Sarah Beth Durst's Blog, page 40

THE QUEEN OF BLOOD won an Alex Award!!!

My book, THE QUEEN OF BLOOD, just won an Alex Award!!!!! It's an American Library Association (ALA) award given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults. I am so honored, grateful, and thrilled! Thank you to ALA and the Alex committee!!! And congratulations to the other winners!

*Snoopy dance of joy*

http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2017/01/american-library-association-announces-2017-youth-media-award-winners

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Published on January 23, 2017 07:16

Cover Reveal for ROAR AND SPARKLES GO TO SCHOOL!

Excited to reveal the cover art for my first picture book, ROAR AND SPARKLES GO TO SCHOOL, illustrated by Ben Whitehouse and coming out this June from Running Press Kids! Get ready for the cute!!!

www.sarahbethdurst.com/RoarandSparkles.htm

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Published on January 10, 2017 07:28

Cover Reveal for THE RELUCTANT QUEEN!

So excited to share the cover for my next epic fantasy novel, THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, book two of The Queens of Renthia series (coming July 2017 from Harper Voyager)!!! Thanks so much to the artist, Stephan Martiniere, for continuing to grace my books with his gorgeous artwork.

http://www.sarahbethdurst.com/ReluctantQueen.htm

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Published on December 12, 2016 08:22

The Wall

My sweet and wonderful husband got THE QUEEN OF BLOOD book jacket framed and added it to The Wall. :)

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Published on October 02, 2016 09:58

THE QUEEN OF BLOOD comes out today!!!

I'm so excited to share THE QUEEN OF BLOOD with you! It's the first in a new epic fantasy series from Harper Voyager called THE QUEENS OF RENTHIA, and it's set in a world filled with nature spirits. But these aren't your sweet, frolicking pastoral sprites... These spirits want to kill all humans, and only certain women -- queens -- can control them.

This book was born in blood.

Ooh, that sounded nice and dramatic. Must remember that line. Anyway, this is what happened: I had just arrived at a writing retreat in the Poconos. Beautiful place. Forests. Hills. Prancing deer and babbling brooks, and so forth. Every writer was given an adorable wood cabin nestled beneath the pines. I was walking up to mine, marveling at the trees, reveling in the bird song, not watching my feet... and I tripped on the step up to the porch and fell flat on my face. Cut my lip. And that was the exact moment that this book -- specifically, the idea of bloodthirsty nature spirits -- was born.

Trees + blood = story.

Despite its thoroughly embarrassingly klutzy origin -- seriously, the step was right there! I saw it! -- I loved writing this book. It was such an immersive writing experience. Every day I'd sit down at my desk and feel as if I'd walked through a portal and into a city suspended between massive trees, where, let's face it, I probably would have been instantly killed, but Daleina and Ven -- an idealistic student and a banished warrior -- worked to protect their people.

I have always loved fantasy. I was that kid curled up in the corner of the library with a David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Robin McKinley, or Mercedes Lackey book, reading it for the twelfth time. Every night, I checked the back of my closet for a way into Narnia, and every birthday, I wished for a magic wand (a real one, please, not a toy) or a dragon's egg (that would hatch a friendly telepathic dragon, of course).

The thing that I love the most about both writing and reading fantasy is the way it takes you on a journey -- sweeps you off on an adventure, and then brings you back again, maybe slightly changed, a little stronger, a little braver. I believe that fantasy literature, at its core, is -- or can be -- a literature of hope and empowerment. That's what Daleina and Ven's story has been for me. And so, I hope you'll join me in journeying with them!

Welcome to Renthia! Just watch out for the trees. They bite.

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Published on September 20, 2016 06:08

Excerpt: First Three Chapters of THE QUEEN OF BLOOD

THE QUEEN OF BLOOD comes out tomorrow!!! Woohoo! *checks stash of chocolate, eats stash of chocolate* The first three chapters are now online:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

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Published on September 19, 2016 14:30

Announcing THE STONE GIRL'S STORY!!!

Very excited to announce the sale of my next middle-grade book, THE STONE GIRL'S STORY, to Anne Hoppe at Clarion Books / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt!!! Huzzah!!!

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Published on September 15, 2016 15:12

Excerpt: First Two Chapters of THE QUEEN OF BLOOD

THE QUEEN OF BLOOD comes out one week from today!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The first two chapters are now online:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2

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Published on September 13, 2016 13:38

Excerpt: Chapter One of THE QUEEN OF BLOOD

It's exactly 2 weeks until THE QUEEN OF BLOOD comes out! Eeeep! You can read Chapter 1 here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/harper-voyager/the-queen-of-blood-chapter-1/1096449987091362

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Published on September 06, 2016 15:01

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!!!!!!!