Event Recap: James Dashner Kicks off the Scorch Trials Tour & a Contest!

Greetings and Salutations everyone! 

Its me Irish, your faithful event reporter, here to tell you about another great signing that happened here in The Bay State. And this one, my internet friends was even better than most because not only have I met James Dashner a few times prior but I went to not one....but TWO of his signings. That's right....you heard me....I am a total stalker girl...do you see what I do to my reputation just for you - my faithful readers?

The first even happened at the Borders in Braintree, MA on 13 October - the day after the release of Dashner's book The Scorch Trials was released. Scorch Trials is the second book in his Maze Runner Trilogy and was so very good...I talk more about it in this open letter post here. The Braintree event wasn't very well attended. I blame this on the store more than anything else for lack of promotion. After all when I went up to the register to buy the book before the signing started the person running the register didn't even know there was a book signing. *sighs* But since I knew I had been tweeting about it and gathered a few other local bloggers and authors to come including Kim Harrington (author of Clarity, Mar 2011), Karsten Knight (author of Wildfire, July 2011), Leah Cypess (author of Mistwood, out now), Dani J (of Overflowing Bookself) and Danielle B (of Frenzy of Noise).

I had heard rumors that Karsten Knight was a vampire (or batman) and was hoping to get proof of this for Leah Clifford and I think that the rumors might be true. He snuck into the event after I had arrived and I swear it just appeared in the audience while we were all distracted. Sudden appearances are signs of Vampirism, yes? (Although same could be said for batman.) And when we left to go to dinner it was dark so there were no instances of bursting into flames or sparkling and I don't think his meal contained garlic. And my final clue that the rumors might be true....he was dressed all in black. So...vampire, batman...mortal man? I still don't have the answer. But I shall continue to investigate and be sure to report back my findings.

But anywho...investigating Karsten Knight's secret identity aside. We spent some time in the store sitting around and chatting about the book and writing in general, James signed our books and then we all went to dinner. Dinner was a fun event filled with stories about getting agents and other bookish talk. It was a good time and I think fun was had by all. 

James was in town for two nights and the initial plan had been to go to his signing in Burlington, MA on 14 Oct but then the switch to Wednesday happened - and good thing too otherwise he'd have been sitting in that Borders all alone. I hadn't planned on going to two signings but earlier on the 14th Danielle B had asked me what I was doing. I told her nothing since my original plan had been to go to the Burlington BN. She said the same and then asked if I wanted to still go. And so we went. We arrived a little early to learn that the store had expanded their YA section and so we wandered around that until 7. Then we headed over to the area in the store where the event was. 

My one complaint about this event is that they didn't have any chairs for people to sit in. Every other event I've been to in this location had places to sit and it was a bit awkward standing around and sitting on the floor. James started off talking a little bit about the series and then opened things up to questions. This event was better attended and the Q&A is as follows. Including two local (and new to me) bloggers, Nikki of Wicked Awesome Books and Emily of Dragons Ate my Homework (can I just say, LOVE the name of this blog. lol)

As always I may have misheard something so please double check any facts before taking them as truth. :-)

What is the premise of The Death Cure (Maze Runner, Book 3, Fall 2011)?

Well. You see things. You see what life is like in a real city. A different city than as seen in The Scorch Trials, which when you read the book you know isn't the nicest of places. And that's about all I can say about Book 3 for now. 

What was it like writing the series?

Started The Maze Runner about 5 yrs ago before he had an agent or publisher. He wanted a high concept, big picture, scary, crazy awesome. story. The book was influenced by Ender's Game & Lord of the Flies. Writing The Scorch Trials was a whole different experience as he already had a publisher and he had less less time to complete the story. Of the three books in the series he had more fun of writing Scorch Trials than any other book. He is currently working on the third book now. 

At this point he then mentioned how in there is an EXCLUSIVE Barnes & Noble paperback edition of the Maze Runner which includes extra content in the form of memos from WICKED. 

Do you name characters in any special way?

Not normally. The names in Maze Runner do mean something though. There is a reason for all the names. and it will make sense once the book is read. He doesn't really put much thought into names and just uses what pops into head & sometimes they are names of people he knows.

What are the grievers made of?

They are part machine and part biological creations. They are very complex and he doesn't have enough time to explain them all fully. The series is set about about 200 years in the future and so there is lots of advanced technology that was created before the Flares happened and disrupted society.

Have you always wanted to be a writer?

Yes but haven't always made money at it. At first he listened to practical side in college and studied accounting. Spent 8 yrs doing that. But is now able to work as full time writer. He's busier now but its 90% fun. 

Who is your favorite character in the Maze Runner Trilogy?

Minho. He's kinda a smart alec who pretends to be tough. He wishes that Minho was in the story a bit more and he misses him when he's not there. 

(My 2 cents James? Sounds like great potential for a short story at some point. *grin*)

What are you reading now and what is your favorite book?

He's currently reading Under the Dome by Stephen King. Its the first ebook he's ever bought and read. But he has a new iPad and thought he'd give it a try. Even though he always swore he wouldn't as he didn't think eh'd like ebooks. So far though he's really enjoyed the experience and has learned that its the words that matter. Not the form that they come in. The story can still touch and suck you in. Not that he'll give up physical books anytime soon and thinks that both formats will exist for a long time to come.

As for a favorite that's hard to pick. If he wanted to sound smart he would say Les Miserables. But then he'd have to admit that he only read the abridged version. He did say that it did have a profound effect on him though. But for favorite book....for that he'd have to break is life into two periods and would pick Ender's Game and for the second, The Stand. He then mentioned that Under the Dome is a bit like The Stand in feel. 

What are your favorite movies?

That was another touch question to answer as he loves movies almost as much as he loves books....maybe even more so. But off the top of his head he named Lord of the Rings, The Matrix, Aliens, and The Town.

Will there be a movie of the Maze Runner?

His dream is to write a screen play for a movie or even if he could just co-write one. He'd even love to just have any of his books made into a movie. But as of now there is nothing planned. Maybe with the next series. In the mean time if anything develops he'll be sure to announce it on his blog, The Dashner Dude.

James then signed books for everyone who came and spent a few minutes talking to everyone as they came up. Many of those who came were at schools that he attended throughout the day and he remembered who they were and you could just see the smiles on their faces that he did.

After the general signing he got to work and signed a TON of stock for the store. And I mean a TON. So if you can't make it to a James Dashner signing there is a good bet that if you call the Burlington BN that they'll have singed copies of Maze Runner and the Scorch Trials. The store rep who was there as James signed stock said that the store would ship if people called and asked about signed books.

Click here for my review of Maze Runner

Click here for my review of Scorch Trials

James and I at the Burlington BN signing

To thank those who just sat and read this ENTIRE recap.....here is your reward I am giving away signed copies of The Maze Runner (paperback) and The Scorch Trials (hardcover)! Sadly the Maze Runner is not the exclusive BN edition as I picked it up the night before, but its still a WICKED good tale...even without the extra content. :-) To enter just fill out the form below. Contest will be open internationally and will end on 29 October at midnight EST. As of now I think that I will have two winners, so please pick which book you'd like to win most.

For additional chances to win The Scorch Trials check out these sites:

The Book Cellar -Signed ARC of The Scorch Trials and a Signed paperback of The Squire's Tale by Gerald Morris for 2 lucky winners. This will be open until November 3, and open to US and Canada only. Details on how to enter can be found here.

Dragons Ate My Homework - Signed hardcover of The Scorch Trials. Contest is open until Oct 28 and is for US residents only. Details on how to enter can be found here.