[4] Her elementary school teachers encouraged her creative endeavors,[1] and, in the fourth grade, Hale announced that she wanted to be a writer as an adult.

Hale also took part in drama competitions and traveled throughout Utah and the U.S. with an improvisational theater group whose productions highlighted a range of teen issues.

She served as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Paraguay for 18 months[6] before graduating with a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1998.

[1] She originally planned to work in literary fiction, publishing short stories and teaching English, before writing young adult and children's books.

[16] Her novel Princess Academy was featured on The New York Times Best Seller list, as well as that of Book Sense and Publishers Weekly.

[20] Twilight author Stephenie Meyer produced the film and Keri Russell starred as protagonist Jane Hayes.

[24] Its sequel, Best Friends, appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for graphic books and manga in April 2020.

[25] In 2018, her Princess in Black series—which she wrote with her husband, Dean Hale—made The New York Times Best Seller list for children's series.

[28] Before becoming a full-time author, Hale participated in stage and improvisational comedy, studied in Mexico and the United Kingdom,[4] and worked as an instructional designer.

[32] She stopped attending the LDS church in 2021, having disagreed with her community's apparent tolerance of misogyny and intolerance of LGBTQ people, but she still considers herself a Mormon.

"[17] In writing her graphic novel memoirs of her childhood, Hale decided to include visual references to her religious upbringing, like her family attending church.

Despite being asked to remove the references (due to worries that it might affect sales), Hale decided to retain them, stating that "to erase [them] felt like a lie.

[35] In February 2016, Hale was a Literary Guest of Honor and Keynote Speaker at the 34th annual Life, the Universe, & Everything professional science fiction and fantasy arts symposium.