I'm happy to announce that the first draft of THE SCORCH TRIALS, sequel to the upcoming October 6th release, THE MAZE RUNNER, is complete. And no one was injured or unduly mutilated during the process. Yay!
Clocking in at 98,000 words, it'll probably end up several thousand longer because I have a whole page of notes, mostly things I need to go back and add or flesh out. But the skeleton of the beast is done. Is it good, you ask? Of course! So good it'll make your eyeballs jump right out of your head and do the hippie hippie shake.
Quick other things:
1. I appeared in Publisher's Weekly twice this week. The first one (CLICK HERE) is an article about galleys (aka ARCs aka Advance Reader Copies) you should grab while at Book Expo America (BEA) in NY next month.
2. The second one (CLICK HERE) is their preview of BEA, and my book is mentioned in the section on Random House.
3. Stories for Children Magazine is running a short story contest, and an autographed book by me is one of their prizes. For details, CLICK HERE.
4. And finally, after months of anticipation, we saw the musical WICKED last night. Dare I say it? Dare I? Ummmm, yes, I dare. It was wicked awesome! I'll talk more about it later.
5. I don't get to celebrate too much after completing the first draft. My deadline is quickly approaching, and I have a lot of work to do before this puppy is ready to submit. Plus, I'll be out of town three weeks during that time.
6. But ya know what? I love my job. I really, really, really love my job. Even more than cheese, football, DVRs, movies, and potato chips. Even more than Zac Efron. Yeah, that much.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
First Draft Done!
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30 comments:
That's awesome, James. Congratulations. It was really good to see you again at conference.
Congrats on completing the 1st draft!! I'm so anxious to read the 1st book, now you teasing us with a completed draft of the 2nd book - inconcivable!
WAY TO GO!!! Seriously better than football????? That is saying a lot coming from you.
Dashnog- nocalmi - Someone who has signed up for the "Do Not Call" list is offically labeled a nocalmi.
As the wife of an optometrist I have to advise against eyeball dancing, but I heartily approve all other celebratory gestures. Woot! Congratulations James!
Congratulations, James!! It was great to see you at the conference. Loved your presentation. I think you are more funmy than Zac Efron! :-)
That's high praise for your job. I knew you were telling the truth when you said, "more than Zac Ephron" because I know how much you love him.
Ummmm....that's so totally and completely FREAKIN' awesome that you finished the rough draft. I can't wait to dive head long into that series!
Awesome! I can't wait to read book 1!
Oh man! I just got those sneaky eyeballs back in. Now I have to start all over again.
Congrats on everything. Although, I don't think anyone can love their job more than cheese. Is it true?
I'm hesitating on my cheese proclamation, actually. I mean, I really, really, really like cheese.
I forgot to say that we sold the audio rights for the rest of the MAZE series to Listening Library. Maybe I'll save that for Friday. Only my loyal commenters can know early!
Ah...to be a loyal commenter. Good times, good times.
CONGRATULATIONS! Way to go on finishing The Scorch Trials! Now flesh out that beast! Go! Go!
And anything that makes eyeballs do a hippie hippie shake is good stuff.
p.s. Way to go Karen P. on that dashnog! I LOVED your word today!
Hippie Hippie Shake? Are you sure your loyal fans even remember what that is? LOL made me laugh.
Ditto on all the congrats so far and thanks for the top 5 list.
Now I can say that I know someone who appears in PW. Ah, let the name dropping begin. (hehhe)
I will now define my dashnog word from yesterday.
Chrica [chri ca]-- a practical joker. much like a jester. Said with the right accent it could resemble an English word. Usage: Dashner is such a Chrica, make sure you check the salt shaker lid before you use it when dining with him.
Dashnog: dituce. The act of teasing your readers with announcements like, "Hey, this book is done, you can read it next year."
You know, you could always like, e-mail me the manuscript or something. Just a thought.
Hey all you bloggers, and James I guess too. How do I get a visitor count on my blog to see how many people are viewing it?
Dashnog= guived [guee vd]-stumped, confused.
Usage: I'm guived and you look guived too.
I would very much like to know how to get a visitor count too. I hope someone can tell me and Donna how!
I'm so tired from updating the Dashnog dictionary! I almost think it's too much! We're almost up to 200 words!!! Therefore, I won't put up a dashnog word just now.
Oh, and great job with SCORCH TRIALS, Dashner. ^,~ I agree with Graham. What a dituce.
I'm so glad you liked Wicked. Patrick's client did the orchestrations, and we got to be at the Broadway premiere. It was indeed wicked awesome.
Congrats on the first draft! I can't WAIT for The Maze Runner.
Magenta, just take the ones that you think will stand the test of time.
Donna, go to www.statcounter.com.
And may I be indulgent for a second? And make Graham's cravings worse?
Today I reread the first 40 pages of SCORCH, expecting a disaster.
I don't know how much this says, but I can honestly say that I believe no one will ever more enjoy 40 pages I've written than what I read today. It's really cool!
I needed that. I needed to know that this book works. And I really believe in it again after a major spell of self doubt.
You can tell me if I'm right in October of 2010. :)
James, in mention of your sixth point, Zac Efron, evil, High School Musical,eeeviiilll!!! *shudder*Ah, setting aside my fear of that eerily popular Disneyboy with horrible, cheesy acting, I apologize for my long, drawn out, never ending, eternal, elongated, extended, lengthy, long-lived absence from the comments board. (I used a thesaurus!)
I am still an eternal fan.
And now for the return of... THE LIST!!! DUN,DUN,DUUUUNNNNNN!!!!
a) 13th Reality 2 WAS INCREDIBLE!
my new nickname for Tick is hurricane-boy
b) Cant wait for either MAZE, SCORCH TRIALS, or (most awaited) BLADE OF SHATTERED HOPE
c) Dashnog iron-ons? WHERE CAN I GET ZEM?!?!? (in the mail, perhaps?)
d) James, we might have to give you an IV of liquid caffeine so that you can write these books faster. just a suggestion. need...more...dashner...books...
Dashnog:
Blaton (Bley-ton)- Obvious
Awesome job! I bet that feels good.
Are you going to be at the BEA?
On a side note, how about those Hawks?
Dashnog: Perichio. He's Pinnochio's socially challenged younger brother, and is a squire to Typor. Every time he writes a crappy manuscript, his nose sharpens into a pencil, wherewith Typor may slay the demons of the writer's block militia.
And Wil, James made a boo-boo with his last post: it wasn't an iron-on. It was a vinyl sticker. If you get one (from me, I made that one) and you try to iron it on, you will commit a megoge and destroy a shirt, and iron and a sticker.
But make stickers, yes. For a price. :-)
congrats ......congradulations........your the bestest ever!!!!.....ya for finishing the first draft that is awwsome....were you at the library today by any chance james.....wow more than cheese that is impresive.....crts are icky.........so are you working the blade of shattered hope now....chops sorry too say but ur car decals are kinda expensive....butt awsome my friend has some stickers that youve made though.....word leise def lazy....
Thanks for the comment on my blog. I will definitely make sure to stop by your table on Friday. :)
James thanks for the tip on stats tracker.
Now go and check out the bookshelf on my blog and don't say I never marketed for ya!!
http://run-donna-run.blogspot.com/
5 bucks with free shipping is expensive, #1? :-)
Dashnog: credis. The stuff that grows between your toes when you don't change your socks for a week.
Graham- GROSS!
Dashnog: ropons. Coupons that are so ridiculously advantageous that you're practically roped into buying whatever they advertise, even if it's something you'll NEVER need, like free passes to a driftwood convention.
gram that is 5 for your cheepst and almost 40 for the most expensive and i said kinda.....word patineod def swine flu usage my school is having a meeting about the patineod....
Hey james random question how am i saposta get to the book expo in new york to grab an arc.....word masednes def mad...didnt work new word sourhi def 11fishies and 2 frogs
Oh please tell me that there will be Advanced Reader's Copies printed!!! Ever since last year I have been soooo excited to read this book. I really want to see if Hannah changed the plot of the book!!!
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