Q+A SARAH BETH DURST author of VESSEL @simonteen @sarahbethdurst

PLEASE WELCOME SARAH BETH DURST TO BOOKHOUNDS!

Book Description

Publication Date: September 11, 2012

In a desert world of sandstorms and sand-wolves, a teen girl must defy the gods to save her tribe in this mystical, atmospheric tale from the author of Drink, Slay, Love.Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. The goddess will inhabit Liyana’s body and use magic to bring rain to the desert. But Liyana’s goddess never comes. Abandoned by her angry tribe, Liyana expects to die in the desert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.

     Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. For the desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god’s help. And not everyone is willing to believe the trickster god’s tale.

     The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice: She must die for her tribe to live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate—or a human girl can muster some magic of her own.

About the Author
Sarah Beth Durst is the author of the young adult novels Vessel; Drink, Slay, Love; Enchanted Ivy; and Ice; as well as the middle-grade novels Into the Wild and Out of the Wild. She has twice been a finalist for SWFA’s Andre Norton Award, for both Ice and Into the Wild. Sarah lives with her husband and children in Stony Brook, New York. Visit her at SarahBethDurst.com.



What is the first book you remember reading by yourself as a child?
I don’t know if this was the first book, but I remember pouring over THE GIANT GOLDEN BOOK OF ELVES AND FAIRIES by Jane Werner and Garth Williams. It was recently brought back into print, and turning the pages transported me to being the fantasy-obsessed kid who checked under her bed every night for spare dragons and behind rocks for slumbering elves.

What are you reading right now?

I’m reading THE UNNATURALISTS by Tiffany Trent, and I’m loving it.

How does your garden grow?

Poorly. I love flowers, and I dream about a bank covered in tulips and peonies and lilies and irises… but in reality, plants see me coming and promptly wilt. It may have something to do with always forgetting to water them… 

 What is the last thing you Googled?

The procedure for removing a breathing tube. Also, bandicoot.

What makes you cringe?

Chalk. I can’t stand the feel of chalk. Also, accidentally biting an ice cube.  But more seriously, I cringe whenever anyone talks dismissively about a book they’re reading and enjoying.  If you love it, then it’s a good book! It doesn’t matter if it’s taught in AP English class or not. If it transports you, if it touches your heart, if it makes you laugh or makes you cry, then it has value.  Don’t be ashamed to love the books you love!

Thanks so much for interviewing me!


Check out Sarah Beth Durst's other books
Sarah Beth Durst
    VESSEL (S&S/McElderry, September 2012)
    DRINK, SLAY, LOVE (S&S/McElderry, September 2011)
    ENCHANTED IVY (S&S/McElderry, October 2010)
    ICE (S&S/McElderry, October 2009)
    OUT OF THE WILD (Penguin/Razorbill, June 2008)
    INTO THE WILD (Penguin/Razorbill, June 2007)