Winner of THE RING

So I'm still in a mad dash to finish THE LOST SAINT, so I hope you'll forgive me keeping it short and sweet today.

The winner of THE RING by Bobbie Pyron is:

Uprobablydontknowme

Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!

(Winner was chosen by random.org)

Thanks for entering! I love all of your dream hobbies.

Oh yeah, I'm still on blog tour. Lots of fun and original questions coming in the next week. Check out the full schedule HERE.

Guest Post: Bobbie Pyron & THE RING. Win the book!

Hey Peeps!

I'm still working hard on THE LOST SAINT and hoping you'll all love the results. In the meantime, my author friend Bobbie Pyron is stopping by the blog today to tell us about her book THE RING. Which is not only about a girl who boxes--which basically means it's made of awesome--but also delves into the deeper issues of being a troubled teen. And the best part is, I'm giving away an autographed copy!

Here's a teaser sentence about the book:

In The Ring, fifteen-year-old Mardie is trying her best to fit in at high school, with disastrous results. She finally hits rock bottom. Her salvation: the boxing ring.

And here's what Publisher's Weekly has to say about THE RING:

"Although the action sequences are well written, it's Mardie's character development that will hook reader....Pyron does an admirable job of conveying teenage troubles...and hits at social issues like racism and homophobia without proselytizing." --Publishers Weekly

Anyway, Bobbie is here to tell us about the inspiration for THE RING. So take it away, my friend:

The Story Behind The Ring (or What's a Nice Buddhist Girl Doing Writing a Book Like This):

So there I was at a writers retreat, planning to revise and write some new picture books. I'd been writing picture books for about a year and a half. They were perfectly nice, sweet picture books too. But then I heard this voice—a kind of snarky, teenage-girl voice say, “Okay, here's number one on the top-ten list of signs you've totally screwed up: riding in the back of a cop car at one in the morning.” Definitely not a picture book voice! But the voice wouldn't leave me alone, and so I spent the rest of the weekend retreat writing the first chapter of The Ring.

The voice (and the inspiration) were not without precedence. The year before, my then fourteen-year-old stepdaughter was getting into much the same trouble as Mardie, the main character in The Ring. One day, after my stepdaughter had been grounded for the millionth time, she showed me an article in our local newspaper about girls-only boxing classes at a gym. “I want to do that,” she said. Her dad and I were desperate to find anything that might help re-focus her anger, so we signed her up. Believe me when I say I detest violence of any kind and have never, ever been interested in boxing. But as I took her to her classes over the next several months and hung around the gym and the girls and the trainers and did what all good writers do—eavesdrop—I learned something: boxing, at least for these girls, wasn't about violence; it was about focus and camaraderie and believing in yourself. And it was that spirit, that planted seed that grew in The Ring.

Thanks for sharing, Bobbie!

Now on the contest. All you have to do to enter the to win an autographed copy of THE RING is comment with your answers to these two questions:

1. If you could take up any new hobby right now, what would it be?

2. What's stopping you from doing it?

To kick things off, I'll tell you my answers:

1. Honestly, I'd love to start boxing or learn a martial art like Kung Fu. I box a bit with gloves and a heavy bag in my basement, but I'd love to learn how to do the real thing.

2. What's keeping me from doing it? I have an irrational fear of getting punched in the face. Wait, isn't it perfectly rational to fear getting punched in the face? Or maybe I'm just worried about karma getting back at me for punching that guy in the nose when I was a teenager--at church.

Anyway, I can't wait to read your answers, so comment away to win THE RING! As always, you can win extra entries in the contest by tweeting/facebooking/blogging about the contest.

Contest ends at Noon MST on March 28th, and winners will be announced sometime that same day or the next.

P.S. You can also read an excerpt of THE RING!

P.S.S. Don't forget, I'm on a blog tour! Click HERE for the official schedule.

Going on a BLOG TOUR!

So, good news, THE LOST SAINT is coming together and we're working hard to get it ready for galleys (hopefully by late May--holy cow that thought makes me want to puke) but in the meantime, I'm going on a BLOG TOUR!!

I'm going to be visiting blogging friends (new and old) for the next 3 weeks, and answering their questions for you all to read.

Whoa, that's 20 interviews! Which means lots of soul searching for me, and lots of opportunities for y'all to find out embarrassing/quirky/hopefully insightful things about me and THE DARK DIVINE.

The tour starts tomorrow (March 16th) and I've been told that there will be many opportunities for readers to win bottles of the fabulous custom TDD nail polish along the way. I really hope you decided to follow along. (It'll be like were caravaning up the coast together in RVs--ooh, or dune buggies!)

Here's the schedule:

1. March 16 – Cleverly Inked, http://www.cleverlyinked.blogspot.com/
2. March 17 – The Bookologist, http://the-bookologist.blogspot.com/
3. March 18 – In Bed With Books, http://inbedwithbooks.blogspot.com/
4. March 19 – Parajunkee, http://www.parajunkee.com/
5. March 20 – Booking Through 365, http://bookingthrough365.blogspot.com/
6. March 21 – Chica Reader, http://lilibethramos.blogspot.com/
7. March 22 – The Story Siren, http://www.thestorysiren.com/
8. March 23 – Mundie Moms, http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/
9. March 24 – Tales of Whimsy, http://www.talesofwhimsy.com/
10. March 25 – So Many Books, So Little Time, http://purplg8r-somanybooks.blogspot.com/
11. March 26 – The Book Scout, http://thebookscout.blogspot.com/
12. March 27 – YA Book Queen, http://yabookqueen.blogspot.com/
13. March 28 – The Sweet Bookshelf, http://thesweetbookshelf.blogspot.com/
14. March 29 – Teens Read and Write, http://www.teensreadandwrite.com/
15. March 30 – A Good Addiction, http://agoodaddiction.blogspot.com/
16. March 31 – The Neverending Bookshelf, http://www.theneverendingshelf.com/
17. April 1 – Reading Rocks, http://readingrocks4me.blogspot.com/
18. April 2 – The Book Vixen, http://thebookvixen.blogspot.com/
19. April 3 – Hooked on YA Books, http://hookedonyabooks.blogspot.com/
20. April 5 – The Book Shopaholic, http://thebookshopaholic.blogspot.com/

P.S. THE DARK DIVINE is available in most bookstores in the US and Canada, but if you aren't able to find it in your local store, you can always order it online from places like Indiebound, B&N.com, Books-A-Million, Borders, and Amazon.

P.P.S. TDD will soon (like within the next 5 to 18 months) be available in at least a dozen additional countries! (And more foreign rights announcements forthcoming.)

So what are you planning on doing for the next 3 weeks? Any big plans?

Deleted Scene from THE DARK DIVINE & Giveaway!

Hey Peeps,

Want to read a never-before-seen-by-the-public deleted scene from THE DARK DIVINE? Then click HERE.

Go ahead, you know you want to.

Also, if you check the out the deleted scene, you can enter to win a signed copy of TDD and a bottle of TDD nail polish. See you over there!

TDD2 Title Revealed & Contest Winners!!

Wow, so picking winners for this contest turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. You guys can be pretty funny! Also, hubby said that I made the clues too easy for guessing the real title, but I didn't want it to be too hard. But kudos to everyone who guessed right!

Okay, the funny winner first...

There were many runners-up for the funny titles like:

The Lustful Smoochie
Tender Lice Sandwiches
Twilight Literally Sucks (not my words, so don't get mad at me)
The Laxative Strategy (which would be a pretty funny title for a chick-lit novel)
True Love Sucks (Also a great chick-lit/vampire novel title)
Try Lactating Simultaneously
Totally Lusty Sexpot (which would be a good title for a book I'd be embarrassed to read in public)
The Lingering Smell: Removable with Little Stinker Baby Butt Spay!
(And SO many more!)

But ultimately the winner of the funny title contest goes to: Alysa (from Everead) because she had two titles that made me laugh pretty hard.

The first: Tasing Lippy Schoolchildren, which she also provided a visual aide for that made me laugh harder than the title itself. (Love the taser behind the teacher's back!)

The Second: Trogdor Levels Scranton. Which made me laugh because of the Trogdor The Burninator reference.


Now on to the correct title winner . . . and the unveiling of the real title for TDD2!

There were surprisingly a lot of people who guessed the right title (and also there were a lot of other great title suggestions) so I ended up using Random.org to pick the winner--and the random winner just happened to be the first person who guessed it right!

So the correct title winner is: Elie (from Ellz Readz)

And her winning guess, and the real title for TDD2 is:

*drum roll...*

*drum roll...*

*drum roll...*

THE LOST SAINT

Okay, I really hope y'all love it as much as I do. (And hopefully didn't get too attached to any of your great guesses.)

We tossed around several titles for TDD2, but this is the one that kept popping into my mind. For some reason I put off suggesting it, but finally pitched it to Editor Greg (aka Jimmy Olsen) and he came back and said that he and the rest of the Egmont crew are all "enamored" with it. Which makes me so happy because I think it's the perfect title.

The coolest part is that THE LOST SAINT actually has (at least) three different meanings in the book. So if you think you've got the sequel figured out already . . . think again!

Also, the title for the entire series will be: THE DARK DIVINE
(As for how many books will be in the series, I can't tell you that.)

Winners, please email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!

P.S. As part of the Mundie Mom's b-day bash, I will be posting a never-before-read-by-the-public deleted scene from TDD on their blog tomorrow (March 8th) so be sure to stop over there and check it out.

CONTEST: TDD2 Officially Has A Title! Now Can You Try To Guess It?

So I just got word that my title suggestion for TDD2 has finally been approved by all the important peeps at Egmont USA. Which means TDD2 OFFICIALLY HAS A TITLE!!!!!

Now I asked my tweeps if I should just come right out and say it, or if I should have a fabulous contest in order to announce the title. The reaction was mixed. Some wanted me to blurt it out, others wanted cool prizes. . .

And since I have this weird addiction where I can't help but to give things away to my awesome readers, I couldn't stop myself from having a contest.

(Sorry to the folks who wanted me to just blurt it out. I swear, I can't help myself!)

So here's the deal:

1. I'm going to give you a couple of clues as to what the official title is. These clues are:

A. The initials for the official title are T. L. S.

B. One of the words in the title is from the last name of an obscure character in THE DARK DIVINE. (But don't let that throw you off too much. Focus mostly on the initials.)

2. Now try to guess the title, and then leave your guess in the comments.

3. I will award two prizes. The 1st prize goes to the person who guesses the title (or comes the closest to it). The 2nd prize goes to the person who can come up with the funniest/absurd title guess using the initials T.L.S. Whoever makes me laugh the hardest wins that prize.

4. In the event that more than one person guesses the correct title, I will have a random drawing to select the winner.

5. I'll accept entries into the contest until Noon on Sunday, March 7th. The winners of the contest (and the REAL TITLE for TDD2) will be announced later that day.

6. Tweeting/Facebooking about the contest is always greatly appreciated. :)


Prizes include your choice of one of the following:

1. Signed copy of PRINCESS FOR HIRE by Lindsey Leavitt (that I will get at her March 20th signing at TKE.)

2. Signed copy of THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner

3. Your choice of any of The Tenners books that have debuted so far this year or a pre-order of a one that hasn't come out yet. (Including but not limited to: HUSH HUSH, HEX HALL, THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPEN, THE IRON KING, THE LINE, THE SECRET YEAR, FORGET HER NOTS, SCONES & SENSIBILITY, THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY.) For a complete list click HERE. (You can also choose a singed copy off TDD if you want.)

4. Your choice of any TDD T-shirt in my website store & a bottle of TDD nail polish

5. A bottle of Little Stinker Baby Butt Spray

Is that clear? Anyone have a guess as to what T.L.S. stands for? Or do you want to just make something up that's totally off the wall?

Then start guessing . . . now!

Quick Post: V-day and Little Stinker Promo Giveaway Winners

So I'm buried in my deadline (TDD2 due in t-minus 2 weeks) but I wanted to poke my head in and announce giveaway winners.

The V-day contest winner is : Britt

And the Little Stinker promo giveaway winner is: Candace

Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize.

Thank you to everyone who helped spread the word about Little Stinker!! So fun to see everyone's tweets about our little baby. Here's hoping things take off for the company!

I'll post a real post soon . . . or eventually . . . when I have a few minutes. In fact, I'll be announcing the grand prize winner of the street team challenge coming up soon. . . or eventually.