Ice - Hüter des Nordens

I am very pleased to announce that the German translation of Ice -- Ice - Hüter Des Nordens -- is now available in Germany!


This makes me want to fly to Germany immediately and croon "happy book birthday" to the copies on the bookstore shelves.

Since that's not really practical (and would make me look crazy), I attempted to find a YouTube clip of someone singing happy birthday in German. Instead, I found multiple videos of people trying to teach their German shepherds to sing happy birthday.



I really love the Internet.

And I love my German publisher, Egmont/LYX, for making this book possible!

ICE German Cover Reveal

I recently caught my first glimpse of what will be the cover art for the forthcoming German edition of my novel ICE! This translated edition comes out in Germany in February 2012, published by Lyx, an imprint of Egmont. They gave it a lovely new cover as well as an awesome new subtitle. It's called Ice - Hüter der Seelen, which means, acccording to Google Translate, "Ice - Keeper of Souls". Oooooh. I love that! And here's the cover art, which I love as well.


To me, Germany will always be the place where I saw my first real castle.

My dad had a business trip to Germany when I was ten years old, and he took me along. This was a Big Deal because (a) it was a trip to Europe (my first), (b) my dad had never taken me with him on a business trip before, and (c) it was a trip to EUROPE, which to me meant fairy tales and witches and werewolves and knights and castles!

I was a wee bit obsessed with castles. Pretty much, if you had offered me a choice between a decked-out mansion with sixteen swimming pools in Hawaii and a drafty, tumbled-down castle in Scotland, I'd have been on the plane to Glasgow. Unless the mansion had sixteen libraries instead of swimming pools. Then, we might have had to talk...

But back to Germany. While my dad did businessy things, I stayed with a family he knew. The family asked what I wanted to do, and I said, "See a castle." I may have even swooned from the thought of it.

Unfortunately, this was translated to German as the equivalent of "palace" and they took me to see a decked-out mansion.

I remember being terribly disappointed but too polite/shy to say so. But my dad noticed, and the next day we drove until we found a real castle! I remember it was yellow and in ruins and did not have a moat or a dragon or jousting knights, but I loved it. In my mind, I peopled it with kings and queens and wizards and talking animals. It was one of those special moments when reality and fantasy intersect.

Coincidentally or perhaps not-so-coincidentally, age ten was also the year that I decided that I wanted to become a writer.

Icy Research

There is a lot of snow outside here. A LOT of snow!!!

All the snow makes me think of the time that I spent listening to the whisper and crackle of the crumbling frozen sea and plotting the journey of the sun as it circles the horizon at the top of the world.

I wasn't in the Arctic in person. I've never been there. But for months at a time, I lived there in my head.

One of the things that I love about being a writer is that you have a legitimate excuse to immerse yourself in another world. While I wrote my novel Ice, I listened to Arctic-themed music. I watched documentaries about the Arctic. I plastered my desk area with photos of the Arctic and covered the floor with maps. And I read and read and read.

I devoured everything that I could get my hands on that had to do with my new world -- dozens of nature guides, survival guides, polar bear books, and explorer memoirs. I'm the only person I know who owns a North Slope Barrow dialect Inupiaq-English dictionary.

My favorite research books were:

- A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic by E. C. Pielou
- Walking on Thin Ice by David Hempleman-Adams
- The SAS Survival Guide

And the most inspirational book was:

- East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, illustrated by P. J. Lynch

There is a common misconception that research isn't necessary for fantasy novels. After all, it's made up. But you're asking readers to believe in the impossible. If you build that impossible dream in the middle of a sea of real details... well, then your ice castle won't be standing on air. You'll be able to walk inside.

I'm often asked about the research that I did for Ice. So for those of you who are interested, below is a bibliography of the books that inspired and influenced the world of Ice:

- Abridged Inupiaq and English Dictionary by Edna Ahgeak MacLean
- Arctic Daughter by Jean Aspen
- Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez
- The Boy Who Found the Light: Eskimo Folktales by DeArmond
- Camping and Wildernness Survival by Paul Tawrell
- The Dancing Fox, Arctic Folktales ed. by John Bierhorst
- Dictionary of Native American Mythology by Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan
- East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon by P. J. Lynch
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Laszlo Gal
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Nancy Willard
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Mercer Mayer
- East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Kathleen and Michael Hague
- The Encyclopedia of Native American Religions by Arlene Hirschfelder and Paulette Molin
- The Eskimo Storyvteller, Folktales from Noatak, Alaska by Edwin S. Hall, Jr.
- The Girl Who Dreamed Only Geese, and Other Tales of the Far North by Howard Norman
- Handbook of North American Indians, v.5 Arctic edited by Sturtevant
- How to Speak Alaskan edited by Mike Doogan
- How to Stay Alive in the Woods by Bradford Angier
- How to Survive on Land and Sea, 4th edition, by Frank C. Craighead, Jr. and John J. Craighead
- Julie of the Wolves, Julie, and Julie's Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George
- Icebound Summer by Sally Carrighar
- The Iñupiat and Arctic Alaska by Norman A. Chance
- Kingdom of the Ice Bear by Hugh Miles and Mike Salisbury
- The Last Wind Edge by Susan Zwinger
- Mountaineering Medicine by Fred T. Daville, Jr. MD
- Native American Myth and Legend, An A-Z of People and Places by Mike Dixon-Kennedy
- A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic by E.C. Pielou
- The Nature of North America by David Rockwell
- Northern Tales edited by Howard Norman
- Names, Numbers and Northern Policy: Inuit, Project Surname, and the Politics of Identity by Valerie Alia
- Over the Edge: Flying with the Arctic Heroes by K.C. Tessendorf
- Over the Top of the World by Will Steger and Jon Bowermaster
- Polar Attack by Richard Weber and Mikhail Malakhov
- Polar Bears by Ian Stirling
- Polar Bears by Nikita Ovsyanikov
- Polar Bears: Living with the White Bear by Nikita Ovsyanika
- Running North by Ann Mariah Cook
- SAS Survival Guide
- A Snow Walker’s Companion by Garrett and Alexandra Conover
- The Survival Handbook by Peter Darman
- To the Arctic by Steven B Young
- Up North by Doug Bennet and Tim Tiner
- Walking on Thin Ice by David Hempleman-Adams
- White Bear by Charles T. Feazel
- Wilderness First Aid by William Forgey, MD
- The World of the Polar Bear by Norbert Rosing

To the authors of all the above books: Thank you for sharing your world!

Danke Schoen

Sprechen sie deutsch?

I don't. Or really, any other language besides English, though I do know how to say "turtle" and "squid" in sign language. A full semester of it in college and that's all that stuck. Anyway, I am filled with this desire in learn German because I just found out that... (and here is where you can insert a drumroll, if you like)... a publisher in Germany has licensed the German language rights to both Ice and Enchanted Ivy! There are going to be German editions of my books! In, you know, German!

My German publisher is EGMONT Verlagsgesellschaften.

I think I will spend tomorrow learning how to spell that.

I am so over-the-moon thrilled about this that all I can say is...



Danke schoen!!!

Nebula Awards Weekend 2010

I'm writing this in the airport en route home from Nebula Awards Weekend, held this year in Cocoa Beach, Florida. My novel ICE was nominated for SFWA's Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.

You want to know the best part of being nominated for an award from SFWA (the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America)?

Free unicorn.

Once you arrive at the event, you are spirited away to a secret room, which you must access by aligning a series of steampunk-esque locks. You are then asked a series of questions, ranging from "What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?" to "Would you like jam tomorrow or jam yesterday?" If you answer correctly, you may proceed. If you fail, you are dropped into the Pit of Eternal Stench (or the Great Pit of Carkoon on Tatooine, depending on your preference, which you stated during the registration process, along with your beef, fish, or veggie choice for the banquet). If you succeed, you are presented with your unicorn.

As I write this, mine is attempting to bust his way out of my carry-on luggage. I'm hoping my unicorn will fit under the seat in front of me. If he doesn't... well, I don't relish the idea of explaining to the flight attendant why the overhead bin is full of unicorn poop.

Okay, okay, there was no secret room or unicorn-as-swag. But there was a space shuttle launch, which is as awesome as a unicorn. (In fact, I think that should be NASA's new motto: "Space, as awesome as unicorns.") The awards weekend (aka the Nebs) was planned to coincide with the third-to-last space shuttle launch, the final flight of the shuttle Atlantis. Launches are visible from Cocoa Beach.

I nearly missed the launch due to the tremendous traffic -- everyone else in the state of Florida was also attempting to drive to the coast to see the launch. But I arrived at the hotel ten minutes before launch, dropped my suitcase at the front desk, and booked it out to the beach.

Lots of people were already there. All of them were standing (as if that would bring you closer to the shuttle than sitting) and looking north. Kind of looked like everyone was waiting for an alien invasion.

At precisely 2:20, I saw a fat firecracker rise above the palm trees and hotels to the north. I was pretty sure it wasn't the shuttle because I thought that the water tanks in the distance were the launch pads. (Not so much.) Also, I'd expected applause or a collective "oooh" from the watchers. (Everyone was busy taking photos.) But I figured out reasonably quickly that fireworks aren't that fat. This was a long fat orange flame followed by billowing white smoke.

The Launch

It looked like the orange fire was giving birth to a huge cloud snake. After a while, the snake ended, but you could still see the shuttle as a white dot. Eventually, it vanished, and the snake slowly coiled in on itself and drifted away.

Really magical.

Cloud Snake

Before the launch, I'd noticed a group of people near me were wearing SFWA Nebula Awards Weekend name tags. I was too shy to say hello at first, but I reminded myself that I'd earned my unicorn (so to speak) and introduced myself. I spent the remainder of the weekend in pretty much constant conversation.

Really, the best part of the Nebs is talking to all the people. The science fiction and fantasy community is filled with some of the nicest, friendliest, smartest, funniest, and most interesting people that I've ever met. *waves at everyone*

Each evening had a great event. On Friday night, there was the mass book signing, followed by the ceremony to honor the nominees. For the book signing, I was seated between Allen Steele and Peter J. Heck. (Does anyone have the photo of me at the signing with Allen in which he is wearing glow-in-the-dark vampire fangs, courtesy of Lucienne Diver?)

For the ceremony, the nominees were called on stage by Russell Davis (current SFWA president) and given a special pin and certificate by Neal Barrett, Jr. (this year's author emeritus).

Later that night, I discovered that if you press the pin and spin around, it will open a portal to another dimension.

Totally kidding. The portal goes to Schenectady.

The Pin

On Saturday night, there was the Awards Banquet. Honestly, I wasn't the slightest bit nervous until I walked into that banquet hall. Once I was inside, I promptly started imagining that either (A) I'd win and forget to thank my husband, who is the heart and soul of everything I do, and then have to spend the next several decades trying to win something again so that I could have a do-over, or (B) my dress would inexplicably fall off.

Which reminds me... the DRESS. As is now a tradition, here is the requisite slightly-tilted self-portrait of me in a purdy dress:

The Dress

I even wore makeup for the occasion (which is shocking considering that I can count on one hand the number of times that I've worn makeup).

Also wore my polar bear necklace.

Best dressed for the night goes to Mary Robinette Kowal who wore an Oscar red-carpet-worthy gown, James Marrow who wore Godzilla slippers, and Bud Sparhawk who wore all his Nebula pins as buttons on his tux.

The event itself was extremely cool. Lots of wonderful speeches. Catherynne Valente, who won the Andre Norton Award, gave a particularly lovely speech about how this book was like a fairy tale, saving her at a time when she needed saving, but how she never expected a glass slipper at the end of it. Connie Willis gave a very funny and sweet introduction to Joe Haldeman, the Grand Master. David Levine showed fantastic photos of his two weeks inside a Mars simulation. And Allen Steele kept everything moving as toastmaster.

The Banquet

But my favorite moment (other than when Tom Doyle announced the nominees for the Andre Norton Award -- totally felt like the Oscars!!!) was when Eugie Foster won for novelette. She and her husband Matthew were sitting next to me for the banquet, and the absolute stunned joy on her face when her name was called... and the look of love and pride on her husband's face... I totally got tears in my eyes. The two of them were radiating joy.

Eugie and Matthew Foster

My favorite line of the night was after the banquet, after Paolo Bacigalupi had won the Nebula for Best Novel, he said, "I'm embarrassed to be this happy." Like Eugie, he was radiating happiness. He was even still smiling the next morning, despite total lack of sleep.

My favorite non-awards-related time of the convention was drinking pina coladas at the outside bar with Laura Anne Gilman with a view of the ocean in front of us and a very stubborn yellow butterfly behind us.

And my favorite totally unrelated to SFWA or the Nebulas moments were my two morning walks down this beach:

The Beach

Lastly, my favorite take-away from the event... I came away from the weekend feeling inspired to write, write, write! So thank you, SFWA. You're all awesome. And the unicorn is great too.

ICE is an Andre Norton Award Finalist!!!

Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

Snoopy Dance of Joy!!!!!!!!

*pant, pant*

*composes self to look more professional... pats down hair, straightens shirt, pinches cheeks, sits up straight, puts away noise-makers and maracas*

I haz news. :)

I am very pleased (and very, very excited) to report that ICE is a finalist for SFWA's 2009 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy!

It will appear on the final ballot with the following books:

LEVIATHAN, Scott Westerfeld
EYES LIKE STARS, Lisa Mantchev
ICE, Sarah Beth Durst (me!)
ASH, Malinda Lo
WHEN YOU REACH ME, Rebecca Stead
ZOE'S TALE, John Scalzi
HOTEL UNDER THE SAND, Kage Baker
THE GIRL WHO CIRCUMNAVIGATED FAIRYLAND, Catherynne M. Valente

Members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America will vote throughout the month of March to select a winner, which will be announced as part of the Nebula Awards Banquet, held this year at the Cocoa Beach Hilton in Cape Canaveral, FL, on May 15th. (Click here for information about the event.)

I will be there. I will sooo be there. With bells on. Or at least a pretty dress.

Coolest part about being shortlisted was how I found out...

On Wednesday, my phone rang. (This was remarkable because no one ever calls me except my family and some dude who refuses to believe that the previous owner of our house doesn't live here any more.) I answered, "Hello?"

"Is this Sarah Beth Durst?" a woman's voice said.

Telemarketers don't know my middle name. Only people who are contacting me because of my writing use my middle name. Everyone else calls me just Sarah. (Or, if you're the dude who keeps calling, "Cho-Chang.") So I knew immediately this was writing-related, and I wittily said, "Yes, it is." And then I worried that I should have said, "This is she," and then I decided that that sounds a bit too formal so what I said was fine... By this point, of course, she'd moved on in the conversation.

She said, "This is Madeleine E. Robins, calling on behalf of the Nebula committee, to inform you that ICE has been nominated for the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. Do you accept the nomination?"

To which I should have said, "Yes, I would be delighted to accept the nomination."

But what I really said was more like, "What?! Really? Yes, yes, YES! Whoo-hoo!"

Smooth, Sarah. Very smooth.

At that point, the words "Andre Norton Award Finalist" started flashing inside my head like some garish Las Vegas hotel sign... which caused me to promptly forget my caller's name.

(This is rather inexcusable because it's not like I didn't know the name -- she wrote THE STONE WAR, which I'd read and enjoyed and was sitting on my bookshelf about two feet away from the phone.)

As a result, when I then called my husband a few minutes later, the best I could do was, "I got the CALL! Andre Norton! Yippee!"

"Who called?" he asked.

Long pause.

"I have no idea," I said.

"Are you sure they didn't call for Cho-Chang?"

We then spent the next ten minutes searching the SFWA website with me going, "Maybe Darlene? Arlene? Robinson? Rob-Something?" My clever husband figured it out, thus confirming that I hadn't hallucinated the entire thing. Always a relief.

After that, I began my Snoopy Dance of Joy, and I have been dancing ever since.

Congratulations to all my fellow Norton finalists, as well as to all the finalists for the Nebula Awards! Hope to see you in Florida!

For those who are interested, here's the official press release from SFWA:

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of SFWA. The awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquet the evening of May 15 at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, just 20 minutes from the Kennedy Space Center in Fla. Other awards to be presented are the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting and the Solstice Award for outstanding contribution to the field.

Short story
"Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela," Saladin Ahmed (Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Press, Jul09)
"I Remember the Future," Michael A. Burstein (I Remember the Future, Apex Press, Nov08)
"Non-Zero Probabilities," N. K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld, Nov09)
"Spar," Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct09)
"Going Deep," James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jun09)
"Bridesicle," Will McIntosh (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jan09)

Novelette
"The Gambler," Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, Oct08)
"Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage," Michael Bishop (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jul08)
"I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said," Richard Bowes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec09)
"Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast," Eugie Foster (Apex Online, Nov09)
"Divining Light," Ted Kosmatka (Asimov's Science Fiction, Aug08)
"A Memory of Wind," Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Nov09)

Novella
The Women of Nell Gwynne's, Kage Baker (Subterranean Press, Jun09)
"Arkfall," Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sep09)
"Act One," Nancy Kress (Asimov's Science Fiction, Mar09)
Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Tachyon, Feb09)
"Sublimation Angels," Jason Sanford (Jason Sanford, Nov09)
The God Engines, John Scalzi (Subterranean Press, Dec09)

Novel
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Nightshade, Sep09)
The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam, Nov08)
Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman (Pocket, Oct09)
The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey, May09)
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor, Sep09)
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press, Oct09)

Bradbury Award
Star Trek, JJ Abrams (Paramount, May09)
District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug09)
Avatar, James Cameron (Fox, Dec 09)
Moon, Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker (Sony, Jun09)
Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar, May09)
Coraline, Henry Selick (Laika/Focus Feb09)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy
Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, Jul09)
Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct09)
Ash, by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown & Company, Sep09)
Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, Jul09)
Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor Aug08)
When You Reach Me, Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, Jun09)
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct09)

For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com or www.sfwa.org

About SFWA

Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers' organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals. Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

Pictures That Make Me Happy

Lots and lots of writing going on here. I am closing in on the end of revisions for my next novel (my magic-at-Princeton book). This weekend, I am going to my first ever writers' retreat (Kindling Words), and I have high hopes of major progress. And s'mores. That's right, I'm told there will be a bonfire with s'mores! So. Very. Excited.

Anyway, while I play with words, I wanted to share with you some pictures that make me happy.

This beautiful bear was drawn by Realm Lovejoy to accompany her interview with me on her blog. She draws pictures to accompany each author interview. Very cool.


And this gorgeous piece was created by Katie of Sophistikatied Reviews. I think it totally looks like a real movie poster. Check out all her fan art. Quite awesome.


Lastly, my friend Cathie sent me this photo from a store window on Madison Ave in Manhattan.


Now that is one snazzy polar bear!

Double Interview: Jessica Day George

Got a special treat for you today: Author Jessica Day George!

Jessica and I have a cool bond. (No pun intended.) We both wrote novels inspired by the Norwegian folktale "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" -- Jessica's SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW and my ICE. Together with Edith Pattou's EAST, another wonderful retelling of this folktale, it seems that we're building up a lovely little sub-genre around East of the Sun. To date, our numbers still pale in comparison to the legions of Cinderella retellers out there, but I hope that our contributions will help spread the word about this beautiful, icy tale.

A few weeks ago, Jessica and I exchanged signed copies of our books. I was extremely excited about this, as it meant that I would finally get to read her book! (I'd been resisting the urge to read other East of the Sun retellings until ICE was released.) We were both fascinated by how tremendously different our books are. Despite the same inspiration, we focused on very different aspects of the original tale and took the story in very different directions. In the end, we wound up with two novels that are nearly (must resist another pun, must resist... cannot resist...) polar opposites.

To explore this further, we decided to interview each other on our blogs. If we've gotten our timing right, my interview of Jessica (below) and Jessica's interview of me should appear on the same day. So check out her blog to read the other half of our double interview.

Before I start her interview, though, I want to say that I loved, loved, loved Jessica's book. SUN AND MOON, ICE AND SNOW is a beautiful novel. It's beautifully written, and it has such a perfect fairy-tale-magical feel.

Jessica deepened and expanded all the elements of the original tale, keeping the original Norwegian setting and all the characters but infusing the tale with back story and emotions. She also added wonderful minor characters, such as Erasmus and Mrs. Grey (castle servants who provide both clues and suspense) and the fabulous wolf Rollo (a new sidekick), and she created a magnificant backstory with Hans Peter (the "lassie's" brother) and his love Tova. She further enriched her tale with great details like the troll language and the pervasive stench of the trolls. The end result is simply wonderful.

Now, without further ado, here is the fantastic Jessica Day George talking about her experience with bringing this tale to life:

1) Why did you choose to retell East of the Sun, West of the Moon? What drew you to this tale?

Having loved this story for years, I decided in high school that I would do a retelling of it. It needed so much more! I wanted to travel east o' the sun and west o' the moon with the young lassie, and see what she saw! I loved Norway, and polar bears, and there just weren't enough books out there to suit me.

2) How did you first discover this tale?

I found the P.J. Lynch illustrated picture book at a bookstore when it first came out, and since he draws the lass as a redhead, I had to have it. I recognized the story, I don't know when I heard it first or where. But the Lynch version is what made me think, I want to turn this into a novel.

3) What was the writing process like for Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow?

After years of making little notes here and there when inspiration struck, and studying Norwegian, and fairy tales, and even Old Norse, one day after I had finished Dragon Slippers I just thought, "Am I ready? Will I ever be ready? I'm going to take the plunge. . . " My heart was racing and I felt a little queasy that I would screw up after all these years of planning the book . . . and then the rest was just a big blur, frankly.

4) How did you choose what to keep of the original tale and what to change?

I tried to keep it all! I wanted a completely faithful retelling of the story, beginning with Long ago, and far away, and moving on through the polar bear, the strange man in her bed at night, the candle wax, the trolls, all of it! I wanted the reader to think that they had been dropped right into the original, just now in Surround Sound!

5) I loved the addition of the Hans Peter storyline. What was the inspiration for that backstory?

I wanted her to have this hero, this older brother who was kind to her when some of her family wasn't, and I loved the idea that he had seen strange and horrible things that changed him . . . and then I smacked myself on the head and thought: He's been through it, too!

6) You also added multiple wonderful minor characters in the castle, as well as the wolf Rollo. Can you tell me about the decision to add them?

Having secretly always wanted a pet wolf, and one that could talk, Rollo just leaped onto the page. The servants in the palace of ice, and the palace of gold, were a little different. In versions of the fairy tale there are invisible servants -- but that always freaked me out! Are they watching her in the bath? Creeeeeepy! But I didn't want them to just be polar bears, because polar bears . . . well, they're not known for their cooking, now are they? So I decided to have other mythological creatures manning the kitchens. My favorite was Mrs. Grey, the gargoyle housekeeper.

7) What inspired the personalities of your lassie and bear? How much of yourself appears in your characters?

I usually feel like my main character is a little piece of me, but not so with the Lass. To me, she really was part of a fairy tale come to life. She's much meeker than I am, and much more uncertain. She was resigned to her lot in life as an unloved youngest child, doomed to toil on the family farm indefinitely. When something fine was given to her: riches, love, she hardly dared to reach for it. The bear was fun to write because I tried to give him a good sense of humor. I figured that he'd have to have one in order to survive being turned into a bear without going crazy. He's a pampered prince suddenly cursed, and dealing with it the best that he can.

8) If a polar bear asked you to marry him, what would you say?

That depends: does he have a palace? Because I am not living in a snow cave!

Thanks so much, Jessica!

Double interview continued on Jessica's blog..... Click here to read her interview of me!

Polar Bears and Penguins

I developed a somewhat odd pet peeve while writing Ice: I can't handle cute illustrations of polar bears frolicking with penguins. It causes me to start ranting.

Polar bears = Arctic = top of the world. Penguins = Antarctica = bottom of the world. Even if those cute little flightless birds wander up to South America, we're still talking opposite hemispheres. Seriously, these creatures could not live farther apart without leaving the planet. Seeing a polar bear with a penguin would be like walking into your backyard and seeing a chipmunk frolicking with an elephant. It doesn't happen. They don't live together!

*deep breath*

I adore this cartoon, by David Farley, poking fun at all this.

Also, polar bears don't catch fish. Oh, they'll happily eat a fish if they find one laying around, but they don't sit by a hole in the ice and scoop fish out of the ocean with their fuzzy paws. That's grizzlies, and they're scooping out of streams where the fish don't have a whole lot of room to escape. Polar bears live on the sea ice, above the Arctic Ocean, which as the name suggests, is an OCEAN, where the fish have plenty of room to swim and little reason to hang out at the surface next to holes in the ice. Scooping one out with a fuzzy paw would be much like catching a fly with chopsticks a la Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid -- a fun trick for parties but by no means a viable way to feed a species. No, polar bears eat seals. Cute, adorable, fuzzy-whiskered seals. Unlike fish, seals are mammals and have to swim up to holes in the ice to breathe. And when they do..... Dinnertime.

This one, by ARG! Cartoon Animation Studio, is rather awesome too.

I will forgive an illustration of a polar bear holding a fish though, because a bear holding a bloody seal is not nearly as cute and charming.

But polar bears and penguins frolicking together..... No. Just no.

Okay, I'm done with my rant now. Off to drink a Coke.

Book Revue and The Voracious Reader

Last week, I did a wonderful book event at Book Revue in Huntington, NY. Thanks so much to the fabulous booksellers and everyone who came by to listen to me babble. I read from and talked about ICE, and then we ate Cassie and Bear:


How cool is that?

Yummy too.

I love edible photos. I love that someone sat down and said, "You know what this world needs? The ability to eat a photograph."

And you know what? I think he or she was right. The world does need things like edible photos -- things that exist purely to make someone smile. I think that is a noble purpose. Honestly, it's one of the reasons that I write. I love the idea of creating a story that can touch someone, make someone smile, take someone out of their worries and problems for at least a couple hours...

My next book event doesn't involve edible bears, but it does involve two other fabulous authors. This Friday, I will be at The Voracious Reader with Carolyn MacCullough (Once a Witch) and Delia Sherman (The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen). Here are the details:

The Voracious Reader
Friday, November 13th at 7pm
1997 Palmer Avenue, Larchmont, NY


Hope to see you there!

UK Pub Date and Book Revue

In ICE, Cassie journeys over the sea ice, across the tundra, and through the boreal forest. And today she has crossed the Atlantic Ocean! Today, ICE is coming out in the UK!

I have very fond memories of the UK. After college, I lived for a year in Cambridge, England. My boyfriend (now husband) had a fellowship there, and I trailed along because, hey, England! Castles! Stonehenge! King Arthur! It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made.

That year in England, my husband and I got engaged. Also that year in England, I really became a writer.

I'd known I wanted to be a writer pretty much since I was a cute little blastula. But despite my making a New Year's Resolution to do so every year, when my plane landed in Merry Ol' England, I had yet to complete a full manuscript.

That changed here:

My Desk in Cambridge, England
(where I finished my first manuscript)

The reason for the change was the UK Department of Immigration and Visa Services. You see, I had planned to find a job and work while I was there. I had a six-month recent-graduate work permit, but I was certain it could be extended. Imagine my shock when I arrived at the Heathrow Airport and was told that not only could I not work after six months, but I might not be able to stay at all! After six months, I'd have to petition for a visitor's permit and swear not to work or I'd be tossed into the channel and eaten by specially-imported sharks. Or something like that.

I found a job at the Marshall Library for Economics (part of Cambridge University), and I spent a happy six months alphabetizing books and learning to like tea with milk. I also wrote in my spare time.

But then came the day: my six months were up. We woke ridiculously early, took the train south of London, filled out paperwork, waited, and worried... and then got the visitor's permit with no problem and learned that if we'd just decided to spend a romantic weekend in Paris and I'd come back in as a visitor, it would have had the same result. Except then I would have gotten a romantic weekend in Paris instead of a day at the international equivalent of the DMV. Whatever.

Point is: I took it as a sign. The government was telling me I was legally obligated to do nothing but write. And so I did. I wrote every day from morning to night, pausing for trips to Italy and Spain and such where I did things like get lost in hedge mazes.

Me, Lost in Hedges

By the end of our stay, I'd completed my very first novel-length manuscript. I'd also gotten this nice shiny engagement ring:

My hand and Westminster Abbey

We took the ring on a tour of London and snapped photos of my hand in front of all the major tourist spots. Sarah's hand and Big Ben. Sarah's hand and Westminster Abbey. Sarah's hand and the Tower of London... I was also pooped on by a bird outside the Tower of London, but I still somehow remember that day as one of the most romantic days of my life. Perhaps if the poop had landed on my head instead of my shoe, I'd feel differently about that... But I digress.

Finishing that manuscript taught me that I could do this. I could write books. I could be a writer. And I will always be grateful to England for that.

So, thank you, my friends across the Atlantic! I hope you enjoy ICE!

And for any aspiring writers out there... you don't really need to go to another country to become a writer. What you do need to do is what I did while I was in another country: write. Write as if you're legally obligated to do so, and don't stop.

Upcoming Book Event


For those of you not across the Atlantic... if you're in Long Island on Monday night, I hope you will join me at Book Revue for a book signing and book launch party.

Cake -- decorated with ICE's gorgeous (and delicious) cover art -- will be served!!!

Here are the details:

Book Revue
Monday, November 2nd at 7pm
313 New York Avenue, Huntington NY

Hope to see you there!

Author Video, Books of Wonder, and Publishers Weekly

My Author Video is up on the Simon & Schuster website!!!



(If the video doesn't appear here, you can view it -- as well as an interview with me -- on my Simon & Schuster author page.)

Note that I'm wearing a polar bear necklace and polar bear earrings. One of the little-known side effects of writing a book about a polar bear is that your husband starts buying you all sorts of polar bear-themed presents. Next book will be set in a diamond mine. (FYI, I'm kidding. I'm totally expecting a pet tiger with my next book...)

I also wore my polar bear jewelry (and polar bear socks) to my book event yesterday at Books of Wonder. I love book events at Books of Wonder! This one was with John Connolly, Marissa Doyle, John Hulme, Daniel Kirk, Diana Peterfreund, Dan Poblocki, and Michael Wexler. My ever-awesome husband took photos:

Bookshelf of Wonder!!!

We prepare to dazzle the audience with wit and wisdom...

Signing books!

Afterwards I went out with Diana Peterfreund (fabulous author of Rampant) and Sarah Cross (fabulous author of Dull Boy) for hot chocolate that had an ice-cube-sized chunk of homemade marshmallow floating in it. Ended up eating the marshmallow with a fork. Yum.

Me, Diana, and Sarah

In addition to having a wonderful day yesterday, today I received some lovely news: Publishers Weekly (big important trade magazine) liked ICE!!! Here's what they said:

"Durst skillfully integrates a contemporary girl into an updated version of the tale East of the Sun and West of the Moon, balancing the magical with the modern... [Cassie's] quest for self-worth, independence, maturity and love, is twisty, absorbing and satisfying."

The full review is posted here. Yay!

Thanks, Events, and the Most Awesome Photos Ever

Thank you, everyone, for all the emails, messages, comments, and calls! Cassie, Bear, and I had a wonderful launch week!

On Tuesday, I participated in Teen Author Reading Night at the New York Public Library. I read from the beginning of ICE, shared a few embarrassing anecdotes, and showed off my replica polar bear claw (because every reading should have a show-and-tell portion).

I think I may bring the claw to all my book events. My next event is this Sunday. And it's an awesome one! At Books of Wonder!!! BoW is a wonderful bookstore in NYC, and they always do a fantastic job with events. I'll be appearing with a great line-up of fellow YA authors. I can't wait! Here's the info if you'd like to see me and my claw:

Books of Wonder
Sunday, October 18th from 1-3pm
Fantastic Fiction Reading/Signing with Troy Cle, John Connolly, Marissa Doyle, Sarah Beth Durst (that's me!), John Hulme, Daniel Kirk, Diana Peterfreund, Dan Poblocki, and Michael Wexler
18 West 18th Street, New York, NY


If you can't come see me in person and are wasting away in despair from Lack of Sarah (a seldom-discussed-but-very-real malady), you can "listen" to me babble online. Here are a few brand-new interviews with yours truly:

Fantastic Book Review
Enchanted Inkpot
Jeri Smith-Ready's Blogtoberfest
A Fort Made of Books
Wordswimmer

Lastly, I have to share with you some of the MOST AWESOME PHOTOS I HAVE EVER SEEN. Please excuse the all-caps. These photos are totally all-caps-worthy.

They were taken by Enna Isilee of Squeaky Books, and I hope she doesn't mind if I re-post them here:




How cool are these?!?

Um, no pun intended.

Shards of ICE

This is it! Today is the day that my new book ICE makes its way out into the world. That this day has arrived is monumental to me. And I am filled with a sort of placid joy that is beyond my ability to describe.

ICE isn't my first book. It won't be my last book. But it is a book that is very dear to my heart. And it will always be special to me.

This story has been inside me for a long time. It was born of a fairy tale and then grew into a love story and an adventure. It is the sum of many pieces, influences, experiences... many shards of ICE.


First Shard: The Fairy Tale

It started with once upon a time... a fairy tale called East of the Sun and West of the Moon. I found the tale in the Curious George & Friends bookstore in Harvard Square on my way home from my day job. I was working in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a company called Target Analysis Group (now Blackbaud) that helps nonprofits. On my way home from work every day, I always did a circuit of the bookstores: Harvard Book Store, Pandemonium Books, Harvard Coop, and Curious George. It was the best walk home imaginable.

On this day, I discovered a picture book filled with gorgeous illustrations by P. J. Lynch. I fell in love with his paintings of a majestic polar bear and a fearless heroine. But there was one moment in particular that caught my imagination and stuck:

"Next Thursday evening came the White Bear to fetch her, and she got upon his back with her bundle and off they went. When they had gone part of the way, the White Bear said, 'Are you afraid?'

"No! She wasn't."

And so that is where it began: the image of a girl on a polar bear denying all fear.

Second Shard: The Arctic

It grew into a quest across the frozen North. I wanted my fearless girl to be a modern-day Arctic research scientist living at her father's research station in northernmost Alaska. And so I immersed myself in studying that icy world.

I buried myself in stacks of research books: polar bear books, explorer memoirs, field guides... I poured over A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic by E. C. Pielou. I tracked the GPS readings of David Hempleman-Adams's journey in his memoir Walking on Thin Ice. I studied the SAS Survival Guide, How to Stay Alive in the Woods, How to Survive on Land and Sea, The Survival Handbook... and dozens of books with luscious photographs of polar bears and arctic foxes and caribou and beluga whales.

I am not a good traveler in real life. I like to be home, and I am not very brave. But while I was researching ICE, I was able to dream that I was in this world of ice deserts and rippling auroras and sights so incredible that they are real-life magic.

I bought a map of the Arctic at the Globe Corner Bookstore and spread it across the floor. From there, I plotted Cassie's path over the ice, across the tundra, and through the boreal forest... and I journeyed with her.

When I exhausted all the books I could find locally, I spent two days in Canada sequestered inside a Chapters/Indigo pouring over all of their Arctic books -- and then hauling my favorites back with me across the border.

When I ran through those books, I peppered my college friend Jim with rock-climbing questions and my friends Kate, Kira, Jay, and Emily and my mother with random medical questions. With my husband, I watched every Arctic documentary I could find over and over until I dreamed about ice mirages and whiteouts.

I even bought an Inupiaq-English dictionary, North Slope Barrow dialect. I remember walking into Schoenhof's Foreign Books, asking for it, and having them magically produce it from the back room. I took that to be a sign: this book was meant to be.

Third Shard: The Bears

Once, in the middle of drafts, my husband and I took a trip to San Diego. We spent a day at the zoo, and I remember standing in front of the polar bear exhibit, watching the bears walk and swim and dive and live.

I stood there for two hours.

When a baby polar bear was born at the Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, they set up a webcam. I wrote one entire draft with the webcam open on my computer. As I wrote about my Bear, I watched the real bears. My little ursine muses.

My husband bought me a stuffed animal polar bear that I perched on my desk while I worked on this book. I'd hug it for inspiration.


Fourth Shard: People

Every day during the writing of ICE, I emailed back and forth with a writer-friend of mine, Amy, who was working on her own novel at the same time. We cheered each other on. I treasured those emails. Another friend of mine, Rick, encouraged me too, and on my birthday my friend Dave sent me a gorgeous book of polar bear photographs. They (and many of my other friends) understood how much this mattered to me.

I met author Thomas Sullivan (Sully) while I was writing this book, and we'd email back and forth about writing technique. And I remember talking with Keith R. A. DeCandido about polar bears while he worked on his own book featuring polar bears.

And then there were two of my writing heroes: Tamora Pierce and Bruce Coville. I'd met them at Boskone (a Boston area science fiction and fantasy convention) after years of loving their books. They both read early versions of ICE, and they believed in me and in this story.

I can't begin to describe how much it meant to have writers who helped shaped my childhood read my words.

Later, my agent and my editor added wonderful touches that brought the final draft to life. And then the amazing team at Simon & Schuster made it into a real book, complete with beautiful artwork on the cover by Cliff Nielsen -- art that so perfectly reflects my characters that he might as well have scooped the image directly from my mind.

Fifth Shard: Love

Writing this book was a labor of love. I love polar bears. I love fairy tales. And I love fearless girls who cannot be stopped. But most of all, I wrote this book as a love letter to my husband. Beyond the ice and the bears and the everything, ICE is about true love, the kind of love where you face the world as a team... the kind where you'd go east of the sun and west of the moon for each other.

I may have written the words, but this book is about both of us. Not in the details. Not in the plot or the personalities or the setting. But in the book's heart -- in the belief that true love isn't something that appears in a single, shiny moment on a ballroom floor. True love is a journey, not a moment. It's something that grows and something that causes you to grow.

I pour the best of myself into every story I write. But into this one, I also poured the best of us.

ICE

And now it's a book. In the world. Wow.

To those of you who do me the honor of reading it, I hope this story brings you as much joy as it has brought me.

To those of you who were with me on the journey... thank you.

Counting Down

Counting down to pub date!!! Check out this snazzy countdown timer! I can't stop staring at it. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock...


Find out more about ICE!

If you'd like to count down with me and get a copy of this timer for your blog or site, please click here for the code to copy-and-paste.

I'm told that when the countdown reaches zero on your site, the ceiling above you will open up and release balloons and confetti, fireworks will boom and flash outside your window, a miniature brass band will pop up on your desk, and a parade of pink elephants and dancing hippos will march through your house/office.

Okay, perhaps that's not entirely true.

Hippos can't dance.

But when the countdown reaches zero, you could, if you want to, do the Snoopy Dance of Joy and know that at that same exact second, I'm doing the Snoopy Dance of Joy too. So we'd be Snoopy-ing together, and that's kind of cool, right?

In related news, there's a lovely review of ICE up on Reading Rocks. Totally made my day. :)

And in unrelated news... the winner of the HUSH, HUSH giveaway is: Becky. Congratulations! Please email me your mailing address, and I'll send you the ARC. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Excerpt from ICE

21 days until ICE!!!

In honor of that occasion, and to give you a better taste of the book, I just posted the prologue and first two chapters on my website. Enjoy!!!

Once upon a time, in a land far to the north, there lived a lovely maiden...

Cassie killed the snowmobile engine.

Total silence, her favorite sound. Ice crystals spun in the Arctic air. Sparkling in the predawn light, they looked like diamond dust. Beneath her ice-encrusted face mask, she smiled. She loved this: just her, the ice, and the bear.

Click here to read more.

I'll wait.....

So... did ya like it? Did ya? Did ya?! Did ya?!?!

The same excerpt is also now available as part of Simon & Schuster's YA sampler, Lit Up. Click here to open the sampler, which includes excerpts from nine new YA books coming out this fall. ICE begins on page 19.

Upcoming Fun plus a Giveaway

One month until ICE!!!

Okay, a little less than a month for the US edition (Oct 6) and a little more than a month for the UK edition (Oct 29). And the UK version now has a cover! The following appeared on Amazon.co.uk just last week:


Different tagline. Same gorgeous art. Same happy Sarah. :)

Did I mention how ridiculously excited I am? Ridiculously excited.

I have a bunch of stuff planned for the release, including participating in the Simon & Schuster Blogfest with 39 other fantastic S&S authors. The Blogfest kicks off on 9/21. Look! A snazzy countdown thingie:



And also a snazzy banner:


In October, I'll be doing a blog tour, yammering about all sorts of things on all sorts of (dare I say "snazzy" again? no? how about "fabulous"?) fabulous blogs. More info coming soon. Stay tuned!

Also stay tuned for giveaways!

There is a giveaway going on right now for a prize pack that includes an ARC of ICE on Katie's Bookshelf. Click here to enter. Contest ends 9/12.

The prize pack on Katie's Bookshelf was donated by the super-nice and super-fabulous Becca Fitzpatrick. So I thought I'd do a giveaway here for an ARC of Becca's fantastic book HUSH, HUSH.


HUSH, HUSH is a thrilling and romantic tale about fallen angels and falling in love. I devoured it in a single sitting (without even pausing to fetch a snack, which is highly unusual for me!) and can't wait for the next one.

If you'd like to be entered to win an ARC of HUSH, HUSH, please leave a comment to this post. Ooh, and I should mention that the ARC I'm giving away is no ordinary ARC. It's one of the rather rare pre-ARCs that were printed up for BEA this year, before there was even cover art. More like a bound manuscript. And it's signed by Becca! A winner will be selected at random (or by my cat). Contest ends 9/16.

Booklist Review of ICE

The first trade review of ICE is in..... And it's good!!! Snoopy Dance of Joy!!!

My husband is enormously relieved about this. This novel is so very close to my heart, and he didn't want to have to pick a Sarah-puddle up off the floor. Sarah-puddles can be quite icky, and a huge pain to clean up, especially once they get in the carpet.....

The review is from Booklist (the book review journal of the American Library Association), and they call ICE an "enchanting tale" and "a page-turner." Yay!!!

Here's the full review:

"In a twist on the fairy tale East of the Sun, West of the Moon, this enchanting tale tells of Cassie, a young woman who grew up studying polar bears in the Arctic. Cassie, raised by her widowed father and her Gram, was told the fanciful tale of her mother’s promise to the Polar Bear King and banishment to the Troll castle. On her eighteenth birthday, Cassie realizes her mom's story was actually true and makes a promise of her own to the Polar Bear King: if he rescues her mother, Cassie will be his bride. But who is the mysterious Bear and what is his role in saving souls and maintaining the circle of life? Although there is some question as to why Cassie cannot split time between her two worlds, the ending is resolved in a satisfying manner. Told in a descriptive style that perfectly captures the changing settings, Durst’s novel is a page-turner that readers who enjoy adventure mixed with fairy-tale romance will find hard to put down." -- Melanie Koss, Booklist

While we're on the topic of things that inspire Snoopy Dances and prevent Sarah-puddles, I'm thrilled to report that ICE has also received blurbs from two authors whose work I absolutely adore: Tamora Pierce (author of the supremely awesome Tortall and Circle books) and Juliet Marillier (author of the fabulous and beautiful Wildwood Dancing). Here's what they said:

"This beautifully drawn tale captured me in a realm of wonders!" -- Tamora Pierce

"I loved this deeply romantic story." -- Juliet Marillier

Just in case you're curious, my Snoopy Dance is a little like this.

Obscure Fairy Tale: The Three Princesses of Whiteland

You guys ROCK.

Seriously, I love all the comments on my last post. Keep 'em coming! It's so much fun chatting with you all. Thanks for entering the giveaway contest, and thanks for all the reading suggestions! My TBR pile has grown by leaps and bounds.

The winner of the ARC of ICE is... *drum roll*... Kristen!!! (Please email me your mailing address, and I'll trot off to the post office with your book.)

As a thank you to everyone for entering, I thought I'd tell you about one of my favorite obscure fairy tales, The Three Princesses of Whiteland. It's from the same collection of folktales as East of the Sun, West of the Moon (the tale that inspired ICE). My thoughts on the story are in italics...

The Three Princesses of Whiteland (from Asbjornsen and Moe)

Once upon a time... A fisherman fails to catch any fish. A head pops up between the waves and says, "You'll catch lots of fish if you give me what your wife carries under her girdle." And he says...

"Ahhh! A head! Holy crap, it's a disembodied head in the middle of the ocean and it's talking to me! This is NOT GOOD! Call the police! Call a psychiatrist! Call the tabloids!" No, that's not what he says because he knows this is a fairy tale and one of the rules of the Fairy Tale is that you must accept every freaky talking thing with more grace and aplomb than Julie Andrews at a tea party. So what he actually says is...

"Sure." He doesn't know that his wife is carrying a baby under her girdle.

Out of curiosity, what did he actually think he was bargaining away? Her belly button? Her pancreas?

His wife is upset. When the child is born, the king offers to protect him. So the king raises the boy.

And the parents join the support group started by Rapunzel's parents, PARFTB (Parents Against Ridiculous Fairy Tale Bargains).

One day, the king and the boy go out fishing...

Really? Because that seems a little reckless, given the whole freaky head thing. Can't he take up a safer hobby? Like juggling knives?

After their day at sea, the boy forgets his handkerchief on the boat and returns to fetch it. The boat, moving on its own, carries him across the sea to a beach.

Told you it was reckless. But where's the head?

He meets an old man who says, "Welcome to Whiteland. If you walk down the beach, you'll find three princesses buried up to their necks in sand. Ignore the first two and follow the orders of the third."

Heroes should ask more questions. Such as, are you (A) a wise Gandolf-figure here to point me to my glorious destiny, (B) the evil mastermind who kidnapped me and buried three girls in some weird homage to a teen angst beach movie, or (C) just a random crazy guy?

The first two princesses cry for help, but he ignores them. The third princess tells him that he must enter the nearby castle without greeting the lions that stand guard.

Why is the ability-to-ignore-minor-characters a virtue? Incidentally, the lions don't do anything in this tale. And not to give away spoilers, but you know that disembodied head? Never appears again.

He must allow a troll to beat him with whips, use a special salve to heal himself, and then slay the troll with a sword. If he does this three times with three trolls, the princesses will be freed.

Or he could just fetch a shovel and dig them out right now.

The boy agrees. Inside the castle, a three-headed troll whips him. The boy heals himself and kills the troll. When he returns to the princesses, they are now only buried to their waists in sand.

Dude, seriously, sand isn't that hard to dig. Get a shovel.

The boy returns to the castle a second time, and a six-headed trolls whips him. The boy heals himself again and kills the second troll. Now the princesses are buried only to their knees.

Oooh, scary, knee-deep sand. Can't they just, you know, step out of the sand and walk away?

Lastly, a nine-headed troll whips him until he faints. When he regains consciousness, the boy kills the troll. The princesses are free. He marries the third princess and lives happily for a while.

Because getting beat up by a monster makes for such a good first date.

After a while, the boy misses his parents. His wife warns him to listen to his father, not his mother, and she gives him a ring that grants two wishes. He uses one to return home.

Why not use a boat? It's a magic ring. Go for something cool. If you need transportation, then how about wish for the means of transport? Like a magic carpet or a pegasus or a VW bug with a cute fake daisy on the dash...?

At home, his mother tells him to visit the king to show him what a fine young man he's become, and his father tells him to stay home. The boy visits the king.

The king raised him. He should visit. Perhaps a better warning would have been the standard "Don't be an idiot."

The king is jealous of him and says, "I bet your wife isn't as pretty as mine." And the boy says, "I wish she were here right now so I could show you." Instantly, his wife appears. She tells him he's had his two wishes now, gives him a ring made of her hair, and leaves him.

Chief lessons I've learned from fairy tales: be careful of the word "wish," don't eat unwashed fruit, and if your daughter is cursed to prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die, then show her what a spinning wheel looks like.

He begins to search for Whiteland. He meets the lord of the beasts, the lord of the birds, and the lord of the fish. No one knows where Whiteland is until they ask an old pike who says he's been a cook there for ten years.

I love that the fish is a chef. How awesomely random.

The pike says that the queen (who was the third princess) is going to marry a new man since her king is missing.

Can he really be missing if she knows exactly where he is?

The lord of the fish tells the boy that on the moor, he'll find three men who have been arguing for one hundred years about who should possess a hat, cloak, and boots. If anyone has all three, he can turn invisible and wish himself anywhere.

Well, that's convenient.

The boy tells the three men that he'll choose who should possess the items if he can borrow them. They agree, and he whisks himself to Whiteland.

What do you want to bet that he doesn't return the items?

The North Wind offers to blow the new fiance away if the boy can get the man outside. So the boy tosses the man outside, and the wind blows him away.

When did a talking weather system join the story?

The boy shows the queen her hair ring. She welcomes him home happily, and the rightful wedding is held.

Um, weren't they married before? And hey look, he didn't return the magic items. There's a shocker. It's not like this story has any other unresolved plot points... I'm sure he'll use that invisibility power any second now...

And they all lived happily ever after.

Including the disembodied head, silent lions, extraneous princesses, random ancient men, and the cooking (not cooked) fish...

For more obscure fairy tales (with commentary), check out the Obscure Fairy Tales page of my website, where I've gathered links to all my prior fairy tale posts.