SEven though it's rainy and yucky outside, I am just smiling inside! Do you want to know why? Aren't you just dying to know how it is that I could be so blissful? Well, it's silly really. Most people couldn't care less about books, and you, dear reader, most likely don't have a warped sense of reality because your best friends are probably PEOPLE, not books. But some of MY best, beloved friends ARE books, and even scarier is that certain stories have almost become personified to me, with distinct personalities that I love to revisit, remember, and hang out with. Weird, I know.
So back to why I am floating on cloud nine: I was fortunate enough to attend a Shannon Hale book signing with my daughters for the new graphic novel Rapunzel's Revenge!!! (If you don't know, graphic novels are a relatively new genre. Basically, they are comic books with a bit more mature slant.) RR It is a retelling of the fairy tale in a old West setting. It's geared toward younger audiences, but it's still a pretty fun read--for a "comic" book. Shannon (yes, I'm on a first-name basis with her now) is an extraordinary author of children's fiction, including one of my favorite stories, Goose Girl and it's sequels Enna Burning and River Secrets, Newbery-honor winner Princess Academy, and her more recent adult novel Austenland. Many of Shannon's books belong in my "friend" category, so getting to meet her and hear her talk about her writing just made my day, or maybe my whole month!
Shannon, her co-author and husband Dean, and illustrator Nathan Hale (no relation) were at All Tucked In bookshop in Bountiful this morning. It's a quaint little boutique on Main Street full of wonderful children's books, handmade jewelry, clothing, handbags, etc. It's etsy.com incarnate.
They spoke about how the idea for the book transpired and came to fruition. The dialogue took about 8 months to write and revise, and the artwork took 16 months. Poor Nathan had never done anything like this project, and he thought it would take 4 months! One interesting thing that we learned is that Nathan did all the art at the size it is in the book, which was very hard to add detail when the frames are so small. However, they are now working on a sequel, "Calamity Jack," and Nathan is doing the artwork at 200% and then the publisher will shrink it down.
Shannon also said her publisher would like her to write a sequel to Princess Academy, but she says she won't be writing one because the story just isn't in her.
She explained that she always hated the original Rapunzel story and she always wanted to "get in there and FIX it!" She told the background of the Grimms' Rapunzel, in which the prince comes to save her and he has to keep leaving her in the tower to fetch more silk for her to weave into rope for a ladder. Evidently, whilst "stringing" Rapunzel along (no pun intended), the prince has his way with her and they have a "love child." At this point, Shannon says: I can't really say this in mixed company (the love-child part) , but I have to wonder about the motives of this prince. I mean, are there NO ropes in this kingdom?!!!
So the Hales' version makes Rapunzel into the hero (she gets herself out of the tower--yah baby!), and she hooks up with Jack (of the Jack and Beanstalk). Rapunzel figures out how to use her lavish locks as weapons, and she and Jack do some awesome tail-kickin', free Rapunzel's real mother from slavery, and save the territory from Gothel's terrible reign. Pretty great girl-power story if you ask me. What I love about Shannon's writing is that her heroines are neither male-dependent, nor male-hating. Often when you have a female protagonist, the writer makes them so anti-male that the story is unrealistic and perpetuates a negative feminist agenda. I'm not into that.
Here's a little blurb of the three of them reading a part of the book. Sorry the sound is so terrible. Shannon is wearing a wig that Nathan's wife knit for her. Each one of the individual strands in the braids is a knitted chain, not just strands of yarn--it must have taken forever to make!
I was delighted to learn that Shannon Hale was everything I imagined her to be: spunky, articulate, humorous, unassuming, passionate, friendly, likeable, and genuine. Fame has not "ruined" her, and I hope that never changes. She told of an experience she and Dean had when they were flown out to New York to do an appearance on the Today show with Al Roper. They were wined and dined, Shannon got to go shopping for a new dress for the show, and had their hair (well Shannon's hair anyway) and makeup done--all the show biz stuff. So after the show they had to go to the airport to catch their flight. Well, it started to pour, and they tried to catch a cab for 45 minutes. All the cabbies were getting ready for a shift change and nobody wanted to drive to the airport because it would take too long for them to get back for the switch. So there Shannon and Dean were, standing on Broadway with their luggage, soaked to the skin, feeling very deflated and un-famous. They finally had to take the subway to the airport. That experience reminded her that as soon as you start thinking you're something pretty special as a writer, an experience will come along to remind you not to get puffed up. I think it's great that she and her husband get out and meet their fan base at local bookshops. To me it's indicative of their being grounded in where their success lies--their readers.
If you're a Shannon Hale groupie, check out her blog. I have a link over there on the right-hand side somewhere. She said she has some Rapunzel paper dolls that Nathan drew that can be printed and colored http://spacestationnathan.com/rapunzelpaperdolls.pdf. And, hey kids, he'll post the really good ones on his blog if you send him a scan of them! Check out Nathan's other books as well--The Devil You Know and Yellowbelly and Plum. He's trying to support a family of four as an artist, which is not exactly a lucrative profession, but one that he loves.
Here are some photos of the day:
She TOUCHED my book! WOW! I am never washing that book!
Danika talking to Dean (on her right) and Nathan (left)
And one of the best parts. . . I bought a new copy of Book of a Thousand Days (that Trixie destroyed) and had Shannon sign it. All has been restored! Sigh. . . it's like Christmas!
