squeetus

Legend of Shadow High tour

Our new novel The Legend of Shadow High publishes October 17. Get ready for the first ever mashup between Ever After High and Monster High! Come see us on tour:

Ever After High book 2 vs. too-good-to-be-true-anxiety

This week, EVER AFTER HIGH: The Unfairest of Them All (the 2nd EAH novel) publishes into the world. I have had such a blast with these books. The second book follows the aftermath of what happened in the first, again following Apple and Raven (though Maddie, as always, plays a big part, and Cerise fans will be happy to read more of her story...)

Arizona: see me Tuesday, March 24, 7pm, at Changing Hands

Utah: see me Saturday, March 29, 2pm, at The King's English

I'm not doing a full book tour for this book because I just finished a tour on Friday for Dangerous. And I couldn't do two book tours in the same month. Because, yes, I had two books publish in the same month. FYI: this is insane. How is it even possible?

Dangerous I began writing long ago and far away. It could have published in 2013, but for various business reasons ended up in 2014. And then I took on the EAH challenge, writing three EAH books in a little over one year (the 2nd and 3rd with help from my ridiculously talented husband Dean). So these two books ended up coming into the world the same month. It has been a whirlwind. Exciting and exhausting too, as I also have other book writing deadlines this month as well as those four children who have Wants and Needs. But I feel so grateful to have this problem.

A lot of writers experience Too Good To Be True Anxiety. This is our dream job and we love it, but we also live in mild anxiety (and sometimes cranking that up to dreadful fear) that it will all go away. Any day, this thing we dreamed about and worked toward for decades will stop. Dry up. No one will want to read us anymore. So while this month has been objectively pretty hard on me and my family, we have two books! Two books I love and am proud of! Two books I get to share! Life in abundance. I'm in awe, and the dream continues for at least a little longer.

Which classic children's novel did I write an intro for? Announced! Plus: Bonus cover reveal!

So much love for Harriet the Spy! And I agree, a marvelous book. The correct answer is:

THE BOOK OF THREE, first book in the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. 2014 marks its 50th anniversary, and this fall the anniversary edition will publish with an introduction written by yours truly. This book and all Lloyd Alexander had a huge influence in my younger reading self and who I am as an author today. I'm beyond honored.

And the randomly selected winner who also guessed correctly: JEAN! (who wrote: "It's probably Harriet The Spy but I would hold out for Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car by Fleming or The Book of Three by Alexander. Whatever the book, congratulations!")

Jean, please email your mailing address to squeetus (at) gmail (dot) com to get an ARC of Dangerous.

More giveaways to come. I'll announce here, but my twitter and facebook are the best places to get breaking news. 

I turn 40 this week. Come back Wednesday for another announcement, February for lots of Austenland DVD giveaways, and 40th bday celebration stuff all year. Because I will celebrate and refuse to be anything but thrilled by this acheivement of four decades.

And I'll end with an exciting cover reveal:

The Unfairest of Them All will be in bookstores March 25 and (I think this is official) I'll be kicking off the publication with an event at Changing Hands in Phoenix!

Literary pumpkin carving

Pumpkin sorceress Laura has done it again! I'm so honored to have been part of her yearly carving extravaganza.

Ooh, a lovely homage to Ever After High. So happy that The Storybook of Legends has been a New York Times bestseller for four weeks now! (Just to clarify, Mattel invented the world, made the dolls, and asked me to write a book, not the other way around. Gotta give credit to the great creative team at Mattel for the concept.)

In celebration of the Austenland movie! Some three months later, it's still in some theaters and moving into the discount theaters. I imagine the DVD will be released in early 2014. It looks to me like it did really well for an indie movie.

Look at this gorgeous symbol from the cover of Dangerous! The date's been moved up, so it releases the first week of March. I'm so excited to share this book with you all.

Thank you for the pumpkins, Laura! And thank you to all the readers who allow me to keep writing and publishing books so that Laura can carve them into pumpkins.

Jazz hands and chocolate cubes: photos from the book tour

Just heard the news...EVER AFTER HIGH: The Storybook of Legends is a New York Times Best Seller! Callooh Callay!

A smattering of visuals from the first leg of my book tour. First, a video of me and Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) before our NY Comic Con panel.

 

At the Provo Library last night, look at this amazing wall sticker:

They do such lovely window displays at the Provo Library!

Details from the window display. Raven and Apple emerging from a 3D book. Really pretty.

Posing with my fabulous apple purse in front of a HUGE cover of my new book at NYCC:

Mr. Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket) reacts to my dignified, mature observation that my book cover poster is larger than his:

They told me this was the author green room:

First sighted in public: the new, smaller trim size of Calamity Jack! (Rapunzel's Revenge has also been downsized.) I was impressed with how good these look. The text size is still very readable, and now these can fit on regular sized book shelves. These books have been hugely popular in libraries but hard to find in bookstores because they were hard to stock on shelves. Hopefully bookstores will carry them more broadly now!

A dessert I ate at a NYC restaurant. It was called "Chocolate Cube." Yes, thank you.

Filet mignon and mushroom wellington. Pretty much how I eat at home too.

How a non-disclosure agreement and codename changed my year

Once upon a time I, Shannon Hale, your faithful narrator, was free. I'd just turned in the final draft of Dangerous, and for the first time in ten years I didn't have a book under contract. With four small children at home, I'd decided not to go under contract for any new books for the time being. "Maybe I'll take a break for a bit," I told my husband. "Until things calm down."

Famous last words.

Three days later, I got a call. Little, Brown (fabulous book publisher) had an offer for me. Hm, I really didn't think I'd be interested, because of taking a break and all, but I was curious. "They won't tell me what it is," my agent told me. "First we have to sign a non-disclosure agreement." Wow, now I was really curious. I signed the document and got on a call with Andrew, Connie, and Erin at Little, Brown.

They told me about a project codename "Lightning." Yes, it was so super secret it even had a code name! And so I first heard about Ever After High, a boarding school for the children of famous fairy tales. For a few moments, I decided wasn't interested. I'm known for retelling fairy tales, and I love fairy tales, but I didn't think I'd want to write in someone else's fairy tale land. I'd rather do my own stories.

But this was more than just retold fairy tales. The idea is that children of fairy tale characters grow up to relive the stories their parents made famous. Our main characters are Raven Queen, daughter of the Evil Queen, and Apple White, daughter of Snow White. And they're roommates. That struck me as so delightfully awkward. We talked more. They sent me a 200 page story bible detailing a couple dozen characters and world details. It was all so fun. But I couldn't make myself commit. I was free! I was going to take a break!

Mattel flew me out to their headquarters in California. I got to see the workshops where designers created new Barbie dolls and superhero action figures and Matchbox cars. I got a sneak peak of the first eight Ever After High dolls (kept in windowless rooms under shrouds--so secret!). I saw the first animated short and heard more good stuff about the world. I saw their absolute commitment to story and how excited they were to have a novel to kick off the storytelling of this huge new property. And I couldn't resist. In fact, even though I'd been telling myself I might not do it, I'd already written 15 pages of the novel because scenes between these characters just flew into my brain.

So I slapped the conference table and said, "That's it. I'm in."

Then the whirlwind began. I read everything Mattel had already written in this world--scripts for upcoming animated shorts and stories that would come included with each doll--over and over again and educated myself on the world and characters. I couldn't contradict anything already established, but besides that, they gave me free reign to make up my own story. And since I was coming in at the beginning, I helped create this world and form the characters. The Mattel creative team was wonderful and totally open to my input. The few times I found established elements I thought world work better a different way, they changed them. It was collaborative, supportive, and a lot of fun.

I wrote a mini-outline. I got notes from my editors and wrote a robust outline. I got notes from my editors and the Mattel team. I wrote a first draft. I got more notes and revised several times. And then we had a book. A book I'm really proud of.

It was so fun, we decided to do it again. And again. I've signed up to write books 2 & 3 in Ever After. Because of other time commitments, my husband Dean Hale is helping me write books 2 & 3, even more collaboration and support and fun.

I'm not sure when I'm going to take that theoretical break. But I'm glad I didn't. Yet.

Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends is in bookstores today. Come see me on tour!

Announcing my fall tour

Book tour for EVER AFTER HIGH: The Storybook of Legends. Come see me!

Tuesday, October 8
6 pm
Tattered Cover
2526 East Colfax Avenue
Denver, CO

Wednesday, October 9
7pm
St. Louis County Library
1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd
St. Louis, MO
Booksales by Barnes & Noble

Thursday, October 10
5pm
Mrs. Nelson's Toys & Books
1030 Bonita Ave
La Verne, CA

Saturday, October 12
1pm
Children's Book World
17 Haverford Station Rd
Haverford, PA

Sunday, October 13
10:45am
New York Comic Con Panel
The Magic of Storytelling panel with Lemony Snicket (When Did You See Her Last?), David Lubar (Weenies series), Matthew Cody (Will in Scarlet), Shannon Hale (Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends), George O'Connor (Olympians), and Scott Campell (If Dogs Run Free)

New York Comic Con Authographing: 12PM - Table 21

Tuesday, October 15
7pm
Provo City Library
Library Ballroom
550 North University Ave.
Provo, UT 84601
Booksales by Kings English

October 17, 2013
7pm
Talk and signing with Lisi Harrison, Megan McCafferty, and Diana Lopez
Book People
Austin, TX

October 19, 2013
Tween Reads Book Fest
Houston, TX

November 9, 2013
YALLFEST
Charleston, SC

Check with the stores for further information. Remember, it costs stores money to advertise and staff an author event. If you want to get books signed at bookstore-hosted events, please support their continued existence by purchasing a book from them (doesn't have to be one of mine--but hey, that'd be nice!).

What's inside this mysterious gold foil-wrapped package?

I got a present in the mail! I got a present in the mail!

One great thing about having toddler twins is you have two sets of hands to help you unwrap gifts. No more grueling un-twining of ribbon, endless ripping of novelty paper. Invest in your own set of toddler twins and enjoy their unwrapping services free of charge!

Look at those cute little hands. Aw...

"It's a book!" Chances are, when a package comes to our house, it's gonna be a book.

YAY! It's a real book! Hardcover (paper over board), $14.99, 304 pages, target age 8-12, publishes in the US Oct. 8 and elsewhere in the world same day or soon thereafter. Let's look inside.

Ooh, the pretty.

Rich color borders on every page!

The details are so fun. I love this book.

My next 2 years: 6 books and a movie

So I have a lot of schtuff going on (and I promise, no new book announcements for sometime). To sum up:

August 16, 2013 - AUSTENLAND premieres in LA and NYC, more cities and dates TBA.

September 17, 2013 - GUYS READ: Other Worlds, an anthology of a science fiction and fantasy short stories. I have a story in it titled "Bouncing the Grinning Goat."

October 8, 2013 - EVER AFTER HIGH: The Storybook of Legends, a middle grade book about a boarding school for the children of famous fairytales, a tie-in book with Mattel's new Ever After High line of products.

April 1, 2014 - DANGEROUS, a young adult, scifi, superhero adventure novel. (btw, the setting is contemporary. Some assume that YA scifi is always dystopian.)

July 2014 - the fourth book in the SPIRIT ANIMALS series. Like 39 Clues and Infinity Ring, this is a 7-book series, each book written by a different author, supported by a huge online video game. The first book, written by Brandon Mull, launches Sept '13.

Fall 2014 - THE PRINCESS IN BLACK, the first book in Dean's and my early chapter book series, gorgeously and wittily illustrated by LeUyen Pham.

Winter 2015 - PRINCESS ACADEMY: Dragonfly Sisters (working title), the third and final PA book. I imagine it'll be Jan or Feb '15.

And then, who knows? Well, there will be at least three more PIB books, and I have other books outlined and stories to tell. I want to write more Austenland books and wish I could have gotten to one to time it with the movie's release. It's almost maddening, how many books I want to write! And book writing takes so much time I have to tell those other stories just to sit down and shut up for a minute please, I can't get to you yet!

So...I thought I was slowing down, taking it easy for a few years. Funny what happens as soon as you say that. Thanks for sticking with me, guys! I'm excited about all the different kinds of stories and fun books I'm getting to create, and so grateful there are readers who are excited about them too.

Next post I'll tackle that question I get as often as any: how do you manage to write while being a mother? In the meantime, if you have specific questions about that or have thoughts about how to balance parenting/your work, school/your passion, etc. let us know in the comments.

The superest of super secret projects...REVEALED!

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This has been such a FUN project! I love to try and challenge myself in new ways, I don't want my writing to ever get in a rut, and this project allowed me to write in a way I never had before. Ever After High is, officially, the superest super secret project I've ever worked on. I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement and only refer to it by a code name, which only added to the fun. I'll have much more to tell you about this book before it releases October 8. In the meantime, check out the Ever After High website. The "Apple's Tale" and "Raven's Tale" videos both have scenes that are also in the book. If you watch the webisodes, imagine them merging with one of my novels, and you'll get a sense of what the book is like. See also this article by Publisher's Weekly.