Page Created: 05/03/19. Last Updated: 07/12/19.
SARAH BETH DURST
BOOKS FOR ADULTS
The Queens of Renthia The Deepest Blue
..........The Queen of Blood (1) The Lost
..........The Reluctant Queen (2)
..........The Queen of Sorrow (3)
BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULTS
Chasing Power Fire & Heist
Conjured Ice
Drink, Slay, Love Vessel
Enchanted Ivy
BOOKS FOR CHILDREN & TWEENS
The Girl Who Could Not Dream The Stone Girl's Story
Journey Across the Hidden Lands The Wild
Roar & Sparkles Go to School ..........Into the Wild (1)
Spark ..........Out of the Wild (2)
MEETING DETAIL
Meeting Date: June 8, 2019.
Meeting Site: Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Paramus, New Jersey.
Attendance: 34.
Meeting Program: Talk / Q & A with Fantasy Author.
Newsletter Account
The following account is reprinted from THE STARSHIP EXPRESS Copyright 2019 Philip J De Parto:
The June 8, 2019 General Meeting of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County was held at Barnes & Noble in Paramus, New Jersey. Fantasy writer Sarah Beth Durst spoke and answered questions.
To give the group an idea of her style and themes, she opened the meeting by reading two sections of her novel, DEEP BLUE. Then she gave a bit of personal background.
Our guest was an avid reader from childhood. She was the poster child for her town library, taking out as many books as she could carry at a very young age. She made the decision to become a writer at age ten while on a chair lift with her father during a ski trip. Her reasoning was that if Tamara Pierce's Alanna could commence her quest to become a knight at ten, then Sarah could start the journey to becoming an author. She took out a subscription to WRITERS' DIGEST when she got home.
The writer's road was not an easy one for Sarah. She started many works but never completed anything until she spent a year in England as an exchange student. The novel she finished was not publishable, but she learned how to plow ahead to the end by completing it. It took ten years for her to have her first novel published, but she continued writing and had a number of other books complete by the time of that first publication.
Sarah Beth Durst constructs her novels utilizing the Principle of Awesomeness. When she gets an idea for a work, like the flying lions of A JOURNEY TO THE HIDDEN ISLAND, she asks, What's the Most Awesome Thing I Could Do With This Idea. When she introduces her main character she asks, What'e the Most Awesome Thing That Could Happen to Her. Her protagonists are usually young women. The classification of the book (MG / YA / Adult) is determined by what most interests and frightens her heroine.
Our speaker has written 19 novels for children, middle graders, young adults and adults. She writes two books a year, alternates between stories for adults and for younger people, and works on one book at a time. Her advice is to write what you love. She writes every day and is unhappy if she spends much time away from writing.
Sarah Beth Durst is midway on the continuum between Plotter and Pantser. She considers her outline to be the skeleton of the story. It's needed to keep everything in its place, but the real task is to put muscle and flesh on those bones. The first draft of a story is like looking into a room through a keyhole. The second draft opens the door a crack. The third allows you to peer in through the window. The final draft is when the door is open and you can walk into the room.
Our guest has her own way of doing things. Instead of using Scrivener, she uses Word. She starts a new document for each chapter. When the chapter is completed, it gets copied and pasted into the master document. The chapter remains intact as originally written so that she can refer back to it if she deletes or reworks it in the revision process.
There was some discussion of the concept of Strong Woman vs Kickass Woman. Sarah tends to avoid the latter. In SPARK, the heroine is a quiet girl of twelve. Elana in QUEEN OF BLOOD is only a mediocre magic school student. Her real power is in her determination. In THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, the secondary heroine is the mother of the lead character.
When asked about inspiration, Sarah stated that you cannot wait for inspiration to start writing. Instead, start writing and trust that inspiration will find you. Regarding Writer's Block, she said it usually occurs when you start doubting yourself or when you have taken a wrong turn in your story. The key is to identify the source and act upon it.
Writing is easiest when you fall in love with your characters, our speaker said. This even applies to the bad guys. If you love them, you can look out of their eyes, write them convincingly, and make them memorable.
All agreed that Sarah was an exciting, first-rate speaker.