Author Interview: Sarah Beth Durst

Last week I reviewed The Girl Who Could Not Dream and today I'm chatting with the fabulous author, Sarah Beth Durst. I LOVED this book, check out my review. I saw Sarah at BEA in booth and she quickly got me a book and gave me a big hug. I'm so happy to be chatting her today on the blog. Plus the book comes out today, so go grab it!!

If you could dream about one thing only for the rest of your life what would it be?

Dragons.

I love dreams that come with a plot -- the ones with adventure, romance, magic, heroes and heroines, magical talking animals, friendly telepathic dragons...  So if I had to dream about only one thing, I'd want it to be that kind of dream, a fun fantasy.

Did you have an imaginary friend who you wished was real when you were small?

I really, really wanted to, because I thought it would be AWESOME to have an imaginary friend, but sadly, I was always aware she was imaginary.  So I basically had an imaginary imaginary friend that I would pretend to believe in.

Anyone else do this?  No?  Just me?  Sigh.

Do you think dreams are trying to tell us something?

Yes!  Mine tell me I should have been a dragonrider, and also that I will be useless in the zombie apocalypse.  Seriously, in most cases, I think my dreams are just bits of stories and moments and stray thoughts that are bopping around in my brain like pinballs in a pinball machine -- for me, they never seem to reveal any grand secrets or issuing any warnings or prophecies. 

If you had a hidden shop - what would you sell?

The idea behind THE GIRL WHO COULD NOT DREAM is that Sophie's family owns a secret dream shop where they buy, bottle, and sell dreams.  And I'd love to have their shop.  Or even just know about it, so I could be a customer!

So often, I've woken up in the morning after a great dream and tried to fix it in my mind, only to have it dissolve into a vague memory.  I wish I could bottle my best dreams and use them to replace those boring real-life-but-something-annoying-happened dreams.

If I couldn't sell dreams... then I don't want to sell magical items, like Elives' Magic Shop in Bruce Coville's Magic Shop books.

Can you tell us about your next book?

Yes!  I'm currently working on an epic fantasy trilogy for adults about bloodthirsty nature spirits and the women who can control them.  The first book is called THE QUEEN OF BLOOD, and it's coming in fall 2016 from Harper Voyager.

Do you have a favorite line or two from the book?

This is from one of my favorite scenes:

"What do you eat, Monster?"

"Small children," he said hopefully.

Mom recoiled.

"Joking," the monster said.  "I am telling a joke.  I am a funny monster, aren't I?"

"Hilarious," Dad said drily.

Monster untangled himself from Sophie and trotted after Mom.  “"Just a few hamsters would be fine.  Or mice.  I like mice."