squeetus

What did you learn at the princess academy?

Winners! Winners! Wow, the 2nd guesser got it all right only 9 minutes after I posted. And I thought it would be so hard.

SORA!

1. English-UK
2. Indonesian
3. English-UK
4. Japanese
5. Dutch
6. Hungarian
7. Korean
8. Spanish
9. French
10. fan art by CrownJewel
11. Indonesian
12. Turkish
13. Vietnamese
14. Korean

Here's where things get freaky. Using the random number generator, the random winner was: Q. Yes that's right, the same gal who correctly guessed the last contest and already won an ARC. I don't think she meant to enter. She wasn't guessing, just wishing everyone luck. So I'm going to send you some foreign edition, Q, and save the other ARC for someone else. Second time, the winner was:

TAIGER!

Sora and Taiger, email me: squeetus (at) g mail (dot) com.

Still more opportunities to win an ARC of PALACE OF STONE. On Twitter, my publisher (@bwkids) is running a contest. Tweet something you learned from Princess Academy with the hashtag(#PrincessAcademy) and you're entered into a contest. I believe one person each week is chosen. Here are some of the entries they sent me. Just lovely. And I can't take credit. Of course when I write, I'm not thinking, "What can I teach people?" I'm just thinking about making the best story I can. These lovely readers found their own messages in the story, part of the magic of reading.

@jessung #PrincessAcademy taught me that it's okay to feel vulnerable, and that being brave--even if I may feel quite the opposite--is okay, too.
 
@domisimone At #PrincessAcademy I learned that I can do or be anything, and that I don't have to end up with the prince to be happy.
 
@JayaLaw I learned from #PrincessAcademy that education can heighten your awareness of the world and improve your community's standard of living.
 
@sherryberrett #PrincessAcademy I learned to communicate through stone, but I must not be soon it right because it isn't working. (ßhahaha J)
 
@moltenbook Learning and friendship are worth more than any crown or gown. #PrincessAcademy
 
@broadwayforever Reading #PrincessAcademy taught me that everyone has talents that make them special, even if it takes a while to figure them out.
 
@abackwardsstory #PrincessAcademy from @bwkids teaches girls that it's okay to love and be YOURSELF, and not rely on boys to save them!
 
@chelserbug What I learned from #PrincessAcademy? I learned that everyone is a princess :) (And also, I found a new appreciation for my home mountains!)
 
@Robin_Weeks #PrincessAcademy by @haleshannon taught me that we don't like people who can't make us respect them. And that I want my own linder house.
 
@rebeccamherman I learned that there are much more important things than being beautiful or rich or a princess! #PrincessAcademy
 
@LauraLyle #PrincessAcademy taught me knowledge is power. And that appearances are deceiving. Cliche because they are true!
 
@BookSnatch I learned that no matter who you are, you can become the type of person you want to be if you work hard. #PrincessAcademy
 
@Kiirs I learned that even a girl who thinks she's insignificant can change the world. #PrincessAcademy

 

And don't forget about entering the sweepstakes! It's over at Bloomsbury's Shannon Hale Facebook page.

Two of my favorite covers ever + winners

Thanks for playing! I just have to reinsert these two lovely images: Spanish Enna Burning and Korean Forest Born. Mmm. (click to enbiggen) At TLA last week, I noticed how rare painted covers are now for YA. It's all photos.

So many of you were SO close. But the first correct answer was from Q!

1. Enna Burning, German
2. Forest Born, UK
3. River Secrets, Korean
4. Austenland, Korean
5. Enna Burning, Spanish
6. Enna Burning, Korean
7. The Goose Girl, Hungary
8. The Goose Girl, Japanese
9. Forest Born, Korean
10. Enna Burning, Japanese
11. Enna Burning, French
12. River Secrets, UK

And as some of you suggested, I'm giving away another ARC to a randomly selected commenter. The winner is...

S Blackburn!

Okay you two winners, email me your address and who you want the ARC signed to! squeetus (at) g mail (dot) com.

ONE MORE CONTEST: On Tuesday evening 7pm MDT (6pm Pacific, 9pm Eastern), I'll post all the Goose Girl covers, first correct guesser wins an ARC. I think that one will be tougher. See, I'm doing it in the evening for the sake of students! I do listen to you! There will be 15 covers to guess. Some of them you already know. Some will be really tough. May the force be with you.

Without further ado...my newest Super Secret Project

She wears glass slippers.
She sleeps in a tower.
She sings to birds.
She is the perfect princess.
And for a monster-fighting heroine, that is the perfect disguise.
Princess Magnolia is...

The Princess in Black!

The Publisher's Lunch announcement:

"From Newbery Honor winner and Eisner nominated authors Shannon and Dean Hale, a young chapter book series following the brave and exciting adventures of Princess Magnolia, a perfectly proper princess by day, but when trouble raises its ugly, monster-shaped head, she ditches her flouncy dresses and glass slippers and becomes THE PRINCESS IN BLACK! Sold at auction to Sarah Ketchersid at Candlewick Press."

These things take time to publish. They'll be full of illustrations, so I imagine a couple of years before we'll see the first one? I'm so excited about this series. We love writing them. They make me laugh. Can't wait to share!

Did you know I had a second Super Secret Project?

The press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BLOOMSBURY CHILDREN’S BOOKS TO PUBLISH THE MUCH-ANTICIPATED SEQUEL TO THE NEWBERY HONOR WINNER AND BESTSELLING NOVEL PRINCESS ACADEMY
To be published August 2012

“Shannon Hale’s books blow me away. When I read them I get lost in the magic—her stories are magic.”
—Stephenie Meyer

Ever since the publication of Princess Academy in 2005, fans and booksellers have been clamoring for a sequel. Now, Bloomsbury is delighted to announce the Fall 2012 publication of the as-yet-untitled second Princess Academy book.

The new novel picks up where the 2006 Newbery Honor winner Princess Academy left off. Miri and a few of the academy girls travel to the capital city of Asland to help the princess-to-be. But while continuing her studies, Miri befriends some other students who seek to overthrow the crown. Torn between her friendship with the princess and her belief in her new friends’ daring ideas, as well as an old love and a new crush, Miri struggles to find her place in the larger world.

“We are thrilled to bring Shannon Hale’s fans this all-new story about Miri the mountain girl, her royal friends, and her dangerous new acquaintances,” says Victoria Wells Arms, Editor-at-Large at Bloomsbury, who has acquired all of Hale’s books, including Princess Academy and her 2003 debut The Goose Girl. “Shannon proves once more her talents for setting readers directly into a unique fairy-tale world, where a touch of lyrical magic and a hint of humor always shine through.”

Melanie Cecka, Children’s Publishing Director of Bloomsbury in the US, agrees: “Shannon Hale is that rare author whose books read like timeless classics but are always fresh and unique. She has been a part of our children’s books family from the very beginning, and we are especially proud to be publishing this sequel to one of her best-loved novels as we mark our ten-year anniversary in the US.”

Hale is just as pleased about the upcoming release of Princess Academy 2. “Initially I intended to write a sequel to Princess Academy,” she says. “But after a time, the reasons not to outweighed the urgency of the story in my mind. I had decided I never would when I got an idea—a new, shiny, irresistible idea, one that wouldn’t leave me be. I let it gestate for a year, two years, until I couldn’t bear to put it off any longer. It has been a pleasure to return to Miri’s story.”

Princess Academy 2 is Bloomsbury’s lead title for Fall 2012, which marks the ten-year anniversary for Bloomsbury Children’s Books in the US, and will be supported with an extensive marketing campaign including a multi-city tour, appearances at BEA, and national advertising. Bloomsbury holds World rights and will publish this simultaneously in the US, UK, and Australia. Film rights are held by agent Barry Goldblatt.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Since the publication of her first book, The Goose Girl, in 2003, Shannon Hale has become a beloved author to young readers as well as booksellers and educators. Her third novel, Princess Academy, earned her a Newbery Honor and is a New York Times, Book Sense, and Publishers Weekly bestseller. Hale has also written three books for adults—Austenland (now in post-production to be a major motion picture starring Keri Russell), Midnight in Austenland, and The Actor and the Housewife. She lives near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband, the author Dean Hale, and their four children.

For further information/interview requests, please contact:
Katy Hershberger, Publicity Manager, Tel: 646-438-6070, email: katy.hershberger@bloomsbury.com

And the winner is...

Carly! She who wrote: "Oh my gosh! So exciting! I hope I win! I can't wait to read this! OF COURSE I would go to Austenland if it really existed. I am a super obsessed Austen fan and actually have my own entire wardrobe already since I do historic costuming. The idea of three weeks in the actual "period" just sounds like heaven!"

Congrats, Carly! I put in the numbers into a random number generator and I was crossing my fingers that it was a smaller number so I didn't have to count up to 600+. Yay. Carly, send me an email at squeetus (at) gmail (dot) com.

I'm so pumped by the exciting response to this giveaway! So many of you wanted a copy. That's just awesome. I'm getting really excited to share.

By the way, I'm on twitter too. I don't tweet much, but more often than I blog. My tweets also go to facebook. Just in case you're like, "I just cannot get enough of that sparkly Shannon Hale! If only I could roll around in her sparkliness more often." Problem solved! You're welcome.

A juicy Midnight in Austenland copy is calling your name

Here's the new Midnight in Austenland cover. The jacket spine you see left. It's much the same as the previous one I showed you, just zoomed and juggled a bit. There are often many versions of a cover before a final is selected. While I am consulted, the book cover is chosen by my publisher, as is the case with 99% of books. (Many authors don't even get consulted, so I'm lucky!) I hope you love it.

And I have (or will shortly, postal service willing) an ARC to give away! You have till Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 10 pm to make a comment on this post to enter the contest. One comment per person. I'll use a random number generator to select a winner. And to give you something to talk about, if there was a real Austenland (i.e. immersive Austen vacation), would you go and why?

The simple beauty of a perfect cast

Whew! It's so nice to be able to talk about this at last! If you're not interested in movie making or screenwriting or Austenland, then avert your eyes from this blog for the next couple of months. I will tell all that I can! I will NOT be revealing things I shouldn't, such as exact locations of the filming, etc. But I got the go ahead to say who is playing which character.

Jane - Keri Russell
Nobley - JJ Feild
Martin - Bret Mckenzie
Miss Charming - Jennifer Coolidge
Colonel Andrews - James Callis
Mrs. Wattlesbrook - Jane Seymour
Mr. Wattlesbrook - Rupert Vansittart

EDIT: I forgot to add Rupert Vansittart and have corrected that. There is no Sir John and Aunt Saffronia, Mr & Mrs. Wattlesbrook merging those roles. It was the right choice for the adaptation to screen.

Isn't that a gorgeous cast? I'm so thrilled! If there is anyone you aren't familiar with and you read my blog, then you shortly will be. I'll devote a post to each of them over the next few weeks. The actors playing George East and Lady Heartwright (she got bumped up to "lady" in the screenplay) weren't mentioned in the official announcement, so I'll wait to drop their names.

More info to come, but to sum up: I've spent the past two years writing a screenplay from my book Austenland with Jerusha Hess. This is not to announce my book has been optioned for a movie. This is to announce that IT IS ON. We're making an indie movie from our screenplay and filming starts NOW.

I gotta go pack for England. Crap. I still don't fit into any of my pre-pregnancy clothes. Thanks for all the congrats. I'm so happy that you're happy too. This is a fantasy for sure. Don't pinch me. I'll leave you with this: only one time in my writing career have I written a character with a specific actor in mind. They were able to cast that very actor for that very part. The name appears in the above list. Can you guess?

By the way, if you were thinking of buying a copy of Austenland on ebook to prepare for the movie, did you know that you can still support your local indie bookstore and buy an ebook? Follow this link to purchase it from my local bookstore, The King's English. (through Google ebooks, for all readers except Kindle) Indie movies, indie bookstores, all good things!

Super Secret Project...REVEALED!

What I've done today:

1. Done 3 loads of laundry
2. Changed 6 diapers
3. Dropped off and picked up preschooler
4. Played games with my 7 yo
5. Called insurance company to see why one of my twin babies mysteriously isn't covered on our insurance
6. Read about my book becoming a movie on The Hollywood Reporter
7. Freaked out!

It's happening! So much more news to come. I am at least freed to talk about. This has been in the works for two years and it's so exciting! More soon.

Ps. Notice how THR doesn't mention me or my book? Oh Hollywood, you just couldn't love writers any more, could you? EDIT: They added mention that it's based on my book and I co-wrote the screenplay. Thanks to the friendly commenters who alerted them to the oversight!

Pps. That's a terrible photo of Jerusha Hess. She's really beautiful. Not that we care about such things.

Ppps. SQUEE!

Wait for it...

For those of you checking in about the Super Secret Project, I should be able to announce very soon. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow. If you're on twitter, follow me for instantaneous news! @haleshannon

I'm also on Facebook.

Sorry the reveal has taken so long (about a year and a half longer than I expected!). But the good news is, when I do get to tell all, I'll have a lot of details!

Garrison Keillor wished me a happy birthday

Oh my, what a birthday surprise! Today the Writer's Almanac mentions me in honor of my birthday. And to up the surreal coolness, Garrison Keillor is the host and he actually talked about me on NPR this morning. What does this mean? I'm a tadpole compared to the other two writers  mentioned (Benjamin Franklin and Ellen DeGeneres). I'm...I'm...currently juggling two babies and sleeping on top of a pile of laundry and trying to slosh my post-parnum oatmeal brain into a workable mess. I'm flabberghasted and tickled peach. Wow!

I'm excited to learn I share a b-day with the most-awesome Ellen DeGeneres. I've loved her since her standup days. My sisters and I had her airplane bit memorized. ("Get those away from me! Six peanuts…") We don't have television at home (i.e. cable or antennae) so it's always a treat for me when I'm touring and staying in a hotel and get to watch her show on TV. She is for me the new Carol Burnett. So, happy birthday, Ellen!

Did I mention, if you listen to the podcast, you can actually hear Garrison Keillor say my name? Thank you, Garrison Keillor, for the birthday wishes! And a shout out to to Betsy Allister, staff writer. After reading her bio I suspect she is the person responsible for including me in today's almanac. She's a fan of children's literature. Maybe Betsy read Goose Girl, maybe she liked it, maybe when January 26 came around she recognized my name on a list of "famous" people born today and she said, hey, let's feature her today. What a strange thing, what things I never imagined when I was ten and wishing fervently to be a writer. What a thing life can be.

EDIT: I'm sure no one cares but me, but I just have to clarify one thing about the article. It says Dean was "one of her high school flings." I didn't have any high school flings, though I'm sure I wouldn't have minded. Dean was one of my best friends for seven years before he was my boyfriend. And ten years into our marriage, he's still my best friend. Hey honey, we never got around to having a fling together. Maybe it's not too late? Text me later...

Happy anniversary, Princess Academy

From Bloomsbury: "January is Shannon’s birthday month and the 5th anniversary of PRINCESS ACADEMY receiving the Newbery Honor. To celebrate, Shannon’s publisher is giving away one copy of the book to one person who “likes” the official fan page."

If you're on facebook, Bloomsbury is going to be doing lots of cool stuff all year on my fan page, including giveaways, podcasts (since I'm not a'travelin' this year), contests, etc. I also have a profile page on FB and a twitter account if you care to join me there as well.

Five years! This next Monday the newest Newbery shinies will be announced. How thrilling. I will never get used to the news.

Here's a little embarrassing Shannon Hale trivia for you. At the Newbery banquet, the Honor honorees get a plaque. I have no idea where mine is. I'm pretty sure I brought it home, but we moved houses soon thereafter. It could still be in a box somewhere or perhaps sucked into the dimension of second socks and homework assignments. No one has seen it except Dean, who was at the ceremony with me. Oh well. It's the silver sticker on the book that's the real award anyway.

Fall 2010, new from Shannon Hale...

Many have asked me what I'm currently working on now and when they can expect a new Shannon Hale work to come forth. I'm happy to announce that what I'm working on now will come to fruition as soon as this September!

This project has been a tough one for me. While books are often mentally and emotionally demanding, this particular project has been physically so. Sleepiness is common, general aches and such, as well as extreme nausea and vomiting. In the MFA program, they didn't warn me about the vomiting. You'd think I'd abandon this project and find a new one that allowed me to keep down my dinner, but that's never been my style. Once I start a project, I see it through the end. Especially this one. Oh most especially this one.

I should mention that this is in fact a collaboration between me and my husband Dean; but to be fair, although he has had some hand in this project, I am shouldering the brunt of the work. I can't really blame him. This particular project is one that requires more of my expertise and abilities. But secretly I believe that if given the opportunity to do more of the work, Dean would say, "No, no, really, you're so much better at it. I'll just sit here and be your support system." I should also mention that the other Hale, one Nathan, had no part in this collaboration. We love his work and his partnership, but this was a project Dean and I really needed to do alone.

About nine weeks into the project, as part of the research Dean and I consulted an expert on this topic and learned, much to our surprise, that the reason this particular project has been so much more physically taxing than the previous ones was because it is not one, but in fact, two. Well, slap me silly, I didn't see that one coming. Perhaps it's like my Daisy Danger dilemma--one long book with a slightly truncated story or a trilogy with a little more depth? Except with this project, it's not up to me to decide. "Congratulations!" people say. "Two! Well done!" But I can't take credit. Sometimes you control the projects, and sometimes they control you. I am not the master of this one--I am merely the host. And thank goodness it's not a trilogy.

I will keep you updated on the progress of the project. I can't name an exact release date yet, and am not yet even certain of the projects' genres let alone titles. And given the focus I'm putting on these projects, my other work and travel will likely slow down significantly. But some projects are just that important--masterpieces, life's work.  And all artists must bow to the whim of the Muse.