Book Signing: James Dashner!

On Tuesday night I was lucky enough to go to my favorite local Indie bookstore The King's English for the Launch Party for THE SCORCH TRIALS by James Dashner! It is always fun to be among local book lovers! And James is a HILARIOUS speaker.

So here is some stuff that James told us (paraphrased from my notes:

• THE SCORCH TRIALS starts a few hours after MAZE ends
• I promise you that by the end of the third book you will know everything. It's not like LOST.
• The ultimate ending will surprise you.
• In THE SCORCH TRIALS lots of bad things happen to the main characters. So, those of you who are sick and twisted will like it.
• I shouldn't use the word "fart" in front of small children.
  

• right now he is editing the 3rd book in MAZE and starting a new series
• The new series is set in the future, and involves simulated reality. So the characters deal with what is real and what is not

Then James took Q&A, here were some of my favorites

Q: How do you keep your mind straight working on all of this at the same time?

A: Ideally I am not working on too many things at the same time. But right now I am really tight on deadlines and working on all 3 of his different series'. Sometimes I'll use the wrong name or think that one character from one series can help out in a different book. Really it comes down to taking a break to get my mind straight.


Q: How much research went into your real world scenario for THE SCORCH TRIALS?

A: Research....I did some. I actually looked at a map once, does that count? I had to look up viruses and how they could affect the brain, that was like a 10 minute online search. Had to use some quantum physics but kindof had already done research on that for THE THIRTEENTH REALITY series.

Q: How was it hitting the NY Times best seller list.

A: I had wanted to be an author my whole life and that is a title you hear and dream of. I got very emotional. I called my mommy!


Q: Do you ever feel constrained by what you wrote in earlier books?

A: I thought book three was perfect when I wrote it, but my editor had a different idea. The problem with writing a series is that in book one, you can pretty much write whatever you want, create any reality you want. Book two you have to kind of stick to the world, but anything that comes up that doesn't fit perfectly you can just say "it's alright, I'll explain that in book three". But then with the third book everything needs to be tied up and correctly. It is harder.

There was lots more, many laughs and it was good fun! Keep your eyes out for your favorite author's touring schedules! There is nothing better than meeting them and getting a signed book!