The Queen of Blood is the first book in Sarah Beth Durst’s Queens of Renthia series and one of the winner’s of YALSA’s 2017 Alex Awards. Today I’m thrilled to have Sarah Beth Durst here on the Hub to answer some questions about the book.
Congratulations on The Queen of Blood’s selection as a 2017 Alex Award finalist! Where were you when you heard the news? Who was the first person you told about your win?
Sarah Beth Durst (SBD): Thank you so much!!!
Shortly after I heard the news, I called my mom.
Me: “My book won the Alex Award!”
My mom: “My dog was attacked by three coyotes. I chased them off.”
Me: “We had very different mornings.”
She began her day to the sound of her dog yelping. Looking out the window, she saw three coyotes had pinned him to the ground out beside the well. She ran outside — without any kind of anything to defend herself — and shouted at the coyotes. Scared them off. The dog was fine.
I began my day to the sound of the garbage truck rumbling one street over. Looking out the window, I saw the truck hadn’t reached my street yet. I ran around the house — without any kind of anything to defend myself — trying to empty all the trash cans and toss out anything suspiciously green and fuzzy in the kitchen before the garbage truck reached my street. And as I was scurrying around, I was checking my email on my phone, because multitasking. I saw an email from one of my editors that read, “Congratulations on the Alex!!! Just heard the news!!”
I was floored. It’s a moment I’ll never forget (though I did, in the moment, forget all about the garbage truck!). I’ve wanted to be a writer my entire life, and to have librarians (the ultimate book experts) essentially say, “We like your book, and we think other people will too.”… Really, it means the world to me. I am so honored and grateful and thrilled! Continue reading 2017 Alex Awards Winners: An Interview with Sarah Beth Durst on The Queen of Blood
As a life-long devotee of fantasy fiction, I’ve frequently defended the value of stories that feature dragons, magically gifted heroines, or angst-ridden werewolves. And while I’ve often stated that fantasy fiction isn’t necessarily an escape from reality simply because it includes magic or ghosts, even the most committed fan must acknowledge that the genre is incredibly disconnected from reality in fatal ways. For one, fantasy fiction remains an overwhelmingly white world–an area of literature where you might find vampires or psychic detectives but rarely characters of color.
Fans of thrilling adventures & complex heroines should try novels by Cindy Pon, Ellen Oh, or Malinda Lo for rich high fantasy tales rooted in a variety of East Asian cultures. Cindy Pon’s lush & exciting Silver Phoenix and its sequel, The Fury of the Phoenix follow young Ai Ling as she discovers her unique abilities and battles an ancient evil based in the royal palace. Ellen Oh’s Dragon King Chronicles (beginning with Prophecy) also focuses on a powerful young woman struggling to embrace her destiny–the yellow-eyed demon slayer Kira who might be the key to saving the Seven Kingdoms from destruction. Malinda Lo’s Ash (