Author Interview: James Dashner

My students are obsessing over James Dashner right now. If one of them picks up The Maze Runner, as soon as they finish, they must grab the sequel right then and there and then they speed on to the third in the trilogy as soon as they complete the second.

I was a bit surprised when I talked with James Dashner to find him such a calm, collected person as his books have such suspense in them-they are definitely akin to The Hunger Games with their trials for teens to endure and the often bloody consequences of failure.

I love what he said about words so much, I couldn’t pick out just one quote, but have three favorite sayings:

"In any subject matter, words are more important than anything else."

"Expressing yourself to someone uniquely, or creatively, or beautifully – it is an art."

"The more educated you are, the more broad your vocabulary, the more creative you can be in how you speak; you can make people like you more."

I am thrilled that I was able to “corner” James and have him share his views on vocabulary.  He is a pretty big deal in the world of YA literature, yet, like all the other authors I have interviewed, he was so humble and gracious.  If you haven’t started the trilogy yet, watch out-it is awesome, and he’s got lots of new books on the way.  I’m excited to see what is next from this great author.