Once a Week...

Hey guys...

So, remember I promised last week to follow my agent's command and blog once a week? Well, here I am again! I'll do it even if I have absolutely nothing to talk about. So...

Huh. Yeah. Ummmmmmm...

Actually, I can't imagine that ever happening. Between all the many things going on in my career, your questions, touring, announcements, and my random urges to talk about pop culture, we should be just fine.

Maybe we can use this blog post to collect some questions for me to tackle in the next few weeks. Who has one? Something you've been just dying to ask me? Ready set go.

In the meantime, here's a quick rundown of some opportunities to come out and meet me in the near future:

Live near Oxford Mississippi? Then head out to the Oxford Conference for the Book this weekend. I'll be doing a presentation on Friday and a panel on Saturday.

I'll be at IRA in Chicago (May), BEA in NYC (June), ALA in Anaheim (June), and Comic-Con in San Diego (July), plus two book tours later in the summer and fall. More details to come, but that's just a heads up. My new website (coming soon!!!) will be up and running in time for those events and it will have a really great calendar system for my appearance schedule.

Which reminds me, some people took it wrong last week when I said this here blog is going the way of the Dodo bird. I didn't mean I'd quit blogging. On the contrary, it'll be even better and more frequent. I just meant this tired old look is going away. I can't wait for everyone to see the new site!

Okay, hit me with your questions...

Infinity Ring Cover

I'm proud to present to you the cover for INFINITY RING, Book 1: A MUTINY IN TIME, by yours truly. Read the official announcement at Publisher's Weekly: CLICK HERE.

What do you guys think?

This will be coming out on August 28th. Much, much, MUCH more to come. To preorder, choose your favorite vendor:

Indiebound
Barnes and Noble
Amazon
Books a Million

13th Reality and Other Stuff

Happy Friday, all! My agent has challenged me to blog at least once a week, and since he's my boss, I must do as he commands. Here are a few things that are on my mind...

1. Every day someone asks about the fourth and final book of THE 13th REALITY. Which makes me happy. I know you guys have been patient, and I'm thankful. I actually wrote it last year and it's getting very close to being officially announced for publication. It's called THE VOID OF MIST AND THUNDER, and I'm very proud of how it ends for Atticus and the Realitants. Stay tuned!

2. If you missed the reveal of the cover for THE KILL ORDER, be sure and CLICK HERE. I really love what Philip Straub and the design team at Random House have done with it. The book comes out August 14th.

3. There's going to be an amazing event in Utah on March 17, a writing conference where every penny of the proceeds go to charity. Unfortunately, I can't make it this year, but there will be plenty of amazing authors, including Brandon Sanderson, Shannon Hale, and many others. CLICK HERE to find out more.

4. It's not often I plug a business (never maybe?), but I want to spread the word about my nephew's new venture, Aston Audio Productions in Atlanta. This guy is a music and sound guru and genius, and his company is already taking off. If you have any kind of need for audio production in any form, check out his website: CLICK HERE. And tell him I sent you!

5. I'm reading a book called CHILD 44 by Tom Rob Smith. And I really like it. It's basically a serial killer mystery story set in the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Reminds me a little of Dragon Tattoo.

Anyway, something has really struck me. This latest surge in popularity for Dystopian novels has been a fun thing. Well, you should read this book if you like that sort of stuff. Because guess what, we've had plenty of dystopias in the PAST. I totally feel like I'm reading a book about the future, where an evil government has taken away all of your rights and identity and what makes you unique. Where people live in daily fear of being arrested at a whim.

I'm not saying anything profound or new. But it's just really been interesting to read a historical fiction novel that feels like a future Dystopian world. Eerie.

6. A new website is in the works for all things James Dashner. It'll be going live in about a month and a half. This poor little sad blog page is finally going to retire and move to Montana, where it'll live on a ranch, wear diapers, and drink lots of prune juice. You'll be hearing a lot more, but the people responsible (for the new website, not the diapers and prune juice)... Warehouse 21. Stay tuned.

EDIT: By the way, that doesn't mean I'll quit blogging!!! The new website will also have a blog as part of it. Thanks for the concerns in the comments, on FB and Twitter, etc. :)

That's all for today. How about this for the comments (if you actually made it this far): Any guesses or speculation on what you might see in the prequel this August?

The Kill Order Cover

Here it is, the official cover for The Kill Order, a prequel to The Maze Runner series, coming August 14th (North America). Soon to many other countries and languages. I love the artwork by Philip Straub (he did the other covers as well, and I'd say he's 4 for 4).

Let us know what you think in the comments! Preorder information below...

To preorder, click on your vendor of choice:

Indiebound
Barnes and Noble (bn.com)
Amazon
Books a Million
Other options