James Dashner's Blog, page 11

T Minus 6 Weeks and Counting

Here's what's on my mind today:
1. Six weeks from now, THE MAZE RUNNER will be in stores! I can't believe it's getting so close. Don't you remember back in the day when you'd get report cards every six weeks? And you'd wonder who the h%$# sent a hornet up Ms. Hudson's beehind to make her give you a D in "Conduct"? That's how long we have. I don't know what that means, but we're definitely getting closer.
2. I received my preliminary schedule for the release tour. I'll be going to (in this order):

Modnar (That's Random Backwards)

1. Sorry so quiet this week. I'm not even sure why. But here's a catchup.

2. I finally went to the doctor about my knee injury. I won't know for sure until tomorrow, but my doctor would bet his life savings and every one of his children that I have a torn ACL. He said I have two options: a lifestyle change where I don't do stuff like basketball, skiing, tennis, etc. where your knee twists a lot, or have surgery. Mmmm, let's go with surgery.

3. Did the MRI tube thingy yesterday. It's really cool. I

The Winners

Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway this week. I really enjoyed reading all the lyrics - and I was totally amazed at how varied the selections were. And I was a little embarrassed because a lot of the stuff I'd never heard of.

Speaking of music, it really hit me the other day how varied my own taste is. I always keep a list of random songs I might hear here and there so I can get them off iTunes later. Ya know, you'll hear some song on the radio or at the mall or whatever that you

Authorpalooza Pictures

Okay, first of all, I'm very angry at myself because I totally forgot to do pictures until it was basically too late. And the people I wanted to get one with the most, the awesome people at Barnes and Noble (I'm talking about you, Brandi, Melyn, Michelle, Sylvia, Courtney, man, it seemed like you had about 40 people working yesterday!) I never got because I'm an idiot.
Anyway, a big thanks to Brandi for spearheading this amazing event, in which over 30 local authors came to sign and hang out for

One Year Anniversary - MAZE Giveaway

This weekend marked one year since I was able to become a full time author. (See, the news made this guy in the picture happy! OK, actually that's some dude from the fifties, but I laugh every time I look at it.)
I still feel thankful each and every day to write for a living. I am one lucky dude! To do something you love for money is a thing I only dreamed about during those miserable few years as an accountant.
(I must stop here and apologize to all my former bosses and co-workers. I really liked

Upcoming Events

Hey, if you live in Utah, I hope you'll try to come see me at Barnes and Noble in Orem this coming Tuesday (Aug 11) at 7:00 pm. Brandi is the CRM there and she's doing an Authorpalooza and I'm really rooting for her to have a good turn out.

Other authors include J. Scott Savage (FARWORLD) and Jessica Day George (DRAGON SLIPPERS) and several others (sorry, don't know the whole list). Come see us! It should be a very relaxed atmosphere with plenty of time for chit chatting.

Also, another really cool

MAZE Giveaway and Loose Cords

<>Hey, I noticed a fellow blogger is giving away an ARC of THE MAZE RUNNER. Head over to the Must Read Faster blog for a chance to win it. CLICK HERE . Looks like it's open until August 11th.

I'm also planning on giving away a few more here in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned.

Update on my knee: it hurts. I was playing basketball yesterday and it seriously felt like a cord ripped off and swung around like Tarzan on crack inside my whole leg. Pretty sure that's not normal. It's now swollen up wors</>

Q&A: Random Stuff

Okay, these are all questions from recent comments:

Q: From Melony: How did you overcome discouragement in yourself? I mean, did you ever just think, there's no way this will ever get published, what's the point?

A: I wouldn't be a real writer if I didn't have major self-doubt. In fact, I always thought that it would go away with a book contract. Wrong, tootsie! It gets worse. How do I overcome it? By remembering the core reason I'm doing this: because I love to write stories. If people don't like

THE SCORCH TRIALS is in!

I tweeted this yesterday, but I have officially turned in THE MAZE RUNNER's sequel to my agent and editor. Like any good author, by the time I clicked send I wanted to murder the book, beat it to a pulp, smash it and smash it so no one could ever read it. That's the point when you know it's time to pass the dumb thing on.

I will now spend the next few days lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling, imagining in my dark mind the many reasons why they will hate the book and ask me to rewrite the

13th Reality Paperbacks and Random Stuff

1. It looks like the release dates for the paperbacks of Book 1 (December 22, 2009) and Book 2 (February 23, 2010) of THE 13TH REALITY are now official. You can see the dates and preorder them on the Simon & Schuster website. CLICK HERE . Hopefully we'll see the new covers soon, too!

2. I still haven't heard from two of our ARC winners: Brooke Reviews and The Brain Lair. So if you tried to email me, I didn't get it! If anyone knows them, please pass the word that I need their address.

3. I'm readin