Stephanie Spinner’s Followers (32)

Stephanie Spinner

Website

http://www.stephaniespinner.com/

Genre

Children's Books, Young Adult

edit data

I was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I read straight through my childhood, with breaks for food, sleep, and the bathroom. I went to college in Bennington, Vermont, moved to New York City, and took a job in publishing so I could get paid for reading. I read so much bad fiction that I needed a break, so I moved to London, and from there I traveled to Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan India, Nepal, and Ceylon. I came back to America, wandered around some more -- to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize -- and on returning to New York decided to study Tibetan Buddhist painting (called thangka painting) in Boulder, Colorado.

I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months I was born in Davenport, Iowa, and grew up in Rockaway Beach, New York. I read straight through my childhood, with breaks for food, sleep, and the bathroom. I went to college in Bennington, Vermont, moved to New York City, and took a job in publishing so I could get paid for reading. I read so much bad fiction that I needed a break, so I moved to London, and from there I traveled to Morocco, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan India, Nepal, and Ceylon. I came back to America, wandered around some more -- to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize -- and on returning to New York decided to study Tibetan Buddhist painting (called thangka painting) in Boulder, Colorado.

I painted thangkas for many years. Each one took anywhere from several weeks to a few months to complete, and at long last I understood that this was not the ideal way for me to make a living. Only a few hundred Americans collected thangkas, and they wanted old ones, painted by Tibetan monks. It was time to make a change.

So I took another publishing job, this time in children’s books. I found that I liked children’s books a lot, and before long, I became an editor.

Years passed. I was encouraged to write. I scoffed at the idea that I had anything to write about. I edited some wonderfully talented authors -- Virginia Hamilton, Philip Isaacson, Clyde Robert Bulla, Gloria Whelan, Robin McKinley, Joan Vinge, Garth Nix, and Chris Lynch, among others -- with great enjoyment. Writing seemed like torture by comparison.

Then, to my amazement, I found myself writing a book and having a good time -- simultaneously! The book was ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and I enjoyed writing it because my co-author was Jonathan Etra. Jon (who died of heart disease in 1990) was a close friend with a wild sense of humor, and collaborating with him changed my opinion of writing forever. After ALIENS FOR BREAKFAST, and ALIENS FOR LUNCH, which we also co-wrote, I began to think that writing could be interesting fun.

And now that I’ve been doing it full-time for more than ten years, I can tell you why I like it better than a job. First, I can work in my bathrobe. (To the FedEx man and the UPS man, I am "the woman in the plaid flannel robe.") Second, I can eat when I’m hungry, choose when to take phone calls, and walk my dogs any time. Third, the only meetings I have -- and they’re short -- are with the dry cleaner and the post office ladies. Fourth, I can read whatever I please. I may tell people I’m doing research when I read about horse-trekking, or hunting in ancient Greece, or 16 ways to better compost, but the truth is, I’m not doing research, I’m having a good time. Which I think is still allowed. ...more

Combine Editions
Stephanie Spinner’s books

Average rating: 3.94 · 6,935 ratings · 909 reviews · 54 distinct works • Similar authors

	Who Was Annie Oakley? by Stephanie Spinner, Who H.Q., Larry Day (Illustrator) 4.20 avg rating — 997 ratings — published 2002 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Quiver 3.54 avg rating — 1,016 ratings — published 2002 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Quicksilver 3.69 avg rating — 757 ratings — published 2005 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Who Was Clara Barton? by Stephanie Spinner, Who H.Q., David Groff (Illustrator) 4.21 avg rating — 662 ratings — published 2014 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Who Is Steven Spielberg? by Stephanie Spinner, Who H.Q., Daniel Mather (Illustrator) 4.29 avg rating — 574 ratings — published 2013 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Aliens for Breakfast by Stephanie Spinner, Jonathan Etra, Steve Björkman (Illustrator) 3.86 avg rating — 613 ratings — published 1988 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Who Was Sitting Bull? by Stephanie Spinner, Who H.Q., Jim Eldridge (Illustrator) 4.13 avg rating — 511 ratings — published 2014 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alex the Parrot: No Ordinary Bird: A True Story by Stephanie Spinner, Meilo So (Illustrator) 4.22 avg rating — 476 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Who Was Pope Francis? by Stephanie Spinner, Who H.Q., Dede Putra (Illustrator) 4.20 avg rating — 265 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Aliens For Lunch by Stephanie Spinner, Jonathan Etra, Steve Björkman (Illustrator) 3.72 avg rating — 178 ratings — published 1991 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Stephanie Spinner…

Series by Stephanie Spinner

Who Was . . . ? Series (256 books)
by

Stephanie Spinner,

Who H.Q.,

Dede Putra (Illustrator)

4.19 avg rating — 168,476 ratings

Quotes by Stephanie Spinner (?)

“take heed, for many wonders will be seen this day”
― Stephanie Spinner

3 likes

“Dick:”
― Stephanie Spinner, Who Was Annie Oakley?

0 likes

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Next Best Boo...: OFFICIAL SPRING CHALLENGE - 2009	6381	9037	Jun 14, 2009 02:57PM
Young Adult Book ...: A-Z Challenge	98	627	Jun 17, 2012 04:06AM
Wild Things: YA G...: Reading Challenge #12: Report Points Here	232	233	Jul 02, 2012 07:04PM
Wild Things: YA G...: June 2012	17	46	Jul 17, 2012 07:19PM
Young Adult Book ...: A-Z Reading Challenge 2012	262	1325	Jan 13, 2013 01:24PM
Nothing But Readi...: Team Ruby	973	341	May 20, 2015 08:52AM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring 2015 Completed Tasks - DO NOT DELETE POSTS	3347	574	May 31, 2015 08:59PM
Young Adult Book ...: A-Z Reading Challenge 2016	99	673	Dec 30, 2016 09:30AM
Challenge Corner: New Author Challenge 2017	39	73	Oct 07, 2017 12:25PM

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Stephanie to Goodreads.