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Early Life

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Early Life

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Suzanne Marie Collins (born August 10, 1962) is an American television writer and novelist, best known as the

author of The New York Times bestselling series The Underland Chronicles and The Hunger Games trilogy (which consists of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mocking jay).

Early life
Collins was born on August 10, 1962 in Hartford, Connecticut. She is the daughter of a U.S. Air Force officer who served in the Vietnam War. As the daughter of a military officer, she and her family were constantly moving. She spent her childhood in the eastern U.S.[2] Collins graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham in 1980 as a Theater Arts major.[3] She graduated from Indiana University in 1985 with a double major in theater and telecommunications.[4][5][6] In 1989, Collins earned her M.F.A. in dramatic writing from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts.[6]

Career
Collins' career began in 1991 as a writer for children's television shows.[7] She worked on several television shows for Nickelodeon, including Clarissa Explains It All, The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Little Bear, and Oswald.[7] She was also the head writer for Scholastic Entertainment's Clifford's Puppy Days.[7] She received a Writers Guild of America nomination in animation for co-writing the critically acclaimed Christmas special, Santa, Baby![8] After meeting children's author James Proimos while working on the Kids' WB show Generation O!, Collins was inspired to write books herself.[7] Her inspiration for Gregor the Overlander, the first book of The New York Times bestselling series The Underland Chronicles, came fromAlice in Wonderland, when she was thinking about how one was more likely to fall down a manhole than a rabbit hole, and would find something other than a tea party.[7][8] Between 2003 and 2007 she wrote the five books of the Underland Chronicles: Gregor the Overlander, Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane, Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods, Gregor and the Marks of Secret, and Gregor and the Code of Claw. During that time, Collins also wrote a rhyming picture book, When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005), illustrated by Mike Lester.[7]

In September 2008, Scholastic Press released The Hunger Games, the first book of a trilogy by Collins.[9] The Hunger Games was partly inspired by the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Another inspiration was her father's career in the Air Force, which allowed her to have better understanding of poverty, starvation, and the effects of war.[2] The trilogy's second book, Catching Fire, was released in September 2009, and its third book, Mocking jay, was released on August 24, 2010.[10] Within 14 months, 1.5 million copies of the first two Hunger Games books were printed in North America alone.[11] The Hunger Games has been on The New York Times Best Seller list for more than 60 weeks in a row.[11] Lions Gate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company.[12][13] Collins adapted the novel for film herself.[13] Directed by Gary Ross, filming began in late spring 2011, with Jennifer Lawrence portraying main character Katniss Everdeen.[14] Josh Hutcherson played Peeta Mellark and Liam Hemsworth played Gale Hawthorne.[15] As a result of the significant popularity of The Hunger Games books, Collins was named one of Time magazine's most influential people of 2010.[16] In March 2012, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time.[17] Amazon also revealed that Collins had written 29 of the 100 most highlighted passages in Kindle eBooksand on a separate Amazon list of recently highlighted passages, Collins had written 17 of the top 20.[18]

Personal life Collins resides in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, within Newtown, Connecticut with her husband and their two children.[7][19][20]

Publications
The Underland Chronicles
Gregor the Overlander (2003) Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane (2004) Gregor and the Curse of the Warmbloods (2005) Gregor and the Marks of Secret (2006) Gregor and the Code of Claw (2007)

The Hunger Games trilogy


The Hunger Games (2008) Catching Fire (2009) Mocking jay (2010)

Other books
Fire Proof: Shelby Woo #11 (1999) When Charlie McButton Lost Power (2005) Year of the Jungle (2013)

Awards
2011 - California Young Reader Medal[22] 2010 - Georgia Peach Book Awards for Teen Readers[23] Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year: Children's Fiction[24] An American Library Association Top 10 Best Books For Young Adult Selection[25] An ALA Notable Children's Book[26] 2008 CYBIL Award--Fantasy and Science Fiction[27] KIRKUS Best Young Adult Book of 2008[28] A Horn Book Fanfare[29] School Library Journal Best Books of 2008[30] A Book List Editor's Choice, 2008[31] NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing[32] 2004 NAIBA Children's Novel Award[33] 2006 ALSC Notable Children's Recording (audio version)[34]

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