Exciting Things Happening. . .

So it's been busy, busy, busy around here lately. But some very exciting things have been happening (both book and non-book related) and I thought I'd share:

1. THE DARK DIVINE is taking on the world! I'm pleased to announce that we've sold the foreign rights to THE DAR DIVINE for the following territories:

Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Indonesia, Poland, Thailand, Estonia, the UK, and Australia/New Zealand.

The best part is that Egmont UK bought the rights to TDD for the UK And Australia/New Zealand, so they'll have the same cover as the US edition. Also, the UK edition is scheduled to be in stores in July!

2. I won my first award!! The folks over at the Smoochie Awards selected Daniel and Grace to win an award for one of the Best "Otherworldly" YA Kisses of 2009! (For their kiss under the walnut tree.) You can watch the amusing virtual awards ceremony here.

3. THE REALLY BIG NON-BOOK RELATED NEWS:

I've been teasing peeps on twitter for the last couple of days about our BIG NEWS. And no, I am still NOT having a baby. But our news does have something to do with babies . . .

Okay, but I think I need to give you some back-story before the announcement.

Regular readers of blog will know how incredibly awesome and supportive Hubby has been with all of my book related craziness. He is my faithful reader, beta-editor, motivator, sounding board, web designer, marketing guru, street team manager, biggest fan, and he even pinch-hits for me in the kitchen when I'm on deadline. Many of my friends have said that Hubby should win some sort of award for being the most supportive spouse on the planet--and I whole-heartedly agree.

But if you think that Hubby's whole world revolves around me and my book, you'd be wrong. He's actually been working very hard on his own exciting project that is finally launching TODAY!

And what is this exciting project you ask?

Well, it all started a little over a year ago while I was sitting on the couch, working on edits for TDD, and KidA came toddling into the room with a rank diaper. Usually, every diaper change in our house was a negotiation that went something like this:

Hubby: I changed the last poopy diaper, so it's your turn.

Me: Yeah, well I changed 2 poopies while you were at work, so it's still your turn.

Hubby: But I got up with him in the middle of the night, so it's your turn.

Me: But I was pregnant with the kid for nine months and had to have major surgery in order to bring him into this world--so therefore it is ALWAYS your turn.

Hubby: *silence* *goes to get wet-wipes*

Me: (In my head) Muwahahahahaha

Anyway, since I was hard at work on TDD, Hubby very kindly skipped the negotiation part and started changing KidA's diaper without any prompting from me. But he was half-way through when he suddenly said, "Yeesh! There has to be something you can do about the smell. I mean, even after I change the kid, he still smells poopy. And it's not like we can bathe him every single time he poops."

And then I could practically see the light bulb go on just above his head.

Yes, an idea was born. Hubby took that idea and his business savvy to his two good friends, one who just happens to be a scientist who works in the cosmetics industry, the other who is an experienced marketer. They banded together as a team, and after a year of formulating, testing, trialing, designing labels and packaging, and many other tasks I won't delve into. . . that awesome idea became a whole new company dedicated to solving the problems faced by new parents.

That company is called LITTLE STINKER. And today is it's launch day!

LITTLE STINKER is a new skincare line for babies and mommies, dedicated to making all-natural, safe, effective, and innovative products that solve the problems created by the "little stinkers" in our lives.

The company plans on launching several new products in the near future, but today they are kicking off the launch with their flagship product:

LITTLE STINKER Baby Butt Spray!!

Okay, so I'm a little biased, but seriously, I think this stuff is awesome. No more lingering poop smell in the air, or on your kid's bum, after a diaper change! It's even great for potty-training kids who need to wear a pull-up to bed. It can be spritzed on diaper pails, smelly toilets, stinky feet, or even your husband. Heck, I often use the stuff as body splash for myself because it smells so darn good. Plus, it's dermatologist and pediatrician tested to be good for your baby/toddler's delicate skin. And it makes the perfect baby shower gift!

We swear by this stuff at our house, and the friends we've given samples to come back begging for more!

If you're a mom or dad, or know someone who is, be sure to check out the LITTLE STINKER website and blog.

Okay, okay. Don't worry, this is just a temporary change in programming on the ReadBree blog. I won't be turning it into a giant infomercial for LITTLE STINKER. But I just HAD to tell you all how thrilled I am for Hubby on this special day. And I am even more excited that it's my turn to be supportive of him as he embarks on his own exciting adventure.

Congratulations, Hubby! I Love You Right Up To The Moon And Back Again.

And if you want to help spread the word about LITTLE STINKER, please Tweet/Facebook/or Blog the following link: http://www.littlestinkerusa.com/

And if you come back and tell me about your word-of-mouth efforts (with linkage), I'll enter you in a drawing for a chance to win your choice of one of the following prizes:

1. A first chapter (up to 15 pages) critique of your YA novel by me (to be done AFTER my March 15th deadline)

2. A signed copy of THE DARK DIVINE

3. A YA novel of your choice

(Giveaway ends at noon on Sunday, February 28th. Winner will be announced later that day. . .or the next.)

Calling all authors, and soon to be ones:

There's a great contest going on where Vania (a.k.a Reverie B Reviews) from VLC Photo will do a photo shoot of one of your characters or a scene from your book. I love Vania's photography and I would absolutely love it if she did a photo "teaser" (as she calls it) for THE DARK DIVINE.

If you're published, sold your book to a publisher, or at least have an agent, then you're eligible for the contest. Be sure to go check it out HERE. And be doubly sure to tell Vania that I sent you.

Twisted Valentines (and a giveaway)

Announcements:

1. TwilightMOMs, Eve's Fan Garden, and the Page Turners blog have teamed up to host a THE DARK DIVINE chat party Tuesday night (2/16) at 9 pm EST/ 7 pm MST. Everyone is invited to join in on the chat. Come ask me your questions about TDD, or writing in general. They will also be giving away prize packs during the chat, so you don't want to miss out. For more information, CLICK HERE.

2.Local Utahn, Michelle Witte is attempting to open an indie bookstore in Centerville, Utah that will host writing classes for teens and others in the community. She's hosting an auction to raise funds, and there are some great prizes to bid on (like a full manuscript critique by the Sara Zarr!!) Check out the auction HERE.


Okay, so I know this post is a day late but I was having a few technical difficulties, so let's just pretend it's still Valentine's Day for the sake of this post. :)

Anyway, I've had 3 signings in the last week, all in honor of Valentine's day. The first was an Authorpalooza with 30+ other authors at the Sandy, Utah Barnes and Noble. It was so much fun seeing some of my favorite author friends, and also getting to meet a few local authors that were new faces to me. I shared a table with the very entertaining G.G. Vandergriff, and also sat near authors Linda Chadwick, Wendy Paul, Heather Justesen, and Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen.

And of course, I picked up a few of their books to giveaway to you all . . . but we'll get to that in a minute.

Besides getting to meet some sweet authors, and talk to readers who came out to get a signed book, the best part of the the Authorpalooza was that my old college BFF (whom I hadn't seen in over 8 years) came by to see me. I was so shocked when I saw Ginna in my line, I almost cried. Seriously, this girl was my Maid of Honor at my wedding (!!!) but then we'd lost touch over the years. She just happened to be in town from Rhode Island and heard about my signing, so she brought her husband and 6 year old son (whom I'd never met) over to see me. I can't tell you how happy I am that she came!


(Me and Ginna)

The next signing was at a brand new little indie bookstore in Eagle Mountain, Utah called DRAGONS & FAIRY TALES. The signing was fun, and I got to know author Jessica Day George a lot better. (Whenever I see her, she's dressed in pink, but she claims 75% of her closet is full of black and army green clothes. I'll believe that when I see it.) And I have to give huge kudos the owner for opening a new bookstore in this economy, and I wish her tons of luck with the venture.

(That's Jessica Day George in the pink next to me)

My third signing was at the Barnes & Noble in Orem, Utah on Saturday. The best part about this signing is that the Literati girls (a group of teens and their awesome English teachers) came out to see me.

(Me and the Literati!)
They even brought me packages of cinnamon bears and dark chocolate (to help my writing process) and a collection of twisted valentines they wrote during English class. I got the biggest kick out of these and I told them I would definitely share them on my blog.

This one is my favorite (A poem from Edward Cullen to Grace Divine):
(Click on it to see it in a bigger format.)

You can also read valentine's letters from Jude to me, Jacob to Daniel, Edward to Grace, and Bella to Grace by clicking HERE.

Seriously, don't you wish you'd had high school English teachers cool enough to let you do this kind of activity in class? Also, their teacher Emily gets a special prize for bringing the girls all the way to see me while IN LABOR!!!! She said that if this little adventure didn't progress her labor further, then she was going to "pull an Eward Cullen and take matters into her own hands," or I guess . . .um . . . teeth.

Okay, so on to my V-day contest.

I'm giving away:

1. The cookbook: 101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes by Heather Paul (Cuz who DOESN"T want 101 cupcakes)














2. The Ball's In Her Court (signed) by Heather Justesen






















3. Missing (signed) by Ronda Gibb Hinrichsen







4. And a TDD Keychain

5. Signed TDD bookmarks and a couple of stickers.

6. Bottle of TDD nail polish

All you have to do to enter is either tell me what you did for Valentine's Day, or tell me which fictional characters you think should exchange Valentine's cards. (Extra point to anyone who takes a crack at writing one.)

technical difficulties

Hey all-

I was planning to post today and do a contest, but I'm having technical difficulties with what I was planning, so I'll have to postpone it until tomorrow.

Sorry!

Has it really been two and a half weeks?

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?