The New Yorker and etc.

Happy Tuesday everyone! We are back from our vacation to visit my family in Georgia, and I've settled in for a long summer of hard work. Here's a random list of the latest...

1. The main task at hand is writing THE DEATH CURE, Book 3 of THE MAZE RUNNER. It now stands around 15,000 words and I have a long way to go. But thanks to my editor, who made me outline this one as part of our revisions for Book 2, it should be a smooth and fairly quick experience.

2. I'm really excited to share that my book and I are mentioned in an article in the current issue of THE NEW YORKER. It's a special 2-week issue, so you should be able to buy it on newstands or in bookstores for the next week or so. Or, you can read it online: CLICK HERE.

3. Funny story about this article. When my publicist told me about it, she seemed extra excited. Then my editor did as well. Then Random House sent out a special email about it. Finally, I realized maybe I just wasn't quite getting it when my agent emailed me and asked if I ever thought I'd be in the New Yorker. I told him I didn't know it was such a big deal, and he only responded with, "Oh, James, that's what I love about you."

Anyway, I've repented and I'm thrilled and thank you New Yorker! I'm honored. And I bought 4 hard copies.

4. THE SCORCH TRIALS is just about complete, and I imagine we're only a few weeks away from ARCs. I've gone through the copyedits and I imagine it's already been typeset by now. It'll be out in less than 4 months!!!!

5. I enjoyed everyone's reaction to my thoughts on the LOST finale. I only have one more thing to say about it. Some people were disappointed because not every single little thing was answered. For example, WHY is the island the heart of the world? HOW does it work? WHAT is the smoke monster? Yada yada.

To you I say this: Were you satisfied when George Lucas explained to us how the Force works, mitachloriyabbadabbadoians, and all that? It was much better when we just knew the Force was magic and really cool. LOST was not about nitty gritty explanations. It was about characters and fate and redemption and speculating, all of which would've been ruined by a seven hour finale where all was explained in detail.

6. So I'm kind of keeping up with the World Cup. And I think I'm the only one on the planet that actually likes the sound of those beehive horns. It just creates a cool atmosphere that makes me feel like something really important is going on. I just wish people actually scored in soccer. That'd be nice.

7. I haven't seen a movie in like three weeks. This shames me to no end.

8. We're getting our backyard done and it'll finally be done by tonight. My kids can finally play outside without getting ticks, spider bites, or weed rashes.

9. I'd like someone to please invent a big machine that causes the Earth to have no humidity without causing damage to the environment. My kids couldn't handle it in Georgia. We kept trying to do things outside and they'd beg to go back in. We left Georgia in the 90s with 110 percent humidity and arrived in Utah with no humidity and 60 degrees. I love it here.

10. Dear Bud Sehlig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball: I've analyzed your decision not to award Armando Galarraga a perfect game even though the obvious bad call came on the last out. And my official conclusion is that you are a d bag.

Back to work for me!

My Thoughts on LOST Series Finale

I know I'm officially the last person on Earth to do this, but here's what I think. Don't worry, no serious spoilers until the last section, which will be properly labelled.

I absolutely loved the series finale. I honestly can't think of one thing, not one, that I would change. It was heartbreaking, brilliant, moving, awesome. I just don't understand the haters out there. They baffle me. Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinion, it's just really annoying when they're wrong.

The whole series was an experience I'll never forget. Easily the best thing I've ever seen on television, by a trillion light years the best, and probably tied with the LORD OF THE RINGS movies and SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and LES MISERABLES in terms of media / entertainment that affected me on a superhuman level. I'll never forget it, especially the finale, which still haunts me as I write this.

Jack!!!!!!!!!!

Oh Jack. Jackity Jack Jack. Your face in the final scene has made me half depressed and half in awe since your eye closed. And the music! And the writing! And the acting! And the directing! Everything about that finale and the series itself can only be summed up by one word in my (sadly) limited vocabulary. (Hey, I'm just an author.) That word is BRILLIANT.

I can't get over it. I didn't think something could be that good. The writers and creators should be given a special award that no one else ever receives. And that award should be called the YOU'RE MORE BRILLIANT THAN ANYBODY ELSE EVER AWARD. I don't say any of this lightly. I see tons of movies, watch lots of shows, read lots of books. And LOST is one of a kind, a true once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'll never never ever ever forget it.

I'm really glad that we watched it, week by agonizing week, year by agonizing year, from the very first airing of the pilot. That waiting and expecting and speculating was half the fun. We plan on waiting about five years and then watching the whole thing over again with our kids. I can't wait!

SPOILER ALERT

There's a lot of debate out there about what happened in the finale. I think it can be summed up pretty easily. Just like Jack's dad said, everything, every single thing that occured on the island really did happen. It is the heart of the world and in the end Jack saved it. He died to save it. His best friends escaped and lived out happy lives back home. Hurley and Ben safeguarded the island for many many years, maybe centuries. All these people died at different times along an extensive timeline.

Once they did, all at their separate times, their souls entered an alternate reality which they collectively created, their very own Heaven, where past, present, and future are the same. Just like Jack's dad said, "there is no now, here." They all discovered each other once again, in several scenes that I can't imagine have ever been topped in the happy tears department. And then they gathered and went to some special place beyond.

Ben wasn't ready, still had things to atone for. That's why he didn't go.

That's about it. And how incredibly BRILLIANT is it that the very first shot of the series was Jack's eye opening, and the very last was that same eye closing. I know it's simple, but it's just really really awesome, too.

SPOILER ALERT OVER

I don't know what else to say. I'd love to hear any thoughts you guys might have. Even from those who for some reason feel like it's their role in life to tell everyone how stupid LOST is, even though the vast majority of them haven't seen even half the episodes because it got too "complicated." Ya know, some things you just shouldn't admit to people.

Sorry if I sound petty or defensive. I just love this show so much that I feel like it's my kid or something, and it hurts to see people rip on it. And usually they have nothing intelligent to say, just, "Man, that show is so lame. I'm gonna go watch CSI: Kentucky."

And lost in all this (ha, sorry for the pun) is the effect the show has had on my own writing. I took something away from every single episode. The writing, the structure, the plotting, the character development. How they end episodes, even commercial breaks. The visuals. All of it helped my writing more than perhaps any other one identifiable thing.

Which leads to my final thought: to the creative talent of LOST, every one of you, both behind and off the screen, I say thank you. I can only hope that somehow you get neurotic in the middle of the night and google your own show and find this blog post. I can only speak for myself, but you gave me something, a six year experience, that changed my life and will remain with me FOREVER. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!

Time to Catch Up

How's everyone doing? I thought it was high time I play catch up and answer some of your questions as well. So here we go, in no particular order...

1. I've never been so excited for and yet dread something so much: the series finale of LOST, coming up this Sunday. I'm going to be so incredibly sad when it's over, and yet I'm dying to see the last episode. But it's the last one EVER. Oh the pain. The horror!

2. Speaking of TV, we've fallen completely in love with the show MODERN FAMILY. It is so so so good!!!! We actually look forward to it more than THE OFFICE, which I can't believe just came out of my mouth, or fingertips, or whatever.

3. I'm finally reading THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. It has me very captivated, although I can't really say why.

4. For those really faithful Duders, I thought I'd give you an update on my ACL surgeryified knee. It's doing really well. I've been jogging a lot and it feels good. Two more months until I can play basketball and ski again!!!! (Although I'm doubting we'll have much snow to ski on in July.)

5. Oh, you want some book related stuff? Okay, I can do that. We went through a lot of revisions and fine tuning for THE SCORCH TRIALS, but I believe we are finally done. And I'm very proud of the final result, and thrilled with what Krista pulled out of me to make it better. I can't believe it comes out in 5 months!

6. We'll only have teaser chapters at BEA, so I'm sorry if that disappoints anyone. Here's my schedule by the way: Signing TST chapters at 9:00 am Wednesday in the Random House booth, then signing THE 13TH REALITY Book 3 at 11:00 am Wednesday in the main autographing area. On Thursday I'll be signing in the ABA Lounge at 10:30. I'll also be doing lots of luncheons, dinners, and other fun stuff. Can't wait!

7. I am now working very very hard on THE DEATH CURE, the third and final book in THE MAZE RUNNER trilogy. It's always so fun to be in first draft writing mode. Story and characters and creativity are all that matters at this point.

8. It's been a lot of fun for me to work with some of the translators doing my foreign versions of MAZE. I had never thought about how hard it can be to translate things like shuck and shank and WICKED and Griever into other languages.

9. I get asked this a lot, so in case you don't know: MAZE comes out in paperback on August 24th (same day as MOCKINGJAY!) and SCORCH comes out on October 12th.

10. My family has become obsessed with fish tacos. We eat them whenever and wherever we can. I'm not sure this is normal.

11. I had a great tour for Book 3 of 13TH REALITY. Thanks to all the students, teachers, bookstore employees, and readers I met in Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Austin, St. Louis, and Salt Lake City. I really had me some good times. No more touring until October!

12. Thanks to Morgan for pointing out that Rick Riordan said on his blog that his son loved MAZE. The fact that this made me giddy is further proof that I'm still a fanboy and will probably never change.

Okay, so here's some Q&A:

First, as always, THANK YOU for all the nice comments about my books. Those never fail to make my day! I really appreciate each and every one.

Sally T, I'm sorry you missed me in Dallas!

Shelli, I AM coming to Atlanta to visit my family soon (counting down the days actually), but alas, no events are scheduled. Maybe next time!

Shaun Barger, thanks for the awesome writeup on apocalypse writing!

#1, Sorry, my schedule is just too crazy right now. :(

Jackson, we'll be catching up on 24 once LOST is over. I can only handle so many shows! And thanks for providing me with so many laughs in the comments.

Several have asked about ARCS for SCORCH. I don't really know much about when they'll be done and how many will be printed. But I'm sure I'll give at least a couple away on this here blog once I have some. And you can always request one through your channels with Random House. If you have said channel.

Someone started a forum for 13TH REALITY. Check it out: http://www.realitants.com/forum. Also, someone started a site for MAZE fans: http://www.thegladers.info. Thanks, guys, I'm honored and I hope people visit you.

Dave, I'm not into FLASHFORWARD or V. I don't commit to anything now until they prove they won't be cancelled!

Anonymous, yes, I used to teach at SLCC. That was fun while it lasted for a very short while.

Julie Belnap, I'm sorry I won't be at the teen writer's conference! I think they like to shake it up on who comes every year.

Traci, I'm sorry I missed a chance to sign your book. Crazy schedule lately!

Matt Hayes, I actually don't know the title for Book 4 of 13TH yet. I'll probably reveal that this fall.

Brin, I thought it was very cute how you asked me to explain quantum physics. Keep reading 13TH and you'll find out a little, but I'm not smart enough to explain it any more than that!

Christie asked about how you get published. Scroll down on the right side of my blog and you'll see links to lots of stuff I've written about that. Best of luck!!!

Michelle, it would really be hard to commit to something next March because I'll probably be on tour. Maybe contact me again as it gets closer?

Anonymous, all of my books are on the Kindle and Nook and other ereaders now.

Cupcake wants to know when I'll come to Canada. No plans as of yet. Maybe push a bookstore there to request it through Random House.

Mary, as we get closer to the UK release, that would be great! Maybe towards the end of July?

Morgan asked how long the Gladers had been around before Thomas showed up. There was an original group of about 25, and Thomas came two years later.

Brian asked about that panel I did in NY with Scott Westerfeld, Michael Grant and Carrie Ryan. Ya know, I never did hear if that got put up on the Internet. Could someone google that and try to find it for us?

June asked about Group B and WICKED's true intentions. I... can't... say... a... word... about... it...

For those of you asking about interviews, appearances, etc., please forgive me for not responding. If you're still interested, try again in late June or July, as that's when my schedule will calm down quite a bit for awhile. Thank you for your interest.

Wow, long post. I love you all!!!!!

Houston and Austin

Guys, I know I've been quiet, but I promise to be more active on the blog soon!

Meanwhile, for those of you in Houston and Austin, this is where I'll be Monday and Tuesday, each time with FABLEHAVEN's Brandon Mull:

Monday
5:00 pm
Blue Willow Bookshop
14532 Memorial Drive
Houston TX 77079

Tuesday
3:30 pm
Book People
603 North Lamar Blvd
Austin TX 78703

Come see us!!!!

Turkey, Poland, and Tour oh my!

Well hi there! It's been a day or two (or thirteen) since I last blogged, so I figured I better get on here and give you guys an update. I've been very busy with the release of the third book in 13TH REALITY, with lots of good times. And other stuff.

So, without further adieu, here's one of my infamous numbered updates of randomness:

1. We recently sold rights to THE MAZE RUNNER trilogy in Poland and Turkey, which I think is just pretty cool.

2. Off the top of my head, here is the current list of languages/ territories in which you'll soon be able to read about Grievers hurting young people:

United Kingdom
France
Germany
Russia
Taiwan
Spanish (Spain)
Spanish (Latin and South America)
Portuguese (Brazil)
Greece
Poland
Turkey

Hmmmm. Am I forgetting somewhere? I think this it.

3. We've had some great events since I last blogged. The launch party in Utah, schools and signings in the Dallas and Phoenix areas. For all those who came, THANK YOU. It really means a lot to have such awesome support. I hope you like those books you bought!

4. The Hawks are up 2-0 in their series with the Bucks, the first time they've been up in a series 2-0 since 1970. Oh yeah.

5. The Braves have a winning record. All is well so far in the sporting world.

6. I'm really excited for the Storymakers writing conference in Provo UT this weekend, mainly because my AWESOME INCREDIBLE SUPERHUMAN editor Krista Marino will be there from Random House. It'll be fun to hang out with her and let her tell me in person what I'm doing wrong in my latest book. I'm also excited to see all my "regular" friends who go way back at this conference.

7. There are still a few stops on the tour coming up, including Denver, St. Louis, Houston, and then New York City for BEA. For details (that I have so far), CLICK HERE.

8. Phoenix is hot. It's April, and it's hot. I don't think I'd like to be here in July.

9. Leesie from the comments: you seem very sweet and kind. And you keep asking me to respond to an email. I'm sorry to say I have not received said email. I'm really sorry!!! Maybe you used an old address or something? I don't use author@jamesdashner anymore, by the way. Tell me what you're looking for in the comments and I'll see what I can do to help. Sound good?

10. Which reminds me, a lot of you have asked questions in the comments, and some good ones at that. I promise I'll get to them as soon as possible. Just not tonight because my eyeballs feel like sandpaper covered lima beans. I'm tired I guess.

11. I'm ashamed to say that I'm way behind on LOST and 24. Very ashamed. By the same token, I can't believe my good fortune that I have so many episodes to watch! No spoilers or I will hunt you down and make you watch Family Matters reruns.

12. I'm reading a fascinating book that I'm just loving, and it's not my usual kinda book. It's called PILLARS OF THE EARTH by Ken Follet. It's about the 1100s and the building of a cathedral. Life tweren't easy back then. And I'm pretty sure everyone smelled like armpits and doodoo. I'm very thankful for my Degree Deoderant and toilets.

13. Just one more shout out and thank you to all the incredible people I've met so far on this little tour. I don't dare start naming names because I will leave out someone and get hunted down and have to watch reruns of Family Matters. But you've all been so great and so nice to me. Thank you.

Until next time, nanu nanu!!!!!!

Launch Party Tonight! And Misc...

Book 3 of my series THE 13TH REALITY (THE BLADE OF SHATTERED HOPE) is officially out, and we're going to celebrate tonight with lots of food and good times. There will also be giveaways, including 30 t-shirts. I hope all of you can make it. That's right. All of you. There'll be dancing grannies and six-legged bears!

The fun begins at 6:30, Barnes and Noble, West Jordan UT. The one at the Jordan Landing shopping center.

Also, if you live in Utah and want to see me make a fool of myself, tune in to the 5:00 Channel 2 news and you'll see a piece on me. They invaded my home and even made me play the drums in my office. Okay, that might've been my idea, something I'm sure I'll regret the rest of my life. Hopefully it didn't make the cut!

I'll also be coming to Dallas, Phoenix, Denver and St. Louis soon. For details on those events, CLICK HERE.

Finally, you have to read this article that appeared in the New York Times. One of our most faithful Dashner Duders (Thanks Dave!) was interviewed about his family's blog, and he mentioned THE MAZE RUNNER with high praise. I'm proud to say I was his very first interview. CLICK HERE to read it.

Oh, one more thing. Or two more things. MAZE has received another couple of bits of good news: It's been nominated for the American Library Association's Best Fiction for Young Adults and the Kentucky Bluegrass Awards. Thank you ALA and state of Kentucky!!!

See you all tonight. You heard me. All of you.

Tour Details and Misc.

Since it's coming right up on us, I figured I better get my tour dates and details out there for everyone to see. But first, a couple of interesting things you can go read:

1. I did an article for the Guide to Literary Agents website, called "7 Things I've Learned So Far." If you're an aspiring writer, you might want to take a look. CLICK HERE.

2. I can't really say much more, but the end of this article in VARIETY magazine gives a glimpse into where we are with film rights to THE MAZE RUNNER. CLICK HERE. More as I can share it...

Now, onto tour details for the release of Book 3 in THE 13TH REALITY: THE BLADE OF SHATTERED HOPE.

The official launch party will be held at the Barnes & Noble in West Jordan, UT (Jordan Landing Shopping Center) on Friday, April 9th, at 6:30 pm. Angie Wager, the CRM there, has been supporting me since before pretty much anyone else. We're going to make this a lot of fun with giveaways, good food, a reading, etc. Please, if you live anywhere close, try to make it!!!

I'm also happy to announce that Simon & Schuster is sending me and Brandon Mull (FABLEHAVEN) on a little jaunt to Houston (May 10) and Austin (May 11) Texas, where we'll be presenting and signing together. Details coming.

Here is a list of my other upcoming events:

Wednesday, April 14
6:30p.m.- Signing
Barnes & Noble
861 North East Mall Blvd.
Hurst, TX 76053
817-284-3243

Monday, April 19
Signing- 6:00p.m.
Barnes & Noble
1758 S. Val Vista Dr.
Mesa, AZ 85204
480-454-8514

Tuesday, April 20
6:30p.m.- Signing
Deseret Book
1350 S. Gilbert Rd. #4
Mesa, AZ 85204
480-926-3234

Tuesday, April 27
6:30p.m.- Signing
Barnes & Noble
8374 South Willow St.
Lone Tree, Co 80124
303-706-9660

Saturday, May 1
2-4p.m.- Signing
Barnes & Noble
330 East University Parkway
Orem, UT 84058
801-224-3526

Tuesday, May 4
6:30p.m.- Signing
Deseret Book
1110 E. Fort Union Blvd. 4M
Midvale, UT
801-561-8777

Friday, May 7
Signing- 6:30p.m.
Barnes & Noble
721 Gravois Rd.
Fenton, MO 63026
636-326-4619

Scorch Cover, 2009 Sales

Two quick things today that are interesting.

First, the cover for THE SCORCH TRIALS is NOT final, but it's popping up all over the Internet somehow, so I wanted to make sure I let you know about it before you heard it from another source. You can CLICK HERE to see it on Amazon, and I've seen it on a few blogs as well. There will be changes to make it even better, but that's basically it. What do you think?

The word "Companion" will be replaced with "Sequel" because it's most definitely a direct sequel. Also, the colors will be more vibrant and the sky amped up a bit. Once we have a final version, I'll put it up on the blog more officially.

Second, Publisher's Weekly did an article on sales numbers for 2009, and I'm ecstatic to see that THE MAZE RUNNER is included in the Top 100 (#97) for new hardcovers! Considering the competition and the fact it was only out for 3 months of the year, I'm thinking that's not too shabby! We've sold a lot through things like the Scholastic Book Fair, which don't show up on Bookscan, NY Times, etc., so this number really surprised me and made my day.

Here is the article if you'd like to see it: CLICK HERE. Fascinating stuff. I'm not quite in Stephenie Meyer's league yet. Haha.

I hope everyone is off to a great week so far...

UK Trailer, Latest Q&A

I thought I'd answer some of your questions from the comments today.

If that bores you, then go check out the UK trailer for Maze Runner, coming in August from Scholastic/Chicken House. CLICK HERE. It's basically the same as the U.S. one, but some of you may have not even seen that one.

Onto the questions...

Several people asked about the next book after Maze. It's called THE SCORCH TRIALS and comes out on October 12th. There's a countdown on the right side of the blog. Hey, we're almost down to 200 days!!!

Emma wondered where I got the ideas for Maze. Well, besides my crazy and slightly disturbing imagination, I always say the book was definitely inspired by two of my favorites growing up: ENDER'S GAME and LORD OF THE FLIES.

Thanks for all the yays from those in cities I'm visiting on tour, and the boos from those I'm not. Both make me feel good and appreciated! I really hope to meet a lot of you. Unless you're the lady from MISERY.

Rue from Dallas wants to know where you can find specifics about my upcoming tours. As soon as I have them, they'll be posted here, so stay tuned.

Dave asked about New York, and I did forget to say that I'm coming there for BEA at the end of May, but I don't think I have any events outside of that.

Mary at The Sweet Bookshelf wants me to come to the UK - I would love to!!!!! Who knows. I've never been to Europe, but I really want to go sometime soon. We'll see if one of the publishers there brings me out, or I guess I could arrange a couple of events if we go on vacation. We shall see! Do they like Americans?

Magenta wondered who came up with the UK cover. Well, I don't really know - the design team there, I guess. But I do love it!!!

Arning asked what my book is about. Well, the best thing would be for you to read the little teaser printed on the book flap, which is also available all over the Internet. Google is your friend!

Morgan wants to know how many books are planned in THE 13TH REALITY series. Five. So two years from now both of my series will be done and who knows what'll come next...

Graham Bradley asked when we'd be able to see the cover for SCORCH. Soon, my friend. Soon. It's really cool.

LuAnn Staheli's middle school class wondered why Sato is on the cover of Book 3 of 13th. We're kind of going with a theme, a different character on the cover with each book. Tick, then Mistress Jane, and now Sato. He might be my favorite character, by the way.

Jennifer Jenkins was nice enough to ask me about my knee. It's recovering nicely, except I must've done something to it because it's swollen and stiff today. I hope it's nothing serious!!!

Debbie the Nerf Goddess (nice name!) brought up a good point. The US and Greek covers both use the same awesome artwork by Philip Straub, but show different angles, the Greek one showing the sky above. Why? I don't know. Different tastes. I can't decide which one I like more.

Juliet Crane asked how far in the future MAZE is set. Excellent, excellent question! Well, it's never really revealed in the books, but in my mind it's over 200 years.

Alyssa hoped I could post the first couple of chapters of SCORCH for everyone. Well, not yet. But I think Random House will do that within the next couple of months.

Taffy asked about the last amazing movie I watched. I really loved THE GHOST WRITER, and not just because I have a mancrush on Ewan Mcgregor.

Ender wanted to know how I'm liking LOST so far. Love it as always. Though I'm actually behind on the show (I know - shame, shame), so I might talk about it more once I'm caught up.

There ya go. Thank you again for ALL the comments. I love reading them and staying in touch with you guys. My next post will be a full update on all the little things going on in my life. Talk soon...

Upcoming Chat on Twitter

I wanted to let you guys know about an online chat in which I'll be participating with a bunch of huge YA authors (figuratively speaking of course). The incredible Georgia McBride (author of the upcoming urban fantasy series PRAEFATIO in 2011) founded YALITCHAT, and the biggest one yet is coming up on April 14th and 15th.

Look at this lineup!!!

April 14th: Melissa Marr, A.S. King, Becca Fitzpatrick, Lisa McMann, Ellen Hopkins, Margaret Stohl, Carrie Ryan, Alyson Noel

April 15th: Holly Black, Michelle Zink, Scott Westerfeld, Kami Garcia, Cassandra Clare, Bree Despain, James Dashner, Sarah Rees Brennan

I'm honored to be included, and excited to make a fool of myself in such company!

Details:

Both evening chats take place from 9:00 to 11:00 pm EST.

It all takes place on twitter under the hashtag of #yalitchat.

The official website for yalitchat: http://yalitchat.wordpress.com/

Here's the link for it on Ning: http://yalitchat.ning.com/

To follow along you simply search for #yalitchat on twitter then keep up! We'll be answering your questions so be sure and pipe in.

If you're not following me on twitter yet, please do! CLICK HERE to do so.

May everyone have a most joyous and non-sucky weekend. Talk to ya next week.