DRINK SLAY LOVE Movie!!!

So excited to share the news that my book DRINK SLAY LOVE is going to be a TV movie!!!!!  It will star Cierra Ramirez (Freeform's The Fosters) and Gregg Sulkin (MTV's Faking It) with Bella Thorne serving as co-executive producer!  Sepia Films and Just Singer Entertainment started filming this week, and the movie will air on Lifetime in 2017!  Eeeep!!!!!!!

Here are some articles covering the announcement:

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/08/24/bella-thorne-produce-lifetime-vampire-flick

http://deadline.com/2016/08/bella-thorne-drink-slay-love-lifetime-movie-cierra-ramirez-star-ya-vampire-1201807510/

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/bella-thorne-gregg-sulkin-post-breakup-movie

http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/bella-thorne-lifetime-drink-slay-love-1201843752/

http://www.avclub.com/article/lifetime-thirsts-more-teen-vampire-and-robert-durs-241611

http://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/bella-thorne-to-produce-the-ya-vampire-flick-drink-slay-love-133

http://www.bustle.com/articles/180545-bella-thorne-will-produce-a-vampire-film-featuring-a-female-edward-cullen-type-im-totally

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2016/08/24/cierra-ramirez-bella-thorne-to-produce/

http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/185026/bella-thorne-producing-lifetime-adaptation-drink-slay-love/ 

Blurbs from Terry Brooks and Tamora Pierce!

Eeeeep! Excited to share blurbs from Terry Brooks and Tamora Pierce for my upcoming epic fantasy THE QUEEN OF BLOOD! Double eeeeep!

 

Happy Back to the Future Day!

Absolute best moment in "Back to the Future" is when George McFly opens up his box of books. I remember thinking as I watched it in 1985, "I want that." To this day, whenever that box of first copies arrives, I always call it my Back-to-the-Future box.

Except that one time I forgot and accidentally named it after some other 80s movie, and my husband had to tell me, "There's no such thing as a Breakfast-Club box."

Happy Back to the Future Day, everyone!

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!
 

Book Trailer for CONJURED!!!

I'd intended to write a witty and touching blog entry about this, but when I sat down to type, I realized the only words I want to say are:

LOOK AT THIS!!!!!

Seriously, look!!!  My wonderful publisher, Bloomsbury/Walker, made this awesome book trailer for my new book Conjured:



I love, love, love it!  The haunted look in her eyes... the guy's creepy smile... the carnival-esque music...  Huge thanks to all the Bloomsbury folks who worked to create this.  I couldn't be more thrilled!

Off to watch it again...  And again...  And again...

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!

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.

Cover Art Reveal: VESSEL

Got the loveliest present from my editor... cover art for VESSEL!

I am so excited to share it with you and to introduce you to my next book, VESSEL, a YA fantasy novel coming in September 2012 from Simon & Schuster / Margaret K. McElderry Books.

In a desert land where serpents made of unbreakable glass fly through the sky and wolves made of only sand hunt within storms, Liyana is destined to be a vessel, to sacrifice herself so that her clan's goddess can inhabit her body... but her goddess never comes.


I was in the parking lot at Dunkin' Donuts when the email with the cover art came in, and I waited for my husband to return with Munchkins so we could open the jpg together. (This was either sweet or cowardly of me. You can judge which.) When he returned, we opened the email... and I nearly swooned. I am absolutely in love with this cover. Look at the way the scarf moves! And the tattoos on her arms! And her fierce expression! And the sand! And the moon! *swoon*

I had a hint that this sort of awesomeness was coming when I ran across a journal entry on Deviant Art by photographer Jaime Ibarra about the cover shoot. There's one photo of the model practicing whooshing the fabric and another of the makeup artist painting on Liyana's tattoos. (The tattoos identify her as her clan's vessel. You really, really don't want a deity to possess the wrong person.)

The photographer is the fantastic Jaime Ibarra. (Visit his website to see more of his stunning work. I especially love the photos in the Movimiento gallery.) According to his Google+ page, the others involved in the shoot were:

Makeup & Styling - Mirabai Wagner
Additional Retouching - Solstice Retouch
Additional Makeup & Whooshing Coach - Jessa Peters
Model - Kristin (BMG Model Management)

The amazing team at Simon & Schuster then did their magic, and the result... Liyana lives!

So, what do you guys think?!?!?!?

Cover Art for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!!!

Got an email from my editor with the most gorgeous present ever -- the cover art for my next YA novel, DRINK, SLAY, LOVE! I am deliriously in love with it, and I can't wait to share it with you. So without further ado...

(Please pat your hands on your lap so we have drum roll sound effects. Also, imagine a red velvet curtain raising up. And maybe a few trumpets.)

... the cover art for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!


*swoon*

I love, love, love it! It fits the novel so perfectly! That's Pearl with her never-seen-the-sun skin and beautiful black hair and sardonic smile. You see, this is how the book opens:

"One hour until dawn," Pearl said. She leapt off the roof and landed catlike on the pavement. "Oodles of time, if we steal a car."

This cover is totally her.

DRINK, SLAY, LOVE is about Pearl, a vampire girl who develops a conscience after she is stabbed through the heart by a unicorn's horn. It's coming out September 13, 2011 from Simon & Schuster / McElderry Books.

I don't know the names of the cover artists/designers yet, but whoever you are... I think you are brilliant!!! Thank you (and everyone at Simon & Schuster) for this gorgeousness.

So... what do you guys think??? Do you like it?

Grover + Old Spice Man = Awesome

This. Is. Made. Of. AWESOME!!!!!

Working on my Project

While attempting to work on my latest writing project, I wandered over to Laini Taylor's blog, where I found this video by Levni Yilmaz. It is genius and must be viewed by all humans. That is all.

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.

Dream the Dream

You've probably seen this already, but just in case:

Susan Boyle video

I've watched this about ten times now. It brings me to tears every time. And today I ran across this fantastic blog post about "when to quit" that was inspired by this clip. My favorite quote:

"You quit when you want something else, more. You quit when you have another dream that means more to you."

But you don't quit until then. Even if everyone in the audience is snickering at you. Even if your snickering audience is just your cat. I believe this in my heart of hearts. Dream the dream.

Now, back to revising chapter two...

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!!!!!

Events and Dancing

Upcoming Events

Tomorrow, I'll be up in Massachusetts for two book events:

Library Visit
Friday August 8th at 3pm
Townsend Public Library
276 Main Street, Townsend, MA

Book Signing
Friday August 8th at 7pm
Borders - Shrewsbury
476 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury, MA

If you're in the area, I hope you'll stop by!

Happy Dancing

You may have already seen this, but it makes me smile (and then tear up) every time I watch it. It's a guy doing his Snoopy Dance of Joy all around the world...



Thanks to Tim Liebe for the link.

Real Alive Breathing Living Fairies That You Can Buy

Webstats are awesome. Beyond just letting me know how many people love me (click on my website) at any given time, they tell me what phrases, when Googled, have led to my site. And I just found the best one ever. Yesterday, someone found my website by Googling the phrase:

real alive breathing living fairies that you can buy

How awesome is that?!?! I like to imagine the progression of Google searches that led to this phrase. Perhaps the fairy-seeking Googler starts by simply searching for

fairies

only to find some Disney website. No, no, no. She wants

living fairies

But that doesn't work either. She wants real ones.

real living fairies

Arghhhh!!! No luck. Leaving nothing to chance, she goes with

real alive breathing living fairies

Stupid computer! She's not looking for Wikipedia entries or stories about fairies. She needs a real one, that she can order online, and get delivered right away!! And of course, this leads her quite naturally to

real alive breathing living fairies that you can buy

And this brought her to my website. I have no idea why. But I LOVE it! Though I imagine she was quite disappointed...

Intrigued, I tried this out for myself. And Googling "real alive breathing living fairies that you can buy" does indeed bring you to my website, but only after scrolling through FIVE pages of search results! Wow, someone was very serious about tracking down an online fairy dealer!

While I'm honored that such a noble pursuit led to my site, I'd really like to work my way up the search results page, which of course, is why I wrote this blog post. Once Google finds this entry, it will definitely become the #1 search result for "real alive breathing living fairies that you can buy"!!! That is, unless Amazon decides to go into the overnight fairy delivery business...

And More!

Locus Magazine, the trade magazine for SF/fantasy publishing, has a special issue out this month about young adult fiction. As you can see on the cover, it features essays by Neil Gaiman, Holly Black, Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Graham Joyce, and more! A closer look reveals the secret identity of "and more!" to be uber-editors Sharyn November and Ruth Katcher, National Book Award finalist Kathleen Duey, and MEEEEEEEEE!!! Hee hee! How cool is that?!

I am beyond excited that they published my essay along with essays from all these giants of YA SF/fantasy, though keeping myself from singing a certain classic Sesame Street song has been a struggle. One of these things is not like the others...

Nevertheless... SNOOPY DANCE OF JOY!!!

Ooh, and I just noticed, there's also a nice review of Out of the Wild in the very same issue of Locus. Too cool!

I wish I could give you a link to my essay, but it's not available online, only in print. My title is "Why YA?" to which my answer is pretty much, because it's awesome!

Book Trailer for Into the Wild!

I'm still in Northboro, but I must interrupt my Northboro posts to show you what can only be described as THE COOLEST THING EVER!!! Teen-bloggers-extraordinaire, Miss Erin and Traci, made a BOOK TRAILER FOR INTO THE WILD! They wrote a script, acted out scenes from my book, edited it, put it to music, and posted it on YouTube. I just found out about this today and am sooooo touched that they would spend the time to put this together. And OMG, it's awesome! Check it out:



Was that not the coolest thing ever?!?! Click here to tell Miss Erin how great a job she and Traci did, and click here to rate the video on YouTube.

Wow. Now please excuse me as I go watch the video for the 47th time...