Princess Academy (Hale)

Author Bio
• Birth—January 26, 1974
• Where—Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
• Education—B.A., University of Utah; M.F.A., University of
   Montana
• Awards—Newbery Honor Award; CYBILS Award
• Currently—lives near Salt Lake City, Utah

Shannon's mother says she was a storyteller from birth, jabbering endlessly in nonsensical baby-talk. Once she could speak, she made up stories and bribed younger siblings to perform them in mini-plays until, thankfully, an elementary school teacher introduced her to the wonder of written fiction. At age 10, she began to write books, mostly fantasy stories where she was the heroine.

She continued to write secretly for years while pursuing acting in television, stage, and improv comedy. After detours studying in Mexico, the UK, and a year and a half as an unpaid missionary in Paraguay, Shannon earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah. She was finally forced out of the writers closet when she received her Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Montana.

The goose girl, her critically acclaimed first book, is an ALA Teens' Top Ten and Josette Frank Award winner. Enna Burning and River Secrets are companion books to Goose, continuing the "Bayern" books series. Princess Academy is a Newbery Honor Book and a New York Times best seller. Book of a Thousand Days, her newest fairy tale retelling, received a CYBILS award. Austenland, a romantic comedy, and The Actor and the Housewife are her first two adult books. She and her Dean husband are working on a series of graphic novels, the first of which, Rapunzel's Revenge was selected by Today's Al Roker for Al's Book Club for Kids.

Shannon makes her home near Salt Lake City, Utah, USA, with her super-human husband, their indomitable toddler, stunning baby girl, and their pet, a small plastic pig. (From the author's website.)