Shannon Hale | |
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Shannon and Dean Hale at the 2016 Texas Book Festival.
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Born | Shannon Bryner January 26, 1974 Salt Lake City, Utah |
Occupation | Novelist |
Nationality | American |
Period | 2003-present |
Genre | Young adult, Fantasy |
Notable works |
The Goose Girl Princess Academy Book of a Thousand Days |
Spouse | Dean Hale |
Children | 4 |
Website | |
www |
Shannon Hale (née Shannon Bryner; born January 26, 1974 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American author of young adult fantasy and adult fiction, including the Newbery Honor book Princess Academy, the Books of Bayern series, two adult novels, and two graphic novels that she co-wrote with her husband, Dean.
Shannon Bryner was born in Salt Lake City, where she attended elementary school. She had two older sisters and a younger sister and brother. She began writing at the age of 10. In junior high, she participated on the school literary magazine. She attended West High School, where she cultivated passions for English and drama.
She earned a Bachelor's Degree in English from the University of Utah and a Master's Degree in Creative Writing from the University of Montana. She took an 18-month hiatus while in college to serve a volunteer mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Paraguay.
Before writing professionally, she wrote while pursuing acting in television, stage, and improvisational comedy, as well as studying in Mexico and the United Kingdom. She spent a year and a half as an unpaid missionary in Paraguay, then returned to the United States to earn her bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah and a master's in creative writing from the University of Montana. Hale also worked as an instructional designer, developing web-based training for Avaltus and Allen Communication before becoming a full-time writer.