Sarah Beth Durst Interview
Once upon a time, or 1986, there was a little girl named Sarah Beth Durst who dreamed of princesses and fairy tale kingdoms. She also dreamed of becoming a writer. Many years later, she picked up widespread acclaim and was nominated for the 2007 Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy for her first novel, a modern-day, fairy tale adventure called Into the Wild
How does it feel to have your first novel earn such high acclaim?
Really, being an author at all is such a dream come true for me. I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember. It’s honestly the only thing that I’ve ever wanted to be, and it was a long road from aspiring to published. So I am grateful to be here and beyond thrilled to have been nominated for the Andre Norton Award.
What were your first thoughts when you found out you were nominated for the Andre Norton award?
Eeeeeeeee!!!
And then I danced around the house for a while.
One of the very first things that I did when I signed my contract with Penguin was join SFWA. I’d wanted to be a member for years and years. (In fact, I’d been crashing their parties for years and years.) So to be a nominee for a SFWA award really meant a great deal to me.
How did it feel to be on the ballot as a first-time novelist with authors such as J. K. Rowling?
Surreal. I mean, me on the same ballot as J. K. Rowling? She’s going to have a theme park based on her books!! Really, I felt honored to be on the ballot with all the fabulous finalists. I especially loved when they read all our names Oscar-style at the Nebula Awards Banquet. I felt like my insides were cart wheeling. That was such a great experience.
What was the original inspiration for Into the Wild
Back in high school, I had this idea to write a musical about fairy tale characters in the real world. I called it “Rapunzel’s Hair Salon” (because if she lived in the real world, Rapunzel would clearly own a hair salon). It was dreadful. Singing pigs everywhere. But I liked the core idea of fairy tale characters in the real world, so years later, I came back to the idea and I started to think about why they left their fairy tale, how they got here, what their day-to-day lives would be like, and most importantly, what would happen if the fairy tale decided it wanted its characters back.
What made you choose Rapunzel for the main character’s mother?
At their heart (underneath all the beanstalks and gingerbread houses), the Wild books are about free will. Into the Wild
Is there any kind of moral or lesson that you try to impart in the book?
See above answer re: free will. But I think of that as more of a theme than a moral. I actually think it’s important to not try to impart a moral or lesson. I think it’s a mistake for a writer to try to teach as opposed to tell a story. Okay, yes, some stories are supposed to be moral lessons first and stories second, and there’s a place in the world for those kinds of books, yada yada. But the kinds of books that I like to read and that I try to write are first about cool characters having fantastic adventures. Themes are important for tying the story together and adding depth and resonance, but story and characters come first for me, both as a reader and as a writer.
What kind of feedback have you received from the young readers who’ve read your book?
I have loved, loved, loved receiving emails from readers, especially young readers. One of the youngest posted a customer review on Amazon: “Me and my dad had a great time reading this book. Although I’m only eight, my dad is REALLY old, so he qualifies to help me with this review!” She goes on to say, “My dad and I read this over a couple of weeks, a little bit every night.” I love the image of a girl and her father reading my story together. How great is that?
Many of the places described in Into the Wild
One of the coolest things that I’ve done this past year is visit schools in Northboro, the town in central Massachusetts that serves as the primary setting for Into the Wild
I actually had one kid come up to me and say, “Thank you for making something cool happen in Northboro.” I knew exactly how he felt—growing up, I always wished for something magical in my backyard (you know, a spare dragon, a herd of unicorns, even an infestation of goblins...). Setting Into the Wild
As both a kid and an adult, which cadre of fairy tales were you most drawn to? Brothers Grimm? Hans Christian Andersen? Disney?
I never liked Hans Christian Andersen. Little Matchgirl… I never saw that as uplifting. The girl dies. Little Mermaid… she suffers and then dies. (Yes, it’s all poetic with the dissolving-into-foam and whatever, but really, she just dies.) I have always loved the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault and Andrew Lang and others. I also love Disney. Yes, early Disney movies feature some of the most horribly passive versions of fairy tale heroines out there, but Disney has played a vital role in ensuring that fairy tales are an enduring and vibrant part of American culture. Disney kept them from disappearing. And really, Little Mermaid is vastly better with the addition of singing fish.
Which fairy tale character did you most identify with as a child?
I don’t think I identified with any one character in particular. But I wanted to look like a princess (preferably with long straight hair—mine was short and very curly) and have the magic powers of a fairy godmother and the magic props (wand/ring/sword/etc.) of the heroes. I also wanted a talking animal for a sidekick.
Which of the Seven Dwarves do you most identify with?
Sleepy. I miss sleep. I don’t get nearly enough of it these days. That’s one of the side effects of publication that no one ever tells you about.
Why do you think readers are drawn to well-known fairy tales that have been updated or re-imagined? Why not just create completely new fairy tales?
The short answer is because fairy tales are awesome. The longer answer is because fairy tales have power. They have this tremendous cultural resonance. Even the single phrase “once upon a time” carries with it a whole slew of memories and expectations. You can tell some really interesting stories by using and subverting and playing off of this common cultural language. I also think we’re drawn to retold fairy tales because fairy tales address really basic human fears and desires in an archetypal way—they’re a really powerful storytelling tool.
How do you think fairy tales hold up to today’s values?
If you’re asking me do I think that it’s a good idea to tell young girls that in order to be happy they have to wait patiently in (a) a tower, (b) a glass coffin, (c) weed-choked castle, or (d) a hearth infested with lisping mice, then the answer is no. But I do think fairy tales can and should be retold and reinterpreted. In fact, I think that’s one of the coolest things about fairy tales: they’re made to be retold. With the exception of literary fairy tales that can be traced to a single author (like Hans Christian Andersen), most of what we consider “original fairy tales” are already retellings—most of them are actually folktales that changed from storyteller to storyteller to suit the values or merely the whims of the teller and the audience. I see them more as blueprints for new stories.
What draws you to writing for young readers?
My husband says it’s because I have the emotional maturity of a four-year-old. (He claims that’s a compliment.) Really, though, I try to write the kind of stories that I want to read—and those kinds of stories are mainly found on the YA shelves. I love the worldview in many kids’ and YA novels. I love the sense of wonder and the optimism. I love the emphasis on adventure and on characters who rise up against insurmountable odds… I don’t consciously write for young readers; I just try to tell good stories that happen to feature young characters.
Do you have a particular writing routine?
I write every day. I think that’s very important—for me, writing works best when it’s as much of a daily habit as brushing my teeth. It also works best if I have a stash of chocolate somewhere nearby.
What do you do when you aren’t writing?
I have a day job—I’m Director of Marketing for a company that works with nonprofit fundraising (which basically means I play with spreadsheets and send a lot of emails). My day job actually complements my writing well. It uses different parts of my brain.
The sequel, Out of the Wild
Next is another YA fantasy. I can’t tell you much about it—it’s still in that “top sekrit” stage—but I’m really excited about it! When I do have news that I can report, I’ll post it on my website.
SARAH BETH DURST is a writer of children’s and young adult fantasy novels. She started writing fantasy stories at age 10, got an English degree from Princeton University, and then began actively “aspiring”. Her debut novel,Into the Wild
Sarah lives in Stony Brook, NY with her husband, her daughter, and her ill-mannered cat. She also has a miniature pet griffin named Alfred. Okay, okay, that’s not quite true. His name is really Montgomery. You can visit Sarah online at her website, or her blog.
By day, JEN WEST runs the corporate rat race working in women’s wear design and merchandising for an upscale clothing manufacturer. By night she’s a mild-mannered freelance writer in constant search for the next interesting character or story.
Her interviews have appeared in such venues as Shimmer and Fairwood Press’s interview collection, Human Visions. She has degrees in Journalism and French from the University of Oregon, and remembers fondly the pressure of meeting deadlines at the Oregon Daily Emerald as a staff writer. She currently resides with her writer husband, Ken Scholes, two pudgy cats and a box garden in St. Helens, OR. Drop her a note at .
