Happy paperback book birthday to THE QUEEN OF SORROW!

Happy paperback book birthday to THE QUEEN OF SORROW, Book Three of the Queens of Renthia!!! The trilogy is now complete, in both sizes! *shares cupcakes with everyone*

Gwen joined the celebration too.
  

Gwen believes she should be in all photo shoots. She's not wrong.

Paperback Release Day for THE RELUCTANT QUEEN!!!

So excited that today is the paperback release day for THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, Book Two of The Queens of Renthia!!! My cat Gwen is excited too!

https://www.amazon.com/Reluctant-Queen-Book-Queens-Renthia/dp/0062474111

Paperback Release Day for THE QUEEN OF BLOOD!

Today is the mass market paperback release day for THE QUEEN OF BLOOD (Book One of The Queens of Renthia)!!! You can now experience bloodthirsty nature spirits in an all-new bendy and extra-portable format!

I squealed when I saw them. Really loudly. Loud enough to startle the cat. You see, when I was a kid, I was only allowed to buy mass market paperbacks, so that's the format that all my childhood favorites are in (like The Blue Sword, The Pawn of Prophecy, Dragonsong, Arrows of the Queen, The Sword of Shannara, The Summer Tree...). So it feels extra special to have my book look just like those.

https://www.amazon.com/Queen-Blood-Book-Queens-Renthia/dp/006247409X

 

THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM out today in paperback!

Very excited that the paperback edition of THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM is out in the world today!!! And with a lovely new cover! Thanks so much, Clarion Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt!  Monster is so excited to now exist in an all-new, much more bendy format.

*shares cupcakes with everyone*

http://sarahbethdurst.com/Girl.htm

(Cover art by Manuel Sumberac)

CONJURED Paperback!

Things that are bendy:

1) Squirrel tails
2) Garden hoses
3) My hair
4) Olympic gymnasts
5) Polaroids
6) Pipe cleaners
7) Really old carrots
8) Fresh chocolate chip cookies
9) Ferrets
10) CONJURED!!!

For those of you who prefer your books in a more fun, bendy format..... I'm excited to let you know that today is the pub day for the paperback edition of my recent YA novel CONJURED!

CONJURED is a fantasy novel for young adults, published by Bloomsbury.  It's about a girl in the paranormal witness protection program, who, haunted by visions of carnival tents and tarot cards, must remember her past and why she has strange abilities before a magic-wielding serial killer hunts her down.

It was a Mythopoeic Award finalist and a Cybils Award finalist, as well as a Junior Library Guild Selection.  Horn Book Reviews said, "Disorientation, curiosity, and fear course through the story, offering tight suspense and satisfying mystification even up to the last pages. An unusual blend of magical worlds, psychological thriller, and teen romance."  And Kirkus Reviews said, "Durst excels at describing grotesque violence and gorgeous magical transformations alike, painting a touching portrait of first love against a backdrop of Twilight Zone–type terrors."

More about CONJURED, including the first chapter, can be found here.  If you're interested in the story of where CONJURED came from, you can read it here.

And if you'd like to see more things that are bendy, check out these Cirque du Soleil contortionists.  (I listened to a lot of Cirque music while I wrote CONJURED.)

Happy reading!