Monday, August 4, 2008

Happy New Week to you!


A couple of quick notes inspired by the comments for my last post:

First, several of you told me I should've gotten an iPhone. I agree they are great. Really, really cool. But I'm sorry, not $500 cool. That's what a new one would cost me. I got my nV2 from Verizon for FREE, and me likey very much. Plus, I ALREADY have an iPod. I don't care if some publisher gave me a billion dollars tomorrow, I won't just throw away money. My mama taught me well!

Second, have any of you people actually READ my book? :-) I called her Jane because of Mistress Jane, the villain in Book 1. I'm hurt, very, very hurt. Okay, not really.

Moving on . . . last night we watched the LEMONY SNICKET movie for the first time. Not sure how or why we missed it when it came out, but there you have it. I have to say, I was very pleasantly surprised. It's worth watching just for the cinematography and Jim Carrey as Count Olaf. And the kid actors were great. I really enjoyed it.

I also watched some of the first preseason football game on NBC. I do this every year. Get all excited, get goosebumps when I hear Al Michaels' and John Madden's voices for the first time in months. And then reality hits me and I realize the game means nothing and I get bored quickly. But at least it means the real season is only a month away!

I need to do a post on contracts soon since I've gotten several emails about it. I promise I will. Boy have I learned a lot since getting a contract from a NY publisher.

Speaking of emails, I must apologize. I've always prided myself on answering every email I get, but it's grown difficult lately. Some I've neglected are even from good friends. I'm sorry! But I promise I'll be better once I'm full time and THE MAZE RUNNER is complete. Starting next week even, I plan to answer at least 10 a day until I can do more. So patience, it's a virtue!

My email is listed on the right side if you scroll down a bit, by the way.

Other than that, this is my last week at The Job, and I'm not too shook up about it. I'll miss the people I work with, but, ya know, I'll get over it. It'll be such a relief to only have ONE job. :-)

For any of you who might be going to the LDSBA this week in Utah, I have a signing at the Deseret Book booth at 11:30 on Wednesday. Come see me!

19 comments:

J.N. Future Author said...

er, i missed the hint about mistress jane...

Lemony Snickets movie was pretty good. i love Jim Carrey, especially the part where he was holding tryouts for something (its been forever since iv seen it so i cant remember why he was acting) but it was funny when he said something about the Jurassic period and was acting all weird ^.^

a book-movie i wanted to see was spiderwick. i never saw it though, and thats kind of sad. but i didn't like the book much anyways so i guess it wasn't much of a loss.

Q said...

But don't you think it's a little creepy to have it named after HER?

Then again, you probably can't be destroyed either.

Don said...

Waaah! I'm so totally ashamed to have missed the whole Jane thing. I would have caught it if you named the thing Sofia, but Jane is just such a common name.

Mistress Jane, on the other hand, is a cool title for a villain. And I'm not just saying that to suck up, either.

I don't suppose you could have named your phone "Mistress?" Nah, that probably would be bad.

James Dashner said...

Ha Ha Ha. Don't worry, you're all forgiven. I was just kiddin ya.

You guys will love what happens with MJ in Book 2. No one will ever accuse me of being predictable with her storyline.

JN, Spiderwick was okay, but not much like the book. I guess for you that's a good thing!

Danyelle Ferguson said...

Congrats on retiring from that totally boring number crunching job! You are soo awesome! Have fun at the convention.

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

I can't imagine how relieved you're going to be when you're done to just one gig. Woot!

Dedee said...

Dude, Which Deseret Book. Do you know how many there are in that valley?

For those of us who know the general location of what you are doing, but not the specifics.

Dedee said...

I forgot to mention that my violin is a he and that I'm super excited that you are losing the boorrrrring job!

James Dashner said...

Eowyn, it's not at a store. It's at their booth at the LDSBA convention at the South Towne Expo Center. The convention runs from Wed - Fri.

Unfortunately, I think you can only get in if you're an artist or affiliated with a retail store somehow.

J.N. Future Author said...

"A couple of quick notes inspired by the comments for my last post:"

Wait! is this really your last post!?!

Rachelle Christensen said...

Hey, I got the whole mistress Jane thing but was wondering if you "likey" the phone so much and the GPS why you wanted to name it after your villain. I guess because she's the master of getting places in your book?? :)
Good luck with your last week!

Suzy-Q said...

James,
you're so kosher, inviting people to events only bigshots can get into :)

I have to say, your extreme word count rate is nothing short of inspiring! I've got to get the count up on my novel. 51,000 words and I'd pretty much be done, I think. I'm half that now.

So really, what is your secret ;)

I know, I know, hard work and
write write write write write, eat chocolate, and did I mention write?

The Anderson's said...

I bet you are stoked that this is your last week of being a nerdy accountant! However, you should be impressed that I made your mama's southern homemade macaroni and cheese recipe tonight and it rocked! Thanks to your cute wife for sharing the recipe!

Macotar said...

I as well missed the Jane thing. It seems I have read your book though and I believe that your application of JANE would be a self serving person of shrewish qualities with a tendency to shriek at a moments displeasure.

Congratulations on your egress for the work a day world. I'm sure you deserve it, and if you don't, Karma will catch up to you (It's a lot like Rutger, but more svelte)

Shanna Blythe said...

Woohoo!! Your last week!! I'm so excited for you and congratulations on all your successes!

Sara Z. said...

I'm still reeling that you are not going to have the Season Ticket this year. You obviously didn't even THINK to consult with me. I'm making a note in your file!

Tristi Pinkston said...

And here I thought you weren't e-mailing me back because you don't love me anymore . . .

I'm so excited about you getting to write fulltime! Rock on, Dashner Dude, that's way cool!

Jewel Allen said...

I think it's awesome that you get to focus full-time on writing. Have fun!

Tyler Hendriksen said...

I am tyler!