This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Author Sarah Beth Durst Brings Fantasy to Stony Brook

Durst is the author of the upcoming teen novel Drink, Slay, Love.

Sarah Beth Durst, 37, is the author of several young adult and middle school fantasy novels. Her latest book, Drink, Slay, Love, is set to be released in September.

Durst spent four years at Princeton University studying English, and she uses places and influences from her past as the settings and ideas for her novels. Although originally from Massachusetts, Durst and her husband Adam, 37, decided to settle in Stony Brook with their two children. When she's not writing, she loves to spend time with her family and to eat.

Patch: What brought you to Three Village?
SBD: We moved to Three Village about six years ago. I wanted to be within driving distance to Manhattan but still have trees. Plus we'd heard great things about the Three Village school district.

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch: What do you like and dislike the most about living there? SBD: I love the Emma Clark Library. The librarian in charge of the YA collection has perfect taste in books. They always have everything I'm looking for. And it's a beautiful building too. I actually used it as the model for the library in my upcoming novel Drink, Slay, Love. What I dislike the most ... I could really do without the hordes of mosquitoes this summer.

Patch: What motivated you to write fantasy novels?
SBD: I was the kid who always checked the closet for the entrance to Narnia and who put "real magic wand" on her birthday wish list. So it was kind of inevitable. On a more serious note, I believe that fantasy literature can be a literature of empowerment and of hope, and that fantasy novels can help restore a sense of wonder to an often jaded world.

Find out what's happening in Three Villagewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Patch: If you couldn't be a writer, what would you be doing?
SBD: 
If I couldn't be a professional writer... I'd be writing anyway. Being a writer is the only thing I have ever wanted to be. Okay, that's not entirely true... When I was five, I wanted to be Wonder Woman when I grew up, but that's a (slightly) less practical career goal. Besides, that costume would be cold in winter.

Patch: You set a novel in your hometown of Northboro, Massachusetts – any plans to write a novel set in Stony Brook?
SBD: 
So far, I have populated my hometown with fairy-tale characters (Into the Wild and Out of the Wild) and also filled my alma mater with talking gargoyles and vicious dragons (Enchanted Ivy). Someday I am sure that I will write about Stony Brook. I like to take the places I love, infuse them with magic, and then... well, kind of destroy them. It's how a fantasy writer shows affection.

Find out more about Sarah Beth Durst at her official website, www.sarahbethdurst.com.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?