Thomas, Aphrodite. Aphrodite, Thomas.

We sold Greek rights to THE MAZE RUNNER trilogy!

I was very excited to hear this from Lauren Abramo at my agency last week. (Thanks Lauren!) It just seems cool. Storytelling has such deep roots in the country of Greece, not to mention all of the history. I can't wait. Somebody out there tell us what the title will be in Greek.

The publisher is Platypous, and they've recently published TWILIGHT and THE HUNGER GAMES, so it's great company to be in. Looks like they're very excited and will try to get the first book out by spring of next year.

For those of you who missed it, we had a fun weekend of people telling us odd things about themselves. We had an OCD tighty-whitey guy, a real vampire and, my personal favorite, someone who loves "blood and body organs and guts and stuff like that." I couldn't make this stuff up.

Since a lot of you were out doing less important things than hanging out at the Dashner Dude this past weekend, let's continue the confessions. Tell us something odd or unusual about yourself!

Midnight Train to Georgia

Well, now that we're all settled into our nice new house, I'm leaving for a week. Goin' home to Georgia for the Dashner Family Reunion (which is basically my immediate family and nephews and nieces - there aren't many Dashners in the world).

Since we won't be doing much but sitting around eating Doritos and making crass jokes, I hope to get some writing done and keep up with the bloggermeister. So stay tuned. Maybe I'll do some pictures.

By the way, The 13th Reality Book 3 is now about 55,000 words, for those of you scoring at home.

Also, I'll be posting some good news on Monday.

I'll need entertainment during my travels, so I'd like my faithful Dashner Duders to help me out. In the comments, tell us something odd or or unique about yourself. No limit on how many things. The more oddity, the merrier! (This is probably a bad time to do this, since everyone seems to vacation from blog commenting over the weekend. Oh well. If we don't get many, we'll continue it next week.)

I'll start: The old-timers already know this, but I refuse to watch movie previews. They ruin the movie every time. This takes a lot of effort and meticulous planning, but somehow I manage.

Have a great weekend!

All's Quiet on the Dashner Front

I know it's been a whole week since I posted, but I have an excuse: We moved. Anyone who has ever moved feels our pain and understands. Thanks. But I'm back!

So you would think I have a ton to talk about, but I just spent three entire minutes staring at the computer screen. Is my life really this dull? Or maybe I'm gaining a complex about people actually being interested in what I do every day as an author. And I feel like I'm starting to repeat myself. Or "brag" too much with the good news.

Maybe I should just shut up and quit philosophizing. So here's another one of my random lists:

1. Finally saw Transformers 2 last night. It offended me on two levels. First, as a writer. The jokes just weren't funny. And there were a LOT of jokes. Including from the robots. Joking robots. Wow.

Which leads me to the second level. All those silly robots, you'd think it's a kid's movie. WRONG. Now, anyone who knows me knows very well that I'm not a prude. Far from it. But the off color and raunchy jokes in this movie not only were stupid and non-funny, they were inappropriate for kids. I groaned and rolled my eyes so often, I think I made myself kind of dizzy pukey.

Having said that, I still had a good time watching all those amazing special effects and lots of things blowing up. And the sounds. Loved all that mechanized sound.

2. As part of our move, we had to, um, get a new TV. Right? Of course. I did decide to stay reasonable and modest by only getting a 55 incher. Har har. Hey, I don't make many splurge purchases, and in eleven years of marriage this is only the second TV I've ever purchased. So there.

3. I thought I was getting a plasma TV, and it wasn't until 2 days after I'd bought it that my brother-in-law Chris happened to actually look at the box and tell me it was an LCD. I swear the dude at Best Buy told me it was a plasma! I felt like such an idiot.

However, I can't imagine the picture looking any better. They gave me King Kong in Blu-Ray for "free" and it looks so amazing it hurts my eyeballs (in a wonderful way). So, does anyone out there have an opinion? Should I just stick with this LCD and be happy, or should I swap it for a plasma? (They're roughly the same price.)

4. Whenever I talk about stuff like that I feel kind of horrible because it's so trivial and shallow and the world has much bigger problems. But, quite honestly, TV and movies are a huge part of my inspiration for writing, and without my writing, I can't help kids read and make money so I can donate to charity. True that.

5. My agent (Michael Bourret) found out what my first print run will be for THE MAZE RUNNER. He told me I can't tell you. See how mean these pub types are! But I'll just say this: it's big enough that you'll be able to find out in Publisher's Weekly. Did I just type that out loud? Oops.

6. Speaking of MAZE, do you realize it comes out in 90 days? 90 days! That's nothing. Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode. This month is July, and that always goes by fast. September is nothing - flies by with school starting and all that. August is the end of summer, so it's over before you know it. Only a few days in October. So, it's like 20 minutes really.

7. Working hard and heavy on Book 3 of THE 13TH REALITY. On pace to have it done by September 1st. I'm trying desperately to make a decision on the ending. A slight tweak would make it really, really cool, but slightly cliff-hangerish. It's killing me!!! I so want to do it. Probably will.

8. The Deseret News did a really nice article on me if you'd like to read it (it'll be in the actual paper this Thursday). CLICK HERE.

9. Preseason football starts in about a month. Everyone together now: Yippee skippee!!!!!!! This is indeed the Year of the Falcon and the Dawg.

10. I must have some kind of curse. Random House went through a ton of versions of the cover for MAZE before settling on the final one (which I love). Now it looks like Simon & Schuster is having the same issues with the paperbacks for 13th. They wanted something different from the hardbacks, got an artist, didn't think what he came up with was right, have moved on to something else. I'm just thrilled they're taking it so seriously! Can't wait to see the final verdict.

11. Why do I have the feeling that Michael is going to call me sometime today and tell me I put too much info on the blog again?

Kirkus Review of The Hunt for Dark Infinity

I realized today I never posted this really awesome review we received from Kirkus (months ago. doh!). They're one of the big ones, and we were really excited to have such a positive review. They've liked both books in The 13th Reality so far, which is a huge relief!

Here it is:

Tick, Paul and Sophia were brought together to solve a set of clues that led them into other dimensions in The Journal of Curious Letters (2008), the first installment in this intriguing series. They've spent the summer relaxing with building anticipation for their next call to action. It isn't long in coming. A message from Master George tells them to meet in the woods for transportation to headquarters and their next assignment. They're whisked away into another reality…but was it Master George who did the whisking?

The Realities are crumbling around the edges, and it is up to the trio to save the day. They race across surrealistic landscapes drawn from an imagination that crosses Salvador Dali with Baum's Land of Oz. Readers will be as puzzled as the characters, who tumble from one complex and outrageous situation to the next, rescued from each at the last minute—sometimes with no explanation. But it all holds together remarkably well, encouraging suspension of disbelief to make way for glorious flights of imagination. (Fantasy. 10 & up) (Kirkus Reviews, February 1, 2009)

I'll miss ya, Michael Jackson

I have to say, it really shocked me how saddened I was by the passing of Mr. Jackson yesterday. Honestly, I haven't even thought of him or his music for years unless a song randomly showed up on the radio. But watching the news coverage brought back a storm of memories and nostalgia.

I'm a child of the eighties. To my younger readers, that probably makes me sound as old as their Great Grandpa Whitaker runnin' around in his long johns scratchin' himself. But it wasn't THAT long ago if ya think about it.

Anyway, Michael Jackson is my generation's Elvis Presley. (Kids, go google that name. He lived before Zac Efron but after Abraham Lincoln.) Jackson is an icon. His music defined my childhood in many ways. He changed the industry. And to this day I love every single song on the Thriller album.

Do you realize that thing sold 48 MILLION copies? Do you have any idea how staggering that is? In today's world, if an artist sells ONE million they are considered a big success, and if they sell ten million they are an absolute super star. Twenty million would put you in the stratosphere.

Mr. Jackson sold 48 million. Of one album. Wow.

Well, I just wanted to pay a small tribute to him. I loved his music as a kid, and I've loved hearing so much of it the last couple of days as everyone is talking about him and paying respects. Also, the music video world changed forever with THRILLER. Watching that thing was an event for us, let me tell you.

And, ya know, we can all learn a valuable lesson from his later life. None of us will ever know if he did some of the things he was accused of. Maybe he deserves the benefit of the doubt. And yes, he was very eccentric. But the world branded him as a freak and made fun of him. Brutally and cruelly. Imagine if he'd been your son, or your brother, or your father. Shame on you, world. Shame on me.

The world also lost Farrah Fawcett yesterday (another major eighties icon). My wife taught me another valuable lesson. I said something about how unfair it was that Fawcett didn't get any real media tribute because it was the same day as Michael Jackson. My wife responded, "Well, most of us don't."

True that.

Summer. Ick.

Well, since it's officially summer, and I'm officially sweating, I thought I'd post a Top Ten list I did last year. Most of you are new to the Dashner Dude since then, so I hope you enjoy.

And hey, Amy left a golden opportunity for someone in the comments on my previous post. She's finished her advance copy of THE MAZE RUNNER and is willing to mail it to the first person who contacts her. Thanks Amy, and may the fastest person win!

Here's my list:

Top Ten Reasons I Hate Hot Weather

10. Often creates situations where two of the most unpleasant words in the English language are put together: SWEATY and ARMPITS.

9. Woman on street: Large. Her shorts: Small.

8. Ski resorts are closed. Answer me this: How come (I love those 2 words) we can send a man to the moon but can't figure out how to ski on dirt? Churn it up, make it soft, make some special skis. Come on!

7. LOST is not on TV. Neither is football. AMERICA'S GOT TALENT is. 'Nuff said.

6. Lots of people have no problem figuring out the first item to cut when a recession hits: deoderant.

5. When you get back into your parked car, it feels like Smaug the Dragon just sneezed the eternal flames of heck (I have young readers) inside.

4. Everyone likes to swim. Everyone wants to swim. Why do people like to swim? Wouldn't you rather be skiing? Why is it that when we swim, it's suddenly okay for everyone to see everyone else in their underwear, which 99 times out of 100 is a very unpleasant experience? Can you imagine going into the office for work one day and everyone was just chillin' in their swimsuits? Ew.

3. The kids are out of school. Um, no, um, I mean, rather, um, this is a reason why I LOVE summer! Yeah, that's it.

2. You can see everyone's feet. You can see everyone's stinky, long-nailed, dirty-bottomed, callused, toe-jam infested feet. Feet are disgusting. I can barely look at mine, let alone yours. Give me cold weather, heavy socks, and snow boots any day.

1. It means we're a LONG way from Turkey Day, my birthday, and Christmas, the best 30 day period of the year.

The Wednesday List

A list of random updates, thoughts, and shout outs:

1. The initial feedback on THE SCORCH TRIALS is really encouraging. By initital feedback I mean my wife Lynette and good friend J. Scott Savage. Both of them love it, and Scott even went so far as to say it's better than the first one. And he doesn't lie to me. Sometimes I wish he would. He can be a real jerk. And he smells funny, too. But I like him.

2. As of right now the release tour for THE MAZE RUNNER is scheduled to run from October 6th to October 24th and cover 8 to 10 cities. Do you realize that's only three and a half months away? Seriously! I can't wait.

3. I need to shift gears soon to completing THE BLADE OF SHATTERED HOPE (Book 3 of THE 13TH REALITY). Right now it's about halfway done, but I had to put it aside when we sold the sequels to MAZE a few months ago and received a tighter deadline. I've been reading back through what I'd written and it's complete and utter crap. Okay, just kidding. I like it a lot. But I have a lot of work to do, and it's due September 1st.

4. One thing I did remember is how much I love Tick Higginbottom. And I almost feel bad for the really, really awful thing I put him through on page 37 of the manuscript. Poor kid. He's going to need serious psychological help when this series is done.

5. I really want to give a shout out to my very good friend (and editor for 13TH) Lisa Mangum, who went and did something crazy and wrote her OWN book. Can you believe that? It's like Stephen Spielberg suddenly deciding he wants to be the star of one of his movies (kind of - work with me here). Well, Lisa did it, and she did an AWESOME job. It's a young adult paranormal romance trippy time travel freaky twisty creepy adventurous book.

It's called THE HOURGLASS DOOR and has a really awesome cover with even better stuff in between. CLICK HERE to find out more.

6. The cover artist for MAZE, Philip Straub, also has a book out, called UTHERWORLDS. This guy's art is simply AMAZING and takes me to other worlds like no other. And he nailed my vision of MAZE. To learn more about his book, CLICK HERE.

7. Why do restaurants with take-out services have special parking spaces for people picking up? This seems grossly unfair and fakes me out every time. I mean, think about it. People who are dining "in" walk to the restaurant and, when they're done, walk back out. People who get take-out ALSO walk to and from the restaurant. Same physical effort. Same purpose. Same amount of money. No! Wait. They spend LESS because they don't tip.

This is an outrage. Someone write their senator immediately.

8. We sold our house in 2 days. Very close to getting the one we offered on. Very happy and excited. It's only a few miles from the current pad (that's what the cool kids call it), but it's bigger which is good because my kids were about to murder each other. They've been living in glorified closets and have nowhere to play. Which is why I, also, was about to murder them.

By the way, we met our potential neighbors, and their son's eyes lit up when he found out who I am. He's a big fan! Can you believe that? It was very surreal for me.

9. I'm currently reading CATCHING FIRE, the sequel to THE HUNGER GAMES. Thanks to Aprilynne Pike for letting me borrow the ARC. Neener neener neener to everyone else. It's really good. Oh, and despite the potential of ticking off Aprilynne and the immorality of it all, I'm willing to sell the ARC to the highest bidder. Bids start at $1,000,000. (Hey, you never know.)

10. Please tell me you've seen the movie UP. Please tell me you have. If you haven't, I order you to drop what you're doing and leave your house. Immediately. I firmly believe this is the best PIXAR movie so far. Definitely. Not the funniest. But the best. How they made a children's movie with so much depth and meaning is just amazing. See it. Now.

A Clarification

I had a great time at the BYU writer's conference. Hanging out with so many writers and book biz people is always good times. I felt like my workshop on Friday afternoon went well except for one thing that I want to clarify, and maybe it's something we can all learn from.

(Oh, sorry Grammar Psychos. I'm talking to you Annette! Try again: Maybe it's something from which we can all learn. Or whatever.)

One of the questions at the end of my workshop went as follows: Did your books with the smaller publishers help you get the book deal with Random House?

In hindsight, I gave a stupid answer. I said that those books neither helped nor hurt, that they were irrelevant. I can tell by your gasp that you took my response the same as many others. It sounds ungrateful, arrogant, and discouraging to those who have books with small pubs.

Well, this is what I meant: No pub is going to buy your book just because you already have a book. They will always make their ultimate decision based on the merits of the book they are considering for publication.

The only exception would be mega mega superstars. If Stephenie Meyer proposed a book about foot fungus and how it affects primate odor sensory functions, it'd probably go to auction, just based on her name. But most authors would have to show they have a book that can sell based on the book itself.

What I did NOT mean was that my Jimmy Fincher books and THE 13TH REALITY didn't help me get to where I am with RH.

They helped me in countless ways. Gave me a resume to get my foot in the door, showed I know how to work to promote, proved I can maintain a fan base, pushed me to attend conferences and workshops, created a path for me to meet many, many authors and agents and publishers. Led to a lot of networking. Led to my becoming good friends with Sara Zarr. Which led to my getting Michael as an agent. Which led to my book deal.

So, in hindsight, my answer should have been a resounding YES. They did help. Tremendously. However, in the end, I know for a fact that neither Michael nor Krista would've bought MAZE unless they believed in its potential, regardless of what I'd done before.

Why am I harping on about this? Because a good friend of mine who has a book coming out with my original publisher took my answer the wrong way and was very discouraged. However, and very luckily for me, she had the guts to approach Krista and me afterward and we had a really great discussion. I think things were well clarified and I know she's on the right path.

We can all learn a lot from... I'm not sure she'd want me to mention her name. Let's call her FISA (Future International Superstar Author). FISA is doing everything right. Writing like mad, attending workshops, taking opportunities when they present themselves, doing school visits and book signings, networking, networking, networking. The irony here is she's pounding the pavement like I've always preached, and yet I almost gave her the wrong message that she was wasting her time.

For that, FISA, I'm sorry. And I'm so proud of you. You ARE on the right path, and it leads to greatness. I have no doubt whatsoever.

French Rights and Sorry So Quiet

Hey there everybody! I'm still alive and kickin' in case you were wondering if I'd been hit by a water buffalo or smashed in a meat grinder. Nope, still here.

I'm at the BYU Writing and Illustrators for Young Readers conference this whole week. It's a pretty well known shindig, and my editor, Krista Marino, is one of the main guests. So I'm here doing various things like driving people around, mingling, eating good food, etc. I also get to introduce Krista at her main speech today, and I teach a workshop tomorrow afternoon.

I had a very interesting encounter with another author on Monday that humbled me greatly. Maybe I needed it after MAZE got so much attention at BEA and on my prepub tour. :-) It wouldn't be appropriate for me to give details or names, but let's just say my poor wittle feewings were hurt. But don't worry. It's all good now.

Last Saturday's first annual Utah teen writer's conference was a mind-blowing success. Much kudos to Josi Kilpack and her committee for a wonderful event. We had over 110 teenagers attend. Over 110! Trust me - that is an amazing turnout, and I'm really proud of all of them for taking their craft and their dreams so seriously.

As for this week, I've been very fortunate to spend a lot of time with some amazing people from New York. Krista, of course, but also Edward Necarsulmer, an agent from McIntosh and Otis, Martha Mihalick from Greenwillow Books, and Margaret Miller from Bloomsbury. They are so cool and fun and knowledgeable! My favorite thing this week has been just listening in on them talking the biz. Awesome.

I've also been able to hang out with many of my author friends (way too many to name!) and attendees of the conference I've gotten to know over the years. It's been truly great.

And now, for my exciting announcement: right on the tail of selling Russian rights, we've now also sold French rights to THE MAZE RUNNER. The publisher is Pocket Jeunesse, and they do a lot of big Young Adult titles in French. So we now have two foreign rights sales, and both of them bought the entire trilogy, which is very cool.

Kudos to Lauren Abramo at my agency for her terrific work!!!

According to Google, here's the translation: Le Labyrinthe Coureur. Any French speakers out there? Does that sound right?

Hope everyone is well and happy and currently not in jail. Cheers!

Last Prepub Date for MAZE, Articles

Yesterday was the poor little orphan child prepub date, two weeks after the rest of them. But last was certainly not least! I had an awesome time. I got to hang out with Dandy Conway again, the Random House Sales rep who I met in San Francisco.

I spent the afternoon with almost twenty teenagers at The King's English bookstore. These kids were way too smart, and grilled me ruthlessly until I gave away things about the series I never should have. I can only hope they eat lots of sugar and get hit in the head a couple of times so they'll forget.

You guys were so great, as were Margaret and Jenn and Anne and everyone else at TKE, as always. Here's a picture:



That night we had dinner at the Bambara restaurant with Dandy and representatives from the Salt Lake City Library, TKE, South Jordan Middle School, Sam Weller's Bookstore, BYU, Deseret Book, and Barnes and Noble (remember the Ode to Angie?).

And this time my wife got to come! I was really glad she got to see what it's like, since a prepub tour is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We all had a great time and talked each other's ears off for three hours. Oh, and it sure seemed like everyone liked the book!

In other news, here are a couple of new mentions in Publisher's Weekly (CLICK HERE) and School Library Journal (CLICK HERE).

Spread, buzz, spread! Like a disease! (One of those really nice diseases that gives you great pleasure and doesn't kill you.)