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How can I get an autographed copy of your books? What are you working on now? How do you get your ideas? Why is some of the text on the site green? What is Squeetus? No, really, what is Squeetus? Do you do speaking engagements and school visits? I want to be a writer. What should I do? When will your next book come out? Will you write a sequel to princess academy? Will you write another book with Ani/Isi or Enna as the main character? Will you read my manuscript? My paperback goose girl has a printing error on page 167. What should I do? How long does it take you to write a book? Is writing the second book easier than the first? Is it hard to make changes with an editor? Where did you get all the names of people and places? Are any of your books going to be made into movies? And can I be in it? What order should I read your books in? Do you have any help for book groups or teachers doing the goose girl? How do I get your newsletter? What's with the pig? How can I get an autographed copy of the goose girl? What are you working on now? rapunzel's revenge, a graphic novel I'm co-writing with my hubbie, Dean. (A graphic novel is basically a book length comic book.) It will be out early 2008. I'm also working on a novel, another fairy tale retelling. It's an obscure fairy tale that you've most likely never heard of, and the working title is diary of a lady's maid. Release date hasn't been set yet, but perhaps fall 2007. How do you get your ideas? The simple answer to this is: I don’t know. It never occurs to me to wonder where they come from until someone asks. With the goose girl, I studied the original tale and asked myself a lot of questions about it, and the answers came out as I wrote. With the next book, I thought, I like the character of Enna. If she had a book, what would happen? And then I had my answer as I wrote. Where do plots and characters and details come from? I imagine from people I’ve known, things I’ve seen, things I’ve read, and things I imagine, all mixed together. See also goose girl: how it started or enna burning: how it started Why is some of the text on the site green? Green text is used to indicate direct quotes from Shannon herself. What is Squeetus? Squeetus is life. No, really, what is Squeetus? Squeetus is this site, your online source for all things Shannon and her books. The evolution and meaning of this word is a mystery, lost in the purling gray mists of etymology. It may just be fun to say. Do you do speaking engagements and school visits? Yes, sometimes. I especially love meeting with kids. All my out-of-Utah author events go through Deb Shapiro at Bloomsbury. Recently, I've had to cut way back to keep my author events from interfering with my family. I still do some visits in the Salt Lake valley area. Due to family stuff and book touring, I can't book too far in advance (sorry!). I'm most likely to accept an invitation if: I want to be a writer. What should I do? There’s no secret on how to be a writer—you write. I highly recommend focusing on your writing and storytelling and not worrying about the publishing part for as long as you can stand it. When you do decide that you must publish or perish, the following items do seem to improve your odds: read a lot, write a lot, seek and accept constructive feedback, rewrite a lot, learn as much as you can about publishing, and develop a tough skin. It also wouldn’t hurt if your favorite aunt is a top editor in a large New York publishing house or a powerhouse literary agent. See also mincemeat: on writing When will the next book come out? river secrets, a Bayern book featuring Razo, as well as Enna, Finn, and other old friends, will be out September 2006 in the US (UK should be right around there as well). Will you write a sequel to princess academy? I really don't know. I like the book intact, whole, without needing another story to it. I do have ideas about what happens next and so I don't want to say that I never will, but I also have 3 other books that feel more insistent to me to write first. Will you write another book with Ani/Isi or Enna as the main character? I have copious notes on a story idea about an adventure which includes Isi and Enna as well as another mystery character. I don't yet know when or if I'll write this book, or which character would have the point-of-view or if I might use multiple POVs. I know many readers would like this, and I'm interested in the story, but I can't make myself write to outside demands. If the story is a good one, it will keep nagging at me and eventually I will write it. If it's not a good one, then you wouldn't want to read it anyway. Will you read my manuscript? Unfortunately, no. Having objective eyes look at your work is a very good idea, but I’m not the person for it. I’m not a professional editor and am in no position to help people get published. And, alas, if I read everything people ask me to, I wouldn't have time to write. Clare Dunkle has a wonderful page on her site explaining why authors can't and shouldn't do this. If it’s good, healthy feedback you’re looking for, I am a big fan of writer workshops. I’ve been a part of workshops in college, online, and with writer friends. Join one in your community or form your own. For further tips, check out the articles at mincemeat: on writing My paperback goose girl has a printing error on page 167. What should I do? How long does it take you to write a book? I don’t start writing until after I’ve had the story rolling around in my head for about a year, started doing research, taking notes, and making a rough outline. When I’m writing a first draft, I do 1000 words a day, 5 days a week. It takes me 4-5 months to complete a first draft. Rewriting can take me another 9-18 months, depending on how much it needs, if I can work at it fulltime, etc. All told, each book requires about a year and a half of steady work, spread out over 2 years or more. Is writing the second book easier than the first? Virginia Euwer Wolff quoted Ernest Hemingway at a conference recently: "And then I remember that it was always difficult." We like to imagine that no book will ever be as hard to write as the one we're on right now, but they are. Some things do get a bit easier. I know my writing process better now, and that makes it easier. Writing enna burning was a little easier than the goose girl because I already knew many of the characters and the landscape, but with princess academy, my third book, I had to discover that all over again. Truly, the hardest part of writing is doing it every day. The second hardest is finding the story. The third is finding the right words to tell it. For me, with every book, every story, that challenge never gets easier. Is it hard to make changes with an editor? I love my editor and feel so lucky to have the opportunity to work with a professional editor before my books see print. The hardest parts are when she gives me feedback that I know is right but that I don't know how to employ. Figuring out how to, for example, make a character arc more believable or build more tension is always desirable but difficult in actually seeing it through, word by word, sentence by sentence. My editor never makes me make changes that I don't want to. She is wise, and I'm grateful for her wisdom. See also mincemeat: on writing Where did you get all the names of people and places? The only two names actually included in the original tale of "The Goose Girl" are Falada and Conrad. In some versions of the tale, Conrad’s name is Curdken. Interestingly, a friend told me that "falada" means "spoken" in Portuguese. Besides those two, the Kildenrean and Tiran names are born somehow in my head, and I took or adapted the Bayern names from a list of medieval German names, some of which are still in use today. I used a list of Scandanavian names from the middle ages as a jumping off place for princess academy. Are any of your books going to be made into movies? And can I be in it? Currently, there are no plans for a movie of the goose girl or any of Shannon's books. We here at squeetus think her stories would make stunning movies, but apparently no one cares about our opinion. And unfortunately, when a book is made into a movie, the author has no say in casting it. Even J.K. Rowling must bow to the whims of Hollywood. What order should I read your books in? Any order you want, though you might want to start with goose girl, then read enna burning, followed by river secrets (out in 2006). As princess academy isn't related to the other books, you could read it any time. Like, right now, for instance. Do you have any help for teachers or book groups doing the goose girl? Yes! Click here to download a pdf. Also, the US paperback of the goose girl includes a new (and improved) reading group guide and author interview. Download the guide at www.bloomsbury.com. How do I get your newsletter? Go to The Squeeter Pig and enter your email address. We'll email you the html newsletter as soon as the next issue comes out, anytime in the next six months. You can read the latest volume here. And send in your book reviews and Reading Teacher Award submissions for the next issue! (Details in the newsletter) What's with the pig? My publisher asked me for a bio, and I read lots of other writers' bios to get a sense of what people were doing. They all mention their pets. "Why?" I wondered. "Is it a secret writer thing? Without a pet you aren't in the club?" Sadly, my husband and I don't have a pet (that is, until we had our baby, of course). My husband's nickname for me is "pig" (it's affectionate, I promise), and so we have a few small plastic pigs around the house. We picked one of them to be our official pet and I put it in the bio. I thought my publisher would edit that line out of my bio, but no! It even made it into the UK edition bio. I think it's thoroughly delightful to be known for having a pet plastic pig and think all other writers should jump on this bandwagon. E.g., "Mary Scrumptious lives in an 18th century farmhouse in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and their pet, a styrofoam llama." |
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