SDQ Interview with Shannon Hale.

Judging from her blog, Shannon Hale might really be one of the busiest people on the planet.  This is from a recent post on juggling writing and mothering:

I use my brain. Whenever I have some space for thought, I've trained my brain to return to the story. Showers are particularly productive.  Driving.  Folding laundry.  I can keep writing even when I don't have time to sit at my computer because my brain keeps working on the story.  This, for me, is absolutely essential. I could not be a writer if I didn't allow (and insist upon) daydreaming about the stories. 

But writing fantabulous books (The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, The Princess Academy, Austenland, and the recent Book of a Thousand Days, -- I've loved every single one) and being a mom isn't all -- lately, she's been posting interviews/conversations with other authors at squeetus.  AND she's working on a sequel to her upcoming graphic novel, Rapunzel's Revenge, AND there's a fourth Bayern book in the works (hooray!) as well as a second adult novel.

How is all of that even possible?

As usual, though, I'm rambling on about things you probably already know.  On to the Super Duper ULTRA Quickie Interview with Shannon Hale:

You have an awesome list of reading recommendations on your website. What were the books that you read over and over again when you were a kid? A teenager?

Hmm, lots of Lloyd Alexander and Joan Aiken, Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, Homecoming and Dicey’s Song by Cynthia Voight, The Riddle-Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip, Jane Austen, Anne of Green Gables, The Secret Garden… I’m forgetting something important…

Books Currently Reading:

Project Mulberry by the genius Linda Sue Park, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by the grotesquely talented Gary Schmidt

Music Currently in Rotation:

Favorites on the ipod shuffle: David Bowie’s Golden Years and Fat Boy Slim’s Wonderful Night

Last Movie Viewed:

Uh… I don’t get out much… oh, my sister and I rented Marie Antoinette.

Literary Crush (fictional or real):

Colin Firth.  Mr. Darcy. You understand.

Pet Peeve:

People who speed when driving. They think they’re in control, but they’re blithely putting others in danger, such as my precious children. Slow down, jackwads!

Current Obsession:

Veronica Mars

Guilty Pleasures:

Hot chocolate.  Cookies and milk.  Reading in the closet after everyone’s gone to bed.

Irrational Fear:

Catastrophic annihilation of all human life, or that my plane will go down.  But it’s not irrational!  At all!  I swear my husband has a fear of bad milk. He freaks out if I accidentally leave it out on the counter for an hour.  What’s the worst that could happen?  Unintentional buttermilk?  Please, catastrophic annihilation of all human life is much more dreadful. And likely.

Favorite Piece of Trivia:

Buffalo-sized hamsters once roamed the earth. Awesome!

So there you have it.  Another author who has inspired me to introduce a new word into my vocabulary -- jackwads it is!

Today's other WBBT interviews:

Lisa Ann Sandell at Interactive Reader
Christopher Barzak at Chasing Ray
Julie Halpern at The Ya Ya Yas
Micol Ostow at Shaken & Stirred
Rick Yancey at Hip Writer Mama
Jane Yolen at Fuse Number 8
Maureen Johnson at Bildungsroman
David Lubar at Writing & Ruminating
Sherman Alexie at Finding Wonderland

Comments

[Kelly Fineman]

My vocabulary is expanding daily: today jackwads, yesterday Scieszka's dickpipes. I am a happy woman.

[cc]

Holy cat, that's totally MY reading list from a kid (er... maybe still). Could Ms Hale be forgetting The Good Master?

Or possibly Grimm?

[Leila]

I know, right? The only ones I haven't read are the McKillips, and they've been on my TBR list for ages.

[TadMack]

Jackwads! Hee!

I am SO looking forward to her graphic novel. And a sequel!!! Already!!! The woman knows how to work, but fo' shizzle. (Okay, admittedly, that's not as cool as 'jackwads.' But look - I tried.)

[Jackie]

"What’s the worst that could happen? Unintentional buttermilk? Please, catastrophic annihilation of all human life is much more dreadful. And likely."

Hahaha! And now I feel less crazy because of the amount of time I spend thinking about ending up as one of the last people on earth. 'Cause if SHE thinks about that stuff...well. At least I'm in good company.

Shannon Hale rocks.

[Shoshana]

Oohhh! Read the McKillips! Read the McKillips!

[Gary McKillips]

Since my name is McKillips, I am curious as to the refernce "Read the McKillips!" Can you explain. Thanks. Gary McKillips