The Wild Returns!

Book Birthday

Out of the Wild is now out in the wild!!! YAY!!!!

Today is the publication date for Out of the Wild. And I am so, so, so excited. We're talking more excited than a kindergartener in a vat of chocolate ice cream. More excited than a kangaroo on a pogo stick. More excited than a monkey who escaped the zoo in a banana truck. I really love this book. I had a lot of fun writing it and am so thrilled that it's now out there in the big, wide world.


Out of the Wild is the sequel to Into the Wild. The two books are fantasy adventures about fairy-tale characters who escaped the fairy tale and what happens when the fairy tale (the Wild) wants its characters back. In Out of the Wild, Julie (Rapunzel's daughter) reunites with her long-lost father (the Prince) for a magical road trip across America. There's a flying bath mat, a kidnapped princess, a fire-breathing dragon, and several thousand magic beanstalks. And of course, the Wild is back. And it's still hungry...


You can read more about it on my website, including a sneak peek at the first chapter, and if you're interested, the book can be purchased at your local bookstore, and online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powell's, Booksense, or any other online book retailer.

Book Launch Celebration

If you're in the Worcester, MA area this Saturday, please join me in celebrating the release of Out of the Wild! I'll be talking, reading, and signing at the Worcester Barnes & Noble at 2pm. Also, we will be serving cake decorated with the cover art from Out of the Wild! Very yummy cake! Here are the details:

June 21st (Saturday) at 2pm
Barnes & Noble Worcester
Book Launch Event! With cake!!!
Lincoln Plaza, 541 D Lincoln Street, Worcester, MA

Hope to see you there!

Julie in the News

Just this week, Julie and I made the news in central Massachusetts. Check out this lovely article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette!

I am totally doing the Snoopy Dance of Joy.

Back-to-the-Future Box

And I just wanted to share with you one other Snoopy Dance of Joy moment: my Back-to-the-Future box arrived this week!

A bit of explanation... At the end of the movie "Back to the Future", Marty returns to 1985 and learns that his father has realized his life-long dream of becoming a writer. He watches his dad receive a box full of author copies of his published novel. I always loved that scene, and I dreamed of my own Back-to-the-Future box.

Last year, when my author copies of Into the Wild arrived, that dream came true. This week, it came true again when I received my author copies of Out of the Wild and the paperback of Into the Wild. Here's a photo of my beautiful Back-to-the-Future boxes:


YAY!!!

Happy Book-Birthday, Out of the Wild! And thank you all for letting me share with you my joy and excitement on this occasion.

Kirkus Review for Out of the Wild

Out of the Wild got its first trade review today. Gulp. From Kirkus (one of the big trade journals that does book reviews). Double-gulp. And....... it was good!!! The following made Sarah a very happy Sarah...

From the June 1st issue of Kirkus:

"Having decided that they no longer want to live the same stories over and over again, fairy-tale characters have escaped The Wild (where fairy tales are nurtured) to lead ordinary lives in the real world. In its compressed form, The Wild lives under Julie Marchen's bed in her Massachusetts home, which is only just beginning to recover from its last incursion (Into the Wild, 2007). Julie and her mother, Rapunzel, realize that all is not well when Julie's father, the Prince, emerges, intent on living out his tale in his new environment. An energetic series of events causes the Prince to fulfill his identity repeatedly (he saves a princess, fights a dragon, etc.) and in doing this, he causes The Wild to grow—threatening the entire United States. Julie becomes a hero by making smart choices, developing courage and hanging on to her moral compass. This puzzle-like yarn seamlessly spans time and space, reality and fantasy. Fairy-tale-savvy readers will enjoy the inside jokes and be impressed by the overall intelligence of the writing. (Fantasy. 10-14)"

Yay!

Out of the Wild ARC Contest Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered the Wild T-Shirt Design Contest! All of your designs were amazing! As we used to say in Northboro, Massachusetts (Julie's and my hometown), you guys are wicked cool! And now... drumroll please...

The winner for best T-shirt design is... Enna Isilee!!! Congratulations Enna Isilee, and thanks for the fabulous design!

Here's the front of the winning design:


And the back:


And here it is on a T-shirt:



I'm so excited about this. I already uploaded the images to Cafe Press, setup T-shirts of a couple different styles and colors to be sold at the base price (no mark-up), and just like that, we've got T-shirts! Available right now! Crazy. The wonders of the internets never cease to amaze me.

Click here -- www.cafepress.com/sarahbethdurst -- to check 'em out.

Note to my family and friends: Don't be surprised if this is what you get for your next birthday! I already ordered one for myself, and will be stalking my mailman until it arrives...

Enna Isilee, please email me and let me know (A) your mailing address and (B) which style shirt you'd like in what size, and I will send you a shirt plus an ARC of Out of the Wild. Hope you like them both.

Okay, may I have another drumroll please? As promised, we have a second winner.

The winner of the random drawing is... Kelly013!!! Congratulations, Kelly! (And thanks for your entry, which was also awesome.) Please email me your mailing address, and I'll send you an ARC of Out of the Wild as well.

Thanks again, everyone! I had a lot of fun with this.

I-Con and NJ Library Conference

Contest Update

The Wild T-Shirt Design Contest (with the prize of an ARC of Out of the Wild) is still going on! Final deadline is 11:59pm on Tuesday, April 15, so keep those designs coming!

I-Con Trip Report

Last weekend, I was a program participant at I-Con, a science fiction and fantasy convention held on the Stony Brook University campus. I was on three really fun panels, including two with John Peel (author of the fun Diadem series) and one with Peter S. Beagle (author of the brilliant Last Unicorn).

At the end of our panel, Peter Beagle picked up a copy of Into the Wild. He looked through it and then he said something really nice about it. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear exactly what he said due to the fact that my brain was shrieking, "Peter Beagle! Looking at my book! Last Unicorn! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!"

I also did a joint signing with the very cool and very nice Aaron Rosenberg. And I chatted with the guy who played Kawalsky on Stargate SG-1 (Jay Acovone). (Whenever I see TV or movie stars, I'm always surprised that they're human-sized. I know it's illogical, but I always expect movie stars to be about ten feet tall and TV stars to be about 17 inches tall. Anyway, I love SG-1, so I thought meeting him was cool. He was nice too.)

I also briefly met Charlaine Harris (author of the fabulous Sookie Stackhouse books). I actually didn't realize who she was before I began talking to her. She introduced herself midway through the conversation, so I didn't have that key moment to compose myself. If I'd had that moment, I would have said, "It's so nice to meet you. I really enjoy your books." As it was, I did a little bunny hop and squealed, "Ooh! Yay! I love your books! Yay!" I am such a dork.

New Jersey Statewide Children's and YA Author Conference Trip Report

Last Friday, I was a guest author at the New Jersey Statewide Children's and YA Author Conference (a.k.a. "Author Day"). Five authors spoke to librarians from around New Jersey at a one-day conference held at Woodbridge Library.

I loved, loved, loved this day!

Seriously, I think this was one of my favorite book events that I've done so far. There's a good reason for this... Librarians are awesome. Think about it: a room full of people who all love kids' books? Awesome! Also, the organizers, Sharon Rawlins and Susan Fichtelberg, were fabulous. Susan was the one who invited me (yay!), and Sharon gave me an introduction that made me sound much cooler than I am (yay!).

And the other authors (Michael Reisman, Marie Lamba, Kevin C. Pyle, and Tonya Bolden) were all great. I loved their presentations, and I loved talking to them. Very awesome people. I think that's one of the best things about this whole writer thing: meeting awesome people... which is a kind of funny perk for a job that's supposed to involve sitting at a keyboard by yourself most of time.

Out of the Wild ARC Contest

It's here! It's time for the Out of the Wild ARC contest!!!

Yes, I'm bouncing up and down as I type this. You see, for months now, I've been mulling over the idea of doing a contest to give away an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) or two of my next book. I've visited lots of other writers' blogs -- purely for work purposes, of course, not procrastination (hah!) -- and seen their contests and been green with contest-envy. But now... it's time! I'm also excited because of what I'm going to ask you guys to do to win. Hee-hee! Oh, the power! It corrupts!

Seriously, though, I got the idea for this contest from Miss Erin, so you can praise/blame her. After she reviewed Out of the Wild, she mentioned that she wanted the T-shirt that various characters wear in the novel. The shirt in Out of the Wild has silver glitter letters that read, "Northboro: Fairy-Tale Capital of the World". Rapunzel (Julie's mom) hates it, though Gillian doesn't understand why.

"It doesn't give away any secrets," Gillian said.

"Just please don't wear it again."

"I wish you'd trust me," Gillian complained.

I wish you'd understand, Julie thought. Something as awful as fairy tales didn't belong on a T-shirt.

But I disagree with Julie. I think there should be T-shirts!!! So... welcome to the first ever Wild T-Shirt Design Contest!

The Challenge

Create a T-shirt design for Into the Wild or for Out of the Wild (or both)! It can be words, a picture, or words and a picture. It can say "Northboro: Fairy-Tale Capital of the World". Or not. It can mention the book titles. Or not. It can include your favorite phrase or sentence from Into the Wild. Or not. It can refer to your favorite character. Or not. It can be simple or ornate. It can be funny or serious. Whatever you think would make a great T-shirt!

For some examples/ideas, take a peek at the Tamora Pierce T-shirts available here on Cafe Press or the T-shirts in the sidebar of Bookshelves of Doom.

The Prize

As I am a firm believer that success in anything requires equal parts skill and luck, two winners will be selected, one for skill and one for luck. The "skill" winner will be the person whose T-shirt design is my favorite. The "luck" winner will be chosen at random from all the entries, so the more you enter, the better your chances!

Each of the two winners will receive an advanced reader copy (ARC) of Out of the Wild!

The best design(s) will be made available as T-shirts on Cafe Press! And if I use your design for a T-shirt, I'll buy you one of those T-shirts.

The Rules

You can enter as many times as you like. To enter, please create an image (that could be printed on a T-shirt) and either (A) post it somewhere online and put a link to it in the comments to this blog entry, or (B) email it to me and leave a comment here telling me that you did.

The image should be either a PNG or high-quality JPG file, and it should be 2,000 by 2,000 pixels in size (in other words, 10 x 10 inches at 200 dpi). If you want the printed image to be a shape other than square, make the background transparent.

You can use any words, phrases, or names from Into the Wild that you want. If you choose to use graphics, please do not use any copyrighted images. (This means that you can't use the cover art for Into the Wild or Out of the Wild -- sorry!).

The best design(s) will be uploaded to Cafe Press and made available for purchase on a T-shirt at the base price (no mark-up). No mark-up means that Cafe Press makes money on this, but I don't. (If you're not okay with having your design sold, please let me know when you enter.)

If you do not wish to make a T-shirt design but still want to be entered to win the "luck" drawing, please simply post a comment and say you'd like to enter.

You've got until the night of Tuesday April 15th to submit your designs. The winners will be announced on Thursday April 17th.

Good luck!!! And have fun!!!

Lunacon 2008 Trip Report

I got back from Lunacon on Sunday, and I want to tell you all about it, but first things first...

The Contests Are Coming!!!

In the year and a half that I've been keeping this blog, I've yet to host a contest. But that's all about to change. Over the next few weeks, you will have not one, but two (and maybe even three) opportunities to win free books! And, honestly, what could be better than free books!?!

Contest #1 -- The Narnia Contest -- will start this Monday March 24th. What's in it for you? Two copies of the new BenBella anthology, Through the Wardrobe: Your Favorite Authors on C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, in which I have an essay. What's in it for me? I'm gonna make you be funny to earn your prize.

Contest #2 -- The Out of the Wild ARC Contest -- will start on Thursday April 3rd. What's in it for you? An ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Out of the Wild, the sequel to Into the Wild. What's in it for me? I'm gonna make you be creative to earn your prize.

Rules, deadlines, and all details will be revealed on those start dates. Stay tuned...

And now back to my Lunacon recap.

Lunacon Trip Report

You can count on two things if you attend Lunacon (a fantasy and science fiction convention in Rye, NY):

(1) You will meet lots of super-friendly people.
(2) You will get lost in the hotel at least twice.

The Rye Hilton (aka the Escher Hilton) is famous for what is fondly known as the "transdimensional corridor." You start out on the fourth floor, walk down a seemingly level hallway, and discover that you're suddenly on the seventh floor without ever climbing any stairs. And if you lose focus, time shifts as well as space, and you can find yourself momentarily transported to Victorian times, where people will mock your lack of a corset but admire your fine dental hygiene.

I had a marvelous time. I spoke on five panels, plus did a reading and a signing. I also got lost three times instead of the standard two, but then I've always been an overachiever.

A few moments from Lunacon really stick in my mind. One is Josepha Sherman singing Memory in the original feline ("Meow, meow! Meow-meow-meow meow meow..."). Another is my panel "The Novel That Changed My Life." For this panel, we talked about the one novel that played that pivotal role in shaping who we are today. My choice was Alanna by Tamora Pierce.

I first read Alanna when I was ten years old. My friend Gillian had taken it out of the Northboro Public Library, read it, and then handed it to me saying, "You'll love this book. This is your kind of book." Since the book was out on her library card, I was absolutely petrified the entire time I had the book that I would return it late to the library and my friend would be blackballed from ever taking out another library book again and she'd never forgive me and no one would want to be my friend because word would spread and... I was a somewhat anxious child.

Anyway, I read it, loved it, and returned it on time and disaster was averted. But that's not why this book is important to me (though I am glad that I did not cause my friend to be declared a library pariah). This book is important to me because this was the book that made me say, "I want to do this. I want to write books like this. This is what I want to do with my life. This is why I'm here."

And it's also the book that first told me that I could become a writer, if only I tried hard enough. Alanna is about a girl who, by sheer force of will, triumphs over near-impossible odds and achieves her dream. I like that message. A lot. And I believe in it with all my heart. The key component to achieving any impossible dream is not talent or brains or even luck, though they all help. It's sheer pig-headed stubbornness.

So that was my answer. How about you? Is there a book that played a pivotal role in shaping who you are today? What novel changed your life?

Out of the Wild Excerpt

I just noticed that this is my 200th blog post! Cool! Well, in honor of that, and the fact that Out of the Wild (the sequel to Into the Wild) comes out in just 113 more days (not that I'm counting or anything), I've added the first chapter of the new book to the Excerpts page of my website. If you're interested, I hope you'll enjoy this sneak peek at Out of the Wild!

First Review for Out of the Wild

I swear my heart nearly stopped beating this morning when I saw a Google Alert for the very first review of Out of the Wild!!! I didn't even know anyone had a galley yet. The review is by Tasha Saecker (Kids Lit) of the Elisha D. Smith Public Library in Menasha, WI, a member of the fantasy/SF nominating committee for this year's Cybils. To my great (enormous, overwhelming, knee-shaking) relief, she likes it! She writes:

"Out of the Wild is one of those incredibly rare sequels that is even better than the first book."

YAY!!!

And then there was this part, which really made me happy:

"Durst's writing continues to be the same high quality as the original book. Her tone is completely consistent between the books, two halves of a whole story. After the first story, I never expected a sequel. It had been a completely satisfying and complete tale. But now having read the second book, I realize that half of the story was missing though I didn't know it at the time. What an accomplishment - to create a complete tale and then create another book that makes the first even more complete and powerful."

Oh, go on. *blushes* No, really, go on...

"Durst's books are very friendly, filled with humor, and will be enjoyed by many types of readers. This is fantasy that has an ease about it and should be recommended to readers who enjoy fantasy but also to any child who enjoys a great read. Highly recommended for ages 9-12."

Okay, okay, I'm done quoting. You can click here to read the full review.

In other cool news, Look Books posted an interview with me. (Thanks, Felicity!) Click here to read.

Website, Blog, and MySpace Updates

My husband and I spent this weekend doing home improvements. Not the fix-the-plumbing kind of home improvements. That was last weekend.

Last weekend, a tree turned off our heat.

You wouldn't think this would be possible. But thanks to some twisted Rube Goldberg-esque chain of events, it is. You see, we have this lovely umbrella magnolia tree outside our kitchen. Its roots grew into some piping, which caused our sink to clog, which caused our dishwasher to overflow, which caused water to seep through the floor into the basement and directly onto our boiler, which caused the wiring to short-circuit, which caused our heat to shut off. Really. This actually happened. It sounds funny. It wasn't. (Okay, it was a little funny.)

We plunged. We snaked. We Drano-ed. We called a plumber. The plumber broke the pipe. We called a different plumber. The second plumber performed a sort of sewer colonoscopy in which he sent a tiny camera through the pipe, and then he bored through the tree root...

Anyway, this weekend, our home improvements were to my online home. And I am even more excited about them than I was about boring through tree roots (though, I admit, that did make a cool crunching sound -- updating my website did not, thankfully, involve a crunching sound).

Newsletter Sign-Up

See the new sign-up area over in the blog sidebar? (If you're reading this on LJ or elsewhere, you can click over here to see it.) It's also on the Contact page of my website. We were up until 3am figuring out how to set that doo-hickey up. (Okay, technically, we were up until 1am figuring out how to set it up, then until 2am watching American Idol -- we had to see the guy with the shiny cape and the white-feather hat -- and then until 3am because we both zonked out on the chair.) But armed with a combined 37 years of schooling (not counting kindergarten), a Netscape HTML instruction manual from 1997, and the power of the internets, we were victorious!

And now you can sign up to receive my newsletter!

Not that a newsletter exists yet. But once one does, you could be the proud recipient. That will be very exciting for you, for me, for your neighbor who will hear the songs of joy that you are inspired to sing... Okay, perhaps it won't inspire singing. But I still hope you'll consider signing up for my newsletter. If you don't, then I'm just going to keep signing myself up, and that will just be pathetic.

Happy Newsletter Recipient

Blog Sidebar and Header

Look up! Cover art in the header! And look to the right -- we added Out of the Wild! And cute little award buttons! Yay for cute little buttons!

MySpace

We also updated my MySpace page to include Out of the Wild. And we added a countdown to the Out of the Wild pub date -- June 19, 2008! There were three options for special effects on the countdown: glitter on the edges, glitter overlay, and glitter on the words. I said yes to all of them. I believe the end result is tasteful, understated, and non-obtrusive. After all, you can never have too much glitter.

You can never have too much glitter.

Website

New home page! And a new Excerpts page. And a page with links to all the Obscure Fairy Tales that I've babbled about (thus far) in this blog. I also added a link to Miss Erin and Traci's book trailer for Into the Wild (on the ITW book page), the blurbs for Out of the Wild (on the OOTW book page), and a bunch of other little tweaks.

What do you guys think? Am I missing anything? Are there any other features or info that I should add?

Is it a bad idea to have a tree with Swiss-cheese roots right next to my house?

BLURBicalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!

What do Holly Black, Tamora Pierce, Charles de Lint, and Michael Buckley have in common?

If you said they're all incredibly amazing authors who I worship unabashedly with fangirly delight... you'd be absolutely right, though that's not really where I was headed with this.

If you said that none of their names start with the letter Q... well, technically, you'd be right too, though you'd be starting to irritate me.

If you said they'd all read Out of the Wild and written wonderful blurbs for the book jacket... I'd probably call you a big fat liar and tell you that it wasn't very nice to tease me like that and that jerks like you should stick to crank-calling authors early on the morning of the ALA awards... But then I'd have to sheepishly come back and apologize profusely for calling you a liar and a jerk because...

OMG! Check out what Madame Editor just sent me... Blurbs for the book jacket of Out of the Wild!

**********
"An enchanting romp full of adventure, humor and cleverness!" -- Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles and Tithe

"An amazing, wild ride with very high stakes, and the fate of humans and fairytale people alike on the shoulders of one determined girl. This is even better than the first book!" -- Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Terrier (Beka Cooper) and The Will of the Empress

"This is one of those rare occasions when the sequel is as good as the first book, if not better. Though, in my estimation, they make two halves of one story, and what a wonderfully entertaining story it is." -- Charles de Lint, author of The Blue Girl and Widdershins

"Head-spinning fun! Any book that mixes fire breathing dragons and Elvis Presley is a rare treat." -- Michael Buckley, New York Times bestselling author of The Sisters Grimm series
**********

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you to Holly, Tammy, Charles, and Michael for taking the time to read Out of the Wild and say such wonderful things. My appreciation exceeds the words I have to express it.

Galleys for OUT OF THE WILD!

Look, look, look, the galleys for OUT OF THE WILD are here!!! Snoopy Dance of Joy!!!

Wait, before you look, let me back up and explain... OUT OF THE WILD is the sequel to INTO THE WILD, coming out in June 2008. It's my second book. (Here's a summary.) I'm very, very excited about it. A galley (also known as an advance reader's copy or ARC) is the step before it becomes a finished book. It's basically a mock-up of what the book will look like, except that it's in paperback, has yet to be proofread, and (in this case) is missing the shiny foil part of the cover art. (The real book will be hardcover and have a shiny silver stripe. Yay for shiny!) Okay, now may I have a drumroll please? Presenting... the galley for OUT OF THE WILD...


And to continue a tradition started by the lovely and talented Diana Peterfreund, here's me with my beloved galleys:


For more pictures of authors reveling in their galleys, click here.

And in case you were wondering, the silhouette on the cover is Julie on a flying bath mat. Yes, a flying bath mat. :)

Cover Art for Out of the Wild!

Just got an email from my editor with a lovely, lovely, lovely attachment... cover art for OUT OF THE WILD!!!


That's Julie flying a magic bathmat! And in the top right corner is Gothel on her broomstick with Boots on her back! Squeeeeeeee!!!

I have been staring at it for... oh, hours now. Like the cover for INTO THE WILD, it's designed by the awesome Jose Nieto of square zero. Below are the two covers side by side. Don't they look cute together? (Yes, I am doing the Snoopy Dance of Joy.)

       

I added the new cover to the Books page of my website, and I wrote up a little description of OUT OF THE WILD to accompany the pretty new cover...

Warning: The following contains spoilers for INTO THE WILD. If you haven't yet read INTO THE WILD, please avert your eyes.

*****

Out of the Wild
by Sarah Beth Durst
coming June 2008
from Razorbill / Penguin Young Readers

Julie's long-lost dad is a fairy-tale prince. Literally. And when he is suddenly and inexplicably freed from his fairy tale, Julie thinks she's finally found her happily-ever-after. But when he dashes off to save a damsel who's distressing, it's up to Julie to bring him home, protect the family secret, and while she's at it, save the world.

Join Julie on a magical road trip across America. A flying bathmat, a very drowsy princess, a fire-breathing dragon, and several thousand magic beanstalks... Julie's world, our world, will never be the same again.

*****

What do you think? Do you like the cover for the sequel? I think Jose did a wonderful job, but I suppose I'm a bit biased...

Out of the Wild

I have news.

Okay, I know it's not really news. Virtually every interview with me has included the question, "What are you working on next?" And the contract for INTO THE WILD was a two-book deal. So it's not like there's any big mystery here...

Wait, this is coming out all awkward. I can't believe I'm still shy about talking about my writing. I've been shouting from the rooftops about INTO THE WILD for months now. But I feel all weird talking about new work. Do any other writers out there have this problem? It's like a superstition. I'm afraid that if I talk about the next book too soon, I'll trip on a black cat and break a mirror under a ladder.

Or maybe it's that I want to be a writer so terribly badly that I'm afraid that if I talk too loudly too soon, I'll wake up from this dream.

Let's start over. Close your eyes and imagine... Wait, don't close your eyes. You can't read if your eyes are closed. Just imagine: I'm in the kitchen, cutting up a banana... Cue the wavy flashback effect, please.

[phone rings]

Me: Hello?

Husband: [singing] 978...

[I scramble for paper, thinking this must be a phone number. Or a safe combination.]

Husband: [continuing to sing] ...159-514...

[Or maybe the secret code to unlocking the mysteries of the universe... Right. Because if someone discovered the secret code, the first thing they'd do is call someone and sing it. Obviously, this is a phone number, and my husband is somewhere without a pen and wants to make sure he remembers the number. Okay, why didn't he just call the number instead of calling me...]

Husband: [still singing] ...1590!

[Not a phone number. Too many digits. That was... oh, wow, that was 13 numbers! I know what's thirteen numbers!]

Me: Is that... is that an ISBN?

Husband: Go to Amazon.

Me: [dropping banana peel on the floor, thus ensuring a future stereotypical sitcom moment that no one will believe really happened, and bolt to the computer] Okay, I'm there. Load, little Netscape, load, load!

Husband: Now search for Sarah Beth Durst.

Me: Hey, that's me!

Husband: Yes, I know.

[Pause while I type. The screen loads... Four items appear: one of them is INTO THE WILD (hardcover). Another is DIPLOMATIC IMPLAUSIBILITY by Keith R.A. DeCandido, an excellent Star Trek novel in which I'm thanked in the acknowledgements for helping with polar bear research -- the book includes evolved polar bears as its aliens, and I happen to be very fond of polar bears. And the other two items...]

Me: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's real! It's real! It's really, really real!

This is then followed by a major Snoopy Dance of Joy. You see, the two additional items that appear when you search Amazon.com for my name are (drumroll, please):

Out of the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst (Hardcover - Jun 19, 2008)

Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst (Paperback - May 29, 2008)

It's real! It's real! It's really, really real! I know it was technically real before now. After all, book two was under contract, and it has been through copyedits. But somehow, having the ISBN makes it feel all official. So without fear of black cats or ladders or mirrors, I am now officially announcing...

OUT OF THE WILD, the sequel to INTO THE WILD, will be coming out next summer, along with the paperback version of INTO THE WILD. (Please imagine that in that voice-over movie guy's deep voice.)

I am so, so excited. I have absolutely loved writing about the further adventures of Julie. I can't wait to share them with all of you!

Returning now to the Snoopy Dance of Joy...