Catch Up: Bidness and Pop Culture

2011 was a great year for my career, but I think 2012 is going to be even better:

We've got the prequel to the Maze Runner series coming in August. (What? You didn't hear about THE KILL ORDER? Then CLICK HERE.)

We've got the debut of INFINITY RING from Scholastic coming in September. (What? You didn't hear about that? Then CLICK HERE.)

But that's not all. There's much more to come and to be announced. There'll be a new, and amazing, James Dashner website debuting in a couple of months. A place for all of us to gather. And maybe this is the year that the movie gets green lit for production. Who knows? And I might even have a new book written that you don't know about yet. Lots of fun things to come.

So what's been on my mind lately? I'll do fun things first, then more book-related stuff last. Let's see...

Fun things:

1. This is going to be a great year for movies and I can hardly stand the wait. Hunger Games, Dark Knight, Prometheus, The Hobbit, lots of other stuff. I have two things in my head constantly: the haunting chant from the Batman trailer and the cool song by the dwarves in the Hobbit trailer. Yowza, my level of dorkiness is truly disturbing.

2. By the way, weird thing about me: I don't usually watch trailers. I go to great lengths to avoid them because I HATE the spoilers. But I just couldn't resist with the two mentioned above.

3. What I'm reading: THE LITIGATORS by John Grisham. I know, completely random, but it'd been a long time since I'd read a Grisham book and I used to love them. It's pretty good so far.

4. Let's continue branding my dorkiness: I really, really liked the new Mission Impossible movie. I saw it twice. And I almost cried at the end of the second one solely for the reason that I thought, man, that was truly a masterpiece of tension and suspense. And plus I love Tom Cruise. He's so good at looking scared and anxious. It's good to have him back!!!

4.5. Not coincidentally, I'm imagining the main character in Grisham's book as Tom Cruise from The Firm. Boom.

5. I've also discovered the magic of some TV shows that I missed the first time around. Breaking Bad especially. Besides the holy and hallowed Lost, this is now my favorite show of all time. Excellent on every level. I seriously can't believe how good it is, and I'm so mad that I'm now caught up and have to actually wait for the fifth and final season.

6. Others I've discovered: The Wire, Dexter, and Boardwalk Empire. And, of course, sealing my dorkiness once and for all, I'm so happy to see the return of Downton Abbey. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please don't ask.

7. You may wonder, when does this lazy sack James Dashner actually write books? Well, I take a page from my idol, Stephen King (known to me as Uncle Stevie. And to millions of other people.) I need the creative stimulation of books, TV, and movies to keep my writing juices flowing. For example, an episode of a TV show is the perfect-sized break during the day, and gets my idea factory churning at full speed.

8. Yes, I realize I have the greatest job on Earth. And I NEVER take it for granted. I'm extremely thankful to my readers for allowing me to do the things I love for a living.

9. Let me know what kind of pop culture things you're enjoying in the comments!

Book-related stuff:

1. Finishing up the prequel. I'm very proud of it and I think you guys are really going to love it. It may not be about what you think or assume it will be about. Let's just say there's a whole cast of new characters. And we see first hand all the horrible things that happened to make the events of the trilogy necessary in the first place. How's that for a teaser?

2. Covers. We'll be revealing the covers for the two books mentioned at the top very soon. I've seen the initial one for THE KILL ORDER and I absolutely love it. The artist, Philip Straub, has done all four books, and he's just amazing. (I'm pretty sure THE DEATH CURE will be my favorite book cover of all time.)

3. For you educators out there, I wanted to let you know about a really cool study guide that Random House created for the entire Maze Runner series. It's great for students and discussion. You can view it online, CLICK HERE.

4. I was really honored to have Death Cure chosen as one of nine "Best Books of 2011" for teens by Barnes and Noble. Check it out: CLICK HERE.

5. I've started a new program with my local indie bookstore, The King's English, to sign and personalize books for people who order them through their website. It's a great way for you to have my signature in your book if you can't make it to my events. For more information, CLICK HERE.

6. Is it me, or do we have a lot of links in this posting? It's starting to get annoying, so here's the last one: If you've had an uncontrollable urge to see a corner of my office, today is your lucky day! Scholastic does a feature where they show bookshelves of various authors, and they recently had me on there. Check it out: CLICK HERE.

If you haven't already, be sure and follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Talk again soon...

Don't forget to tell us in the comments about your pop culture likes or dislikes lately! Focus on the likes, actually.

Infinity Ring and Scholastic

I'm very excited and honored to be a part of a very big announcement today! Infinity Ring, a new 7-book multi-platform series that is a collaborative effort between myself, the great people at Scholastic, and five other incredible authors: Jen Nielsen, Matt Kirby, Matt de la Pena, Carrie Ryan, and Lisa McMann.

I've known about this for a long time, and it's so great to finally share the news with you guys. It's surreal and amazing to be working with Scholastic on a project this big.

There'll be much more to come, but I feel like I can't say it any better than the New York Times. We're on the front page of the Arts Section today, so go pick up a copy!

Or... you can read it online: CLICK HERE.

Also, for more details, read the official announcement on the Scholastic website: CLICK HERE.

The website and online game for this is going to blow you away. It's not live yet, but you can see the cool logo: CLICK HERE.

I'm so incredibly excited about this! I'll blog again soon and give you more nitty gritty details.

Announcement: The Maze Runner Prequel

I'm very happy to finally share some exciting news that has been brewing for a very long time. It's a story that was born even before The Maze Runner was written.

I can't say it any better than the press release from Random House and Delacorte Books. So, here goes. Be sure and visit the official website for more information (and to play the new Scorch Trials game!): CLICK HERE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Delacorte Press Books

Announces Prequel to James Dashner’s

New York Times Bestselling Maze Runner Trilogy

THE KILL ORDER to be published in August 2012

New York, NY, November 21, 2011— Fast on the heels of the publication of The Death Cure, the third novel in James Dashner’s New York Times bestselling trilogy, comes the news that Dashner will be releasing a prequel to the series, entitled THE KILL ORDER on August 14, 2012. The announcement and acquisition was made by Beverly Horowitz, Vice President and Publisher of Delacorte Press Books from Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. Krista Marino, Executive Editor with Delacorte Press Books, who worked with Dashner on The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure, is also the editor of THE KILL ORDER. Rights for the audiobook, which will be available on CD and as a digital download, were secured by Rebecca Waugh of Listening Library, a division of Random House, from Lauren Abramo of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares seared the earth and mankind fell to disease. THE KILL ORDER tells the story of that fall. “The prequel is something that has churned in my mind since before The Maze Runner was even complete. It's been hard to keep it a secret! I'm excited to finally share the news and I can't wait for my readers to see how it all began," shared Dashner. Since the inception of the series, fans have clamored to know more. THE KILL ORDER will answer their most burning questions.

There are currently one million copies of The Maze Runner books in print. All three volumes have been New York Times bestsellers. On October 11^th the riveting conclusion, The Death Cure, was published and became an instant bestseller. In the novel, the truth behind WICKED was finally and thrillingly revealed. The first volume in the series, The Maze Runner, was published in October 2009 to both great anticipation and critical acclaim. Packed with intrigue and action, The Maze Runner was a hit upon publication, becoming a standout in the dystopian genre which has since exploded in popularity among young adult readers. The sequel, The Scorch Trials, followed in October 2010, with the story picking up a mere four hours after The Maze Runner left off. The heart-stopping sequel brought further acclaim and a widening fan base to the series.

James Dashner is also the author of the 13th Reality series. James was born and raised in Georgia, but now lives in the Rocky Mountains with his family. Visit him at www.jamesdashner.com or follow him on Twitter (@jamesdashner).

Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company. Visit us on the Web at www.randomhouse.com/teens.

Visit TheMazeRunner.com & become a fan of The Maze Runner Trilogy on Facebook

Dave Wolverton - Dystopia

(QUICK NOTE: I'm signing at the Costco in Sandy UT this Saturday (the 12th) at 1 pm.)

I'm honored to call myself a friend (and student) of Dave Wolverton, aka David Farland. He has a new book out called NIGHTINGALE, and I've read it, and it's awesome. I highly recommend it. Also, he's doing a blog tour and has written a guest post exclusive to the Dashner Dude. On a topic that I chose (Dystopias and why they're popular). In other words, Dave Wolverton is not only a genius, but a major stud.

You can find out more about him and his book at the following website: CLICK HERE. You'll be amazed enough at the website.

Okay, here are the words of the man himself:

Writing in the Ruins

Dystopias sell, and they’ve been on a long run. Certainly, when H.G. Wells wrote the The Time Machine he was dealing with dystopias, but one can go back further than that. Consider Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist. Doesn’t the story of a boy forced into a workhouse and then escaping to the mean streets of London during an unending depression qualify as a dystopia?

As a child, I recall that many of my fantasies revolved around horrifying scenarios. What if the Russians took over? What if aliens attacked? Wells beat us all to it. What if there was a nuclear war? What if we run out of food and have to start eating each other? What if some weird religious cult took over and tried to force women back into slavery?

You get the idea. There are a lot of ways that the world can end, and all of the scenarios above have been turned into very popular movies and books. So what’s the attraction?

First, I think that we recognize that thinking about the “unthinkable” is a valuable activity. Simply by envisioning the consequences, say, a disaster, we can alter the course of history.

When I was a child, I recall having several school teachers who believed that a nuclear war between the US and Russia was inevitable. Certainly the rhetoric was all there, and Fidel Castro recounts how he begged the Soviet Union to let him launch missiles into the U.S. and start an all-out nuclear war. He says that he knew that Cuba would be wiped off the map in the resulting counter-attack, but he was willing to sacrifice his nation.

But that never gelled. Why?

Probably because a few world leaders understood the consequences all too well. They’d read books by geeky sci-fi writers like me, set a thousand years in the future, where radioactive clouds still swept across the face of a struggling earth, and generations of children, burned and scarred and cancerous, sought to eke out a miserable existence because of their ancestors’ mistakes.

So we dodged a bullet. In fact, we’ve dodged a lot of them. I recall once that a newspaper pointed out during the 1970s that the Russians had enough nerve gas to kill every living creature on the planet 10,000 times over. The next day, President Nixon announced that the U.S. had enough nerve gas to kill everything on the planet 60,000 times over. My, wasn’t that comforting.

It wasn’t long until both countries began destroying their chemical weapons arsenals. In fact, within the next few months, the U.S. will have burned up all of its old munitions—a process that has taken twenty years.

We’ve dodged bullets with industrial pollution, viral outbreaks, and economic ruin over and over again, and much of that success I’m sure comes as a result of the forewarnings by storytellers.

That said, think that readers have other reasons for devouring dystopic fiction. The truth is that when we’re reading fiction, we often enjoy thrusting ourselves into a world, into an imagined scenario, that would crush us in real life. Want to get captured as a child and sold into slavery? Want to die and find out what happens next? Want to see what happens when an asteroid the size of the moon strikes Chicago.

Catastrophes and dystopias make for good fiction in part because they’re not real. No matter how well I write a scene, how well you experience it in fiction, you know that the story isn’t real. (I did have a schizophrenic read one of my novels once, and months later he seemed to believe that he had actually been on another planet and lived through the adventures I had described. Don’t you do that!)

The truth is that all entertainment does roughly the same thing: it puts us in danger, yet keeps us safe. If you watch a football game, you feel a sense of emotional jeopardy as your team is pitted against another. If you jump out of an airplane, you’re putting yourself in physical danger as you wait to see if your parachute opens. Entertaining activities all put us in some sort of jeopardy.

Reading a story is much like any other form of entertainment. Part of our mind accepts the story as truth. Our heart might race when the hero is being chased by a monster. We might weep as the heroine finds her true love. When watching a movie, we scream when the killer leaps from the closet.

When we enjoy a story set in stark and horrifying dystopia, we’re performing an emotional exercise, one that helps us cope with our own real-world problems just a little better. So in a very real sense, reading a story is like going to the gym, where you practice powerful emotional exercises. The setting, the dystopia, is just a part of the exercise equipment.

In short, we enjoy stories set in dystopias because on a subconscious level, we recognize that they’re good for us.

In his latest novel, Nightingale, award-winning, New York Times Bestselling author David Farland imagines a dystopia unlike any that has ever been visited in fiction. Be among the first to discover this thrilling and powerful story. Go to www.nightingalenovel.com.

The Death Cure Trailer, Tour

I can't believe it. The book finally comes out tomorrow. It's here! Some of you will be reading it in a matter of hours when it becomes available on e-readers at midnight. I know, because you've been telling me on Twitter and Facebook. I'm just as excited as you are!!

To add to that excitement, check out this really cool book trailer that Random House commissioned. To avoid spoilers of the third book, it's a quick glimpse of Thomas in the white room, remembering the terror of The Scorch Trials. Watch it:

CLICK HERE

There's also a cool video game that they've developed that can be played on either your computer or your phone. Look for that soon.

Tomorrow is the day. I thought I'd have an amazing speech and all kinds of profound things to say. But really I just feel kind of surreal. This story has been bouncing around in my head for years, and everyone finally gets to read the ending. I really hope you like it.

I'm going to be on tour the next three weeks, and I want to stay connected with you guys. I'll be doing lots of updates via Twitter and Facebook, giving you a glimpse of what it's like to be out there. Don't follow me there yet? Well, then...

To follow me on Twitter: CLICK HERE

To friend me on Facebook: CLICK HERE

The official Facebook series page: CLICK HERE

The official Maze Runner website: CLICK HERE

And, finally, to check out all my tour dates and appearances, please CLICK HERE. I really want you guys to come out and meet me!!

Please let me know what you think of everything in the comments. The trailer, the book, the tour, whatever. I love to hear from you. Talk again soon, and happy reading!

New Podcast, and Winners!

Again, with that plural form of the word. Yes, we'll be sending out four copies of THE DEATH CURE to four of you. Sorry, but only four! Thanks for all the amazing comments, compliments, and feedback regarding our new podcast.

Before I announce the winners (heehee), I want to make sure you know that today, as with every Monday, there is a new episode of Wordplay up for your listening pleasure. And this one is especially awesome because we have a guest, and his name is Michael Bourret, and he's my agent. And he knows SO MUCH about the industry. So be sure and tune in!

CLICK HERE to go to the website.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

I'm going to talk about football! Yes, my son had an interception in his game and was named the Defensive Player of the Game by his coaches. Huh? You couldn't care less? Okay.

Here are the winners. Be sure and get me your email address if you already haven't. Maybe you should again just to make sure I have the correct one. Congrats!!!

1. Melina, Reading Vacation

2. Danyelle Ferguson

3. Bethany

4. Gabriela Villegas

THE DEATH CURE comes out 4 weeks from tomorrow! If you missed the official tour schedule, CLICK HERE.

Tour Dates for The Death Cure

It's hard to believe, but tour time is almost here again. I'll be visiting all over the country, so I really hope a lot of you can come out and meet me. It's going to be a lot of fun! And, most of all, I'm so excited for everyone to finally find out how the trilogy ends and why it all happened in the first place.

So, here you go. Because we all know how to use Google and Maps, I'm not going to put addresses. Deal? Deal. Giving someone an address went out with the demise of the flip-phone.

Let us know in the comments if you're planning to make it out to one of these events! Can't wait:

Salt Lake City, UT
• October 11, 7:00 p.m. The King’s English Bookshop

San Francisco, CA
• October 13, 7:00 p.m. Rakestraw Books, Danville
• October 14, 7:00 p.m. Kepler’s Books, Menlo Park

Seattle, WA
• October 15, 4:00 p.m. Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park
• October 16, 2:00 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Lynwood

Phoenix, AZ
• October 18, 6:00 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Desert Ridge Marketplace

Austin, TX
• October 22-23, Texas Book Festival

Chicago, IL
• October 24, 7:00 p.m. Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville

Milwaukee, WI
• October 25, 6:30 p.m. Greenfield Public Library

Vancouver, BC
• October 26, 7:00 p.m. Vancouver Kidsbooks, at the venue of West Point United Church Sanctuary

Atlanta, GA
• October 30, 2:00 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Alpharetta
• October 30, 7:00 p.m. Little Shop of Stories, Decatur

Las Vegas, NV

• November 3-5, Vegas Valley Book Festival

I'll also be attending conferences in Billings, MT and Lexington, KY, but I don't think they are open to the public.

If I'm missing your area this time around, I'm sorry! Keep bugging Random House and maybe you'll get on the list next tour. But I'll be sure to stay well connected throughout my time on the road.

Note: Did you enter for a chance to win an advanced copy of THE DEATH CURE? No? Then CLICK HERE to do so. The winners will be announced on Monday the 12th. (Notice the plural usage of the word winner...)

Want a copy of THE DEATH CURE?

Today's blog will be short.

Our second episode ever of the Wordplay Podcast is now up and running. Our guest this week is Ally Condie, author of MATCHED, and you can actually win a signed copy of it if you go and listen.

I'm also, as promised, throwing in a chance to win an advanced copy of THE DEATH CURE just for fun. To enter for this chance, all you have to do is post a comment on this here blog and tell us something you liked, learned, hated, ANYTHING, about the podcast from either this week or last week.

Simple right?

To go to the official Wordplay website, CLICK HERE!!!

EDIT: For those of you looking for it on iTunes, CLICK HERE

New Podcast!!!

Hi everyone! It's September 1, the beginning of the best four months of the year. And right on cue, a cool front has come through and the high today will only be 82. Nice.

I know I've promised a contest or giveaway of some sort for an advance copy of THE DEATH CURE. Well, that is coming very, very soon. Like, Monday or Tuesday soon.

But, I wanted to make sure I got on here and announced a pretty exciting thing that I'm involved with. A podcast. A very cool podcast that I think you'll want to listen to every single week for the rest of your lives.

It's called Wordplay, and I'm doing it with two extraordinary (not just ordinary - they are EXTRA ordinary) people:

Jeff Scott Savage, author of FARWORLD and my mentor, who just sold a series to Harper Collins, tentatively titled THE GRIMVILLE CASE FILES. This guy knows more about writing than any other person I've ever spoken to or heard speak. And that's saying a lot.

Nathan Bransford, author of JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW. He also used to be a literary agent and is extremely respected in the industry for his vast wealth of knowledge. Plus, check out the title of his book. I mean, come on.

The podcast will be about anything and everything to do with books, reading, writing, agents, publishers, you name it. We're even going to have a special podcast once a month aimed for teachers and kids. Each one will be about 20 minutes long, once a week, so you don't have to quit your jobs or anything to listen.

Jeff has really taken this thing by the horns and organized it so well. You can learn everything there is to know about it at the website he set up: CLICK HERE. You might want to bookmark that and check back every Monday for the latest episode.

The first one is already up for your listening pleasure. By the way, it's free. And you can even get it on iTunes because we're cool that way. AND, check this out: We just started and yet look at the two AMAZING guests we're going to have in the next two or three weeks:

Michael Bourret, recently awarded the Best Agent Ever award (by me) and a Vice President with the incredible agency, Dystel & Goderich.

Ally Condie, the NYT Bestselling (mega bestselling) author of MATCHED and the upcoming sequel, CROSSED. We plan to have many, many awesome guests on this podcast, and what a way to start.

So there you have it. Check out the website and listen to the first episode ever. You'll quickly learn that I'm the dumbest and goofiest-sounding of the three, but I think you'll enjoy it and maybe even learn something.

Once again, here is the website: www.wordplaypodcast.com

Also, since I've shocked the world by blogging three times in the last week or two, be sure and read my last couple of posts if you missed them, including the great review we got from Kirkus. Talk to ya next week!

Kirkus Review of The Death Cure

Wow, we are very excited to announce that Kirkus has given THE DEATH CURE an extremely positive review!!! (And yes, I'm aware that I've now blogged twice this week. Booyah.)

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I've been so scared at how this book would be received since the last in a series is always held up to huge standards with lots of expectations. But this is the strongest validation we could've hoped for at this early stage.

Non-spoiler line: "Dashner again displays his mastery of the action sequence, making readers turn pages even as they become further invested in the well-developed characters.‬ ‪Heart pounding to the very last moment."

The full review is below, but I'm giving you a major warning. This review is FULL of spoilers. Full of them. Big ones. So if you don't like to know that kind of stuff, please don't read it.

SPOILER ALERT

Full Kirkus Review:

An explosive ending to The Maze Runner trilogy.‬

‪Thomas and the rest of the survivors of the Maze and the Scorch Trials are being held at WICKED (World in Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department) headquarters. Subjected to even more tests, they’ve learned enough to know that they’re all part of a massive experiment to find a cure for the pandemic Flare disease. But does any cure justify what they’ve been put through? Or the engineered deaths of their friends? It’s hard to believe that “WICKED is good,” even though that’s the message they’re bombarded with.

Discouraged, rebellious and definitely not trusting, Thomas, Newt, Minho, Brenda and Jorge break out and escape to Denver, now a walled city meant to be reserved for the uninfected and the immune. But it’s all too clear that Newt has already been infected and is teetering on the verge of madness. It’s equally clear that WICKED has put a bounty on their heads and won’t rest until they have these survivors back in hand—especially Thomas, who may have been part of all the experiments from the very beginning and is now the Final Candidate. Dashner again displays his mastery of the action sequence, making readers turn pages even as they become further invested in the well-developed characters.‬

‪Heart pounding to the very last moment.

(Science fiction/thriller. 12 and up)‬