book of a thousand days won the Utah Book Award for Young People's Literature this week. The other finalists were Jessica Day George (Dragon Slippers) and Sara Zarr (Story of a Girl). I doubt in many fields, the finalists all sit together in the audience and cheer for each other. YA lit really is literature paradise.
I did an interview over at Maw Books. Natasha was involved in Blogging for Darfur. Most of you are aware of the gut-wrenching atrocities committed in the name of war and ethnic cleasing. It's truly frightening. I was reading a Captain America omnibus recently and was telling Dean how much I wished Captain America really existed so we could send him to Darfur. On second thought, Wonder Woman would be even better. Alas. It's up to us. And making a difference starts with being aware.
I'll be in Austin this weekend for the Texas Book Festival. Saturday, November 1, 8:00 in the Austin Bat Cave (how cool is that?) for Not for Required Reading. Sunday, November 2, 3:00-3:45 in the Capitol Extension Room E2.010, I'll present on rapunzel's revenge. Monday, November 3 (probably at 7 pm) I'll do a talk/signing at BookPeople.
rapunzel's revenge has received three starred reviews! All the reviews have been so wonderful, it's extremely gratifying. Most recently from Horn Book:
"Readers familiar with graphic novels will feel at home...Newbies may not realize how particularly well-matched the Hales' gutsy tale is to its format, but this introduction--with its high action quotient, immediate sensory thrills, and wisecracking heroes--should win many converts. With such a successful debut, one hopes to see more graphic novels from this trio."
This fall, I'm on the most harrowing deadline of my career. the actor and the housewife final draft is due on Halloween. I've been working every spare moment these past few months, at night until I can't keep typing anymore, during the day when Maggie naps, and utilizing more babysitting help than ever in my life. As soon as I turn it in, I rush back to forest born, and I'll have another month and a half to see that all tidied up. I think I can do it, but it's tight. Really tight. I've been working on both of them for two and a half years, but writing calamity jack and having a certain baby girl created some havoc with the dates. I promise I won't get in this situation again. Seriously. Promise.
That is SO dang exciting! Wow, it takes my breath away. You really deserve all those honors though, being so fawesome and all.
And two more books soon! Well, there's Calamity Jack as well... I have been feeling awful Shannon deprived as of late. I own all your books except River Secrets, and I've read them all, so I am just jazzed about new ones!!! Best of luck, chum! My heart goes with you. Like, seriously.
Posted by: Katie-wa | October 25, 2008 at 09:38 PM
Can we just stick an extra day in the week designed for writing? For moms it should come with instant, no guilt allowed babysitting, and I need it to be a no studying or housework allowed sort of day. What do you say, should we all petition?
Posted by: jenelcc | October 25, 2008 at 10:14 PM
Yay for the awards! *happy dance* :)
Posted by: Rebecca Joy | October 26, 2008 at 12:52 AM
congrats on the awards!
i'm really looking forward to when forest born is out, do you have any idea when the book will be buyable in the uk?
Posted by: littlemissbookworm | October 26, 2008 at 04:18 AM
Oh YAY! I'm so happy you'll be at Bookpeople---I will definitely be there!
Posted by: Christine H. | October 26, 2008 at 11:04 AM
I can't wait for the Texas Book Festival - it's one of the biggest perks of living in Austin.
Posted by: Janssen | October 26, 2008 at 01:02 PM
Thanks for all your hard work, Shannon! And congrats on winning! That's wonderful :) I'm really excited to read your new books (and yeah, I'll be honest, I'm more like "I wish there was a midnight release party kind of excited" for FB :D)
Posted by: Danielle | October 26, 2008 at 01:47 PM
awwww man! I'm starting to wish I lived in Texas! Don't worry Shannon, when this is done, you can sit back and relax. Can't wait for Forest Born!
Posted by: Moonstone | October 26, 2008 at 02:24 PM
I had to write and say how impressed I am with your books. Yes, they are GREAT stories, but even more I love the lessons they teach, especially that we each have special gifts and talents and that we need to seek them out through our experience and learning. I've read all but one so far, and have started reading them to my kids (including my 11 and 10 year old boys). I love finding new reading material we can read and enjoy as a family, and yours definitely fit the bill. THANKS!
Posted by: Marni | October 26, 2008 at 03:03 PM
Good luck.
Try to relax...if possible. Pressure always makes it worse.
Posted by: Maribeth | October 26, 2008 at 03:40 PM
Wooot! And I'm coming to the Texas Book Festival. SO excited. I'm gonna have like 10 million books for you to sign, so be prepared. Lol.
Posted by: Maribeth | October 26, 2008 at 03:41 PM
Hey Shannon! I'm a big fan of yours and (judging by a lot of your blog posts that I've read) I think you'd love the little-known Fairy Tale Novel series by Regina Doman, check it out at
http://www.fairytalenovels.com/
Posted by: Rose | October 26, 2008 at 06:01 PM
Congratulations on the awards! Good luck with your current projects- I hope they're not being too difficult.
Posted by: Biel | October 26, 2008 at 10:24 PM
I'm so glad I'm not the only one to get in "those situations"...not that I have two books to finish HA! But even making time to write every day can sometimes be a challenge for me (and yes, having four little girls does add to that challenge a wee little bit)!
Posted by: Heather | October 27, 2008 at 02:45 PM
Wherein my favorite Shannon Hale novel is revealed to be Austenland. Again.
You're coming to Austin?! I live in Austin. Yay! If I come see you, can I get a picture with you? I really want to meet the girl who kept me up one night laughing out loud with ex-boyfriend stories. Even if not all of them were real. Even if none of them were real. The timing was real and perfect and, as a fellow Firth ex-obsesser, I need a photo for my non-existent scrapbook.
Here's to hoping I get lucky!
p.s. Stress-filled deadlines suck. So sorry.
Posted by: Cheryl | October 30, 2008 at 09:19 AM
I should have said *especially* if none of them were real.
Posted by: Cheryl | October 30, 2008 at 09:20 AM