Guest Post from James Dashner + a Giveaway

Good morning, readers! Today I'm super excited to be taking part in the blog tour to promote the paperback release of James Dashner's The Kill Order. If you aren't familiar, it's the prequel to the Maze Runner series (The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure).

As part of the tour, I've got a guest post from the author himself and I'm able to offer up one copy of The Kill Order as a giveaway (US only please). To enter, be sure to read through to the end.

And now I'll hand it over to James!

HEARING The Maze Runner come to life:

I thought I'd share with you guys a little of the film experience. If I tried to cover every facet of it, I'd have to write a book, not a blog post! But I recently made a trip to LA that will give you a real taste of what it's been like: the scoring for the film's soundtrack.

Over the last year or so, I've thrown out a lot of superlatives about this movie and its process. Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@jamesdashner) will know that I'm slightly obsessed with the whole thing. From the studio (Fox) to the director (Wes Ball) to the cast (many amazing people), I've had one good experience after another. I'm almost scared people have stopped believing me because it's been such an extremely positive process, everything beyond even my wildest hopes.

Well, seeing composer John Paesano record the music for the film was just the icing on the cake. I was excited way back in the beginning when Wes Ball told me that he wanted an "epic, orchestral score" for the movie, something with which I agreed 100%. As much as I (and my fans) love to listen to the latest and greatest pop music, I didn't want the typical YA soundtrack that seems to have become the norm. Wes and I wanted something that soared and ripped out your emotions, and Paesano delivered in a big way.

It's amazing. Seeing a full 75-person orchestra (and a choir) record the music over several days brings up a lot of adjectives that I could throw at you. Surreal. Fantastic. Moving. Thrilling. I had a life's worth of goosebumps, and even shed some tears (something I fully expect to happen to my fans as well). I don't know what I'm more excited about: my readers seeing the story come to life visually or hearing the music that goes with it. Of course, one feeds the other and I really think everyone is going to love it.

So, as you can imagine, that was a trip that I'll never forget. It's become impossible for me to put everything into words. As a huge film buff, seeing a movie behind the scenes would've been cool on its own. Throw in that it's based on a book I wrote, and that's just ridiculous.

The film comes out on September 19th in the US. (Worldwide release dates are mostly around then, too.)

See you at the movies!

I don't know about all of you but I am definitely looking forward to seeing The Maze Runner on the big screen!

And now for the giveaway! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, January 27.



a Rafflecopter giveaway



Be sure to check out the rest of the stops on the tour as well!

1/7/14 Alice Marvels

1/8/14 A Dream Within A Dream

1/9/14 Book Twirps

1/10/14 Adventures in YA Publishing

1/11/14 Lytherus

1/12/14 Skiffy and Fanty

1/13/14 Suvudu

1/14/14 Sci Fi Chick

1/15/14 Evie's Bookish