Reading, writing, fairy tales. Reading and writing about fairy tales...
Music
Tori Amos, Enya, Liz Phair, Loreena McKennitt, Dar Williams, They Might Be Giants, anything sung by Sesame Street muppets
Movies
Star Wars, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally, Labyrinth, Pride & Prejudice (every version ever made)
Television
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Kim Possible, Stargate SG-1, So You Think You Can Dance and American Idol (but only if I can Tivo through the commercials)
Books
Into the Wild, Out of the Wild, Ice :) (Sarah Beth Durst), Alanna (Tamora Pierce), Monsters of Morley Manor (Bruce Coville), Ella Enchanted (Gail Carson Levine), Jack the Giant-Killer (Charles de Lint), Beauty (Robin McKinley), Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen), Deep Wizardry (Diane Duane), A Fistful of Sky (Nina Kiriki Hoffman), Howl’s Moving Castle (Diana Wynne Jones), The Belgariad (David Eddings), Dragonsinger (Anne McCaffrey), Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card), Arrows of the Queen (Mercedes Lackey), Dealing with Dragons (Patricia Wrede), The Forgotten Beasts of Eld (Patricia McKillip), The Changeover (Margaret Mahy), and about a billion others
About me:
I'm a writer of fantasy novels for children and young adults. My first two novels, Into the Wild and Out of the Wild (Penguin, 2007 & 2008), are fantasy adventures about fairy-tale characters who escaped the fairy tale and what happens when the fairy tale wants its characters back. My latest book, Ice, is a modern Arctic fantasy about a polar bear, true love, and one girl's impossible quest across the frozen North. It's scheduled to come out in October 2009 from Simon & Schuster. I'm very, very, very excited about this.
When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairytale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth to become a prisoner of the trolls. Now that Cassie is older, she knows that this was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, she is determined to become a scientist, and she has no time for make believe.
Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face to face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned in the troll castle. And that he can bring her back -- if Cassie will agree to be his bride.
That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairytale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knew will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her -- until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of ICE.
About INTO THE WILD:
"Let me put it this way: when your mom cooks, she doesn't have to close the doors to make sure the Gingerbread Men don't run outside."
Junior high is tough enough, even when your family is ordinary. And Julie Marchen's family is anything but ordinary: her brother is a talking cat, her grandmother is a bona fide witch, and her mother is Rapunzel. Yep, that Rapunzel -- long hair, tower, prince... Long ago, Rapunzel escaped the fairy tale with her fellow storybook characters to live incognito in our world. But Julie's world, our world, is about to change -- the fairy tale wants its characters back.
Now Julie must fight wicked witches, avoid glass slippers, fly griffins, and outwit magicians in order to rescue her mom and save her town from becoming a fairy tale kingdom.
"INTO THE WILD is VERY cool, with a unique look at the great fairytale characters. I couldn't put it down until I knew how this brave, extraordinary girl could face such powerful magic!"
-- Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Terrier
(Beka Cooper) and The Will of the Empress
* * *
"Sarah Beth Durst's INTO THE WILD is fabulous in the oldest, truest, and best sense of the word, harking back to fables, wonder, and magic unleashed. It's bold, sassy, and utterly engaging. I can't wait to see what she does next!"
-- Bruce Coville, author of The Unicorn Chronicles and
Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
* * *
"INTO THE WILD's fairy-tale characters are fascinating, and Julie is everything one could want in a heroine -- she's intelligent, practical, determined and brave; at once more ordinary and more extraordinary than she herself thinks she is. I'll be keeping an eye out for more work from Sarah Beth Durst."
-- Patricia C. Wrede, author of The Enchanted Forest Chronicles
Ever since twelve-year-old Julie Marchen defeated the fairy-tale world of the Wild, life's been pretty much back to normal, as normal as it can be for a girl whose brother is Puss-in-Boots, grandma is a witch, and mom is Rapunzel. (Yes, that Rapunzel.)
The Wild is safely back under Julie's bed, but when it suddenly spits out her long-lost dad -- Rapunzel's prince -- things take a seriously enchanted turn. He's gallant, he's handsome, and he's totally clueless about life in the 21st century! (You try teaching a five-hundred-year-old prince how to text message.) Julie couldn't be happier to have her family back together, but when Dad dashes off to save a damsel who's distressing, it's up to Julie to bring him home, protect the family secret, and while she's at it, save the world.
Join Julie on a magical road trip across America. A flying bathmat, a very drowsy princess, a fire-breathing dragon, and several thousand magic beanstalks... Julie's world, our world, will never be the same again.
"An enchanting romp full of adventure, humor and cleverness!"
-- Holly Black, New York Times bestselling author of The Spiderwick Chronicles and Tithe
* * *
"An amazing, wild ride with very high stakes, and the fate of humans and fairytale people alike on the shoulders of one determined girl. This is even better than the first book!"
-- Tamora Pierce, New York Times bestselling author of Terrier (Beka Cooper) and The Will of the Empress
* * *
"This is one of those rare occasions when the sequel is as good as the first book, if not better. Though, in my estimation, they make two halves of one story, and what a wonderfully entertaining story it is."
-- Charles de Lint, author of The Blue Girl and Widdershins
* * *
"Head-spinning fun! Any book that mixes fire breathing dragons and Elvis Presley is a rare treat."
-- Michael Buckley, New York Times bestselling author of The Sisters Grimm series
Who I'd like to meet: Readers, writers, fairy-tale characters.
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Event: Author Visit- Mike Leonard Date: Thu, October 22, 2009
Mike Leonard will be visiting the region! Make sure mark your calendar! Purdue University Calumet, Alumni Hall 2-3 p.m. LaPorte County Public Library- 6-7 p.m.
HEY thanks for being a friend! Be sure to come check out our free website for writers, publishers and editors! Read free stories, poems, and music lyrics and watch some Happy Tree Friends cartoons but beware of cartoon violence. Tell all your friends and help us become a better connection for you and other writers!
You have surely heard about the tragic death of a brave young woman who was murdered in Iran just for peacefully protesting with her father on the streets of Teheran.
Hi. Thanks for adding
me as a friend. I just wanted to let you
know that my vampire book came out two weeks ago to rave reviews and is now
available on Barnesandnoble.com, Amazon.com.
Thank you for your time.
