Announcements first:

1. I will signing with Jessica Day George and a few other authors this Friday (2/12) at the new Dragons and Fairy Tales Bookstore in Eagle Mountain, Utah from 5-7pm. I think we will each be reading a bit from our books.

2. I will be speaking, reading, answering questions, handing out nail polish, and signing books at the Orem Barnes & Noble from 1-4pm this Saturday (2/13). Everyone is invited! Oh and if you're going to be at LTUE this weekend, you should pop over to the signing. It's only a few minutes away!

3. I'll be doing an online chat on Feb 16th hosted by TwilightMoms.com. More details to come...

Okay, on to the post:

So, um, I just realized that I haven't blogged in two and a half weeks. Okay, so I realized that every day for the last few days, but saying the word "just" in that sentence felt like a better opener than saying something like, "Every night for the past 1.5 weeks, just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I'd suddenly sit up and say, 'Oh crap, I still haven't blogged yet!'"

But any who, it's been a crazy 2.5 weeks around here so I thought I'd get you up to speed with the goings on in Bree-land. Or "Land O' the Bree" as I like to call it. (Ok, not really, but I did just take a bunch of Dayquil, so I can't be held responsible for anything I say in this post from here on out.):

1. I've been working like a madwoman on TDD2. T-minus 5 weeks until deadline. (Hence the blog silence.)

2. Spent 2 weeks covered in KidA's boogers because he had a cold.

3. Caught KidA's cold after holding him while he cried for two hours straight because he had an earache. (Once again, hence the blog silence.)

4. Got to spend Friday in the Fort with the awesome Myra McEntire (author of HOURGLASS, coming from Egmont USA in 2011) and Taycob.

(Look, he bakes!)

5. Took hubby out for his B-day and let him choose any movie he wanted to see. Was thinking he might pick AVATAR 3D

or something like that . . . but instead he chose WHEN IN ROME.

This is why my husband is the perfect man for me. (Side Note: We'd already seen SHERLOCK HOLMES or he probably would have picked that as his B-day movie. But once again, that's why he's the perfect man.)

6. While I was at the movie theater, a 15 year old guy started to hit on me . . . that is until he got close enough to see how old I was. He was like, "Heyyyy . . . ewwww . . ." and then he turned away really fast.

7. I attended a Dark Divine book club party MADE OUT OF AWESOME hosted by street team member Debbie and 20 of her closest friends . These ladies went all out for this party. They decked the whole house in purple balloons, chiffon, and beads. They even served a full Thanksgiving feast in honor of the Thanksgiving scene in TDD.


8. At the book club party, I was asked to judge a TDD pedicure contest. The winner had purple toenails decorated with little walnut tree branches.

They also made themed jewelry, bookmarks, and keychains. And at the end of the night, they presented me with a beautiful embroidered tote bag filled with tons of purple goodies, including comfy socks and M&Ms printed with TDD themed messages. (Squee!)

(Grace & Daniel under the walnut tree. Caption: "First Love Bites." Isn't that the cutest thing ever?)

9. Also at the party, I met Shelli and Nancy of the the Infinite Jewelry Company (Official jewelers for the Twilight series) and they presented me with this beautiful necklace

and said that they are excited about the idea of creating a signature line of TDD jewelry--(double squee!)

10. Before the party started, one of the ladies warned me that their group could get kind of CRAZY. Boy, was she ever right . . . And I felt right at home! Seriously, it was like they were all my BFFs by the end of the night. (And when I left the party at 11:30pm, and they were still going strong!)

11. Crashed hard the next day when my cold came back with a vengeance. (Hence no blogging last Sunday.)

12. Got a terrible earache last Monday.

13. Woke up early Tuesday morning to discover that my left eardrum had burst and I was temporarily deaf in that ear. My doctor says the hearing loss will last anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months. Um, kind of hoping for the first of those two options.

14. Taught a class on blogging and social media for my local chapter of SCBWI with BFF and writing buddy, Brodi Ashton . . . in which we stressed the importance of updating your blog consistently. (Hehe.) Most of the class was discussion based, but if you'd like a copy of the hand-out I gave the class, CLICK HERE. Also, Brodi said she'd post her blog tips HERE if you want to check them out. (And she's a much better blogger than I am--you know, because she'd never neglect her blog for 2.5 weeks.)

15. I was nominated for a SMOOCHIE Award for The Best YA Kiss of 2009. Actually, Grace and Daniel were nominated for their smooch under the walnut tree . . . but I'm the one who orchestrated the whole thing, so I'm taking the credit. ;) I'll keep you posted on whether or not Grace and Daniel win.

16. Spent part of the weekend in Park City with my mom and sisters for a little R&R. Let my mom pick which ever movie she wanted to see . . . so I saw WHEN IN ROME for a second time. (My review: riddle with plot holes, but still totally cute. Enjoyed it just as much the second time around.) Then we stayed up until 2 am talking and laughing. (But shhh . . . don't tell my sister Brooke because she left at 10:30pm and we told her we were all going to bed as soon as she was gone.)

17. I participated in an Authorpalooza with 30+ other authors at my local Barnes & Noble on Saturday. It was a ton of fun and I met some great authors, spent way too much on books, and was reunited with some old friends. (More to come on Sunday about the Authorpalooza--and a giveaway of some of the goodies I picked up, so be sure to come back to check it out.)

18. Yep, that's right, I'm going to blog TWICE this week to make up for my blog slacking as of late.

19. So what did you do in the last 2.5 weeks?

Announcements first:

1. The Wonderful folks over at Eve's Fan Garden have been very kindly promoting TDD. They even posted about a new TDD inspired make-up collection created by Mixology Makeup. Holy crap, TDD make-up?! That's just so darn cool.

2. Lots of good things are brewing for me and TDD right now. Wish I could share, but I've been told it's a no-no for now. But stay tuned for announcements coming soon.

3. I'm not making any promises, but if you are outside of Utah and would like to have me sign books in your hometown, be sure to let the folks at Egmont USA know.

4. I will be signing at the Sandy Barnes & Noble on February 6th from 1-4 pm. This event is an Authorpalooza, so there will be over 30 other authors signing there at the same time. You really should come. I mean, 30+ authors in the same room, who wouldn't have a great time at that? I don't know exactly who all will be there, but I do know my friends Emily Wing Smith, Bobbie Pyron, and James Dashner will be part of the party.

5. I will be speaking and signing at the Orem Barnes & Noble on February 13th from 1-4 pm. This is a great chance for Utah County peeps to get a signed book. Plus, TDD makes the perfect V-day gift!! If you're going to the LTUE conference that day, it would be easy to take a few minutes to pop over to the signing . . . just saying.

Okay, on to the real post:

As promised, I am finally posting about my birthday and my latest book signing. Let's just say it was all awesome--and I'll share with you some of the highlights:

1. I got some awesome presents for my B-day. Including a beautiful purple charm bracelet that says "The Dark Divine, 12-22-09" on a silver heart from my friend Rachel, other beautiful jewelry, a sweater and a scarf, a chair massager with packaging that can't be shared in mixed company, a Marc Jacobs tote bag (squee!), some awesome books I've been wanting to read, and these shoes


from Sara Bolton (one of The SIX, and co-owner of My Shoe Shoppe) who finally started her own blog.

Not to be outdone by my friends, Hubby gave me this:

Aw, he knows me so well!

(Yes, that is a tiny cow. I have named him: Tiny Cow.)

Hubby also promised to make dinner and do homework with Kid Z every night for the next 3 weeks while I finish up TDD2. Isn't that just the sweetest? Hey, wait a second, isn't Kid Z out of school for the next 2 weeks . . . ?

2. Hubby also took me out to dinner to one of our favorite restaurants and then we went to see the play THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. Which led me to the realization that Oscar Wilde plays were pretty much the GOSSIP GIRL of the late 1800s. No wonder I <3 href="http://rowijo.void-star.net/index.php/2010/01/bree-despain-signing/">Robbie from Boy With Books who drove 5 HOURS from Grand Junction to be there.
4. Not only did a ton of friends, family and fans show up for the event, there was also a very special visitor who came along with Debbie from my street team and her pals. He even wore a purple shirt, a black and purple boa, and a sign proclaiming his love for Team Daniel. (Which originally said Team David on accident, until everyone in the audience started asking, "Um, who's David?") Anyway, I can now die happy.




Final Note: I'm in CRUNCH time with deadline for TDD2 right now, so if you've emailed, facebook messaged, or tweeted to me lately and I haven't responded to you yet . . . please forgive me. I can tell you right now that I am going to continue to be slow for the next few weeks. I'll try not to fall off the face of the planet . . . and hopefully you'll all still love me when I get to come back to the real world. (Is that mixed metaphor? I don't even know anymore.)

Oh, one more final note: If you come to one of my signings, please introduce and tell me you are a follower of the blog. It is so hard to recognize people by their tiny blog icons.

So I had a wonderful B-day and an awesome signing at B&N. I was totally planning on blogging all about it tonight (and showing you a pic of the very special visitor who came to my signing) but I am totally beat at the moment. . . so it will have to wait until later this week. (I'm promise!) But since I didn't want to leave you hanging as to who won the TDD jewelry, I'm just doing a quick post to announce the winners.

Grand Prize Winner: Jilly

2nd Prize: Kelsey Dickson

3rd Prize: Tynga (Who says the first commenter never wins?)

Winners, email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address, and I'll send you your prize.

So the last few weeks have been a wild ride, and I'm so happy that you all are here to experience it with me!! Today is my birthday, and I have to say that I LOVE my birthday! And I also love giving people gifts, so I think it's time for a special B-day giveaway.

Here's the gist:

The talented Heather Zahn Gardner has created a jewelry collection inspired by THE DARK DIVINE for her Etsy shop. I am totally in love! So for our contest, I'm going to give away some of her pieces to you guys.

All you have to do in order to enter the contest is go check out her TDD jewelry collection on her website, and then leave a comment here about which two pieces are your favorites. If you win the contest, then I'll send you one or both of your choices (depending on which prize pack you win).

Earn extra points by blogging/facebooking/ or tweeting about the contest. (1pt for each.)

Grand Prize: Win 2 pieces of TDD jewelry + a YA book of your choice

2nd prize: Win 2 pieces of TDD jewelry

3rd prize: Win 1 piece of TDD jewelry

Okay all, have a happy 13th of January! The contest ends Saturday, January 16th at 11:59pm. I'll announce winners on Sunday the 17th.

P.S. I'm having a birthday party and everyone is invited. It's this Saturday, January 16th at the Barnes & Noble in West Jordan, Utah (Jordan Landing) at 2pm. I'll be reading from TDD, answering questions, and signing books. (Okay, so it's a book signing and not an actual party, but we can pretend it's a birthday party, right?) Come celebrate TDD with me! I'll be handing out Dark Divine nail polish, and may even have a few posters to give away.

Latest Announcements:

1. Being on Blog Talk Radio last night was awesome. We even got into my vivid dreams about cheese, and my brief "perfectly-pressed grunge" phase as a teen. You can listen to the interview HERE.

2. Late Bloomer Online is hosting a chat tonight (1/6) for TDD at 7pm MST/9pm EST. http://l8bloomeronline.blogspot.com/ Come chat with me!

3. I'll be reading and signing at the West Jordan B&N on Jan 16th at 2pm.

4. And I'll be reading and signing at the Orem B&N on February 13th at 1:00. Great place to get V-day presents!

Okay, time for more pictures from the launch party. There were just too many good ones to limit to one post.

Oh, and a funny story: I took my cell phone up to the podium with me while I was speaking so I could keep track of the time . . . but totally forgot to put it on silent. I was about 15 minutes into my speech when it started ringing! At first I was like, "Who didn't turn off their cell phone?" And then I was like, "Oh wait, it's me." I picked up my phone, and not recognizing the number, I said to the audience, "This person obviously doesn't know me very well." Turns out it was one of my neighbors calling to apologize that she couldn't make it out to the launch--but she thought she was calling my home phone.

Again huge thank yous go to Michelle Sallay for these beautiful pictures:

Hubby. Ain't he cute?

Valynne Maetani sporting the official TDD nail polish

KidA insisted on sitting next to me almost the whole time and passed out free nail polish

As you can see, he was very helpful

Me and my sister Brooke. People used to ask if we were twins. I have no idea why.

Good friend Matt Kirby,
soon to be famous author when his MG book THE CLOCKWORK THREE debuts with Scholastic Fall 2010

TDD featured on the Indie Next list!!

Sara Bolton, Sarah Williams, and Kimberly Webb Reid

That's Emily Wing Smith sporting our new "The SIX" t-shirts we had made for the event.
And she's with readers Alana and Mary who are sporting copies of Emily fabulous YA novel
The Way He Lived.