e read it at least three times. It's called Blackbringer, by Laini Taylor, and it really is SO good! I love fantasy, but I usually have a hard time with it if the main character isn't human. That's just a little too far-fetched for me, or so I thought. The main character in Blackbringer is a fairy named Magpie. Magpie has got to be one of the best characters ever created! The story is intense, fun, and imaginative. I absolutely LOVED the writing style and the originalility. The author, Laini Taylor, is quite the character herself. She's an artist living in Oregon, and she grew up all over the world. If you're interested in checking out her website, just click on the picture of Blackbringer.As long as I'm ranting about favorite books, I might as well put in some 
words for the spectacular Shannon Hale. As anyone who knows me knows, I absolutely adore Shannon! Her books are The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets (all of those are in the same series), Princess Academy, Austenland, Book of a Thousand Days, and Rapunzel's Revenge. This next year she has two more books coming out. I personally haven't read Rapunzels's Revenge yet because it is a graphic novel that she wrote with her husband, and I don't generally read those although I will probably start just because Shannon wrote it! Oh, and did I mention that she's only in her mid-thirties? Yeah... um wow. She's accompished so much! Not only is she a successful authoress, but she's also a devoted mother. If you can't tell, she's my role model. My absolute favorite book of hers is Book of a Thousand Days which is a retelling of Maid Maleen by the Brothers Grimm. It's a journal-styled book told from the point of view of a lady's maid. The whole story takes place in medieval Mongolia, adding an original cultural twist on it. It truly is a gorgeous book. If you're checking out Shannon's website, just click on her picture.
words for the spectacular Shannon Hale. As anyone who knows me knows, I absolutely adore Shannon! Her books are The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets (all of those are in the same series), Princess Academy, Austenland, Book of a Thousand Days, and Rapunzel's Revenge. This next year she has two more books coming out. I personally haven't read Rapunzels's Revenge yet because it is a graphic novel that she wrote with her husband, and I don't generally read those although I will probably start just because Shannon wrote it! Oh, and did I mention that she's only in her mid-thirties? Yeah... um wow. She's accompished so much! Not only is she a successful authoress, but she's also a devoted mother. If you can't tell, she's my role model. My absolute favorite book of hers is Book of a Thousand Days which is a retelling of Maid Maleen by the Brothers Grimm. It's a journal-styled book told from the point of view of a lady's maid. The whole story takes place in medieval Mongolia, adding an original cultural twist on it. It truly is a gorgeous book. If you're checking out Shannon's website, just click on her picture. Actually, I've been very blessed to be able to meet Shannon Hale two times. She is very kind, gracious, and funny. This summer I was able to go to a writer's conference that she organized. It was a charity devoted to buying wheelchairs for those in need. I took the first page of my "novel" (I have to put it in quotes like that because I use the word "novel" very loosely when talking of my writing), and I knew we'd be in groups to read and critique them. You can imagine my nerves and joy when Shannon was in charge of my group. I've never felt worse in my life then when my favorite author read my writing out loud, and I realized just how horrid it was, but at the same time I felt unmistakably happy. I learned so much from that experience, and I will definitely be going to the same conference next year!
Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of when I went to that conference (I went by myself and didn't want to lug a camera around), but there are a few from Shannon's site. Enjoy!
These were all the tremendous authors I got to meet:
1 comment:
I hope you aren't tired of my comments yet, but I wanted to say I love Shannon Hale too. Her books are awesome. I also enjoyed the Book of a Thousand Days and that it was set in Mongolia. I thought that made it a fun and interesting telling. I still think my favorite is Princess Academy though. I think I'm going to give Austenland a try too. I saw her graphic novel in Borders; looks interesting.
By the way, AWESWOME artistic moment! I'm very impressed. Photography is my dream. I always wanted to travel the world and take pictures for National Geographic. Nice, nice job. It looks like the beginning of Pride and Prejudice.
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