Announcing THE HIDDEN ISLANDS!!!

I am very, very, extremely, stupendously thrilled to announce that I've sold my next middle-grade novel!!!  It's called THE HIDDEN ISLANDS, and it's a book that I've wanted to write for a long time.  It's one of those books that started as a little tiny seed of an idea and then grew and grew inside me until it finally burst out.

Here is the official announcement from Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf:

Anne Hoppe at Clarion has acquired Sarah Beth Durst's middle-grade fantasy The Hidden Islands, in which a magic barrier has shrouded the islands of Himitsu for centuries, keeping the kingdom safely hidden from all perils, but now the barrier is failing, and two princesses try to save their people. Publication is slated for spring 2017; Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger brokered the deal for world rights.

With some books, I can't remember the exact moment that they began.  With this one, I can.  I was in the kitchen, cutting slices of Muenster cheese (or "monster cheese," as we call it) for a midnight snack with my husband.  We were talking about something completely unrelated, and out of the blue I said, "I want to write a book with winged lions."  And he said, "Okay.  Do it.  How many crackers do you want for the cheese?"

So now I'm doing it!  My book with winged lions!  Also, two princesses, seven beautiful islands, one volcano spirit.....  Extremely excited to write this book and to share it with you!

Announcing THE QUEENS OF RENTHIA Trilogy!

I am so very, very excited to announce that I've sold a new trilogy of books for adults!!!  An epic fantasy trilogy!!!!!!!!!!!  In the biggest book deal of my career to date!  Series title is THE QUEENS OF RENTHIA and they will be published by HarperCollins / Voyager in 2016 and 2017.  Here's the announcement from this week's Publishers Weekly Book Deals:

Durst Delivers 'Queens' to Harper

In a three-book deal, Harper Voyager's David Pomerico preempted world rights to Sarah Beth Durst's fantasy trilogy, the Queens of Renthia. Durst, who was represented by Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger, said the series is set in a world "where everything in nature has a spirit -- and where those spirits are bloodthirsty killers who seek the death of all humans." Book one, The Queen of Blood, is set for a fall 2016 publication. Durst has written a number of fantasy novels for children and adults, including the YA title Chasing Power (Bloomsbury) and the adult title The Lost (Mira), both published in 2014.

I am doing a serious Snoopy dance of joy right now, complete with Muppet flailing arms and high-pitched squeals:  
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

As mentioned in the PW announcement, Renthia is a world where everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow...  But these are not the sweet, frolicking nature sprites from a pastoral tale.  The spirits that reside within this land want to kill all humans, the way white blood cells want to kill a virus.  Only a few women are gifted with the power to control the spirits.  To defend their people, these women must fight to become queens... or die trying.

Tentative titles and publication dates are:

Book 1: THE QUEEN OF BLOOD -- October 2016
Book 2: THE RELUCTANT QUEEN -- February 2017
Book 3: THE QUEEN OF SORROW -- June 2017

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about this trilogy.  I love epic fantasy.  Really, really love it, as in spent an inordinate amount of my childhood pretending that I was a magical sword-wielding princess on a quest, drawing massive maps of nonexistent lands, and reading David Eddings's The Belgariad so many times that Polgara, Silk, and Durnik felt like real people.  So to be writing books born from this tradition...  Let's just say my ten-year-old self would be doing a lot of cartwheeling if she knew.

Right now, I'm in the middle of writing book one, and I am loving working on it so much.  It feels exactly like writing is supposed to feel, as if I have plunged through a portal into another world.  I feel so incredibly lucky and thrilled and overjoyed, and I can't wait to welcome you to Renthia and share this world's stories and people with you!

Just don't try to visit Renthia in person, because those trees... they'll totally kill you.

Announcing THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM!

I have news!!!

Look what appeared in today's Publishers Weekly Children's Bookshelf:

Anne Hoppe at Clarion Books has acquired YA author Sarah Beth Durst's debut middle-grade novel, The Girl Who Could Not Dream. The book tells of a girl whose family owns a secret store where they buy, bottle, and sell dreams, but who can't have any of her own, and the adventure that she and her pet monster go on when someone starts kidnapping dreamers. Publication is planned for fall 2015; Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger negotiated the deal for world rights.

Pausing now to toss confetti into the air and dance madly under it...

I am so, so, so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you keeping track, this will be my twelfth book, and it means I am now writing young adult books (ages 12+), middle grade books (ages 8-12), and books for adults.  I am so very grateful to have the opportunity to write for all these markets and I hope to write tons more of each in the years to come.  The next YA book, CHASING POWER, will be out in October, and the next book for adults, THE MISSING, will be out in November.  After that comes THE FOUND (adult) in April and THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM (MG) in fall 2015.

As to why I chose to write an MG novel...  Honestly, it's the same reason I chose to write an adult novel, or a YA novel for that matter.  I didn't choose.  The story chose.  I know that sounds a bit twee, but it's true!  I had the idea for a dream shop, and every time I imagined the store, I pictured a young girl in it, shelving bottles of dreams, wanting to drink one...  That made this story an MG.  Others are YA.  Others are adult.  Story ideas don't come out of my brain wearing labels, but once they do worm their way out of there, it's usually not too difficult to parse them into buckets.  And I'm quite grateful to now have a third (MG) bucket for my ideas.

My new MG publisher, the Clarion Books imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, has been absolutely wonderful, and I'm thrilled to be working with Anne Hoppe, my amazing new MG editor.  Currently, I'm in the middle of revisions for THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM, and I am loving working on it.  I can't wait for you all to meet Sophie and Monster!
 

VESSEL Won the Mythopoeic Award!

I have AMAZING news to share!

My book, Vessel, just won the 2013 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature!!!!!  Winners from prior years include Kristin Cashore, J.K. Rowling, Michael Chabon, Grace Lin, Franny Billingsley, Diana Wynne Jones, Jane Yolen, and Salman Rushdie.  And now -- via what I can only imagine was some sort of clerical error -- me.  This, my friends, is crazy-sauce!!!  It goes without saying that I'm over-the-moon excited!

I was thrilled just to be nominated for this award alongside such wonderful authors -- Merrie Haskell, Christopher Healy, Sherwood Smith, Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado -- and am so grateful to the award committee for this honor.

And to top it all off, the award itself is a gorgeous statuette of Aslan (the lion from C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia).  So.  Ridiculously.  Awesome.  I've already picked out a place of honor for him on my writing desk.

The one pictured above is Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess's.  Mine should be arriving in the mail sometime soon.  I plan to stalk the mailman daily.....

The Mythopoeic Society announced the winners of this year's awards (there's an adult literature award and two scholarship awards in addition to the children's literature award) during an awards banquet on Sunday at Mythcon, held this year at Michigan State University.

Click here to read the press release.

Though I wasn't able to attend the awards banquet in person, I was given the opportunity to send in some acceptance remarks ahead of time.  Here's what I said:

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature
Acceptance Speech
Sarah Beth Durst

When I was little, I never thought there were monsters in my closet.  The monsters were all under the bed, along with the venomous snakes.  The closet was for Narnia.  I used to check it every single night, pushing aside all the clothes, digging through the shoes and stuffed animals, looking for a way to the woods with the lone lamppost.  Winning this award makes me feel like I found the way into Narnia.  I am so honored and so delighted, and I know my ten-year-old self would be too.

I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was that ten-year-old girl.  I believed—and still believe—that being a writer is the closest you can get in this world to being a wizard.  You’re trying to cast a spell that lets you touch the minds and hearts of people you’ll never meet.  You’re trying to transport people out of their lives and take them on a journey and then bring them safely back, maybe a little changed.

I love the journeys that you find in fantasy books.  I love the way that fantasy is (or can be) a literature of hope and empowerment.  When I close a fantasy book, I feel as though the world is a little more magical, a little more wonderful, and a little larger than it was before. 

I write fantasy because, quite simply, it is what I love to read.  After I received the news that VESSEL had been nominated for this award, I looked at the full list of nominees and winners of the Mythopoeic Award since its inception.  It’s a list of every author that I’ve ever loved.  I started crying when I realized my name would be on that list of wizards.

So I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Mythopoeic Society, to my fabulous agent Andrea Somberg who has believed in me from the beginning, to my wonderful editor Karen Wojtyla at McElderry and all the other fantastic people at Simon & Schuster who helped bring VESSEL into the world.  And especially thanks to my family, my children who are my world, and my amazing husband Adam who made my dream his dream and who shares every step of every journey with me. 

I wish I could go back in time and tell my ten-year-old self, "Keep looking in that closet for Narnia because, someday, you’ll find your Aslan.  Or, more accurately, in the case of this beautiful award… he’ll find you."

Thank you so very, very much!

Booklist Starred Review for Vessel!

Ridiculously excited to report that Vessel received its third starred review, in the October 1st issue of Booklist!!!

I'm simply over the moon about this.  It's so wonderful to hear that people are enjoying Liyana's story.  Yay!  And thank you so much to everyone who has shared their kind words about the book.

Vessel
By Sarah Beth Durst
(Margaret K. McElderry; ISBN 9781442423763; September 2012; Fall Catalog)

Liyana is a vessel, the chosen one, nurtured, trained, and offered up by her clan for a great honor: giving her life so their goddess, Bayla, may return to earth to inhabit her body. But the goddess does not return. At the end of her day of sacrifice, Liyana is still alive, her clan having left her alone, disgraced, and in grave danger in the desert. Vessel is the read-alike for your Hunger Games–obsessed teens. From the quest to find the other clans’ spurned vessels, to the two attractive love interests, to the intelligent, independent young heroine, this folkloric fantasy, while harkening to that ever-popular novel and movie, is unique in its own web of clever, complex characters and attention-absorbing adventure. Its setting alone is so vital that it becomes another character, a part of the action. Readers will feel the desert heat, the earth-numbing droughts, the vicious sandstorms and resulting sandwolves, and the bizarre sensations of a goddess living within the body of its human vessel. Brilliantly riveting, Vessel’s only disappointment is its single volume, a fate that relegates Liyana, her lovers, and her friends to their own vessel, a single book.

-- Booklist, starred review

THE LOST, THE MISSING, and THE FOUND

I have news!!!

I sold my first novel for adults!  Actually, three novels -- my very first trilogy!

This is how I feel about it:

Or in words:

YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the announcement in Publishers Marketplace:
   
Fiction: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Sarah Beth Durst's THE LOST, THE MISSING, and THE FOUND, about a woman running from her bleak life who finds herself trapped in a small town where all things lost -- luggage, keys, people -- are mysteriously deposited, to Mary-Theresa Hussey for Luna, by Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger (world).

I am making my debut into the world of books for adults.  But don't worry!  I'm not leaving the YA world!  I will be writing two books a year -- a book for adults and a book for teens -- and I am tremendously excited about this.  (Pub dates are still up in the air, but my best guess at my upcoming publication schedule is here.)

You might ask, "Why two books a year?"  Quite simply, I'm a faster writer than I used to be.  (Or more accurately, I'm more efficient with my writing time.  I think it's because I understand my own writing process better.  This was a really pleasant discovery.)  Also, I have more stories that I want to tell!

You might ask, "Why books for adults"?  In a recent interview, I was asked about writing for different audiences.  Here's what I said: "I love writing fantasy.  I love creating a story that could never happen and taking readers on a journey into the impossible.  Some of these journeys call for a younger protagonist; some call for an older one.  I actually try hard not to think about the audience as I write.  I think about what works for the story and its characters."  This trilogy calls for an adult protagonist.

You might ask, "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"  Well, the average cruising airspeed of a European Swallow is roughly eleven meters per second, or twenty-four miles an hour, but I'm not convinced that's a relevant question.

I'm really, really excited to write these books and to share them with you.  And I hope that you'll join me in performing the traditional Snoopy dance of joy!!!

Kirkus Starred Review for Vessel!

Super excited to report that Vessel received its first trade review, and it's a starred review from Kirkus!!!

Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Without further ado (though you should know that I am completely doing the Snoopy Dance of Joy as I type this), here's the review:

Vessel
By Sarah Beth Durst
(McElderry; ISBN: 9781442423763; September 2012; Fall catalog)

STARRED REVIEW.  When a summoning goes awry, Liyana must try to save her people and learn how to live for herself, in this sweeping adventure. Chosen as a "vessel" to host the Goat Clan’s goddess, Bayla, and abandoned when Bayla doesn’t come, Liyana finds herself alone in the desert. Korbyn, god of the Raven Clan, rescues Liyana and provides her with a purpose: find the four other vessels who are also missing deities. Soon, Liyana and Korbyn pick up stalwart Fennik (horse god Sendar), princess-y Pia (silk goddess Oyri) and angry Raan (scorpion goddess Maara). Besides the desert’s many dangers, the ragtag group faces the massed army of the Crescent Empire, led by a young Emperor and his malicious magician, Mulaf. The tribes need their gods to save them from illness, starvation and drought, but the gods need to possess vessels to work magic—an arrangement whose logic several characters begin to question. Liyana is self-sacrificing but not a saint; stubborn, loyal, and curious, she finds new reasons to live even as she faces death. Durst offers a meditation on leadership and power and a vivid story set outside the typical Western European fantasy milieu. From the gripping first line, a fast-paced, thought-provoking and stirring story of sacrifice.

Announcing SWEET NOTHINGS

I have been keeping a secret...

*tip-toes, looks furtive*

Not about the portal to other worlds in my basement. Everyone knows about that. But a better secret... books!

I sold two new books!!!

Excuse me while I add a few more exclamation points to that.

TWO NEW BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the announcement in Publishers Marketplace:

Children's: Young Adult
Sarah Beth Durst's SWEET NOTHINGS, about a teen in the paranormal witness protection program, who, haunted by dreams 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, to Emily Easton at Walker Children's, in a very nice deal, in a two-book deal, by Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger (world).

SWEET NOTHINGS will be published in fall 2013, followed by a second TBD book in fall 2014. (Both of these follow VESSEL, of course, which comes out in fall 2012.) I am, as you might imagine, over-the-moon excited about this, and I hope you'll join me in performing the traditional Snoopy dance of joy!!!

Drink, Slay, Love

I have BIG news!

You know that Top Sekrit Project that I've been talking about? Well, it's not top secret anymore! Here's the announcement in Publishers Marketplace:

Children's: Young Adult
Sarah Beth Durst's DRINK, SLAY, LOVE, about a vampire girl who develops a conscience after she is stabbed through the heart by a unicorn's horn, to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books, in a two-book deal, by Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger (world).

Words cannot express how excited I am about this. So I shall resort to sounds:

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!

I have had the best time writing this book. Seriously, it has been so much fun that I have felt secretly guilty for enjoying the process so much.

Most of that is due to Pearl, my vampire girl. She's kick-ass. And, you know, mostly evil. I love her. I wouldn't ever want to meet her in a dark alley, but I love her.

I also love my unicorns. These are not your run-of-the-mill fluffy My Little Pony unicorns. These are were-unicorns who slay vampires (because who better to hunt vampires than someone with a built-in stake).

So. Much. Fun. To. Write.

And I am so thrilled to finally be able to tell you about it. I have been sitting on this news for a while, but now it's official!

DRINK, SLAY, LOVE will be out from Simon & Schuster in fall 2011, followed by an untitled second book in fall 2012. I am sooooo happy that I get to continue working with my wonderful editor, Karen Wojtyla, on these books. And I am sooooo grateful to my amazing agent, Andrea Somberg, for putting this deal together.

I shall now commence the Snoopy Dance of Joy!

300th Post and School Library Journal Review

This is my 300th blog post!

*blows horn and throws confetti*

Please have a slice of cake.

I started this blog in September 2006 with these words: "Have you ever had a dream come true? Welcome to mine. I'm Sarah Beth Durst, and I'm about to be published."

Now it's 3 books and 300 posts later, and I want to thank all of you for continuing to join me on this journey!

It seems that the universe knew this would be my 300-blogiversary because this week I got a wonderful present: a lovely review of ICE from School Library Journal. This makes me very, very, very happy. Here's the review, from the December 2009 issue of School Library Journal:

"Novels with a fairy tale at their center are ubiquitous, but even in this crowded market, Ice, based on "East of the Sun, West of the Moon," is a standout. Cassie is the daughter of an Arctic scientist and lives in a research station on the ice. Her mother is dead, according to her father, but Cassie remembers a story her grandmother used to tell her about how her mother was the daughter of the North Wind and was stolen away by the trolls. As the story opens, the teen is pursuing a polar bear when it steps into the ice and disappears. Drawn by her feeling that there is something special about the animal, Cassie ventures out after it. The bear is a munaqsri, a keeper of souls for the polar bears. Cassie agrees to be his wife if he will rescue her mother. Although initially fearful, she develops a relationship with Bear based on real love and companionship. All is well until she ignores the prohibition against looking at his face while he is in human form at night. Bear becomes a prisoner of the trolls, and Cassie, now pregnant, begins her quest to travel east of the sun and west of the moon to rescue her beloved. This is a unique and cleverly spun romance for an older readership than Edith Pattou's East (Harcourt, 2003), with a splendidly courageous and smart heroine. Durst flawlessly weaves together romance, adventure, and a modern sensibility to create a highly inventive and suspenseful story of a girl on the cusp of adulthood. Readers will take Cassie and Bear to their hearts." -- Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City

As I started saying 300 blog posts ago... Snoopy Dance of Joy!

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.

Announcement!!!

I am pleased to announce...

Okay, "pleased' is an understatement. We're talking a Sleeping-Beauty-took-a-nap kind of understatement. Rapunzel-had-long-hair kind of understatement. Hans-Christian-Andersen-needed-therapy kind of understatement...

I am delighted and thrilled and so unbelievably happy to tell you that I have just signed a contract for two new YA fantasy books with Simon & Schuster!!! Yippee!!! My new beauties are called (at least until the titles get changed, as they always do) ICE (coming Fall 2009) and IVY (coming Fall 2010).

Here's the official announcement from the December 1, 2008 edition of Publishers Marketplace:

Children's: Young Adult
Into the Wild and Out of the Wild author Sarah Beth Durst's ICE, a modern arctic adventure inspired by the Norse folktale, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and IVY, the story of a 16-year old thrown into a magical realm at Princeton, who must race against time to save herself, her world, and any hope she has of college admission, to Karen Wojtyla at Margaret K. McElderry Books, in a two-book deal, by Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger (world).

YAY!!!

Okay, that needs a lot more exclamation points.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very, very, very excited about these new books. My wonderful agent and my fabulous new editor actually made the deal over the summer, but the official announcement had to wait until all the details had been worked out, and I have been just bursting at the seams to officially tell you the news. And now I can! And did! And... EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Um, sorry about that outburst. It couldn't be helped. Anyhoo, in the days, weeks, and months to come, I'll tell you lots more about these new books and their journey to publication. And as the pub date for ICE approaches, there will be much talk of the north pole, polar bears, and a certain Norse fairy tale, and my website and blog will get a distinctly Arctic makeover. But for now, if you feel so inclined, I hope you'll join me for the only activity that could possibly capture the spirit of this moment... Oh, yes, that's right...

Snoopy.

Dance.

Of.

Joy.

Now, dance with me! Dance!!! Dance like you're an iconic canine surrounded by a troop of fluffy bunnies!!!!!