A movie I'd been looking forward to opens this weekend in NY, UT, CA, TX, FL, and MD. Gentlemen Broncos is the latest from the Hesses, who did Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, and this film focuses on a young writer and his scifi novelist mentor. I've watched all the behind-the-scenes vids on the Gentlemen Broncos site. My favorite is Sam's Smoothie. (love Sam Rockwell!) There's a scene in the movie at a writers conference about how to name characters that nearly brought me to tears...from laughing, that is. Would a troll mother ever name her offspring "Tea Cup"? A valid question!

Look at this fabulous Rapunzel costume a reader sent.

Yes, she's reading an advance copy of calamity jack! The rapunzel's revenge sequel will be out in January. I just got full color copies today, and they're SO beautiful. Can't wait to share! And this lovely girl's costume makes me want to host a costume contest next Halloween. Remind me if I forget, but I'm going to do it. Next year dress up as a character from one of my books, send a photo, and there will be prizes. And speaking of calamity jack, I'm not sure if I ever officially posted the cover art:

I'll be at All Tucked In bookstore in Bountiful, Utah this Thursday at 6 pm.

While in DC, I filmed an interview with the wonderful Reading Rockets. These ladies are fabulous, and it's always so invigorating to meet people so committed to books and kids. I had a great time. This was filmed after a full day at the National Book Festival and walking a few blocks in the rain without an umbrella. So I peeked at the interview and was vainly elated to see that I didn't look too bad! Yes, that was my first concern. Pathetic much? The second concern--if I sound idiot-ish--I will leave to others to decide. I've learned something about myself today: apparently I have the power to declare myself beautiful, but not smart. Hm, will ponder...

Check it:

Another pumpkin awesomeness from Laura, world's greatest pumpkin carver. Wow. And let me segue from a forest born pumpkin into the question I'm being emailed at an astonishing rate:

"Are you going to write any more Books of Bayern?"

Not right now. I'm sorry I'm so vague! (at least I was cute after 10 hours at a book festival and a walk in the rain, right? Better to be cute and vague than just vague, huh? Huh? What?)

No, sorry, I don't really know. These characters continue to live on in my mind. I have ideas about what they're doing now, and ideas for stories, and characters I'd like to give their own book. But these books are so hard to write, and take years, and I have to be knocked upside the head with a story that I just can't resist in order to see it through. So, not right now. But maybe some day.

Nathan Hale's Yellowbelly is interviewing Dean (love of my life, apple of my eye) this week. Check it out--special Halloween episode!

We're working hard to finish up Stage 1 of Der Secret Project before November. It takes up a lot of my life these past months. Soon I will have much to report! 

The conversation with Sara Zarr at the library was fun. When we asked how many people there wanted to be a writer, almost all the hands went up. So we talked a lot about process. Then Sara said something I've often observed myself. She said that during the years she was writing books before publication, she often went to author events, always hoping for that Secret. How to write a book. How to finish it. How to make it perfect, publishable. And she's since learned that there is no secret.

I remember feeling that way. And I often meet hopeful writers who seem to want the same from me. "But how do you do it?"

I don't know. I can talk about my process, but of course, all processes are different. I can explain how I motivate myself, but every writer is different. And I think the unhelpful conclusion is, How I do it is I just do it. I just write the darn book.

I wonder if it would shock some people if I revealed how often I consider quitting writing. (Daily? Honey, would you agree that it's a daily consideration?) It's HARD. It comes with a lot of bumps and bruises and moments of crisis, and sometimes I just want to be the mom who reads and watches TV and makes Halloween costumes. I can't, of course. I can't quit, any more than I can quit being me. But I don't have any secret about how to keep going anyway. How to write that book, how to get it published, how to keep going when the nasty voices start shouting you down or when the books don't sell or when life gets sticky and it seems impossible.

I just do it anyway. And I still read daily (though not as much as I'd like). And a couple days a week I still watch TV (Community is funny). And Dean makes Max's costume while Maggie and I do a puzzle. And while I'm doing the puzzle I'm thinking two things: 1. Maggie is unbelievabely cute, and 2. That one scene in the book I'm writing isn't working. I wonder how I can fix it...

Today I'm proud to host fellow Utah writer Sara Zarr! Sara's writing career got off with a bang when her first novel, Story of a Girl, was a finalist for the National Book Award. She followed that with the award-winning Sweethearts. Her latest is Once Was Lost. Sara and I will be "interviewing each other" (yeah, we're a little unsure how that works too) this Saturday, Oct. 24, from 4:30-5:30 at the main branch of the Salt Lake City library. It's part of the Utah Humanities Book Festival. As she's busy with the new book, I'm keeping her interview short and sweet.

SH: Sam's story parallels the abduction of a girl from her congregation. Without revealing any spoilers (of course) I'm curious about the ending. Had you always intended that ending?

SZ: I would make you a casserole, Shannon, because when I think of you I think of home and hearth and pie. I'd get my husband to play piano for you while I flambed the Baked Alaska. Sadly, I'm not free for...a while.

OH! Taunted me with casserole and Baked Alaska and live music, but in the end--DENIED. It's official, Sara Zarr is ruthless! Fortunately, she's also an extremely fine writer. We're gonna rock the festival on Saturday.

I'll be on VoiceAmerica radio program Thursday. You can see the website for details. The program's theme is Strong Women Characters and the other guests are Meg Cabot, Kristin Cashore, and Diane Gabaldon. Meg has a great post about it--love her. And I agree that the host, Matthew Peterson, was super great.

Also, I've neglected to say that book of a thousand days is now out in paperback! (and has been for a  month...sorry) 

Three more weeks (I think) till I can reveal my super secret project...

Buy books. And God bless us, every one.

p.s. If after buying all those books, you have another $88 dollars to spare, 88 Bikes is one of our family's favorite new traditions for the holidays.

Friends of Lulu nominated rapunzel's revenge for two awards! There's online voting, if you go for that sort of thing.

I'll be attending the Costume Ball charity event for the South Jordan Community Theatre on Friday. This is a ticketed event to raise money for our local community theater. Tickets are still available, and there will be an auction, including (embarrassingly enough) lunch with...me. Yup. This was not my idea, obviously. There is no good outcome for me. Either it will be embarrassing when nobody bids, or it will be so uncomfortable if someone pays a lot for it and I know I can't possibly be entertaining enough to be worth that amount. So...what the hey, it's for a good cause. And I always say that one of the best exercises for becoming a professional writer is to expose yourself to public humiliation.

So after I lamented my lack of photos at the National Book Festival, kind reader Meredith emailed me some and then gave me her lovely sum-up of the event. With her permission, I'll quote parts:

"I laughed so hard at the Exquisite Corpse reading.  You were all so wonderful and funny-- it was one of the best talks I went to all day.  Was it the interaction between all of the authors on the stage?  Was it because you were all as sleep deprived and caffeine hyped as I was?  Or did you seem so funny because I was so sleep deprived and hyped on caffeine?  Or was it just the surreal wonderfulness of being surrounded by hundreds of people who loved books enough to brave the weather and connect with authors and other readers?  There was a very special energy in the air that day.  It seemed like the wonder had been awoken in everyone I looked at-- we were all looking around ourselves, a little amazed.  And once people started talking to other people there, sparks of static electricity bounced from tongues and minds.  The little zings connected us.  Maybe because in one way or another, every person there had been saved by books, the way Kate DiCamillo said that the library saved her.  The importance of stories lies in that desperate and beautiful rescue.  They restore us not just to safety, but to a place more wonderful than that."

Here's Megan McDonald, Steven Kellogg, Nikki Grimes, Kate DiCamillo, me, and Jon Scieska. I could not stop laughing between Jon and Kate there. And Megan, Steven, and Nikki were just as sweet and cool as you could want them to be.

By the way, Episdoes 1 & 2 are now up at read.gov. A new episode goes up every two weeks. Katherine Patterson is the latest. (The Exquisite Corpse Adventure is supported by the Library of Congress and the National Children's Book and Literacy Alliance and will feature the collaborative work 14 writers and 3 illustrators, including yours truly.)

Here's some more from Meredith:

"When I got in line to get my books signed, I loved how the people in line around me all became a sort of Sisterhood Of Shannon Hale Book Lovers over the hour or so that we stood waiting.  Age mattered not-- we were students, teachers, librarians, booksellers and moms all talking on exactly the same level.  I listened to a snowy-haired librarian soberly discussing what kind of a person a princess should be with thirteen-year-old girl she had met five minutes before.  They had very interesting and earnest ideas on the subject.  The members of our Sisterhood could be identified by the fact that they laughed and gushed, traded book recommendations and directions on how to get out of the city at the end of the day, discussed favorite books and most-loved characters, took pictures for each other, and carried bags and books for each other.  I used to run the Children's department at Barnes & Noble, and I'm used to being considered just a bit precious by my coworkers for making Kids Lit my field.  I wasn't precious in your line.  I was perfectly normal.  I loved every moment of it.

"There is something very special about book lovers who get together for an event such as that, but I think that there is something particularly special about people who love Children's books.  Some of the lines for other, "adult" authors seem to me competitive-- people defended their places in line and were jealous of how many books they could get signed, etc.  It wasn't that way at all in the Shannon Hale line.  We were all instantly friends, and friends don't quibble about places in line.  As a matter of fact, the little knot of de facto friends I was with encouraged a girl to dash off to the Jodi Picolt line just one over just as that line dwindled to its end so that she could get a book signed.  We cheered when the line managers let her get in line, and we not only held her place in the Shannon Hale line, but I think we held about half of her other books, as well.  The Shannon Hale line manager was amazed by us."

This is just so sweet. I've found it to be true as well that people who love children's books experience a kind of team loyalty. And nothing I find more flattering and honoring than to hear that people who like my books tend to be kind. Hooray indeed.

I returned from tour Saturday and thanks to my generous husband fell into a nap, followed by an all-day stupor. Sunday I went to bed early and slept straight for 10 hours. It's Wednesday and I still haven't unpacked. I don't know where my make-up is. I can't seem to get a grip on the routine again. Vacations are often like this, but book tour is especially exhausting. So good, but draining too. I've been contemplating why this is. There are some obvious reasons, like 5 hotels in 9 days, getting up at 7 am and returning to the hotel at 11 pm, driving through eight states, not to mention traveling with a two-year-old! But it's more than that.

I'm not a very good saleswoman. I don't like "touting my wares," and I'm bad at it. So I don't try. I've gotten a little better than the first few years, when I wouldn't even mention my books when I gave talks. I've learned that people usually want to hear about them a little. But when I go to an author event, I don't want to hear someone read from their book. I want them. I want to feel like I know them, have a personal interaction, hear stories that make me laugh or think. So when I do events, I try to do that, give my energy to every person I meet. When I do one book event at home, by the time I'm done, I want to curl up and go to sleep. On tour, I usually do 3 per day. Somehow I keep going and going, but when I can, I crash. I still feel crashed now.

I often hesitate writing things like this, because I know it can sound complainy, and I don't mean that at all. I am so honored to get to tour, to have a publisher willing to invest in me, to get to go to these amazing bookstores and schools and libraries and meet readers (and potential readers!). But this blog is for honesty, and you should know, book tour is not glamorous.

Since I brought my two-year-old (out of necessity), I also brought my awesome neighborhood babysitter Kayla, age 15, whose amazing parents let her come along and miss school. Poor Kayla. I think she found firsthand that book tour isn't as glamorous as it might sound. She was so WONDERFUL! And kept Maggie in truly blessed spirits.

I need to finish my tour account! I'm sorry I don't have better photos. I hauled my huge ol' deluxe camera along and it stopped working, so I just managed to snap a few lame-o cell phone shots, and I kept forgetting to use it. So bummed I didn't get a photo with the Exquisite Corpse team. They were all so great. How fun is it to love Kate DiCamillo's books all this time and then discover that she is just as fabulous in person?

Wellesley Booksmith (MA) took me to this amazing all girl private school, grades 6-12, the older girls having the option to board. An idea that intrigues me to no end. A boarding school! How story-worthy! Awesome girls. I have noticed that girls at all-girl schools tend to be more confident in speaking out, asking and answering questions. What do boys do to us? Here's a photo of a display the bookstore had up. My publisher made these amazing pamplets about my books with a q&a and such, but they freak me out. They have my huge photo on the front! I had to get a picture because I find it so bizarre.

That evening I did a chat for Wellesley at the library. I met so many memorable readers but got a photo of this family. Awesome mom brought her five kids. The youngest (I wrote down their names somewhere so I wouldn't forget...then I forgot where I put it) rushed me and said, "I'm such a huge fan!" He was like one foot tall and had more energy and spunk that ten adults on their best day. His eight-year-old sister was equally zealous. She has read goose girl and princess academy 30 times each. This is what I'm talking about, people! How can you not love these kids! Even the toddler was chewing on books. Praise the mom.

Here's a photo of two lovely girls I met at the National Book Festival who came back for seconds in Boston! Lovely gals.

Moving on to Hartford, CT, I attended the NECBA dinner (New England Children's Booksellers Assoc). I love speaking to booksellers. Great senses of humor, great passion. I got to present with the likes of Shaun Tan (who I admire so much) and Mo Willems (who inspires me to do prat falls). I don't have any photos of this! I got to meet Mo's daughter Trixie again in DC. Cutie. Her mom told me she's read rapunzel's revenge about 75 times. (Mo said "80 cachillion.") Clearly a child with discerning taste! The next morning we took Maggie to Hartford's Science Museum, which is awesome.

On to Madison and the fabulous RJ Julia. I don't get to see many sights on tour, but I get to know bookstores, and such a great way to travel. R.J. Julia is a beautiful store where you just want to spend hours and hours. We drove to NYC that night and stayed at a JFK hotel before flying out the next morning. They were out of cribs so I had to put Maggie in a cot. Um...it went okay...you know, night crying, trying to keep her in bed and out of the bathroom, waking up to hear a thump on the floor and a cry of pain and bewilderment. But home again now! And she's safely back in her nighttime barred prison.

Thank you to Bloomsbury and all the wonderful bookstores. I'll be back on the road again in November, to Balitmore, DC, and Philidelphia. See you then! (and now back to working on my secret project...ooh, I am such a tease! I can reveal by the end of the month, I think.)

Hello from the road! Whew, it's been uber-busy, but of course really great. I started off at the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. There was an author reception in the Jefferson Building. My first time in DC, and I was breath-taken. That building! Gorgeous! Amazing! And filled with 70 writers I love all eating highly intriguing finger food. I got to meet up with old favs like Holly Black, Toni DiTerrlizzi, Mo Willem and family. David Shannon pointed out that if we got married, I could be Shannon Shannon. I thanked him for his offer but told him I was happily married. His wife on the other side of the table waved pleasantly.

Saturday was the festival. Huge. Awesome. 130,000 people came. It was so well organized and everyone seemed ecstatic to be there. First I did a panel with some members of the Exquisite Corpse Adventure team. Jon Scieska and Kate DiCamillo sat on either side of me, and I could not stop laughing. I want to go back to school and sit in the back of the class with those two. It's so wonderful to love someone's books, then meet her and be able to report that she's just as fabulous, funny, clever, and subversive as you could hope. I'm speaking, of course, of Kate, because Jon is nothing but trouble and I resoundingly warn you all away. Far away. Okay, maybe not that far.

Nikki Grimes, Megan MacDonald, and Steven Kellogg rounded out our crew, and I

adore them all. The first episode of the Adventure is up now on read.gov, with a new episode going up every two weeks. We were asked to give hints about our episodes, and I told about writing a certain villain. When I was drafting my episode, I was writing with my five-year-old next to me, and I knew he was reading along as I typed, so I was trying to amuse him and described a villain as "his face was where his rear end should be and his rear end...spoke." or something like that. Max asked me what that meant, and I said, "Basically, he has a bum head." Max laughed and went off to draw that picture himself. He did a pretty good job. I'd planned to cut that obviously disgusting and highly morally objectionable detail later, but after Max got such a kick out of it, I just couldn't. Steven Kellogg drew some pictures from the Adventure for our audience, and he chose to do that one as well. So awesome.

Next I spent some time in the Utah tent and then on to do my own presentation,

followed by a signing. I was astounded when my one hour time slot spilled over into two so they didn't have to turn people away. It was raining! Pouring! And people still waited in line. Amazing, humbling, and so exciting too that there are thousands of people so passionate about books. Here's my awesome escort Amy, and Bloomsbury publicist Deb and I model our plastic bag wraps.

I was delighted to have my photo featured in the SLJ's write up of the festival, and even more delighted when I read the photo credits beneath my photo and the one of Jon Scieska and Nikki Grimes. I like to imagine the article was written by someone in love with a woman named Sharon, and he just can't get her out of his mind. Soon, every woman looks like her, sounds like her, his imagination filled with Sharon, Sharon, Sharon! [EDIT: looks like someone discovered the error and corrected it. Originally I was listed as Sharon Hale and Nikki Grimes was Sharon Grimes. I kinda miss that Sharon.]

The next morning we were supposed to fly from DC to Albany then drive to Vermont, but due to circumstances beyond our control, we missed our flight. So we had to rent a car and drive to Vermont. Did I mention I'm traveling with my two-year-old? We were in the car for 10 hours that day. She was so, so, SO good...for a two-year-old. I was only, oh, three and a half hours late to my event at Northshire Books. UGH! I'm so sorry, anyone who came by! By an amazing serendipity, a family that had driven over from Conneticut happened to come by the store again when I was there, so at least I could talk to those girls and sign their books. Northshire is an awesome book store.

Monday was the Flying Pig book shop. I love you, Josie and Elizabeth! I had two school event with the most awesome kids ever. One of them put together a video presentation on Rapunzel that I told them they must enter into the Rapunzel's Revenge Book Trailer Contest (notice how I put that all in caps to make it look official and title-y?). I'll link to their submission when I get it. Hooray for valiant librarians who find ways to connect the kids to books! Vermont is so beautiful, even in the constant rain. I swear, we had a cloud over our heads and couldn't escape the rain for two days straight.

On to Massachusetts the next day. I was looking forward to my first full night of sleep. I was getting pretty loopy at this point--late nights, early mornings, constant high energy. But at last, a chance to be in bed for eight hours straight! Then in the middle of the night, alarm goes off. I turn it off. Fall back asleep. It goes off again. I unplug it. Fall back asleep. It goes off again. I kid you not. There's no display, no power, and the alarm is going off! I discover a battery inside and dig it out. If it goes off again, there will be a reckoning.

In the Boston area, I do a wonderful event with Porter Square Books, and another at the Brookline Public Library with the Children's Book Shop. Such great readers everywhere! One six-year-old had a Rapunzel's Revenge for me to sign. I sign my name, and she asked, "Why did you just scribble in my book?"

Last night was a the flagship store for Barnes & Noble in Burlington. A brother and sister came from Montana. Hi Shiloh and sister! (sorry, forgot your name, Sister) Dee the event manager reminded me again of all the passionate, caring people in the book world. I love being part of this team.

I'll report more later. My little one is waking up and we're going to go walk out on the harbor. Boston rocks.

I'll be in DC/New England this weekend and next week, touring for forest born, and I'll be chatting with the Book Divas for a couple of weeks.

I finally got my scanner working this week, and I thought you might enjoy a couple of items. First, some fan art. This lovely picture, made by teen squeetuser Camille, references the film noir Humpty Dumpty story Fablehaven author Brandon Mull told on squeetus in February. (click to enlarge)

Isn't that fabulous? Next, some of you know that my first book, the goose girl, was rejected (unread) by dozens of agents, then after I found an agent (the Amy mentioned in the letter), it was again rejected nine times by the who's who of children's publishers. Cropping out the publishers' names, here are two of the rejection letters. I'm sure many of you can empathize. Oh, the days when you looked for the positive in a rejection--at least they bothered to send a letter! At least they seemed to read it at all! At least they said something sort of nice! (Oh, the pain, the pain!)

A note on the goose girl--it went on to win the Josette Frank Award (awarded by book professionals) as well as the ALA Teen Top Ten (voted on by teen readers in the US). It's been in print for six years and continues to find an audience, besides spawning three sequels. It wasn't the right book for these editors, but it was the right book for another editor (eventually--I love you, Victoria!) as well as hundreds of thousands of readers. What I'm saying is, all you writers, stick with it! I wouldn't recommended sending out your first draft, or even your first book, but once you get that really great final draft done, the rejection that follows doesn't mean you or the book is good for nothing. It's just part of the path in finding your right home.

the actor and the housewife won the City Weekly's Readers Choice award for best fiction book of the year. Thanks, City Weekly voters! I am so thrilled and honored. It makes me ridiculously happy when other people love Becky, Mike, and Felix too.

 I'll be at the King's English in Salt Lake City this Saturday at 2 pm for the forest born release party. It's been a really nice release week so far, with lovely reviews and happy responses from many of you. Thank you! I don't like to post full reviews on my blog or site for fear of spoilers, but I put up snippets of the reviews.

In honor of Rin this week, here's my favorite tree-related poem. (A little history--I first read this poem in the New Yorker and loved it so much I was going to memorize it, but I lost my copy and couldn't remember the title or poet. Then when I was reading Tithe by Holly Black, I saw that she quoted from this poem, and so I was reunited with the poem AND a week later met Holly for the first time! And I declare "Crown" one of my all time favorite poems and Holly one of my all time favorite people.)

CROWN
by Kay Ryan

Too much rain
loosens trees.
In the hills giant oaks
fall upon their knees.
You can touch parts
you have no right to—
places only birds
should fly to.

Aaah...I love that. I am stunned by her brevity, by her simple word choices. This could be the text for an early reader book, and yet she says things no one else has. This poem is like a buttermint on the tongue. I feel refreshed! And now back to daisy danger brown, and a different secret project that I may be able to talk about next month...

It's here. This is it. The week forest born emerges into the bright (smiling? unforgiving?) light of the world! Tuesday is the official day, though I'm getting reports from all over the readers now have the purple book in their hot little hands.

A note on the cover--so many of you want to know if there will be an Alison Jay cover to match the original Bayern paperbacks. There are no current plans. I am sorry about this, and am actually looking into the possibility of commissioning a painting myself, designing an alternate book jacket, and posting it here for people to download and wrap around their book, if they wish. I love the forest born cover, but I also love the originals and I understand the desire to have all the hardcovers in a series match. But there will not be an Alison Jay version for sale. Hopefully the story itself will overcome any worries about the cover! Also, there is no release date yet for a UK/Australian version.

Publisher's Weekly did an interview with me about the new book. Note that there are some minor river secrets and forest born spoilers.

While writing this book, I was struggling with character. So my husband Dean suggested a character exercise that I'd somehow never considering doing before (which seems silly now...I mean, doesn't everyone do this?). He said, "Who would Rin be in the Justice League?"

So, okay, I bit. And I went through the core members of the Justice League and assigned them all my major Bayern characters. Of course their personalities and powers aren't exact, but these are the best nearest fits.

Rin - Martian Manhunter
Isi - Superman (Dean thinks Red Tornado is more likely--but I say no to Isi as robot)
Enna - Wonder Woman (Dean votes for Fire, the Brazilian superhero)
Finn- Batman
Razo - Green Arrow
Dasha - Flash (I know, Aquaman seems more likely, but this just felt right)
Geric - Green Lantern