Shannon Hale

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, River Secrets, and Forest Born 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 latest fairy tale retelling, received a CYBILS award. She and her husband Dean co-wrote the graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge, which was selected by Today's Al Roker for Al's Book Club for Kids. Its sequel, Calamity Jack follows in January 2010.

Shannon makes her home near Salt Lake City, Utah, with her super-human husband, their young son and daughter, and their pet, a small plastic pig.