| Interview with Shannon Greenland |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My
name is Jen, and I'll be your server toda...oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule--which I'm sure is busy!--and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let's get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I didn't know until I was 28 (I've always been a late bloomer at everything).
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
Can anyone say rejections? I have enough rejection letters to wallpaper my house. No, seriously, I went
the e-publishing route first, got some awards and recognitions and then got picked up by a small print
press. Got some more awards and recognitions for my romantic suspense novels, decided to write young
adult, and then Penguin Putnam contracted me.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
My upcoming release is THE SPECIALISTS: MODEL SPY. It's about teen spies, because every nation
needs a good 16 year old spy.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I'm a former teacher, so you'll find bits and pieces of all my students in my characters.
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Hands down, my dad rocks the house. He has been the foundation to my dreams.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
I have two. Carrot cake and salt and vinegar chips. And I eat way too much of both.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Pee. Make coffee. Check email.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
OCD. Obsessive compulsive. Not that I've ever been diagnosed, but I'm extremely organized, color
coordinated, neat and tidy. I think it's in my genetics. My dad's the exact same way.
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Does invisible count? I think it would be totally cool to be invisible and sneak around.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Bugs Bunny is my favorite. But I'd say I'm most like the Tasmanian Devil, always going, going, going.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be--and why?
You know that movie Ever After with Drew Barrymore? I'd love to go back to that time. Granted, the
hygiene wasn't that great, but it just seems so romantic of an era with princes and knights in shining armor.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I'm perpetually stuck in the 70's. I love, love, love the Eagles, Tina Turner, the Carpenter's, Fleetwood
Mac. I don't listen to music while I write, it's too distracting.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
I have seen Dirty Dancing and Ever After like a bazillion times. My favorite t.v. shows right now are
Smallville, Gilmore Girls, and Prison Break. The last movie I saw at the theater was Holliday with Cameron
Diaz and Jude Law--it was too cute.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Be yourself. Definitely. Walk to your own tune, which I know is hard to do when there's so much else going
on. But you'll be happier with yourself if you are yourself.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
THE SPECIALISTS series has 6 books to it. MODEL SPY comes out in May and DOWN TO THE WIRE will
be a few months later. I don't know the names of the others yet, but they rock! Of course, I'm the author so
of course I think they rock.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
You're very welcome! Thanks for the great questions!
name is Jen, and I'll be your server toda...oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule--which I'm sure is busy!--and answering a few questions for your readers and fans.
Let's get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
I didn't know until I was 28 (I've always been a late bloomer at everything).
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
Can anyone say rejections? I have enough rejection letters to wallpaper my house. No, seriously, I went
the e-publishing route first, got some awards and recognitions and then got picked up by a small print
press. Got some more awards and recognitions for my romantic suspense novels, decided to write young
adult, and then Penguin Putnam contracted me.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
My upcoming release is THE SPECIALISTS: MODEL SPY. It's about teen spies, because every nation
needs a good 16 year old spy.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I'm a former teacher, so you'll find bits and pieces of all my students in my characters.
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Hands down, my dad rocks the house. He has been the foundation to my dreams.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
I have two. Carrot cake and salt and vinegar chips. And I eat way too much of both.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Pee. Make coffee. Check email.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
OCD. Obsessive compulsive. Not that I've ever been diagnosed, but I'm extremely organized, color
coordinated, neat and tidy. I think it's in my genetics. My dad's the exact same way.
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Does invisible count? I think it would be totally cool to be invisible and sneak around.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Bugs Bunny is my favorite. But I'd say I'm most like the Tasmanian Devil, always going, going, going.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be--and why?
You know that movie Ever After with Drew Barrymore? I'd love to go back to that time. Granted, the
hygiene wasn't that great, but it just seems so romantic of an era with princes and knights in shining armor.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I'm perpetually stuck in the 70's. I love, love, love the Eagles, Tina Turner, the Carpenter's, Fleetwood
Mac. I don't listen to music while I write, it's too distracting.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
I have seen Dirty Dancing and Ever After like a bazillion times. My favorite t.v. shows right now are
Smallville, Gilmore Girls, and Prison Break. The last movie I saw at the theater was Holliday with Cameron
Diaz and Jude Law--it was too cute.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Be yourself. Definitely. Walk to your own tune, which I know is hard to do when there's so much else going
on. But you'll be happier with yourself if you are yourself.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
THE SPECIALISTS series has 6 books to it. MODEL SPY comes out in May and DOWN TO THE WIRE will
be a few months later. I don't know the names of the others yet, but they rock! Of course, I'm the author so
of course I think they rock.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
You're very welcome! Thanks for the great questions!