Eight years ago Princess Academy was published. Once it won a Newbery Honor, its success overwhelmed me. I'd considered writing a sequel before but decided against it, sure that it could never match up.
So I resisted until my idea for what happens next overwhelmed me more
than the overwhelmingness of the previous success. Just generally overwhelmed, I still had to write that story.
I'm so glad I got to write Palace of Stone. I love that book. While working Palace of Stone, another burning question haunted me. And the only way to answer it was to write a third book in the series. Which I am doing now, most likely for early 2015 publication. Working title: Dragonfly Sisters.
Since it's going so well, I see no reason to stop. Here are some more Princess Academy titles that you can absolutely expect to see in the near future.*
*this isn't true. the third book will be the last. but what would you give to read princess academy: doug? *sigh*
EDIT: Faithful reader Laura adds this brilliant idea to the Princess Academy genre family:
You crack me up.
Posted by: Little Willow | May 22, 2013 at 08:07 AM
Hilarious. I'm especially excited for "Doug." But I hope you checked with your legal department before you defaced your classic covers. We don't need you getting tied up in a time-consuming lawsuit when you have all those books to write. ;)
Posted by: Lori Folkman | May 22, 2013 at 08:14 AM
Haha, you are hilarious :D Yay! Another Princess Academy book!
Posted by: Lily Gaines | May 22, 2013 at 08:15 AM
YES! I can't believe, after all these years, Revenge of the Mountain Goats is finally happening!
Posted by: Teresa | May 22, 2013 at 08:16 AM
Mountain goats! Yes!
Posted by: Anne Holman | May 22, 2013 at 08:24 AM
Hahahaha! I started scrolling through the covers before reading the text. As I'm scrolling I'm thinking "Fists of Satin?" Okay...Vampires? Really? Hasn't that been (over)done? But okay... Ross and Rachel??? What?? Must go back and read text before continuing! I'm excited for one more!
Posted by: Janelle | May 22, 2013 at 08:35 AM
This was awesome. I can't wait for the third!
Posted by: Airship Librarian | May 22, 2013 at 08:38 AM
I almost snarfed my Skittles when I got to PRINCESS ACADEMY: LASER EYES!
Posted by: Ginger J | May 22, 2013 at 09:40 AM
I think Revenge of the Moutain Goats sounds pretty interesting...
Posted by: Kendyl | May 22, 2013 at 09:42 AM
I was so excited when I read about the third book being published! But, I'm thinking the new title should be Revenge of the Mountain Goats. Who wouldn't read that?
Posted by: melissa @ 1lbr | May 22, 2013 at 10:44 AM
We love Friends! Can't wait!
Posted by: MelissaPete | May 22, 2013 at 10:56 AM
Oh my goodness! These are so funny!
Posted by: Julia | May 22, 2013 at 12:22 PM
You're making me giggle way too hard.
Posted by: rockinlibrarian | May 22, 2013 at 12:55 PM
HaHa! I love the friends reference!
Posted by: Pensrose | May 22, 2013 at 01:20 PM
So excited for the new book! The original will always hold a special place in my heart but I can't wait for Miri's story to progress! And those titles are hilarious! :)
Posted by: Savanna | May 22, 2013 at 02:15 PM
I think the third book is officially "Revenge of the Mountain Goats" until further notice. Hey, Veronica Roth called her 3rd book "Detergent" till it had a real title; JK Rowling almost chose to temporarily run with "Harry Potter and the Pillar of Storgé" for the 6th book. Ridiculous working titles FTW!
Posted by: Ani Brooke | May 22, 2013 at 03:23 PM
I'm so excited for "Revenge of the Mountain Goats". The One (see what I did there?) with Rachael and Ross was the best... :)
Posted by: Liv | May 22, 2013 at 04:06 PM
Hahahaha! I saw "Fists of Satin" before I read your post and was like... "What the crap???"
Posted by: Bekah | May 22, 2013 at 04:36 PM
Woah, mad editing skills Shannon.
Seriously though, this is awesome!
Posted by: Leilani | May 22, 2013 at 05:55 PM
I keep reading Fists of Satan instead of satin. And I'm bummed we won't actually get to see Revenge of the Mountain Goats.
Posted by: Tessa | May 22, 2013 at 06:24 PM
Can't wait! You should set the quarry songs to music and release them in an album called "Revenge of the Mountain Goats."
Posted by: Katharine | May 22, 2013 at 07:54 PM
*collapses in a ball and just shakes for five minutes because she physically can't do anything else before she bursts out laughing and then deteriorates again* -me right now.
Posted by: Jessica | May 22, 2013 at 09:17 PM
Oh. My. Goodness.
At first I thought you were joking. The nicely photoshopped pictures confirmed it.
But. You're actually not. This is real. AHHHHHH! I hadn't anticipated another Princess Academy book so soon after Palace of Stone came out. In fact, I didn't think you'd write another one. Wow. I'm kind of speechless.
I love this whole deal of you having "burning questions" to answer for your characters :) I love revisiting the worlds of your books over again, whether it's Bayern or Danland. May you continue having burning questions...we'll always treasure your "answers"!
Definitely looking forward to this, Shannon! Good luck and don't stress yourself out!
Posted by: Sora | May 22, 2013 at 10:26 PM
Oh my gosh, you have no idea how amazing it has been: expecting only one book (granted, an amazing and skillfully written one but doesn't that just make you want more?) and then we got palace of stone, Which not only exceeded our expectations but was marvously different, and now we get another one, one that you have already admitted is going very well. I honestly don't know how to put this into words but I am screaming inside and probably squeeling outside too(in excitement of course, not horror) . I just cant believe this is really happening!
Posted by: Debbie | May 23, 2013 at 01:19 PM
These are too hilarious. And the thing is, I would probably read a book called "Princess Academy: Fists of Satin."
So when can we preorder PA:DS (as I have officially dubbed it)?
Posted by: Julie | May 23, 2013 at 03:57 PM
Yes! Trilogy! Yay! More Miri! More Britta! More Peder! More quarries! More goats!
And...maybe more Timon?
Posted by: Eliza | May 23, 2013 at 04:51 PM
Yes yes YES there is going to be a third Princess Academy book! Seriously was not expecting this.
Posted by: Annelise | May 24, 2013 at 02:11 PM
Funny, deface those covers all you want. Please keep your markers off the Alison Jay covers. Does Doug get to go to Bayern as well?
Posted by: Margaret | May 24, 2013 at 03:05 PM
I can't believe there's going to be a third! Yes! If only I didn't have to wait, and you could just mass produce stories to my liking because I love them so much.
Posted by: Danielle | May 27, 2013 at 09:55 AM
I can hardly stand the wait for the Skin Harvest Har Har Good times.
Posted by: Danylle | May 28, 2013 at 06:48 AM
I'm really excited for the third. Palace of Stone was on of those instances where the sequel to an initially stand-alone-novel is actually as good as (perhaps even better, I don't know) than the original.
Posted by: Julia | May 31, 2013 at 08:42 AM
Did you know that 53 people on Goodreads have added Fists of Satin to their to-read lists?
Posted by: Dianna | June 07, 2013 at 08:37 AM
Lol I thought it said Fists of Satan not Satin..... Anyway I'm exteremely excited for the third book in the series!! I just discovered the first two books today and I'm in love!! (yes I have been holed up in my room all day being unsocial like I do whenever I read a good book) (this happens a lot)
Posted by: Maddie | June 08, 2013 at 05:02 PM
I love that the third book has actually been added to Goodreads as "Fists of Satin."
Very excited!
Posted by: Kayto | June 09, 2013 at 08:34 PM
Ms. Hale you are my favorite author. I'm so glad to hear about the new book. I personally always wondered what Enna and Isi's children would be like if they had the same talents as their mothers. Sorry I kind of skipped to a different series but there's an idea. Absolutely cannot wait to read the next adventures!
Posted by: Brooke | June 13, 2013 at 01:03 PM