I Met Shannon Hale!

That is me and Shannon Hale.

Shannon Hale gave a great presentation on telling stories and how she decided to become a writer. 
She started off by asking who loved telling stories. To the people who didn't raise their hands, she asked if they remembered playing cops and robbers or cowboys and indians as children. That is story telling. 

Apparently from the time she was sitting in her high chair, Shannon was telling stories. She would blabber in baby talk and frown and laugh and shout. Then as she started to get older and she would write little stories, like one about a witch who liked to eat children. She drew pictures to go along with the story like most little kids do. When she would tell people at this age that she wanted to be a writer they would encourage her. Then she got older...

Picture of Shannon when she was young.

In junior high, when she would tell people that she wanted to be a writer, they would tell her that being a writer was hard. This was discouraging and she stopped telling people she wanted to be a writer. She hid it. But she still kept writing stories for herself. 

Shannon Hale graduating from college.

Then she went to college and she graduated and started trying to get stories published. She got rejected A LOT at first. 

Sorry this picture is so blurry, but those are a ton of her rejection letters all laminated into one long roll. Those aren't even half of her rejection letters. But eventually someone decided to publish her book, Princess Academy. And the rest is history. Princess Academy won the Newbery Medal Honor in 2006. The Goose Girl got published and the rest of the beloved Bayern series. She published several graphic novels and her newest book, The Princess in Black is the cutest thing in the world. 

All in all, it was an awesome night. I got my copies of The Goose Girl (my bad week book), and Princess Academy signed by Shannon and I bought a copy of The Princess in Black for my little sister and got that signed too. My little sister loves the book and I have to say I really liked it too and would definitely recommend it. 

One other exciting thing that happened that night, was I happened to sit by my friend, Emily's older sister, Lora! I met Emily when we went to college together. We were in a creative writing club. Lora was there to get Emily's books signed by Shannon Hale because Emily is out of state at the moment. I really enjoyed Lora's company and was so happy to make a new friend. It truly is a small world. 

Lora and Shannon Hale! Aren't they awesome? ;)

Shannon Hale is a such an inspiration. If you haven't already read some of her books, do so. She's written for all ages from little kids to adults and everything in between. So go out and read one of her books, you won't regret it. 

Have you met Shannon Hale or any other of your favorite authors before? What was your experience like? Have you read any of Shannon Hale's books? If so, leave me a comment telling me your favorite book by her. I'd love to hear from you.

Keep on Creating,
K. A. Jairl

P.S. Come back next week when I post a blog about my experience at LTUE (Life, the Universe, and Everything) the writing conference held in Provo, UT. If everything works out, I'll be down there tomorrow and starting my first class.