Shannon Greenland | Five things I’d tell the teen me
September 19, 2016
Travel! I spent two years between high school and college
seeing the world. I helped bathe orphans in Mexico, saw the wall come down in
Germany, rode a bike in snowy Denmark, slept in too many airports to count, sang
on a stage in Poland, and so much more. Since then I’ve sailed to the Bahamas,
climbed a light house in Bermuda, hiked the Na Pali coast in Hawaii, canoed in
Venezuela, zip-lined a forest, and the list goes on… Travel! It’ll open your
mind and soul to this incredible earth we live on.
Be open to change. When your heart and gut tell you to take
a less comforting choice, consider listening. Nine times out of ten your heart
and gut are right.
Learn a language. Be it Spanish, French, Farsi, or
whatever, dig in and learn it. Be willing to travel to a country that speaks
your chosen 2nd language and do total immersion. Be willing to take
more classes than are required for a high school diploma. Knowing a second
language is an irreplaceable skill.
It’s okay to break up with a boyfriend. What’s not okay to
do is choose boys over friends. Boys will come and go, but friendship is the
foundation to a solid life full of laughter, love, longevity, and surprises.
Choose independence. You will be so proud of yourself for
working hard, making your own money, and achieving your own success. It’s okay
to rely on someone but be ready to stand on your own feet. You will be a better,
more fulfilled person because of it.
Shannon Greenland, or S. E. Green, is the award winning author of the teen
thriller, Killer Instinct, a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers; the teen
spy series, The Specialists, an ALA Popular Paperback and a National Reader’s
Choice recipient; and the YA romance, The Summer My Life Began, winner of the
Beverly Hills Book Award. Her books have been translated into several languages
and are currently on numerous state reading lists. Shadow of a Girl is her
latest novel and due out 9.19.16.
Shannon grew up in Tennessee where she
dreaded all things reading and writing. She didn’t even read her first book for
enjoyment until she was twenty-five. After that she was hooked! When she’s not
writing, she works as an adjunct math professor and lives on the coast in
Florida with her very grouchy dog.
After I ran away from home, these were the two rules that dictated my life.
Scoring a job as a roadie fit perfectly for what I needed. Traveling, cash, and
life out of the spotlight. But when my path collides with West, the lead singer
of Bus Stop, I can't seem to stay out of his spotlight--especially since we'll
be touring together for an entire year.
West is determined to break down my walls. He won't give up. And little by
little they come crumbling. But if he knew what lurked behind them, he wouldn't
be so eager to get rid of them.
The more time we spend together, the more the lines of our friendship become
blurred. He makes me dream of things I never thought possible. But while our
friendship has been evolving into a romance, my secrets have been closing in.
And just when I've decided to reveal my past to West, I'm confronted by it. The
cost of my freedom could ruin the life of the guy I love...
Romance | Young Adult [Entangled Teen, On Sale: September 19, 2016, e-Book,
ISBN: 9781633757318 / eISBN: 9781633757318]