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(Photo Credit: DeVende Photography)
The Official Bio:
Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned--among other things--that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She's studied art, screenwriting, and film production, but realized her real passion was writing stories for children. She's the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many different languages. She lives in Southern California with her husband and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at shannonmessenger.com.
Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned--among other things--that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She's studied art, screenwriting, and film production, but realized her real passion was writing stories for children. She's the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the award-winning middle grade series, Keeper of the Lost Cities, as well as the Sky Fall series for young adults. Her books have been featured on multiple state reading lists, published in numerous countries, and translated into many different languages. She lives in Southern California with her husband and an embarrassing number of cats. Find her online at shannonmessenger.com.
The Longer, Rambling Bio:
I've lived my whole life in Southern California--which means I'm incapable of holding a conversation without using the words super, like, and awesome. I'll also throw in an occasional dude. It happens.
I have WAY too many cats (I won't post the number because it's ... lame)--but they're so cute and fluffy and do such a good job of keeping me company when I'm writing!
I've always loved to draw, and as a kid I dreamed of being a Disney animator. But I soon discovered that in order to do that, I'd need to be able to draw the same thing over and over, and even my stick figures don't look alike. So I spent one semester as an art major before I decided that art made a better hobby than a career.
After I dropped my next round of art classes, I took a television writing class on a whim and realized how much I'd always loved telling stories. My professor for that class really encouraged me to pursue writing, so I ended up a film major at USC. But by the time I graduated, I'd decided that screenwriting really wasn't my thing. And after a year of trying different jobs in Hollywood, I finally had to admit that I was in the wrong industry. I was also engaged at the time, so it seemed like the perfect time to leave LA, move back to suburbia and settle down.
But... I missed writing. And I realized that telling stories was what had brought me to Hollywood in the first place. So I decided to try writing a book, and gravitated towards children's literature, since that was when I'd been the most passionate about reading. (and I'm basically a large child anyway.) I was in the middle of one project when I had THE IDEA. The big, scary, much-more-complicated-than-I-ever-wanted-to-write idea that told me WRITE ME--I AM "THE ONE!" So I did.
And... three years of research, writing, revising, revising some more, oh, and then revising again and it was finally purchased by Simon & Schuster. KEEPER OF THE LOST CITIES, book one in a series, launched into the world in Fall 2012. As if THAT weren't crazy enough, my secret, just-playing-around-in-my-free-time project also sold to S&S. LET THE SKY FALL, book 1 in a YA series, launched in March of 2013. For more info on either series, see the pages on this website.
Oh, and...*blush*...some people now seem to know me much better as the silly costume I wore at Comic Con. So yeah...you can also call me Rainbow Brite. Le Sigh...
