

Ack. I need to go pack. It's so depressing. My maternity wardrobe is seriously lacking.

Comments

[Debbie]

You are AMAZING Shannon! I can't believe you're getting so many things done. Just reading the TITLES makes me excited! I still need to buy a copy of River Secrets, but I can't wait! And being pregnant on top of all that... simply amazing. :)

[Lauren A.]

Yah, thanks so much for the exciting updates! I love the new layout of the site, and I'm not finished with RS yet, but I'll read the deleted scenes when I am. So exciting! Thank you!
~Lauren.

[Nora]

I get so excited hearing about your new books!!! Shannon you need to come to North Idaho or western Washington! I live in Idaho about 7 miles from the Washington border! I would really like to meet you, but I know travling can be hard and even harder when you leave your son and husband behind. Again I LOVE your books!

[Jas fr Aus]

mmm...fudgy mint chocolate brownies...with milk...

[Megan Elbow]

Good luck with everything, Shannon! I finished reading River Secrets. It was very good! Thanks for writing wonderful stories! And yes, fudgy mint brownies are the best. Especially BYU mint brownies. Mmm . . .

[Megan Elbow]

Oh yeah, about classical music that people were talking about from the last post . . .
MAYday, I like classical music. Especially Mozart. I LOVE playing Mozart solos on the French Horn. Right now I am playing a solo by Hayden. It's kind of tricky, as I have to transpose it, but it's still very pretty and fun to play.
But I don't like playing Sousa. I love to listen to it, but the F. Horn parts are SO boring! We pretty much play "F" the whole time so fast that our lips just about fall off. It is not fun.
But I do like classical music!

[Mollie]

Go Shannon!
Love the new look too.
When you become a Legendary Best-seller, please come to Australia!
xox

[Sylvia]

Keep up the awesome work Shannon! Wow! you sound really busy, I don’t know how you do it all! I haven’t been able to read River Secrets yet unfortunately but I can’t wait till I do manage to lay my hands on it!
Sylvia

[Sylvia]

That's right Mollie, pleeease come to Australia Shannon! (Preferably Tasmania!)
We'd love you to come! :)

[Mads]

Wow. I can't wait for Book of a Thousand Days! It sounds very interesting. All your other ones sound great too!
Question: When is Austenland supposed to come to stores? Roughly?
:o)!

OMG, it's October! Where in the world did September go?!?! And summer? What ever happened to that???

p.s. my brother is one and LOVES classical music. It's creepy in a way, because when you put the music on, he just sits there and stares at nothing. Like he's in a trance. It's the baby einstein movies I'm sure.

[MAYday]

Shannon, I am so excited to see you on Tuesday!!! For sure I will be there at Treehouse readers. I can't wait!!(squeeling excitedly)One question: can I buy rs and the other books there or should I buy one before I come?

Megan Elbow and Mads little brother- YAY!! I am not alone!

[Jenna]

I cannot wait to read these! Rapunzel's Ravenge, Book of a Thousand Days, and already a fourth Bayern book?
But the title of your post alarmed me. Once... several times in the same day... I watched and winced as a 60+ year old lady sang ON THE ROAD AGAIN in really, really short shorts.

[Erin]

Thanks for the updates! I get butterflies just reading about them! :)

[Sookie]

Hooray! A fourth Bayern book!
I love those!! And I can't wait until Book Of A Thousand Days comes out-it sounds so great!!!

[Jane]

I'm trying to get a group together so we can waylay you when you hit Rochester! Just a little warning beforehand... :)
I CAN'T WAIT!

[Jordan]

River Secrets was AWESOME!!!!!!

And I can't wait for your next books! You are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

[Holly]

Don't overwork yourself, Shannon. So much at once! And I thought German, Algebra, Accelerated English, friends and a possible boyfriend were a lot...

I am dying to read Austenland! I literally gobble up your books! (River Secrets was done in three sittings, due to certain "priorities" called the bladder and hunger.) Then the re-read lasted me a week, since I forced myself to savor it.

Keep up the awesomeness, Shannon.

[Jas fr Aus]

Just thought I'd second (well third, really) mollie and sylvia - next trip you take, be it for business or holiday, come to Australia! Really it's a beautiful country. Plus I'M there so, you know, why wouldn't you want to come? haha just kidding...but not really ;)

[Juliet]

I am SOOOOOOOO excited! More Shannon books! YAY!!!

I finally got the chance to visit a bookstore to buy River Secrets, and they were out! GRRR!

[Holly]

After you're in Australia, swing by New Hampshire!

[holly]

I'm still bitter about your coming to San Francisco but only doing events during the school day. *bitter bitter bitter anguish* I LOVED Life of Pi! The first part is so funny, but it doesn't stop being funny -- it's just in a different way after it gets really serious very suddenly. Recommended to all of you! Odd but so good. And yay for the River Secrets page!

I've resigned myself o having to type my name here with a little "H" forever because of The Other Holly.

[Laura]

Great update, Shannon! Thanks. Can't wait to see Austenland in print!

To Capital "H" Holly: I visited New Hampshire for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I can't get over how breathtakingly beautiful it is! If Shannon ever does a book tour there, I just might drive up.

After all, it's only 2,300 miles.

[Jaya Lakshmi]

And I thought I was the only writer to put half-finished works on the backburner. Thanks for reassuring me, Shannon. Still, 20,000 words?! If only I could write so much before burning out.
River Secrets is in my local library catalog, but they don't have any copies (grr...). As soon as I get the chance, I'm requesting it.

[anon]

holly-Aww, that is sad. Well, shannon may return if she likes it. Hey- Perhaps shannon says "I Left My Heart in San Francisco...". Oh, I crack me up.

Holly-Classical is "too soft"?!!? THere are all sorts of pieces that have lots of loud banging and noise, but is HARMONIC and MELODIC ruckus, so it is called classical. Besides, all the composers are dead.

Mads-Your brother is not in a trance, it is only that the true glory of Classical music has dawned upon him and he is too enraptured to think of any modern cacophony at the present time. Or think of anything at that point but how beautiful the music is.
Somewhat like being high, except without the hangover or withdrawl symptoms.

To all people who require book tours in their areas:
Perhaps if squeetus sponsored it, we could all come to Salt Lake City and visit Shannon. I have other friends there as well. We could all have fun meeting each other. I would imagine it to be delightful. I would go as fast as possible. However, it would require complete trust over sensitive information. We should send by snail mail our addresses and then we could all chip in for tickets. Of all the locations named, I believe that the Australian posters would have the most difficulty purchasing tickets. Still, if we came, there would be the benefit of having about twenty people of varying ages all dote on Max so you could continue working. Then we can hang out with you. You could show us to where al lthe best bookstores and libraries are. And we could go to the cool monuments there as long as all the fair-skinned brought lots of sunscreen and were happy to march across scorching desert. Or we could come in the winter, and go to ski slopes, but then everyone would be in school. That may be a problem. Is the reason why all the places that are in Bayern books full of ample rivers and oceans due to fantasies of humongous bodies of water which you can swim and drink from without spitting it out due to saltiness? Oh, the myriad recesses of the sun-scorched head of a Utah inhabitant. Does Max ever fuss about being thirsty or too dry or various other thngs like that?

[anon]

P. S.-Holly, is Holly Brook an actual singer or are you just indulging your ego? I have never heard of her. Then again, I have not heard of very many modern singers and/or bands.

[anon]

Shannon, I do appreciate the list of foods that describe your satisfaction, except the pumpkin pie.
Secondly, who cares what your maternity wardrobe? Does it really matter? Most of your fans are perceptive to look beyond the bulge to the mother who hs written such great books, despite being pregnant and having to chase Max about the house. There is more to life then what you are wearing. As long as it fits (clothes that show lots of skin so not show fashion, they show that you don't fit) and keeps you from freezing in the cold or baking in the heat, it does not matter what color it is or what it says,(within moral reason, of course)it is fine. The person who wears it is more important.

[Hermione]

anon- I totally agree that we should all visit Shannon. I have eight cousins half an hours drive from Salt Lake City, so I have another reason to go! Or maybe Shannon could come to Vernon, British Columbia?

[anon]

That was my other idea after I posted. She could have a "squeetus tour" where she visited all of us. Kind of like a minister visiting her missionaries in far-off lands. She could then go to the local independent bookstore (the inhabitants would show her the way) and promote her books. She would be able to go to Canada to visit you, the west coast, the east coast, the midwest, and Australia. Very unique route. Probably best if she went east to west-went to Maine from Michigan, then go back to Michigan, then go home in Utah to recap, go to San Francisco, then Idaho, then upwards towards you. I will be somewhere along that route. No need to stop special for me, although there is a good independent bookstore nearby. If it was possible, we could all join her and see all the cool places that she goes to visit our buddies here at squeetus.

[anon]

P. S.- Life of Pi is an awesome book. The tiger does not get too hungry to eat Pi, so there is no need to there being a plot twist like in Of Mice and Men, where George kills Lenny. Hmm.. there is several parralells....

[anon]

Darn it, the correct plural third person conjugation for "to be" is "are several parralells". "is" is a singular conjugation.

[Mollie]

It would be fantastic to meet you Shannon, and all the fans, imagine the fun! The conversation! Oh if only...

[Lara]

Hi Shannon!
(Knowing you won't read this till much, much later...)

The Mitten state is ready for you!
We are super excited that you will be coming to Holland, MI and our school, East K-8!

Kids are pumped, teachers are excited, and I can barely sleep!

Our students have been loving surfing through your über-clean and well-designed site...but we miss the fotos of you as a child and now, and of el puerco...maybe they'll come back as the site is tweaked.

Hasta Mañana!

:)Lara

[anon]

You must feel real great, leaving all us other "un-visited" squeetusers all bunched together moaning here at the blog. *boohoohoohooohooohoo!*
Hermione, have you perchance read A WINTER'S TALE, the play by William Shakespeare? You may find it interesting if you have not. At least read the Lamb's Tale of it, that is a summary version. Both are good, but the play, of course, is BEST!!!

[anon]

You must feel real great, leaving all us other "un-visited" squeetusers all bunched together moaning here at the blog. *boohoohoohooohooohoo!*
Hermione, have you perchance read A WINTER'S TALE, the play by William Shakespeare? You may find it interesting if you have not. At least read the Lamb's Tale of it, that is a summary version. Both are good, but the play, of course, is BEST!!!

[anon]

Dang it- How could I have posted that twice? I talk too much already. Perhaps it is that I'm losing my memory, just like an aged computer without enough RAM. Or it may just be the aged computer.

[marki]

So i definitely think that the closest bookstores close to me are sick of me calling every other day to see if they have it in yet!!! ahhhh!!!!

So this whole Classical music conversation... we have to sing this song called Lay A Garland in my A Cappella class. there are two classes because we have 210 students in the choir. but it is a really pretty song and was aritten in 1840. it is written in the Renissance style and oh so amazing once we finally got it right!!! haha!!!
oh and if any of you are into musicals let me rub it in and tell you that i get to see wicked in march!!!!!!

[anon]

On Broadway?
Your piece sounds awesome!
Too bad you can't attach sound files to posts

[MAYday]

anon- that would be REALLY cool to go to Salt Lake! But the only thing bad about fantasising (is that spelled right?) is that at some point it ends... *sighs*

Lara- You are soo lucky that Shannon gets to come TO YOUR SCHOOL! Well, at least she is coming to Michigan so I can see her! That's cool you live in Holland, too, because I live about a half hour away from Holland State Park (gotta love that beach)!

P.S. In piano, I am starting CHRISTMAS music already! WOW!

[Holly]

Anon: I'm just not a very "classical" person. I like to rock. (Ha ha.) And Holly Brook is a real singer, her music is amazing. I love that me and her have the same name!

On New Hampshire: I love my state, but sometimes it's so boring with a capital snore. (Don't ask. My friend says that all the time)

[Holly]

holly: That's ok. I think all lowercase is cool.

[anon]

MAYday, the correct spelling is fantasiZing. Holly, it's okay. New Hampshire is beautiful. The scenery is awesome, especially in the fall, with the hillsides seemingly in flames with the maple leaves. One of things I feel is lacking elsewhere in the U. S. One of my old teachers, years ago, once told me how her family lived in Colorado and they did not have the bright colored leaves they have in the Northeast. So she sent them some fall leaves pressed between textbook pages each fall.

[anon]

You should feel very lucky live in such a beautiful place. Perhaps it is just part of an adolescent funk you are going through. You (and your capital snoring friend) will learn to appreciate it when you're older.
Also, by saying that I am "classical", are you insulting my age? You will ripen eventually too, perhaps becoming a sweet old grandmother.

[Jordan]

I like everything with music. Okay, so that's a bit of an exaggeration. This song called Dani California by the Red Hot Chili Peppers drives me crazy, and I don't like most country music...okay so not everything. But lots of things.

SCREECH! MUCH SCREECHING! TAH HAH! I'm trying to work on my attempt at a book right now, and I just did word count and it's something like 33,600 pages. I rejoice with much noise. Now if I can only figure out how to connect this one part to another...anyone got good ideas to kill my writer's block? (or the teachers who assign too much homework, thus preventing me from writing when I don't have writer's block. though killing them may be a bit extreme. perhaps locking them in a cell without food or water for a few days would make them see the error of their ways...jk :-)

[anon]

Mayday- Going to Salt Lake City is not always a fantasy. Just make sure you are either a good bicyclist, can drive a car and have money to buy gas, or you are rich enough to ride an airplane without running out of money to shop with. Lots of cool shops and other places to purchase things. Or you can go to national parks and go free up to places like Delicate Arch and get a beautiful view, all for free.

[Holly]

I love New Hampshire, but it is a bit dull.

I wasn't insulting your age, Anon. I don't do that.

[Jordan]

GAH! Can't. concentrate. on. studying. Can't. spell. "greatly." either.

My grandparents are coming to visit tomorrow. They'll be here for a week I think. I probably won't see them much since I'm holed up in front of this computer from five minutes until I get home from school until about nine. 'Tis madness, homework is.

[Jordan]

Has anyone here seen the movie/musical "1776"?

[Hermione]

anon- No I have not read A Winter's Tale. I'll read it if I can find it anywhere.
Jordan- To kill writers block, just keep writing. I know. I'm writing a book to.
Grr. I keep wanting to type in french. I'm in L.F.I. (Late French Immersion) this year and have to do EVERYTHING in french.

[Jordan]

Dang. Everything in French? I have a hard enough time doing everything in French for one class period. I'm in French III this year. My teacher drives me nuts. She enjoys playing favorites and is rather moody at times...

I was afraid someone would say that about writer's block. I hate sitting there for two hours an only having a sentence to show for it. Guess that's just how it works though.

[Jordan]

I <3 Shakespeare...