Sarah Beth Durst's Blog, page 52

To Punctuation, With Love

The serial comma suffered a serious blow the other day. The University of Oxford Public Affairs Directorate deemed it unnecessary. This disavowal carried weight because the serial comma (i.e. the comma before the "and" in a series of nouns, such as "dragons, unicorns, and were-llamas") is nicknamed the Oxford comma.

I like that a punctuation mark can have a nickname. I think I shall call semicolons Fred.

Fred is one of my favorite punctuation marks; he holds a special place in my heart... a place right between two independent clauses... :)

But I digress.

Anyway, I am a strong supporter of the serial comma. Think how its absence changes this infamous, yet apocryphal, book dedication: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God."

Really, though, I love all commas. And all punctuation. Commas, periods, semicolons, dashes, ellipses... they are the silence between the notes. Just as essential to the music as the sounds.

Do you have a favorite punctuation mark? What do you think about Fred?

Kirkus Review for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE!!!

Eeeeeeeee!!! Look what my editor just sent me -- the very first trade review for DRINK, SLAY, LOVE! And it's good!! Eeeeeeeeee!!!

Please excuse all my eeeeeeeeeee-ing, but I'm just so happy about this. (And relieved...) And HAPPY! (And RELIEVED!) It's hard to describe the intricate blend of emotions that authors experience when a new book is coming out. For me, there's a feeling of great accomplishment and joy, certainly, but no matter how proud I am of my work, there's always some anxiety too. And by "some anxiety" I mean TOTAL PANIC!!! Will they like it? Will they?! WILL THEY?!?! So when the first big trade publication comes out with their review, it's a tense moment to say the least. I hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and then... gritting my teeth... crossing my fingers... I... I... I totally wimp out and make my husband read it first. :) But I digress.....

Check out what Kirkus Reviews had to say about my new precious:


DRINK SLAY LOVE (reviewed on July 1, 2011)

A unicorn gives new life to the now-tired teen supernatural romance—kind of literally.

Being a teenager really sucks. But life is carefree for Pearl, 16 years old, beautiful, a born vampire with a hot boyfriend and tasty pickings at the all-night ice-cream stand. At least it seems carefree…until she's stabbed by a unicorn. Suddenly, she can walk in the sun without burning up. She can attend school, make friends with kids who used to be prey and maybe even have a life away from her very scary mother. Her vampire kin can't understand it—but they can hardly wait to take advantage of it. With the King of New England coming to initiate new members of the local clans into vampire aristocracy, Pearl's family has been chosen to provide the feast. And what makes a better feast than the junior class? If only Pearl weren't beginning to develop a conscience. What to do…stay loyal to family or preserve the life of her new BFF? Decisions, decisions. Combining a sense of humor with dark appeal of supernatural romance, this book is funny, scary and thought provoking all at once. Pearl is a feisty heroine who meets her match in the unicorn, who refuses to give up on her.

Even jaded fans of the supernatural will find fun in this one. (Paranormal. 14 & up)

-- Kirkus Reviews


Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Today, I am a very happy Sarah.

Australia and New Zealand

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!

I would like to take this opportunity to profess my deep and undying love for the nations of Australia and New Zealand!


Okay, I have never actually been to Australia or New Zealand. But I have heard that they're both amazingly beautiful and that, upon arrival, every visitor receives a baby koala of his or her very own to take home as a souvenir. And I have also heard that this fall, visitors and residents alike will be able to read my new novel Drink, Slay, Love while they cuddle their complimentary koalas!!!

That's right! I am thrilled to report that the Australia/New Zealand rights to Drink, Slay, Love have been purchased by publisher Allen & Unwin, which means the book will be coming out in Australia and New Zealand around the same time it comes out in the US and Canada! I believe the AUS/NZ edition will have the same cover as the North American edition and will be released sometime in October 2011.

Sadly, reports about the complimentary koalas have yet to be confirmed.....

Website Redesign and DRINK, SLAY, LOVE Excerpt

I revamped my website! (Get it? ReVAMPed. Ah, so many puns, so little time...) Check it out in all its vampirey splendor:

www.sarahbethdurst.com

What do you think???

Also, I am very excited to share with you the first chapter of my upcoming novel DRINK, SLAY, LOVE! You can access it through the Excerpts page of my website, but here's how it starts:

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

Her boyfriend, Jadrien, stretched out on the roof of Outback Steakhouse. He was a shadow, a lovely shadow, against the green tin. "Come back up, Pearl," he said. "I'll compare your eyes to stars, your lips to rubies, and your breath to industrial-strength air freshener."

"Your charm and sincerity overwhelm me."

Rolling onto his knees, Jadrien clasped his hands to his heart. "Oh, Pearl, jewel of my heart, light in my darkness, grace me with your nearness so I might feast upon your loveliness."

Pearl laughed, even as she admired his silhouette. His silk shirt rippled in the night breeze. "I want to feast on mint chocolate chip. Or maybe Chunky Monkey."

"You can taste the difference?"

"Mint chocolate chip, sharp and clean like an ocean breeze. Black raspberry, rich and smooth as a summer night. Bubble-gum ice cream..." She faked a shudder. "Oh, the horror, the horror."

Click here to continue reading.

Enjoy!!!

BEA 2011

I had a fantastic time this week at BEA (Book Expo America, an enormous annual convention focused on forthcoming books) as proven by the contents of my suitcase:


*sighs with delight*

But BEA is about more than the books. It's also about eating mashed potato martinis:


And greeting childhood icons:


(The only thing I could think of to say was "I admire your work." Really, Sarah? Mrs. Brady, I admire your work??)

Okay, so it's really about books. And talking about books with other people who love books. I had so many great conversations with so many fantastic people that I feel literally dizzy when I think about it. Here's me with Laini Taylor and Marie Rutkoski, two absolutely awesome writer friends of mine:


I can't wait for next year!

Reading About Writing

I love reading about writing.

When I first decided that I wanted to be a writer, one of the first things that I did was empty my hometown library of every "how to write" book I could find. I poured over those books, taking copious notes as if I were unlocking the secrets to the universe.

I was ten years old, and I believed that books held the answer to every question, the solution to every problem, and the map to every dream.

Okay, I still believe that.

These days, one of my favorite things to do online (along with checking out cake wrecks and fashion commentary) is read about writing. In case you're interested, here are a bunch that I bookmarked recently:

"The Ever-Popular I Suck Playlist" by Libba Bray

"How Not to Bug the F*** Out When Writing a Novel" by Chuck Wendig

"'Don't listen to them. They're both wrong.' And other reasons I love Steven Tyler" by Jo Knowles

"Making Story Happen" by Laini Taylor

"How to Steal Like an Artist" by Austin Kleon

"Writing Better" by Megan Crewe

"Choose Your Own Adventure" by Jessica Tudor

"And the Magic Begins" interview with Terry Pratchett

"Love What You Love" by Ray Bradbury (via Boing Boing)

"Our Best Advice for Writing Fantasy" on Enchanted Inkpot

"How Science Fiction Movies Can Help You Write Novels" by John Scalzi

"How to Survive a First Draft" by Delia Sherman

"Writing Weirdness" by Carrie Jones

"The Things That Save Us" by Terri Windling

Anyone have any writing-about-writing links you'd like to share? Any favorite writing-related sites or blogs?

In addition to reading about writing, I've also learned a lot about writing and publishing by hanging out with all manner of bookish people every chance I get, which is exactly what I'll be doing this week. I'm headed to Book Expo America (BEA), a huge gathering of booksellers, publishers, authors, etc at the Javits Center in NYC. Really looking forward to it!

Awesome Quiltiness

I am on a quilt! Not sitting on a quilt, but in the quilt itself. And not literally me... though I am suddenly picturing a little quilt Sarah frolicking across an applique meadow beneath embroidered clouds. And then I'm chased by geometric triangles that want to chomp me up like Pac-Man, but I defend myself by brandishing the Magic Needle of...

And this is exactly why I outline when I write. Stay on target, Sarah.

Speaking of Pac-Man, why was the ghost Clyde changed to Sue in Ms. Pac-Man?

And speaking of quilts, I want to show you a photo of the quilt I'm in. First, though, a little background:

Last Saturday, I visited Northboro, Massachusetts -- my hometown and the setting of my debut novel, Into the Wild -- for the dedication of an Author/Illustrator Quilt to celebrate the Northborough Free Library's newly renovated Children's Room. Ten authors/illustrators are featured in squares on this quilt: Jan Brett, Marc Brown, Andrew Clements, Tomie dePaola, Sarah Beth Durst (hey, that's me!), Jack Gantos, Modricai Gerstein, Lois Lowry, Lane Smith, and Jane Yolen.

Here's my square (with images based on my novel Into the Wild):


And here's the whole quilt:


How cool is that?

This library is the place where I fell in love with books. Very cool to know that I have a presence there even though I now live in another state. Thanks, Northboro Library, for the lovely day, the lovely quilt, and the lovely memories!

Northborough Free Library Author/Illustrator Quilt

I love libraries in the way that a chocoholic loves a Godiva Easter bunny.

I blame my mother, who took me to the library so often that I was literally the poster child for Kid Obtaining First Library Card:


This photo was taken at the Northboro Library (or more accurately, the Northborough Free Library -- the town has become fancier since I left it, restoring the more formal "ugh" to its name and requiring all citizens to wear cravats).

This is the place where I discovered Diana Wynne Jones, Lloyd Alexander, Ruth Chew, and Tamora Pierce. I remember exactly where the shelves were that held all the Encyclopedia Brown books, and I remember sneaking into the grown-up section to find Watership Down. (I really did sneak. I assume I was afraid an adult would spot me, shout "Under Age Reader!", and a team from the Militant Branch of the ALA would rappel from the windows to capture me.)

This same library appears in chapter 7 of my debut novel, Into the Wild. Julie hides from Cinderella and Goldilocks here, and the Three Blind Mice live in the Children's Room. (The Children's Room actually did have hamsters. I don't think they talked, though. Perhaps after hours...)

Over the past couple years, the Northboro Library underwent major renovations. And now that it's all new and fancy, they've planned a lovely event where they will dedicate an author/illustrator quilt and hang it in the brand new Children's Room. The quilt was created by a group of talented local quilters who incorporated scenes from ten children's books along with quilt pieces signed by the authors or illustrators. I had the honor of contributing my signature when I was last at the library and am absolutely thrilled that a scene from Into the Wild has been included on the quilt.

The Author/Illustrator Quilt Dedication is this Saturday at the new Northboro Library. I'll be there, as will Andrew Clements, the author of Frindle as well as many other wonderful books. Here are the details if you'd like to join us:

Saturday, May 14, 2011 from 11am to 1pm
Author/Illustrator Quilt Dedication
Northborough Free Library
34 Main Street, Northborough, MA

Refreshments will be served (though I cannot promise any Godiva bunnies).

If you're in the area, I hope to see you there!

Royal Wedding

I think I need to watch the royal wedding tomorrow. Really, I hadn't paid any attention to the hype and hoopla and hullabaloo surrounding the event until this morning, when my brain made this startling connection:

Kate = Bride = Princess = The Princess Bride!!!

And as everyone knows, The Princess Bride is the best movie ever. (Well, with the obvious exception of Star Wars, which also has a princess. But now that her planet's been blown to bits, can she really still be regarded as a princess? What's she the princess of? It's a gray area, certainly. But I digress...)

And as everyone knows, the wedding scene from The Princess Bride is the best wedding scene ever. So my brain expects that Kate and William's wedding will be pretty much like this...



Which would be AWESOME!!! Though, perhaps unlikely. So congrats to Kate and William! May you have a lovely wedding tomorrow and a long and happy mawage.

And by the way, I totally want this t-shirt:

Writing and Music

I love to listen to music when I write.

I used to be strictly an instrumental writing-music kind of girl: Debussy's Reverie, Ray Lynch's Celestial Soda Pop, Ravel's Bolero. Sometimes I listened to more fantasy-mood type music: Enya, Loreena McKennitt, Neverending Story soundtrack, or the scores from various Cirque du Soleil shows. While I wrote Ice, I listened to "Arctic Echoes" by Dan Gibson. It includes walrus noises. I'm betting there aren't many songs out there that include walrus grunts.

Drink, Slay, Love was the first novel that I wrote with an actual playlist, which I'll share closer to the book's release.

Lately, I am loving starting my writing sessions with "you can do it!" anthems, like Katy Perry's Firework, Athena Cage's All or Nothing, or Eminem's Lose Yourself. But my current favorite is:



I am mildly embarrassed to adore a song by a man who inserts punctuation into his name.

Do you work to music? If so, what kind?