New website soon

I'm going to forgo blogging here this week because our new website is going to be revealed very, very soon. So I'll save it for that.

Stay tuned!!!

Q&A 2012: Part 2

In two or three weeks, we'll be revealing the new and VASTLY improved jamesdashner.com. You guys are gonna really love it. It'll be a much better place to gather, and the blog will live on there. As will lots of other stuff.

It all started when my agent asked me, "James, isn't it high time you had a professional-looking website?" In other words, "James, your blog looks sucky." Not much longer!

In the meantime, I thought I'd answer the next five questions of our Q&A. Also, be sure and read the shout-out at the bottom of this post!

Logan Rutherford: How much I write per day really depends on what stage of the process I currently find myself. When I'm in full-bore first-draft writing mode, I usually do anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 words per day. Then, during revisions, I think more in terms of time spent on editing and reworking. But with all my work combined, including promotion, it's definitely a full-time job. A fun one, but full-time.

Mike Cholowicz: I always, always type and edit my books on my laptop. Using the good old-fashioned Word. Nothing fancy. I love being able to take my job anywhere I like, from the mountains to a library to a bookstore to my backyard. And my office, of course. I have an author friend who writes her books out longhand before entering them into a computer. Ugh. I could never do that!!!

Carolyn: How did I get my big break? That's a great question. It seems like any successful author had a few lucky breaks and I'm no exception. I started with a small publisher, moved to a medium-sized one, then got on with Random House. Each step can be traced back eventually to someone I met at a conference or something like that.

The biggest lucky break I've had? Having the right book at the right time when THE HUNGER GAMES became a huge phenomenon. Thanks, Ms. Collins! I'd write you a check, but... I think you're okay.

BlondeTiger and Lady_Mel, among others, asked where I get my inspiration: Mainly from books, TV, and movies. It's a tough *coughcough* part of my job, but I do a lot of all three of those! They all combine to create an idea factory in my head, as well as teach me about what works and what doesn't work in storytelling. Plus they get me EXCITED about writing and creating.

Chunky: Thanks for asking about the slang in THE MAZE RUNNER. That was a lot of fun to create. Basically, it had two purposes:

1. To show that this was taking place in a different time and to give their language its own flavor.

2. To give their words a harshness - to match their environment - without getting banned from every school in the world. It wouldn't have made much sense for Minho to say, "Gee darn golly, there's a goshdang Griever up there!" I was being practical.

Thanks for the questions. Are you bored yet? Wish you'd lost your eyeballs in a screwdriver mishap? Thanks anyway!

Ok, I wanted to give a shout-out to a budding film project by the same guys who made the amazingly awesome book trailer for THE MAZE RUNNER. Please check them out on kickstarter.com, and become a backer. I did it, because I really believe in them and I know they are extremely talented filmmakers. Their future is bright.

For more information, CLICK HERE.

Q&A: 2012 Part 1

Thanks for all the great questions! Instead of rambling on and on, I'll just jump right into some of them. The way I'll do this is say the name of the person who asked, then usually just give my answer by restating the question as well. Here we go...

Sallie Mazzur: I'm not real big on reading books for a second time. There are so many good ones out there, I don't think I can ever get to them all, so I don't want to do repeats. But the one I've probably read more than any others is ENDER'S GAME by Orson Scott Card.

Thekellys: Ah, yes. Who is Minho named after? I get this question often. And the answer is very simple. The events of THE MAZE RUNNER take place well in the future, so I purposefully wanted a main character who is named after someone who doesn't exist yet in our day. So keep an eye out for the great man who will rise up in our society called Minho. (Could it be my niece's husband? Maybe!)

Pherisphena Ladea: I'm not one to say never, but I can't imagine ever writing a book following up the events of THE DEATH CURE. That story is told, and I think any sequel would be extremely boring. However, I'd always planned on writing a prequel - at least one - and you guys can look forward to THE KILL ORDER this August.

Dubloon: Thank you for calling some of my scenes "soul-sucking." I take that as a very high compliment! All I can say is I try my best. Something I've learned over the years is to show patience when you write. If you have an exciting or game-changing scene, sometimes you're temped to write it really fast. But you'll heighten the tension and strengthen the resolution by taking the right amount of time to get there.

Robert MacGillivray: I appreciate all those who've asked about the potential movie for THE MAZE RUNNER. Believe me, no one on the planet wants this to happen more than I do. And I really think it's going to happen. I'm not allowed to say much, but it's public knowledge that Twentieth Century Fox optioned the rights, that a script has been written, and that things are moving slowly but surely. Stay tuned!!!

5 questions at a time seems like a good pace. Check back soon and I'll answer the next batch. And, as always, feel free to leave a question in the comments.

Did everyone see THE HUNGER GAMES movie? I was beyond impressed, and I'm very happy there's so much hope for book adaptations. Although I still think they should've had me play the part of Katniss. A wig, some makeup, a couple of body doubles...

JK Jen-Law!

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

Catch Up: Bidness and Pop Culture

2011 was a great year for my career, but I think 2012 is going to be even better:

We've got the prequel to the Maze Runner series coming in August. (What? You didn't hear about THE KILL ORDER? Then CLICK HERE.)

We've got the debut of INFINITY RING from Scholastic coming in September. (What? You didn't hear about that? Then CLICK HERE.)

But that's not all. There's much more to come and to be announced. There'll be a new, and amazing, James Dashner website debuting in a couple of months. A place for all of us to gather. And maybe this is the year that the movie gets green lit for production. Who knows? And I might even have a new book written that you don't know about yet. Lots of fun things to come.

So what's been on my mind lately? I'll do fun things first, then more book-related stuff last. Let's see...

Fun things:

1. This is going to be a great year for movies and I can hardly stand the wait. Hunger Games, Dark Knight, Prometheus, The Hobbit, lots of other stuff. I have two things in my head constantly: the haunting chant from the Batman trailer and the cool song by the dwarves in the Hobbit trailer. Yowza, my level of dorkiness is truly disturbing.

2. By the way, weird thing about me: I don't usually watch trailers. I go to great lengths to avoid them because I HATE the spoilers. But I just couldn't resist with the two mentioned above.

3. What I'm reading: THE LITIGATORS by John Grisham. I know, completely random, but it'd been a long time since I'd read a Grisham book and I used to love them. It's pretty good so far.

4. Let's continue branding my dorkiness: I really, really liked the new Mission Impossible movie. I saw it twice. And I almost cried at the end of the second one solely for the reason that I thought, man, that was truly a masterpiece of tension and suspense. And plus I love Tom Cruise. He's so good at looking scared and anxious. It's good to have him back!!!

4.5. Not coincidentally, I'm imagining the main character in Grisham's book as Tom Cruise from The Firm. Boom.

5. I've also discovered the magic of some TV shows that I missed the first time around. Breaking Bad especially. Besides the holy and hallowed Lost, this is now my favorite show of all time. Excellent on every level. I seriously can't believe how good it is, and I'm so mad that I'm now caught up and have to actually wait for the fifth and final season.

6. Others I've discovered: The Wire, Dexter, and Boardwalk Empire. And, of course, sealing my dorkiness once and for all, I'm so happy to see the return of Downton Abbey. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please don't ask.

7. You may wonder, when does this lazy sack James Dashner actually write books? Well, I take a page from my idol, Stephen King (known to me as Uncle Stevie. And to millions of other people.) I need the creative stimulation of books, TV, and movies to keep my writing juices flowing. For example, an episode of a TV show is the perfect-sized break during the day, and gets my idea factory churning at full speed.

8. Yes, I realize I have the greatest job on Earth. And I NEVER take it for granted. I'm extremely thankful to my readers for allowing me to do the things I love for a living.

9. Let me know what kind of pop culture things you're enjoying in the comments!

Book-related stuff:

1. Finishing up the prequel. I'm very proud of it and I think you guys are really going to love it. It may not be about what you think or assume it will be about. Let's just say there's a whole cast of new characters. And we see first hand all the horrible things that happened to make the events of the trilogy necessary in the first place. How's that for a teaser?

2. Covers. We'll be revealing the covers for the two books mentioned at the top very soon. I've seen the initial one for THE KILL ORDER and I absolutely love it. The artist, Philip Straub, has done all four books, and he's just amazing. (I'm pretty sure THE DEATH CURE will be my favorite book cover of all time.)

3. For you educators out there, I wanted to let you know about a really cool study guide that Random House created for the entire Maze Runner series. It's great for students and discussion. You can view it online, CLICK HERE.

4. I was really honored to have Death Cure chosen as one of nine "Best Books of 2011" for teens by Barnes and Noble. Check it out: CLICK HERE.

5. I've started a new program with my local indie bookstore, The King's English, to sign and personalize books for people who order them through their website. It's a great way for you to have my signature in your book if you can't make it to my events. For more information, CLICK HERE.

6. Is it me, or do we have a lot of links in this posting? It's starting to get annoying, so here's the last one: If you've had an uncontrollable urge to see a corner of my office, today is your lucky day! Scholastic does a feature where they show bookshelves of various authors, and they recently had me on there. Check it out: CLICK HERE.

If you haven't already, be sure and follow me on Twitter and Facebook. Talk again soon...

Don't forget to tell us in the comments about your pop culture likes or dislikes lately! Focus on the likes, actually.

Infinity Ring and Scholastic

I'm very excited and honored to be a part of a very big announcement today! Infinity Ring, a new 7-book multi-platform series that is a collaborative effort between myself, the great people at Scholastic, and five other incredible authors: Jen Nielsen, Matt Kirby, Matt de la Pena, Carrie Ryan, and Lisa McMann.

I've known about this for a long time, and it's so great to finally share the news with you guys. It's surreal and amazing to be working with Scholastic on a project this big.

There'll be much more to come, but I feel like I can't say it any better than the New York Times. We're on the front page of the Arts Section today, so go pick up a copy!

Or... you can read it online: CLICK HERE.

Also, for more details, read the official announcement on the Scholastic website: CLICK HERE.

The website and online game for this is going to blow you away. It's not live yet, but you can see the cool logo: CLICK HERE.

I'm so incredibly excited about this! I'll blog again soon and give you more nitty gritty details.

Announcement: The Maze Runner Prequel

I'm very happy to finally share some exciting news that has been brewing for a very long time. It's a story that was born even before The Maze Runner was written.

I can't say it any better than the press release from Random House and Delacorte Books. So, here goes. Be sure and visit the official website for more information (and to play the new Scorch Trials game!): CLICK HERE.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Delacorte Press Books

Announces Prequel to James Dashner’s

New York Times Bestselling Maze Runner Trilogy

THE KILL ORDER to be published in August 2012

New York, NY, November 21, 2011— Fast on the heels of the publication of The Death Cure, the third novel in James Dashner’s New York Times bestselling trilogy, comes the news that Dashner will be releasing a prequel to the series, entitled THE KILL ORDER on August 14, 2012. The announcement and acquisition was made by Beverly Horowitz, Vice President and Publisher of Delacorte Press Books from Michael Bourret of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management. Krista Marino, Executive Editor with Delacorte Press Books, who worked with Dashner on The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure, is also the editor of THE KILL ORDER. Rights for the audiobook, which will be available on CD and as a digital download, were secured by Rebecca Waugh of Listening Library, a division of Random House, from Lauren Abramo of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares seared the earth and mankind fell to disease. THE KILL ORDER tells the story of that fall. “The prequel is something that has churned in my mind since before The Maze Runner was even complete. It's been hard to keep it a secret! I'm excited to finally share the news and I can't wait for my readers to see how it all began," shared Dashner. Since the inception of the series, fans have clamored to know more. THE KILL ORDER will answer their most burning questions.

There are currently one million copies of The Maze Runner books in print. All three volumes have been New York Times bestsellers. On October 11^th the riveting conclusion, The Death Cure, was published and became an instant bestseller. In the novel, the truth behind WICKED was finally and thrillingly revealed. The first volume in the series, The Maze Runner, was published in October 2009 to both great anticipation and critical acclaim. Packed with intrigue and action, The Maze Runner was a hit upon publication, becoming a standout in the dystopian genre which has since exploded in popularity among young adult readers. The sequel, The Scorch Trials, followed in October 2010, with the story picking up a mere four hours after The Maze Runner left off. The heart-stopping sequel brought further acclaim and a widening fan base to the series.

James Dashner is also the author of the 13th Reality series. James was born and raised in Georgia, but now lives in the Rocky Mountains with his family. Visit him at www.jamesdashner.com or follow him on Twitter (@jamesdashner).

Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company. Visit us on the Web at www.randomhouse.com/teens.

Visit TheMazeRunner.com & become a fan of The Maze Runner Trilogy on Facebook

Dave Wolverton - Dystopia

(QUICK NOTE: I'm signing at the Costco in Sandy UT this Saturday (the 12th) at 1 pm.)

I'm honored to call myself a friend (and student) of Dave Wolverton, aka David Farland. He has a new book out called NIGHTINGALE, and I've read it, and it's awesome. I highly recommend it. Also, he's doing a blog tour and has written a guest post exclusive to the Dashner Dude. On a topic that I chose (Dystopias and why they're popular). In other words, Dave Wolverton is not only a genius, but a major stud.

You can find out more about him and his book at the following website: CLICK HERE. You'll be amazed enough at the website.

Okay, here are the words of the man himself:

Writing in the Ruins

Dystopias sell, and they’ve been on a long run. Certainly, when H.G. Wells wrote the The Time Machine he was dealing with dystopias, but one can go back further than that. Consider Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist. Doesn’t the story of a boy forced into a workhouse and then escaping to the mean streets of London during an unending depression qualify as a dystopia?

As a child, I recall that many of my fantasies revolved around horrifying scenarios. What if the Russians took over? What if aliens attacked? Wells beat us all to it. What if there was a nuclear war? What if we run out of food and have to start eating each other? What if some weird religious cult took over and tried to force women back into slavery?

You get the idea. There are a lot of ways that the world can end, and all of the scenarios above have been turned into very popular movies and books. So what’s the attraction?

First, I think that we recognize that thinking about the “unthinkable” is a valuable activity. Simply by envisioning the consequences, say, a disaster, we can alter the course of history.

When I was a child, I recall having several school teachers who believed that a nuclear war between the US and Russia was inevitable. Certainly the rhetoric was all there, and Fidel Castro recounts how he begged the Soviet Union to let him launch missiles into the U.S. and start an all-out nuclear war. He says that he knew that Cuba would be wiped off the map in the resulting counter-attack, but he was willing to sacrifice his nation.

But that never gelled. Why?

Probably because a few world leaders understood the consequences all too well. They’d read books by geeky sci-fi writers like me, set a thousand years in the future, where radioactive clouds still swept across the face of a struggling earth, and generations of children, burned and scarred and cancerous, sought to eke out a miserable existence because of their ancestors’ mistakes.

So we dodged a bullet. In fact, we’ve dodged a lot of them. I recall once that a newspaper pointed out during the 1970s that the Russians had enough nerve gas to kill every living creature on the planet 10,000 times over. The next day, President Nixon announced that the U.S. had enough nerve gas to kill everything on the planet 60,000 times over. My, wasn’t that comforting.

It wasn’t long until both countries began destroying their chemical weapons arsenals. In fact, within the next few months, the U.S. will have burned up all of its old munitions—a process that has taken twenty years.

We’ve dodged bullets with industrial pollution, viral outbreaks, and economic ruin over and over again, and much of that success I’m sure comes as a result of the forewarnings by storytellers.

That said, think that readers have other reasons for devouring dystopic fiction. The truth is that when we’re reading fiction, we often enjoy thrusting ourselves into a world, into an imagined scenario, that would crush us in real life. Want to get captured as a child and sold into slavery? Want to die and find out what happens next? Want to see what happens when an asteroid the size of the moon strikes Chicago.

Catastrophes and dystopias make for good fiction in part because they’re not real. No matter how well I write a scene, how well you experience it in fiction, you know that the story isn’t real. (I did have a schizophrenic read one of my novels once, and months later he seemed to believe that he had actually been on another planet and lived through the adventures I had described. Don’t you do that!)

The truth is that all entertainment does roughly the same thing: it puts us in danger, yet keeps us safe. If you watch a football game, you feel a sense of emotional jeopardy as your team is pitted against another. If you jump out of an airplane, you’re putting yourself in physical danger as you wait to see if your parachute opens. Entertaining activities all put us in some sort of jeopardy.

Reading a story is much like any other form of entertainment. Part of our mind accepts the story as truth. Our heart might race when the hero is being chased by a monster. We might weep as the heroine finds her true love. When watching a movie, we scream when the killer leaps from the closet.

When we enjoy a story set in stark and horrifying dystopia, we’re performing an emotional exercise, one that helps us cope with our own real-world problems just a little better. So in a very real sense, reading a story is like going to the gym, where you practice powerful emotional exercises. The setting, the dystopia, is just a part of the exercise equipment.

In short, we enjoy stories set in dystopias because on a subconscious level, we recognize that they’re good for us.

In his latest novel, Nightingale, award-winning, New York Times Bestselling author David Farland imagines a dystopia unlike any that has ever been visited in fiction. Be among the first to discover this thrilling and powerful story. Go to www.nightingalenovel.com.

The Death Cure Trailer, Tour

I can't believe it. The book finally comes out tomorrow. It's here! Some of you will be reading it in a matter of hours when it becomes available on e-readers at midnight. I know, because you've been telling me on Twitter and Facebook. I'm just as excited as you are!!

To add to that excitement, check out this really cool book trailer that Random House commissioned. To avoid spoilers of the third book, it's a quick glimpse of Thomas in the white room, remembering the terror of The Scorch Trials. Watch it:

CLICK HERE

There's also a cool video game that they've developed that can be played on either your computer or your phone. Look for that soon.

Tomorrow is the day. I thought I'd have an amazing speech and all kinds of profound things to say. But really I just feel kind of surreal. This story has been bouncing around in my head for years, and everyone finally gets to read the ending. I really hope you like it.

I'm going to be on tour the next three weeks, and I want to stay connected with you guys. I'll be doing lots of updates via Twitter and Facebook, giving you a glimpse of what it's like to be out there. Don't follow me there yet? Well, then...

To follow me on Twitter: CLICK HERE

To friend me on Facebook: CLICK HERE

The official Facebook series page: CLICK HERE

The official Maze Runner website: CLICK HERE

And, finally, to check out all my tour dates and appearances, please CLICK HERE. I really want you guys to come out and meet me!!

Please let me know what you think of everything in the comments. The trailer, the book, the tour, whatever. I love to hear from you. Talk again soon, and happy reading!

New Podcast, and Winners!

Again, with that plural form of the word. Yes, we'll be sending out four copies of THE DEATH CURE to four of you. Sorry, but only four! Thanks for all the amazing comments, compliments, and feedback regarding our new podcast.

Before I announce the winners (heehee), I want to make sure you know that today, as with every Monday, there is a new episode of Wordplay up for your listening pleasure. And this one is especially awesome because we have a guest, and his name is Michael Bourret, and he's my agent. And he knows SO MUCH about the industry. So be sure and tune in!

CLICK HERE to go to the website.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...

I'm going to talk about football! Yes, my son had an interception in his game and was named the Defensive Player of the Game by his coaches. Huh? You couldn't care less? Okay.

Here are the winners. Be sure and get me your email address if you already haven't. Maybe you should again just to make sure I have the correct one. Congrats!!!

1. Melina, Reading Vacation

2. Danyelle Ferguson

3. Bethany

4. Gabriela Villegas

THE DEATH CURE comes out 4 weeks from tomorrow! If you missed the official tour schedule, CLICK HERE.

Tour Dates for The Death Cure

It's hard to believe, but tour time is almost here again. I'll be visiting all over the country, so I really hope a lot of you can come out and meet me. It's going to be a lot of fun! And, most of all, I'm so excited for everyone to finally find out how the trilogy ends and why it all happened in the first place.

So, here you go. Because we all know how to use Google and Maps, I'm not going to put addresses. Deal? Deal. Giving someone an address went out with the demise of the flip-phone.

Let us know in the comments if you're planning to make it out to one of these events! Can't wait:

Salt Lake City, UT
• October 11, 7:00 p.m. The King’s English Bookshop

San Francisco, CA
• October 13, 7:00 p.m. Rakestraw Books, Danville
• October 14, 7:00 p.m. Kepler’s Books, Menlo Park

Seattle, WA
• October 15, 4:00 p.m. Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park
• October 16, 2:00 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Lynwood

Phoenix, AZ
• October 18, 6:00 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Desert Ridge Marketplace

Austin, TX
• October 22-23, Texas Book Festival

Chicago, IL
• October 24, 7:00 p.m. Anderson’s Bookshop, Naperville

Milwaukee, WI
• October 25, 6:30 p.m. Greenfield Public Library

Vancouver, BC
• October 26, 7:00 p.m. Vancouver Kidsbooks, at the venue of West Point United Church Sanctuary

Atlanta, GA
• October 30, 2:00 p.m. Barnes & Noble, Alpharetta
• October 30, 7:00 p.m. Little Shop of Stories, Decatur

Las Vegas, NV

• November 3-5, Vegas Valley Book Festival

I'll also be attending conferences in Billings, MT and Lexington, KY, but I don't think they are open to the public.

If I'm missing your area this time around, I'm sorry! Keep bugging Random House and maybe you'll get on the list next tour. But I'll be sure to stay well connected throughout my time on the road.

Note: Did you enter for a chance to win an advanced copy of THE DEATH CURE? No? Then CLICK HERE to do so. The winners will be announced on Monday the 12th. (Notice the plural usage of the word winner...)

Want a copy of THE DEATH CURE?

Today's blog will be short.

Our second episode ever of the Wordplay Podcast is now up and running. Our guest this week is Ally Condie, author of MATCHED, and you can actually win a signed copy of it if you go and listen.

I'm also, as promised, throwing in a chance to win an advanced copy of THE DEATH CURE just for fun. To enter for this chance, all you have to do is post a comment on this here blog and tell us something you liked, learned, hated, ANYTHING, about the podcast from either this week or last week.

Simple right?

To go to the official Wordplay website, CLICK HERE!!!

EDIT: For those of you looking for it on iTunes, CLICK HERE

New Podcast!!!

Hi everyone! It's September 1, the beginning of the best four months of the year. And right on cue, a cool front has come through and the high today will only be 82. Nice.

I know I've promised a contest or giveaway of some sort for an advance copy of THE DEATH CURE. Well, that is coming very, very soon. Like, Monday or Tuesday soon.

But, I wanted to make sure I got on here and announced a pretty exciting thing that I'm involved with. A podcast. A very cool podcast that I think you'll want to listen to every single week for the rest of your lives.

It's called Wordplay, and I'm doing it with two extraordinary (not just ordinary - they are EXTRA ordinary) people:

Jeff Scott Savage, author of FARWORLD and my mentor, who just sold a series to Harper Collins, tentatively titled THE GRIMVILLE CASE FILES. This guy knows more about writing than any other person I've ever spoken to or heard speak. And that's saying a lot.

Nathan Bransford, author of JACOB WONDERBAR AND THE COSMIC SPACE KAPOW. He also used to be a literary agent and is extremely respected in the industry for his vast wealth of knowledge. Plus, check out the title of his book. I mean, come on.

The podcast will be about anything and everything to do with books, reading, writing, agents, publishers, you name it. We're even going to have a special podcast once a month aimed for teachers and kids. Each one will be about 20 minutes long, once a week, so you don't have to quit your jobs or anything to listen.

Jeff has really taken this thing by the horns and organized it so well. You can learn everything there is to know about it at the website he set up: CLICK HERE. You might want to bookmark that and check back every Monday for the latest episode.

The first one is already up for your listening pleasure. By the way, it's free. And you can even get it on iTunes because we're cool that way. AND, check this out: We just started and yet look at the two AMAZING guests we're going to have in the next two or three weeks:

Michael Bourret, recently awarded the Best Agent Ever award (by me) and a Vice President with the incredible agency, Dystel & Goderich.

Ally Condie, the NYT Bestselling (mega bestselling) author of MATCHED and the upcoming sequel, CROSSED. We plan to have many, many awesome guests on this podcast, and what a way to start.

So there you have it. Check out the website and listen to the first episode ever. You'll quickly learn that I'm the dumbest and goofiest-sounding of the three, but I think you'll enjoy it and maybe even learn something.

Once again, here is the website: www.wordplaypodcast.com

Also, since I've shocked the world by blogging three times in the last week or two, be sure and read my last couple of posts if you missed them, including the great review we got from Kirkus. Talk to ya next week!

Kirkus Review of The Death Cure

Wow, we are very excited to announce that Kirkus has given THE DEATH CURE an extremely positive review!!! (And yes, I'm aware that I've now blogged twice this week. Booyah.)

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I've been so scared at how this book would be received since the last in a series is always held up to huge standards with lots of expectations. But this is the strongest validation we could've hoped for at this early stage.

Non-spoiler line: "Dashner again displays his mastery of the action sequence, making readers turn pages even as they become further invested in the well-developed characters.‬ ‪Heart pounding to the very last moment."

The full review is below, but I'm giving you a major warning. This review is FULL of spoilers. Full of them. Big ones. So if you don't like to know that kind of stuff, please don't read it.

SPOILER ALERT

Full Kirkus Review:

An explosive ending to The Maze Runner trilogy.‬

‪Thomas and the rest of the survivors of the Maze and the Scorch Trials are being held at WICKED (World in Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department) headquarters. Subjected to even more tests, they’ve learned enough to know that they’re all part of a massive experiment to find a cure for the pandemic Flare disease. But does any cure justify what they’ve been put through? Or the engineered deaths of their friends? It’s hard to believe that “WICKED is good,” even though that’s the message they’re bombarded with.

Discouraged, rebellious and definitely not trusting, Thomas, Newt, Minho, Brenda and Jorge break out and escape to Denver, now a walled city meant to be reserved for the uninfected and the immune. But it’s all too clear that Newt has already been infected and is teetering on the verge of madness. It’s equally clear that WICKED has put a bounty on their heads and won’t rest until they have these survivors back in hand—especially Thomas, who may have been part of all the experiments from the very beginning and is now the Final Candidate. Dashner again displays his mastery of the action sequence, making readers turn pages even as they become further invested in the well-developed characters.‬

‪Heart pounding to the very last moment.

(Science fiction/thriller. 12 and up)‬

Fall Approaches

Hey everybody! I know it's been a long time since I last blogged. I blame it on a tough, crazy summer. But the best time of the year is approaching, and I can already smell autumn in the air...

Over on twitter (follow me! CLICK HERE), I promised I'd blog today, so here I am. Keeping my promise. The only problem is I have no idea what to talk about. Hmmm...

1. First, I've never really officially announced this, but many of you have asked about the fourth (and last) book in my series, The 13th Reality. Right now it's planned to come out next spring or early summer. I would've really had to rush it to come out this year, and I didn't want to do that. Hopefully, the wait will be worth it. The series is going to have quite an ending, I promise.

2. Lots of people have also asked about what comes after the Maze Runner trilogy is done. Well, for some reason, no one ever lets me talk about anything. But I'll just say this: we have a couple of big announcements coming soon. Really big. You guys aren't getting rid of me yet. Ever, actually.

3. The Death Cure is coming out on October 11th. In case you're calendarly challenged, that's really soon. I'll be touring for three weeks, and I now know which cities: Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, Billings, Austin, Chicago, Milwaukee, Vancouver (Yay Canada!), Lexington, Atlanta, and Las Vegas.

4. Until then, I'm just at home, working hard, writing. For my breaks, I've been watching the show called Breaking Bad, now up to Season 2. Holy crap. I love this show. My favorite since Lost.

5. The paperback for The Scorch Trials comes out three weeks from tomorrow, on Sept. 13. Random House has started a new imprint called Ember, and this will be one of the first releases under that imprint. Why? I honestly don't know.

6. How would one or two of you like to read The Death Cure early? Really? Okay, I'll ask my publisher if we can do a contest and send a couple out for the blog. Stay tuned...

7. My eleven year old son is playing quarterback. How cool is that?

8. I thought it was really cool that Elizabeth Banks, who will be playing Effie in the upcoming Hunger Games movie, mentioned my book in her interview for New York Magazine. If you want to read it, CLICK HERE.

9. We also got our first "official" review for Death Cure, by Jason Kennedy from the Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee. It made my day, and they said I could share it with you guys. Slight spoiler warning:

"I was hesitant to start The Death Cure, what more could WICKED put Thomas through? What horrible, what torturous, what painful journey would Thomas have to complete? Would it be enough? In the clutches of WICKED and infected with the Flare, the outlook does not look promising. James Dashner does not disappoint in this bleak and exhilarating finale--I can't wait to see what he comes up with next."

Thanks, Jason!!!

10. Has anyone else out there gotten their hands on an ARC? I'd love to hear what you think.

Okay, more soon. A lot sooner than later. I promise.

BEA Report (with pics!)

Warning: There is a picture of me with Tyra Banks in this blog post...

Hi, Duders! Did you miss me? You did? I missed you, too. But there's no reason for that because you can totally hang with me every day over on Twitter, where you can join the new #dashnerarmy. The awesome @verbvixen is helping sign up soldiers. CLICK HERE to follow me.

Anyway, on to BEA, where I saw cool things like this:

BEA (Book Expo America) was an amazing week. This is the biggest event in publishing where the publishers present and promote what they have coming. I honestly don't even know where to start. But I know you guys love a glimpse into the mad world of my industry, so here you go. It'll be brief...

Monday: I arrived in NYC. It took an hour and a half to get to my hotel, which was stinky. But then I walked over to Random House HQ and had a lovely meeting with my editor, Krista Marino and the Delacorte publisher, Beverly Horowitz. Much strategizing and laughing occurred. Then there was a yummy dinner where more of this kind of thing went on.

Actually, I just realized this was the WEEK BEFORE when I also went to NYC for the Random House Fall preview event. Haha. I'll leave it. I mean, it WAS a Monday.

Tuesday: I met up with my AWESOME publicist, Emily Pourciau, who would so kindly escort me throughout the week's events. First up: ABC Speed Dating, where I took 3 minute turns at about 35 tables with booksellers and librarians. Quite the whirlwind! Then I had lunch and good times with my superhuman agents, Michael Bourret and Lauren Abramo. Much strategizing and laughing ensued.

That evening was the Random House Children's Books party, where I was incredibly honored to be one of 10 authors among hundreds of book people. It was very swanky and was held on an aircraft carrier. Yep, first time for me, too. It was so fun!

Here are two pictures of me, one with Christopher Paolini (ERAGON) and one with Tyra Banks (the upcoming MODEL LAND). You can guess which is which.

Afterward, Michael and I had a very fun, long dinner where much strategizing and laughing occurred. He's seriously one of my favorite people on planet Earth, and I love hanging out with him.

Wednesday: I did a video shoot at the Barnes and Noble headquarters for some things you'll see on BN.com this fall when the book comes out. Then we headed back to the Javits center for my signing (the chapter samplers). I met lots of cool people! Afterward I did an interview with Justine Magazine.

That evening, I was honored to be part of a panel at the Mulbery Library that included some amazing authors: Lauren Kate, Scott Westerfeld, Maureen Johnson, Ally Condie, and Ellen Hopkins. We spent an hour or so answering questions and telling stories and laughing. Then we signed and met MORE cool people.

Afterward, another great dinner out with Krista and a few others from Random House.

Thursday: I had a meeting with the good people at Simon & Schuster, including the hilarious and Batman-loving Liesa Abrams, the editor for THE 13TH REALITY. I also got to meet fellow client of Michael's and superstar Lisa McMann, who has a big series debuting this fall called THE UNWANTEDS.

I saw the Buzz Panel for middle grade where Lisa and my good friend Matthew Kirby were honored. Matt's book ICEFALL also comes out this fall.

Then I walked the floor a bit with Michael, went back to my hotel, and wrote over 4,000 words before crashing. BEA inspires you to do such things. (both the writing and the crashing.)

Friday: Flew home!

I'll post again soon about what's going on in the Dashner world. In the meantime, here is a picture of me with the three most important people in my author career: Krista, Michael, and Emily.