WORD Bookstore Event 6/6

On Wed June 6 at 7:30pm, Peter V. Brett and I will be at WORD Bookstore in Jersey City discussing all things epic fantasy and celebrating the release of THE QUEEN OF SORROW, the final book of my Queens of Renthia trilogy! Come join us for some Wednesday night bookish fun!

https://www.wordbookstores.com/event/word-presents-sarah-beth-durst-and-peter-brett-queen-sorrow

Busy Weekend: BookCon and Books of Wonder!

Very excited for this weekend!!!  I will be at both BookCon and Books of Wonder in NYC.

On Sunday 6/4 at 1pm, I'll be at one of my all-time favorite bookstores, Books of Wonder, talking about and signing my new MG fantasy novel, JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIDDEN ISLANDS, as part of the "Fantastic Middle Grade Reads" panel with Lisa Fiedler, Sarah Beth Durst (me!), Carol Goodman, and Sarah Jean Horwitz.

And on Saturday 6/3 and Sunday 6/4, I'll be at BookCon, talking about and signing the first two books in my epic fantasy series for adults, THE QUEEN OF BLOOD and THE RELUCTANT QUEEN.  My BookCon schedule:

- Sat June 3, 11:30am-12:00pm: Signing of The Reluctant Queen in HarperCollins booth
- Sat June 3, 1:30-2:30pm Panel: "Megan Whalen Turner Super-Fan Panel" with Tomi Adeyemi, Holly Black, Joelle Charbonneau, Sarah Beth Durst, and Megan Whalen Turner, moderated by Martha Mihalick
- Sat June 3, 3:30-5:00pm Signing in VIP Lounge
- Sun June 4, 3:00-5:00pm Panel: "Cult Classic Throwdown: Science Fiction and Fantasy in Film, Lit, and Pop Culture" with Sasha Alsberg, Jordanna Max Brodsky, S.A. Chakraborty, Zoraida Cordova, Lindsay Cummings, Sarah Beth Durst, Michael Johnston, Swapna Krishna, and Jenn Northington, moderated by Petra Mayer

Hope to see you this weekend!

New York Comic Con 2015 (Part 2)

I had SO MUCH FUN on my panel at New York Comic Con last Thursday!  Best panel topic ever.  It was called "Fantasy Draft League," and we were asked to create an all-star fantasy team that included a wizard, a warrior, a cleric, a thief, and a wildcard, drawn from our favorite books.

The authors drafting teams were Bradley Beaulieu, Zac Brewer, Sarah Beth Durst (me!), and Eleanor Herman; the judges (to decide who created the best team) were Naomi Novik and Sam Sykes; and the moderator was David Pomerico from Harper Voyager.

Here's who I picked:

1. Cleric

So when I first started to think about this panel, I sat down and whipped out a list of the best wizard, warrior, thief, etc... and then I looked at what I'd written and realized that every character was from a David Eddings novel.

There are two reasons for this: one is that I adore all those books.  Between the ages of ten and twenty, my mom and I reread the Belgariad so many times that we wore out three sets of paperbacks.  After that, the Elenium and the Tamuli have become my comfort food reading.

But the second and more important reason is that David Eddings's characters are the best of the best.  The best warrior in the world.  The best thief of his generation.  The best wizard ever.  He doesn't tell the story of the unlikely hero.  His heroes are VERY likely.  He picks the most competent people as his protagonists... and pits them against the biggest bads imaginable.

So for my cleric, I chose one of the strongest Eddings characters out there: Sephrenia, the High Priestess of Aphrael.

Sephrenia is the most powerful sorceress ever.  There's no spell she can't do, and she will do it better than anyone else around.  She is also accompanied by Aphrael, the childlike goddess who can manipulate time and persuade anyone, including other gods, to assist her.  In short, with her, I pretty much don't even need anyone else.

2. Wizard

I toyed with choosing a classical wizard: Gandalf, Merlin, Allanon...  But I've already got the spell-casting kind of magic covered with Sephrenia, plus Gandalf and Allanon are overbooked.  They'd probably flit off mid-quest to go defeat an evil demon-possessed druid or something.  And Merlin has way too much emotional baggage, with all that happened in Camelot.

So for my wizard, I picked someone with an entirely different magic: wild magic.  Daine, from the Immortals quartet by Tamora Pierce.

Daine has animal magic.  She can talk to any animal, transform into any animal, and adopt any animal attribute (like bat hearing).  I know that doesn't sound all that impressive when you say it like that, but hear me out...  Daine isn't limited by distance or quantity.  She can summon any number of animals over any distance.  Imagine you're in a city and every rat, every pigeon, every pampered pup decided to attack you at once.  You won't be having a very good day.  Now imagine you're out on a quest in the woods...  Yeah, Daine is awesome.

She also has the bow skills of Katniss Everdeen.

3. Thief

I wanted to choose Silk from the Belgariad by David Eddings, but I'd already chosen Sephrenia and the rules said no repeat authors.  (True story: in sixth grade, I had to write an essay on "the person I admire the most," and I picked Silk.  I have no idea what my teacher thought of this choice.)

Anyway, I next thought about choosing Locke Lamora from the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.  Locke Lamora is the quintessential thief.  But he also gets beat up a lot, so I thought that maybe he's not actually that good at his job...

So I decided to go with Kelsier, from Mistborn the Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson.  Kelsier is an excellent thief, plus he's also a kind of sorcerer called an Allomancer, which means he uses metal to perform magic.  Kind of like Magneto with a few extra bells and whistles.

He is also an excellent crew leader with great vision and the ability to unite a team.  Very useful when dealing with a set of strong characters from different backgrounds.

4. Warrior

For my warrior, I looked to urban fantasy.  I love urban fantasy, and it is full of lots of powerful warriors.  UF warriors typically start out at a high level of competence -- they're already a mercenary or a detective or something -- and the structure of their plot takes them from not-so-powerful to powerful over the course of each novel... which means if their series lasts long enough, they become VERY powerful.

One of my favorites is Kate Daniels, from the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews.  She's awesome.  She lives in a version of Atlanta where sometimes magic works (and technology doesn't) and sometimes technology works (and magic doesn't).  She's an incredible fighter, especially with a sword, plus she has the ability to use power words (very effective magic spells) and can turn her blood into impenetrable armor.

She also rides a donkey named Cuddles and is engaged to a were-lion.

5. Wildcard

I was torn about who to pick for my wildcard.  I was tempted to go with a dragon, like Temeraine from Naomi Novik's Temeraine series or Ramoth from Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey or Falcor the Luck Dragon from the Neverending Story by Michael Ende, because I've always wanted a dragon.  But instead I picked:

Aslan.

The lion.

He roared the universe into existence.

You really can't beat Aslan.

So that's my team!  What do you think?  Who would you pick?

New York Comic Con 2015 (Part 1)

I was one of the guest authors at NY Comic Con this year.  If you've never been to Comic Con, here's what you need to know:

They have battle pigs.

And lots of Lego minifigures.

And Ghostbusters, to keep you safe on the off chance that the battle pigs and the Lego minifigures become possessed by angry ghosts and attack.

The best part about the above photo was that as I was passing, the Ghostbuster was explaining to the cops how all his ghost busting equipment worked, presumably trying to recruit them.  The cops looked interested.

I also took this shot of a man dressed as every character every played by Johnny Depp all at once:

 

 

And here is Voldemort, hailing a taxi:

I don't know whether a taxi stopped for him, but when I looked back, he was gone.

I had such a fantastic time at Comic Con!  Saw and met so many great people, plus I was on one of the best panels I've ever been on.  It was called Fantasy Draft League, and in it, each panelist had to choose a warrior, wizard, thief, cleric, and wildcard character to make up the most awesome fantasy quest team ever.  So much fun.  I'll write about it more in my next blog post. 

Here are photos of me and my fellow panelists (from left to right in the top photo: Naomi Novik, Sam Sykes, Bradley Beaulieu, Zac Brewer, Sarah Beth Durst, Eleanor Herman, and David Pomerico) at the panel and at our autographing:

And lastly, here's the Empire State Building, looking lovely in pink:

NYCC 2015 Schedule

New York Comic Con is just two days away!!!  Woohoo!!!  I'm going, so if you're going, please stop by to see me -- I'd love to say hi! 

I will be on a panel at NYCC on Thursday (Oct 8th), followed by an autographing.  Here are the details, including the official description:

Fantasy Draft League
Thursday, October 8
4:15 pm - 5:15 pm
Room 1B03

It's like Fantasy Football but for SFF lit Fans! Four Authors (Eleanor Herman, Zac Brewer, Sarah Beth Durst and Bradley Beaulieu) draft an "all-star" fantasy team choosing characters from their favorite books: one wizard; one warrior; one cleric; one thief/rogue; one wildcard. They battle it out to see who can create the ultimate fantasy line-up! Draftmaster David Pomerico will set the ground rules and two judges (Sam Sykes and Naomi Novik) will offer commentary after each round and vote on which fantasy fiction league will take the crown. Before they announce their deliberations, the audience will weigh in as well. Let's get ready to rumble!

The autographing will be from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm at WORD Bookstore 1-B (in Javits Convention Center).  I'll be giving away and signing ARCs of my upcoming book THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM.

I'm so excited for this panel!  Isn't it such an awesome topic?  I think it's my favorite panel topic ever.  I've been completely obsessing over it.  Made at least five different teams already...

Hope to see you there!

October Events

Happy October!

I can taste the change in the air.  It tastes like... Three Musketeers.  And Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.  Maybe a Nutter Butter that I can't decide if I like.  Certainly candy corn that I know I don't like.  And those Hershey's miniatures that I know I do like.  Seriously, how did it get to be October already?  And why is there no Halloween candy in my house yet?

I am still clinging to summer, wearing short sleeves in the day and forgetting to turn on the heat at night.  It was a great summer, and I was sad to see it end.  But I love fall too.  Especially perfectly crisp blue-sky days.  We've had a bunch of those lately, and I'm looking forward to more before winter descends.

I'm also looking forward to three more book events this month:

Wednesday, October 2nd from 6 to 7:30pm
New York Public Library, Jefferson Market Branch
425 6th Ave (at 10th St), New York, NY
Teen Author Reading Night with Kate Brian, Zoraida Cordova, Jocelyn Davies, Sarah Beth Durst, Jennifer Hubbard, Kass Morgan, Emil Ostrovski, Allyson Schrier, and Jon Skovron

Sunday, October 6th from 2 to 4pm
Booktrader of Hamilton
2421 Nottingham Way, Mercerville, NJ
Reading/Signing

Sunday, October 13th at 4pm
Oblong Books & Music
6422 Montgomery Street, Rhinebeck, NY
Hudson Valley YA Society Event with Sarah Beth Durst, Carol Goodman, Jeff Hirsch, and Dan Krokos

I'll be reading from and talking about my new YA book Conjured at all of these.  If you're in the area, I hope you'll come say hello!

Event Announcement: Books of Wonder, this Saturday!

Now that pub day is over and Conjured is out in the world, it's time for me to continue the book launch celebration with my first Conjured book event.  This Saturday afternoon, I'll be at Books of Wonder in NYC for a YA panel and signing along with five other amazing authors: Kristi Cook, Kit Grindstaff, Jonathan Maberry, Phoebe North, and Nancy Ohlin!!!  We'll all introduce our new YA novels, answer questions from the audience, and then sign our books.  Here are the details:

Saturday, September 7th from 1-3pm
Books of Wonder
Reading/Signing with Kristi Cook, Sarah Beth Durst (me!), Kit Grindstaff, Jonathan Maberry, Phoebe North, and Nancy Ohlin
18 West 18th Street, New York, NY
 
Books of Wonder is one of my favorite bookstores in the whole world and they always do wonderful events.  I can't wait!  Hope to see you there!

BEA 2013

Just got back from BookExpo America (BEA), an annual publishing industry convention. Five days filled with tons of wonderful people who love books!  It was fantastic!

My BEA started on Tuesday when I arrived at a pre-BEA party at Books of Wonder (one of my favorite bookstores in the world), and it ended on Saturday after I was on a BEA panel about SF/fantasy with Laura Anne Gilman, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Jeri Smith-Ready that was more fun than riding a sparkly unicorn across a meadow of cheering leprechauns.  And you know those leprechauns can cheer.

You can watch the entire panel here.  I start talking at just shy of 4 minutes in.



Other highlights included the Children's Art Auction on Wednesday, my signing on Friday (So much fun! Thank you, everyone!), and the elegant and awesome Harlequin party on a rooftop bar with a gorgeous view of the Chrysler Building.  Wish I'd taken photos.  Just picture Manhattan at its prettiest.

All in all, it was a great week, and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Baltimore Book Festival and NAIBA 2012

This weekend, I will be in two places at once: the Baltimore Book Festival and the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Conference.

I am really excited about this for two reasons:

(1) They both sound like great events.

(2) The cloning machine is functional!  So far, we've only cloned strawberries, but they're delicious so I think we're set to go.

Here is my schedule for the weekend:

Baltimore Book Festival
September 28-30, 2012 (Friday to Sunday)
Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore, MD

Panel - Fri Sept 28, 6pm in the Children's Bookstore Tent - Michael Buckley, Ellen Datlow, Sarah Beth Durst, Jessica Day George, Adam Gidwitz, Shannon Hale - "Once Upon a Slightly Different Time: Fairy Tales Retold"

Panel - Sun Sept 30, 1pm at SFWA Pavilion - Don Sakers, Sarah Beth Durst, Jack McDevitt, and Alethea Kontis - "Where did that come from?"

Reading - Sun Sept 30, 3pm at SFWA Pavilion - Cat Rambo, Raul Kanakai, Sarah Beth Durst, Andrew J. Fox, and Brandi Tarvin

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Conference
September 29, 2012 (Saturday)
Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Arlington, VA

Signing - Sat Sept 29, 5pm

Author Reception - Sat Sept 29, 9:30-11pm

Hope to see you there!

Books of Wonder on Saturday

I love bookstores.

I know, I know, it's a shocking confession.  But it's true.  I love them like Lucy loves her wardrobe, like Ariel loves her grotto, and like Charlie loves his chocolate factory.  And one of my favorite bookstores is Books of Wonder in New York City.

Walking into Books of Wonder feels a bit like entering Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory, minus the scary boat trip with Gene Wilder.  The shelves are stuffed with books that I want to read, the walls are decorated with gorgeous picture book art, and the people who work there are consistently awesome.  Every time I do a book event there, I have a magnificent time... which is why I am so very excited for this Saturday.

This Saturday (9/22/12) from noon to 2pm, I will be reading/signing at Books of Wonder as part of their Out of This World Teen Fiction panel.  Full lineup is:

SARAH BETH DURST - Vessel
KARSTEN KNIGHT - Embers & Echoes
MALINDA LO - Adaptation
JESSICA SHIRVINGTON - Entice

If you're in NYC, I hope you'll stop by and say hello!

Suddenly, September

Suddenly, it's almost September.

All the stores started showing back-to-school displays in July, and I rolled my eyes and ignored them... and then September stealthily sneaked up on me.

And now it's only 14 days until VESSEL comes out!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

(That was me being extremely excited for you to meet Liyana, not me suddenly seeing a mouse.  Just to clarify.)

I'm also extremely excited about my fall schedule.  I have lots of fun book events coming up, including appearances at:

Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Trade Show on September 7-9

New York Public Library, Teen Author Reading Night on September 12

Baltimore Book Festival on September 28-30

New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association (NAIBA) Fall Conference on September 29

New York Comic Con on October 13

For all the details and for updates and additions, please visit the Appearances page of my website.

Hope you're enjoying these last few weeks of summer!

BEA 2012 Trip Report

This week, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday at BEA (BookExpo America, an annual publishing industry convention in NYC) and have decided that next year, I am going to create a pre-BEA training regimen so that when the convention ends, I won't feel as if I've been pushed through a colander.  It will involve tote-bag-carrying exercises, an endurance test in which I stand for as many hours as I can handle, and an obstacle course in which many people swing heavy bags of books at me as I try to walk down a narrow passageway.

Despite the achy feet and shoulders, though, I love BEA.  I think the best thing about it is that everyone in the whole vast enormous conference center has one thing in common: a love for books.

Here are a couple photos that I took:

First, because I know at least someone is wondering, here are the books that I carted home.  (The sideways one with the title you can't see is a wonderful picture book called The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Mermaids.)

And here is my view from my hotel room.  Notice the itty-bitty moon in the morning-blue sky.  This view was rather magical, and I half expected to see dragons curled on top of all the water towers or chimney sweeps dancing with Mary Poppins...

Here is Tim Gunn.  Not because I met him.  (I didn't.)  But because he's Tim Gunn, and I totally want to install him in my writing room and have him say, "Make it work," at key moments.

Lastly, here are me and Clifford.  Clifford didn't say much, but I had so many great conversations with so many fantastic people that it more than made up for Clifford's silence.

I failed to take any pictures of my signing, but thank you to everyone who came!  I signed lots of copies of Drink, Slay, Love, gave away lots of Vessel bookmarks and postcards, and had a blast!

And to those of you I missed seeing at BEA, so sorry I missed you! 

Can't wait for next year!  After my training regimen, of course.

Stuff I Did in May

It's June.

I like June.  But I love May.  I love the leaves popping out of the trees, the new flowers, the baby animals, and all the other life-is-great, rah-rah-rah moments.  Also, the lack of mosquitoes.

Some things I did in May:

- Got a year older and discovered the true joy of Facebook: all the lovely birthday wishes.  Also ate a Carvel ice cream cake.  (It's my birthday tradition.  My husband promised me when we got married that he'd always get me a Carvel ice cream cake for my birthday.  It was practically part of our wedding vows.)

- Picked strawberries.  They were melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  And when you mixed in sugar, they were divine.  (Yes, I do judge the quality of a month by its food.)

- Saw a deer in my backyard.  I attempted to sneak closer in a bid to befriend it like Snow White, but it bolted.  Later, I told a friend about it, and he said, "Were you scared?"  At the time, I thought this was a comment on my usual lack of bravery.  But then I started thinking...  Should I have been scared?  Are there man-eating deer on Long Island?  So I am now on the lookout for carnivorous Bambis.

- Turned in SWEET NOTHINGS to my editor at Walker / Bloomsbury.  Yay!

- Walked a red carpet with thirteen other YA authors and then was followed by a marching band at a book festival called Authors Unlimited:

- Attended my high school reunion and did not claim that I invented Post-Its.

So that pretty much sums up the month.  In June, I'm diving into a new writing project, attending BEA (BookExpo America), and watching out for vicious deer.

For those of you attending BEA, please stop by the SFWA booth (#3591) on Wednesday June 6th at 2pm.  I'll be signing copies of DRINK, SLAY, LOVE and would love to say hi!

Authors Unlimited This Saturday

On Saturday, I'll be walking the red carpet.

I am one of the guest authors at Authors Unlimited, a teen book festival in Patchogue, NY, this Saturday (4/28).  Details are here.

I'm told that we'll be brought to the venue by limo and then proceed down a red carpet accompanied by a drum-and-bugle corps.  Hee-hee!  And then there will be a panel with all fourteen authors, followed by breakout sessions with individual author presentations, culminating in a big book signing.

Here's me (and Drink, Slay, Love) in yesterday's Newsday (Long Island newspaper) talking about the event:

I am totally practicing my princess wave.

My Novel in Pictures

Imagine that this is a sixteen-year-old vampire girl. Absolutely gorgeous. Absolutely evil.


One night, she's feeling peckish. So she goes to the local ice cream store. Snacks on the ice cream boy.


She finishes and then notices that across the parking lot, between the dumpsters, there's a unicorn...


She mocks the unicorn for its sparkling shininess. When she's bored with that, she turns to go home. And the unicorn stabs her through the heart.


That's where Drink, Slay, Love begins.

This reenactment is courtesy of the Avenging Unicorn play set, a gift from my fantastically awesome agent, Andrea Somberg. It comes with four different horns and three figures to impale, including a mime.


It's entirely possible that this is the best thing anyone has ever given me. I'm thinking of bringing it to my upcoming events.

Speaking of which... here is my schedule for the next two weeks:

On Thursday, Oct 20th, I'll be participating in the Earthsea Group Read at the Center for Fiction in NYC. A slew of writers, actors, and others will be taking turns reading A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin as part of the Big Read honoring Le Guin. It will be streamed live online.

On Saturday, Oct 22nd, at noon, I will be reading and signing at Books of Wonder, a fabulous children's bookstore in NYC, with six other fabulous authors: Alison Goodman, Jeff Hirsch, Jon Skovron, Scott Westerfeld, Maryrose Wood, and Gabrielle Zevin.

On the following Friday through Sunday, Oct 28th through Oct 30th, I will be at the World Fantasy Convention in San Diego, CA. Schedule TBA.

The unicorn and I hope to see you soon!

TARN and a Scene from Drink, Slay, Love!

8 days until DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!

On Wednesday, September 7th, at 6pm, I will be participating in the Teen Author Reading Night at the Jefferson Market Branch of the New York Public Library, along with Coe Booth, Paul Griffin, Jeff Hirsch, David Levithan, Jonathan Farmer, Jon Skovron, and Adrienne Vrettos. We'll all be reading from our latest YA books. If you're in the area, I hope you'll come!

If you're not able to come... please wipe your tears, quit rending your clothes, and cease wailing your eternal disappointment to the unyielding stars. I have a present for you that I hope will console you: a scene from DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!

It features Pearl (our vampire-girl heroine) sparring with her vampire boyfriend. FYI, she was stabbed through the heart by a were-unicorn only a few hours earlier and nearly died. Enjoy!

FROM DRINK, SLAY, LOVE:

"I suppose you think you're good enough to be my escort to the ceremony?" Pearl asked.

"Of course." He charged toward her, swift as a blur. She swung up as he sliced toward her head. The wood hit as she blocked the blow, and the staff shuddered from the strength of the impact. She swayed as pain rippled through her, but she shoved.

He stumbled backward.

"I have heard there's waltzing," Pearl said.

"All the more reason you need a handsome prince to complement your stunning beauty."

"Your brothers are handsome as well," she said. She swept her leg out, caught his knee, and yanked. He twisted away before her foot could pull him down. "And perhaps more coordinated."

He smacked her side with the staff, and her breath hissed through her teeth. Clearly, she'd misjudged Mother. Mother had indeed intended this as punishment. She knew that Pearl would never admit weakness to Jadrien, and she knew he wouldn't hold back. Of course, there was a way to escape the intended beating: kick his ass first.

He struck again with the staff. Right, left, down, left. "You are destined to be with me," he said. She blocked. One, two, three, four. She spun and landed a second strike on his side. He swore as he danced away. "You are the most beautiful creature in all the state," he said as he swung his staff toward her neck. She bent backward as the tip pushed against her jugular.

"Just the state?" Pearl asked. Continuing to bend backward, she reached out with one hand to touch the floor and then kicked up hard as she flipped over. Her feet caught Jadrien on the chin, and he reeled back.

"Let's see how well you clean up before we invest in too many superlatives," he said.

"I think I'll 'clean up' right now," she said. She swept her staff low, aiming to sweep his feet out from under him.

He was too fast. He leapt over the staff and struck out with his fist. It caught her in the solar plexus, and pain from her wound lanced through her. Another blow came at her, and she was a second too slow to react. It knocked into her stomach, and she flew backward across the room. She slammed into one of the wood pillars.

"Slow today," he commented.

"Just lulling you into a false sense of complacency." Pearl sprang away from the pillar and attacked. The spinning staff whirled into a blur. She struck at his neck, his legs, his shoulders, his arms. He ducked as she rained blows down on him.

Jadrien struck back, and she raised her staff over her head with two hands, catching his staff dead center. Crack! Her staff split in two. Splinters rained down. She withdrew, holding half a staff in each hand.

"Surrender," Jadrien said.

"Oh, I don't think so." With one stick swirling in each hand, Pearl leapt through the air and attacked. With each hit, she felt stronger. She felt a smile tug at her lips. Her torso ached and burned, but she could think through it. She could do this. She'd survived a near-staking. She'd been chosen with her family to host the Connecticut Fealty Ceremony. She could do anything! Her breath raked her throat as she swung the sticks faster and faster. He blocked. Each strike became as loud and rhythmic as drum beats. "Our ceremony will be spectacular," she said. "I'll make sure of it." No human, no hunter, no mythical beastie with a day-glo horn was going to ruin this for her. "Better than spectacular, it will be perfect."

Catching her waist with one hand, he drew her tight against him. "I believe you," he said. And then he kissed her. The sticks dropped from her hands and clattered to the ground.

Mid-kiss, she yanked his staff out of his hand, hooked her foot around his ankle, flipped him to the ground, and pinned him down with his staff pressed against his throat. "Surrender?" she said.

"To you," he said, "I surrender my heart and soul."

She rolled her eyes. "Very romantic, considering you have neither."

BEA 2011

I had a fantastic time this week at BEA (Book Expo America, an enormous annual convention focused on forthcoming books) as proven by the contents of my suitcase:


*sighs with delight*

But BEA is about more than the books. It's also about eating mashed potato martinis:


And greeting childhood icons:


(The only thing I could think of to say was "I admire your work." Really, Sarah? Mrs. Brady, I admire your work??)

Okay, so it's really about books. And talking about books with other people who love books. I had so many great conversations with so many fantastic people that I feel literally dizzy when I think about it. Here's me with Laini Taylor and Marie Rutkoski, two absolutely awesome writer friends of mine:


I can't wait for next year!

Reading About Writing

I love reading about writing.

When I first decided that I wanted to be a writer, one of the first things that I did was empty my hometown library of every "how to write" book I could find. I poured over those books, taking copious notes as if I were unlocking the secrets to the universe.

I was ten years old, and I believed that books held the answer to every question, the solution to every problem, and the map to every dream.

Okay, I still believe that.

These days, one of my favorite things to do online (along with checking out cake wrecks and fashion commentary) is read about writing. In case you're interested, here are a bunch that I bookmarked recently:

"The Ever-Popular I Suck Playlist" by Libba Bray

"How Not to Bug the F*** Out When Writing a Novel" by Chuck Wendig

"'Don't listen to them. They're both wrong.' And other reasons I love Steven Tyler" by Jo Knowles

"Making Story Happen" by Laini Taylor

"How to Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon

"Writing Better" by Megan Crewe

"Choose Your Own Adventure" by Jessica Tudor

"And the Magic Begins" interview with Terry Pratchett

"Love What You Love" by Ray Bradbury (via Boing Boing)

"Our Best Advice for Writing Fantasy" on Enchanted Inkpot

"How Science Fiction Movies Can Help You Write Novels" by John Scalzi

"How to Survive a First Draft" by Delia Sherman

"Writing Weirdness" by Carrie Jones

"The Things That Save Us" by Terri Windling

Anyone have any writing-about-writing links you'd like to share? Any favorite writing-related sites or blogs?

In addition to reading about writing, I've also learned a lot about writing and publishing by hanging out with all manner of bookish people every chance I get, which is exactly what I'll be doing this week. I'm headed to Book Expo America (BEA), a huge gathering of booksellers, publishers, authors, etc at the Javits Center in NYC. Really looking forward to it!

Awesome Quiltiness

I am on a quilt! Not sitting on a quilt, but in the quilt itself. And not literally me... though I am suddenly picturing a little quilt Sarah frolicking across an applique meadow beneath embroidered clouds. And then I'm chased by geometric triangles that want to chomp me up like Pac-Man, but I defend myself by brandishing the Magic Needle of...

And this is exactly why I outline when I write. Stay on target, Sarah.

Speaking of Pac-Man, why was the ghost Clyde changed to Sue in Ms. Pac-Man?

And speaking of quilts, I want to show you a photo of the quilt I'm in. First, though, a little background:

Last Saturday, I visited Northboro, Massachusetts -- my hometown and the setting of my debut novel, Into the Wild -- for the dedication of an Author/Illustrator Quilt to celebrate the Northborough Free Library's newly renovated Children's Room. Ten authors/illustrators are featured in squares on this quilt: Jan Brett, Marc Brown, Andrew Clements, Tomie dePaola, Sarah Beth Durst (hey, that's me!), Jack Gantos, Modricai Gerstein, Lois Lowry, Lane Smith, and Jane Yolen.

Here's my square (with images based on my novel Into the Wild):


And here's the whole quilt:


How cool is that?

This library is the place where I fell in love with books. Very cool to know that I have a presence there even though I now live in another state. Thanks, Northboro Library, for the lovely day, the lovely quilt, and the lovely memories!

Northborough Free Library Author/Illustrator Quilt

I love libraries in the way that a chocoholic loves a Godiva Easter bunny.

I blame my mother, who took me to the library so often that I was literally the poster child for Kid Obtaining First Library Card:


This photo was taken at the Northboro Library (or more accurately, the Northborough Free Library -- the town has become fancier since I left it, restoring the more formal "ugh" to its name and requiring all citizens to wear cravats).

This is the place where I discovered Diana Wynne Jones, Lloyd Alexander, Ruth Chew, and Tamora Pierce. I remember exactly where the shelves were that held all the Encyclopedia Brown books, and I remember sneaking into the grown-up section to find Watership Down. (I really did sneak. I assume I was afraid an adult would spot me, shout "Under Age Reader!", and a team from the Militant Branch of the ALA would rappel from the windows to capture me.)

This same library appears in chapter 7 of my debut novel, Into the Wild. Julie hides from Cinderella and Goldilocks here, and the Three Blind Mice live in the Children's Room. (The Children's Room actually did have hamsters. I don't think they talked, though. Perhaps after hours...)

Over the past couple years, the Northboro Library underwent major renovations. And now that it's all new and fancy, they've planned a lovely event where they will dedicate an author/illustrator quilt and hang it in the brand new Children's Room. The quilt was created by a group of talented local quilters who incorporated scenes from ten children's books along with quilt pieces signed by the authors or illustrators. I had the honor of contributing my signature when I was last at the library and am absolutely thrilled that a scene from Into the Wild has been included on the quilt.

The Author/Illustrator Quilt Dedication is this Saturday at the new Northboro Library. I'll be there, as will Andrew Clements, the author of Frindle as well as many other wonderful books. Here are the details if you'd like to join us:

Saturday, May 14, 2011 from 11am to 1pm
Author/Illustrator Quilt Dedication
Northborough Free Library
34 Main Street, Northborough, MA

Refreshments will be served (though I cannot promise any Godiva bunnies).

If you're in the area, I hope to see you there!