The short bio:
Deirdre Riordan Hall is the author of the contemporary young adult bestsellers Sugar and Pearl as well as the High School Murder Mystery series. She’s in an ongoing pursuit of words, waves, and wonder. Her love language involves a basket of chips, salsa, and guacamole, preferably when shared with her family.
The long bio:
I'm Deirdre, and I am a head, hands, and heart kind of person. Meaning, mind-body-heart always go together to form the whole. (That was my high school's motto as well! Go Hoggers!) And I'm all about words, waves, and wonder.
I write words, lots of them. When I open a new page I ask myself what am I going to learn today? I believe in wonder and curiosity and transformation. When I write, the world glitters and shines. And I really like waves, the kind in the ocean; they're a fitting metaphor for learning to better navigate the ups and downs of life on land or when I find myself in a pesky plot spot, am dealing with a difficult character, or forgot another comma.
Departing from my native New England in my teens, I traveled throughout Europe as far east as Turkey, causing me to acquire a bit of a wanderer's mindset. Either that or I was a gypsy in a previous life, which I wouldn't doubt. During my college years, I transferred between three institutions—unable to commit to a single place or major.
My professional life followed this theme and took several interesting detours where I'd find a level of gratification, but there was always a piece of me that felt unsettled, unanchored, and ultimately unsatisfied. Eventually, this caused me to move onto the next thing. My inner guidance was whispering its truth. Write.
In many ways, writing satisfies my longing for faraway places, their unique smells and sights, cultural customs, and languages. I'm able to interpret, invent, and travel to places through story. In doing so, I connect with worlds—imagined or real—and other writers and readers. I may not actually be able to taste that gelato in Venice that I still dream about or actually hear the pre-dawn call to prayer that still occasionally wakes me up, but through writing, I've found a home for myself and I'm glad to have you here too!
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