Sarah Beth Durst: Conjured Exclusive Release Day Q&A

Today we are thrilled to be celebrating the release of Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst with an exclusive interview! I am a huge fan of Sarah’s books (just see my rave reviews for some of her past novels like Drink Slay Love and Vessel). Today, we’re talking about her latest, Conjured, which is in stores now!

Congratulations on the release day for CONJURED! For those who haven’t heard about the book, tell us a little bit about how you got the idea and what inspired it.

Thanks so much! I’m so excited! Release day always feels a bit like a birthday, except it’s your book that’s wearing the Birthday Girl crown and eating all the frosting flowers off the cake.

CONJURED began its life as a different kind of book: a sort of police procedural about a federal marshal who worked for the paranormal witness protection program. But as I started developing the marshal’s case, the witness — a girl named Eve with zero memories and tons of bizarre powers — captured my imagination. As soon as she made the birds in her wallpaper fly around her room, I knew the story had to be hers.

And as the idea grew, the story changed completely and became a creepy psychological thriller.

Okay, this will probably be a challenge, BUT … what is your 140-character (“Twitter-style”) description of CONJURED?

Girl with zero memories and bizarre powers must face a magic-wielding serial killer.

Each of your books is so unique and different, and CONJURED is no exception. What do you think fans of your other books will love about CONJURED?

All of my books have the same four ingredients: a dose of adventure, a dose of romance, a dose of humor, and a lot of magic.

And they also have one other thing in common: me! 🙂

I try to write books that I would want to read. In fact, that’s the litmus test I use when I decide what to write next. I ask myself, “If I walked into a bookstore or library right now, what book would I want to find?” I happen to love lots of flavors of fantasy, which is why my books range from fractured fairy tales to snarky vampire-and-were-unicorn comedy to epic fantasy to paranormal thriller.

If you’re an aspiring writer looking for writerly advice, here’s my two cents: Forget about the old adage “write what you know.” Instead, write what you love. Write what you want to read.

What can readers expect to see from you next? What are you working on now?

My next project is called THE LOST, and it will be coming out from Harlequin/Mira in June 2014. It’s the first in a trilogy for adults. My next YA book is called MIND OVER MAGIC, and it will be out from Bloomsbury/Walker in fall 2014. I’m really excited about both of them!!

Thanks so much for interviewing me!

And here are some important links for you guys to check out, starting with where you can find Sarah online:

And here’s where you can pick up your copy of Conjured: