Goodbye 2009 - I Loved You

It's been a great year. I know most people do all kinds of fancy stuff where they list all their most wonderfulest things of the year and all the most wonderfulest things they're looking forward to next year. And I love reading those!

But I'm too scared to do it because I know I will leave something or someone out and then I'll feel guilty until the end of the next year. So, here's a blanket statement: I really loved 2009 and I can't wait for 2010!!!!

But I will say this: 2009 was the first full calendar year in which I worked solely as an author. And for that, I am extremely grateful and consider myself one lucky dude. (In case you didn't know, I used to be an accountant. Oh, the horror.)

Here are a few things that might interest you:

1. Sorry for the late notice, because I thought it was tomorrow, but all day today and tonight, there will be commercials for THE MAZE RUNNER running during the Twilight Zone Marathon on the Syfy Channel. It's supposed to run 11 times I think. Set those DVRs!!!

2. The commercial will also run during an episode of Fringe (Fox) in a couple of weeks, on the 14th.

3. My book made it on another "best of 2009" list, this time from Barnes and Noble: CLICK HERE to see it. Thanks BN!!!!!!

4. I hope the word is getting out that the paperback for the first book in THE 13TH REALITY series is now in stores, from Simon & Schuster (Aladdin imprint). It's called THE JOURNAL OF CURIOUS LETTERS. I really think those of you who liked MAZE will like this book! Give it a try. Book 2 comes out in paperback in February, then Book 3 in hardback in April.

5. I've noticed a lot of new people are discovering my blog. Welcome guys! I'm really glad to have you here. If you have a question, please leave it in the comments and I'll answer them in a future post. You can also follow me on Twitter (CLICK HERE) and you can follow this blog (CLICK HERE).

Gotta run, but I really look forward to getting to know more of you and hanging out with you here on the blog in 2010. Happy New Year!!!

P.S. THANK YOU for all the nice words about The Maze Runner lately in the comments. I really appreciate it.

Catch Up (not Ketchup)

Hi everybody! Isn't it so annoying when bloggers promise they've turned over a new leaf and they are going to blog like crazy from now on, and then more than a week passes and you don't hear from them? Yes, that is so annoying.

I hope you guys are enjoying the time of year. I know I am. I really feel like I've turned a corner in my revisions for THE SCORCH TRIALS, so I'm feeling pretty good. My due date is January 4th, so I better be!

A few things:

1. Late notice, but I will be at the Fort Union Deseret Bookstore in Utah tomorrow (Saturday the 19th) from 1:00 to 3:00. It's my last signing of the year, so come one come all. There'll be treats! Well, maybe not treats, but there will be books.

2. I'm very excited that the paperback for Book 1 of THE 13TH REALITY is finally coming out!!!!!! It will be in stores on Tuesday the 22nd (if not already). I received a copy and I love, love, love how it looks. And it's only $7.99. Pretty cheap for 500 pages of good times. That's the cover up top in case you missed it.

3. My good friend and editor, Stacy Whitman (who helped me a lot with THE MAZE RUNNER), is starting her own publishing company. Her goal is to provide more multicultural science fiction and fantasy, which I think is a very noble cause. Take a second and check out her website - you'll be very impressed: CLICK HERE.

4. If you'd like to read or hear an interview with me on The Author Hour, CLICK HERE.

5. If you want to see a very long interview with me on a show called Books Alive that I filmed during my tour, CLICK HERE. I guess I need to accept the fact that I can no longer hide from the world just how big of a dork I am. Sigh. (Barb, the host, was so funny!)

6. I hereby declare and promise that I will never tease about good news again. I'm so sorry! I didn't think it'd take so long to get permission to announce it. Wait, I basically just teased you again. I'm awful. Truly awful. Oh come on, you guys can guess what it is. You're smart. Plus, I've seen it leaked on a couple of websites.

7. I also apologize for being so terrible at Twitter and Facebook. I'll set a New Year's resolution to be better in 2010!

8. Jeremiah, a faithful Dashner Duder, has set up a website for a battle between MAZE and Percy Jackson. I thought this was too cool for words. Please go vote your conscience! CLICK HERE.

9. It's Opening Day for AVATAR!!!!!!!! I'll be seeing it on the IMAX with my son at 3:00. Yeah boy!

10. The Falcons have no chance to make the playoffs. Oh, the horror!!!!

Okay, here are some Q&A from the comments:

First, as always, THANK YOU to those who left nice comments about my book. I never tire of hearing such things! Also, thanks for all the congrats on being chosen as a Kirkus best book of 2009.

Laura asked what my next big thing I'm going to do that's not book related. Hmmmm. My family is going to San Diego in January. Sea World, Legoland, etc. Should be fun.

Stacey asked what I did to celebrate selling MAZE to RH. It was kinda cool. My mom had just arrived from Georgia for a visit and we were all at lunch together when my agent called. That was celebration enough! (I'm going to leave out the part about me screaming like a girl and running around pushing old ladies down with glee.)

Jack Porter asked how many times 13th Reality was rejected. Zero. They'd actually rejected something else but liked my writing, asked for a new proposal. The rest is history! But I've received at least 30 rejections throughout my career.

#1dashnerfan, to find publishers, you need to check out a book called Writer's Market. Very good.

Allison (Well Read Reviews) asked about the title for the sequel to MAZE. It's called THE SCORCH TRIALS and comes out next fall. You're gonna like it!

Aaron, yes, sometimes the drums hurt my ears. :)

And, wow, reading through the comments once again, I have to say thank you one more time. So many nice words! You guys are way too good to me. Thank you.

It's the Most Wonderful Time...

...of the year.

Isn't it? Duders, we've entered easily the most favoritestest month of the year for me. I love December, and the only downside is that since it's begun, it means it will end. But that would be a really pessimistic way too look at it, so I won't. I refuse to think that the holidays will be over and then football soon after that. Oh, the agony!!!!

We got dumped on with the white stuff today. (That's snow, for you folks from my hometown in Georgia.) I spent over an hour shovelling it, and I actually enjoyed it, especially after my wife forced me to put on a hat and my ears discontinued their path to frostbite. But I still think we should get a snow blower. Maybe. Or not. Maybe...

Hmmmm. So what's on my mind today?

1. Still knee-deep in revisions. On two books (The Scorch Trials and The 13th Reality Book 3: The Blade of Shattered Hope.) I'm not a big fan of revisions, but I'm so glad I'm not an idiot and recognize the importance of giving it my best shot. I feel very good about how these books are coming along!

2. My drums are awesome. Really, really awesome. I love playing them. Sometimes my ears hurt.

3. Remember that Droid phone I ranted and raved about? Well, it died after two stellar weeks. Now, Verizon does have incredible customer service and gave me a brand new one. (Wait, wasn't my first one brand new still?) So we'll see. But having said that, I really do love this phone! (My second one, not the first one.)

4. Please, please, please go check out this EXTENDED version of the book trailer for The Maze Runner. It's twice the awesomeness! CLICK HERE. And please spread the word because these guys worked so hard on it.

5. A lot of people have asked me about a certain comment left in the last blog post of mine. Patience, my friends! Patience. All will be revealed very soon.

6. Could someone please explain to me what's up with the movie The Road? I'm dying to see it, and have been for at least a year, and I know it's been released, but it's still not in any theaters around here. Viggo aka Aragorn, could you please remedy the situation? I'm also looking forward to Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, Up in the Air, and about one hundred other movies.

7. People keep telling me in the comments that I'm not posting enough. I have slowed down a bit, huh? Okay, I'll try harder.

8. Note to everyone in charge of college football: You're not smart. Sorry, don't know how else to say it. You're just not very smart. If we had a 16 team playoff to look forward to, it'd be the most amazing thing since the spaceship was invented. Can you imagine the talk and hype over the first round alone??!?! Please quit your jobs and let people with brains take over. That is all. And sorry if I was rude. I'm usually not, really.

9. Had the fortune of attending the book launch party for BEAUTIFUL CREATURES by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl last week. Amazing authors, amazing book, amazing buzz. One of the greatest perks of being an author is hanging out with other authors. You should all do it! Seriously! Go write a book. It's awesome.

10. Remember to follow my blog (CLICK HERE) and follow me on Twitter (CLICK HERE).

Have a great day. Lyrics and Q&A next post, coming soon....