Authoress Extraordinaire

On Saturday my sister and I (along with most of our kids) stopped by a bookstore near her home. A famous author was visiting, and we wanted to see her. We love her books and think she is a pretty snazzy gal to boot. That lady is none other than the incomparable Shannon Hale, author of Princess Adademy, Goose Girl, Austenland, and other fabulous books. She also happens to be our cousin.

I know what you're thinking: How lucky is Shannon to be related to such lovely and talented cousins! Oh wait, you weren't thinking that? Oh, sorry. Moving on...

In a stroke of bad luck, both Angela's and my camera betteries died, leaving us with the sub-par quality of cell phone pictures. Not ideal, but it works.

sleepy Ben, me, Shannon, and Ang

Her husband Dean came too, as they were signing the latest book they co-wrote, a graphic novel called "Calamity Jack." Here they are at the signing table.

Shannon and Dean were hilarious together, and quite entertaining to listen to. We even got to witness a small portion of an interpretive dance, which was.... well, I think the only word that can aptly describe it is WOW. These folks are seriously multi-talented.

There was a good crowd who came to see them and get books signed. It was beyond fun to see Shannon, first of all because it's been too long since we've hung out, and secondly because it was so exciting and surreal to see her in her element, as the famous authoress that she is. Beloved the world over (is that overly dramatic?), yet still our goofy cousin we performed lip synchs with at Lake Powell. Love ya, Shannon! Even though you ARE Advanced Maternal Age...