Sarah Beth Durst's Blog, page 25
April 14, 2020
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 14
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 14 (adult SFF): THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, Book 2 of The Queens of Renthia. Bloodthirsty nature spirits, a dying queen, and a middle-aged woman who wants nothing to do with the power she could wield. This book shares a #booknecklace with THE QUEEN OF BLOOD but we added blood-red earrings!
I actually wrote 90 pages of THE RELUCTANT QUEEN (book 2) before I wrote THE QUEEN OF BLOOD (book 1). My editor at Harper Voyager, the awesome David Pomerico, read the pages and said, "Can this be book two?" And now I can't imagine it being any different.
In THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, I wrote my first middle-aged heroine. She's definitely not the last! The protagonist of my upcoming RACE THE SANDS is a badass middle-aged single mom!
Book 14 (adult SFF): THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, Book 2 of The Queens of Renthia. Bloodthirsty nature spirits, a dying queen, and a middle-aged woman who wants nothing to do with the power she could wield. This book shares a #booknecklace with THE QUEEN OF BLOOD but we added blood-red earrings!
I actually wrote 90 pages of THE RELUCTANT QUEEN (book 2) before I wrote THE QUEEN OF BLOOD (book 1). My editor at Harper Voyager, the awesome David Pomerico, read the pages and said, "Can this be book two?" And now I can't imagine it being any different.
In THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, I wrote my first middle-aged heroine. She's definitely not the last! The protagonist of my upcoming RACE THE SANDS is a badass middle-aged single mom!
April 13, 2020
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 13
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 13 (picture book): ROAR AND SPARKLES GO TO SCHOOL is my first picture book, art by the amazing Ben Whitehouse. Roar the dragon is worried about his first day of school, but luckily he has his big sister Sparkles to help him through it. My #booknecklace is a little dragon!
My favorite part of writing this book was inventing the dragon school -- imagining a day in the life of a draconian kindergartner. I knew from the start he'd char his lunch with his breath, play hide-and-seek-the-princess in gym, and ride a dragon bus to school!
Book 13 (picture book): ROAR AND SPARKLES GO TO SCHOOL is my first picture book, art by the amazing Ben Whitehouse. Roar the dragon is worried about his first day of school, but luckily he has his big sister Sparkles to help him through it. My #booknecklace is a little dragon!
My favorite part of writing this book was inventing the dragon school -- imagining a day in the life of a draconian kindergartner. I knew from the start he'd char his lunch with his breath, play hide-and-seek-the-princess in gym, and ride a dragon bus to school!
April 12, 2020
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 12
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 12 (middle grade): JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIDDEN ISLANDS is a fantasy adventure for kids about two sisters, one winged lion, and a LOT of monsters. My #booknecklace is a winged lion!
This book was born one day when I wandered into the kitchen and announced, "I want to write a book about a winged lion." My husband said, "Great! How about plot, characters...?" "Winged lion!" I shouted. And then I wrote it.
Book 12 (middle grade): JOURNEY ACROSS THE HIDDEN ISLANDS is a fantasy adventure for kids about two sisters, one winged lion, and a LOT of monsters. My #booknecklace is a winged lion!
This book was born one day when I wandered into the kitchen and announced, "I want to write a book about a winged lion." My husband said, "Great! How about plot, characters...?" "Winged lion!" I shouted. And then I wrote it.
April 11, 2020
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 11
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 11 (adult SFF): THE QUEEN OF BLOOD, Book 1 of The Queens of Renthia, is an epic fantasy set in a world filled with bloodthirsty nature spirits. Only queens have the power to control them. So my #booknecklace is a crown with a tiny blood-red stone.
Writing The Queens of Renthia was such a wonderfully immersive experience. Every day I sat down at my computer, it felt like walking through the wardrobe into Narnia... except it's a Narnia where the trees want to kill you.
Book 11 (adult SFF): THE QUEEN OF BLOOD, Book 1 of The Queens of Renthia, is an epic fantasy set in a world filled with bloodthirsty nature spirits. Only queens have the power to control them. So my #booknecklace is a crown with a tiny blood-red stone.
Writing The Queens of Renthia was such a wonderfully immersive experience. Every day I sat down at my computer, it felt like walking through the wardrobe into Narnia... except it's a Narnia where the trees want to kill you.
April 10, 2020
Starred Booklist Review for CATALYST!
Eeeeeeep!!! A STARRED REVIEW from Booklist for CATALYST, my next kids book, out 6/9! Thanks for brightening my day, Booklist!
https://www.booklistonline.com/Catalyst-Sarah-Beth-Durst/pid=9729210
https://www.booklistonline.com/Catalyst-Sarah-Beth-Durst/pid=9729210
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 10
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 10 (middle grade): THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM is about a girl whose family owns a dream shop where they buy, bottle, and sell dreams, and the adventure she goes on with her best friend, a monster named Monster who loves cupcakes. My #booknecklace is an adorable monster.
Usually my characters develop over the course of many revisions. But with Monster... It felt like he plopped down on my desk fully-formed and said, "Write my story! And feed me cupcakes!"
Book 10 (middle grade): THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM is about a girl whose family owns a dream shop where they buy, bottle, and sell dreams, and the adventure she goes on with her best friend, a monster named Monster who loves cupcakes. My #booknecklace is an adorable monster.
Usually my characters develop over the course of many revisions. But with Monster... It felt like he plopped down on my desk fully-formed and said, "Write my story! And feed me cupcakes!"
April 9, 2020
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 9
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 9 (YA): CHASING POWER, an Indiana-Jones-style adventure about a girl with telekinesis and a boy who can teleport. Three magic stones play a key role in the story, so my #booknecklace (and earrings) contain three stones, possibly magical.
This book was so much fun to write! Kayla, the protagonist, has a minor power -- the ability to lift small (and only small) objects with her mind. Her true strength is her cleverness. I loved thinking up ways for her to have a big effect with a small amount of magic.
Book 9 (YA): CHASING POWER, an Indiana-Jones-style adventure about a girl with telekinesis and a boy who can teleport. Three magic stones play a key role in the story, so my #booknecklace (and earrings) contain three stones, possibly magical.
This book was so much fun to write! Kayla, the protagonist, has a minor power -- the ability to lift small (and only small) objects with her mind. Her true strength is her cleverness. I loved thinking up ways for her to have a big effect with a small amount of magic.
April 8, 2020
International Unicorn Day -- April 9, 2020
This Thursday (4/9), eighteen authors (including yours truly!) will be doing live readings to celebrate International Unicorn Day!!! At 10:30am ET, I'll be on Facebook Live on my author page here: https://www.facebook.com/sarahbethdurst
And I may be wearing a unicorn onesie...
Hope you'll join me! And feel free to invite along any unicorns who want to listen too! I'll be reading from my kids book, THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM, which features the winged unicorn Glitterhoof.
For the full schedule of the day's events, visit: https://www.internationalunicornday.com/events
#OperationStoryTime #InternationalUnicornDay
And I may be wearing a unicorn onesie...
Hope you'll join me! And feel free to invite along any unicorns who want to listen too! I'll be reading from my kids book, THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM, which features the winged unicorn Glitterhoof.
For the full schedule of the day's events, visit: https://www.internationalunicornday.com/events
#OperationStoryTime #InternationalUnicornDay
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 8
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 8 (adult): THE LOST is about a woman who is trapped in a town full of only lost things and lost people. My husband had a #booknecklace made for it that reads "Welcome to Lost," which is what it says on the sign outside of the town of Lost.
There's a myth that ideas spring into existence fully formed, like Athena from Zeus's head. But often they begin with a single moment. For this book, I was at a stoplight, blinker on to turn, and I wondered what would happen if I just went straight instead and didn't stop...
It was only after I started writing about that moment that I developed the idea for the town of Lost. I loved creating my town and imagining all the lost things that could be there: buttons, socks, paperclips, stolen artwork, foreclosed homes, dreams, lives...
Book 8 (adult): THE LOST is about a woman who is trapped in a town full of only lost things and lost people. My husband had a #booknecklace made for it that reads "Welcome to Lost," which is what it says on the sign outside of the town of Lost.
There's a myth that ideas spring into existence fully formed, like Athena from Zeus's head. But often they begin with a single moment. For this book, I was at a stoplight, blinker on to turn, and I wondered what would happen if I just went straight instead and didn't stop...
It was only after I started writing about that moment that I developed the idea for the town of Lost. I loved creating my town and imagining all the lost things that could be there: buttons, socks, paperclips, stolen artwork, foreclosed homes, dreams, lives...
April 7, 2020
RACE THE SANDS Book Necklace Countdown: Book 7
I'm counting down to the publication of my 20th book, RACE THE SANDS, out 4/21, by sharing pics of each #booknecklace my husband gave me to celebrate each of my prior books...
Book 7 (YA): CONJURED is the creepiest book I've ever written. So creepy I couldn't go into our basement while I was writing it. It's about a teen in the paranormal witness protection program. Lots of magic, a carnival, and a serial killer. Here it is with its #booknecklace.
Book 7 (YA): CONJURED is the creepiest book I've ever written. So creepy I couldn't go into our basement while I was writing it. It's about a teen in the paranormal witness protection program. Lots of magic, a carnival, and a serial killer. Here it is with its #booknecklace.
