Top 7 Things I Learned At This Weekend's Writing Retreat

So Business first:

1. Don't forget about the The Romantic Times preview of THE DARK DIVINE. Chapter 4 just went up on their blog. If you go over there and read the chapter, leave a comment on the RT blog, and then come back here and tell me about it, I'll enter you in the weekly random grab-bag prize giveaway. Our random winner from last week is: YA Vampire Books
Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send you the list of your prizes to choose from.

2. Don't forget about the BIG FRAKKING GIVEAWAY. All you have to do to enter is comment on that post. But creativity in spreading the word about TDD will get you bonus entries. Also, don't forget that the deadline has changed to December 14th.

3. My first two book signings have been scheduled:

The official launch party for TDD will be on January 2nd at 3pm at The King's English in SLC, Utah. I'll be doing a book talk, reading, and signing. I imagine there will also be refreshments and prizes :)

I will also be doing a reading and signing at the West Jordan Barnes & Noble on January 16th at 2pm.

If you'd like me to do a signing in your hometown, then ask your local bookstore to have me come out for an event, or start pestering my publisher @egmontgal on twitter to send me your way. Hey, it's worth a shot right?


Okay, on to the fun stuff:

Top 7 Things I Learned At This Weekend's Writing Retreat

1. If you don't want to be murdered in your bed, fill your house with a bunch of crazy people. And it snows A LOT in Payson, Utah.

Writing buddy Kimberly Webb Reid had her house in Payson to her lonesome this weekend while her hubby went to Vegas with his brother. And since the sleepy little town of Payson, Utah experienced it's first ever murder a couple of weeks ago (I may or may not be making up that statistic) she wasn't too keen on spending the weekend alone. Figuring no one would want to invade a house filled with crazy people, so she invited our critique group out for a weekend of writing at her place--needless to say, we were ready and willing to come protect her. And since it apparently it snows a lot in Payson, we were pretty much stranded there all weekend. (We were able to make one quick trip Walmart for supplies in Valynne's SUV, but after sliding on the roads we dared not make another trip out.)

2. Brodi Ashton is still #1 Crazy.

Awhile ago, our friend James Dashner asked us who was the craziest person in our critique group. Brodi was named #1. (I'm number #3, btw.) Brodi insisted that the vote was unfair since she wasn't present, and has been campaigning for a re-vote ever since. We debated much, and Brodi tried to explain why we were all crazier than she, but ultimately the matter was tabled, so therefore Brodi remains at #1 crazy.

3. Snuggies aren't all they're cracked up to be.

On our supply run to Walmart, Valynne decided to buy a leopard print snuggie. However, the darn thing just kept sliding off everyone's shoulders. Which kind of defeats the entire purpose of the Snuggie in the first place. I think it should be redesigned with a back like a giant fleece poncho. We could call it a "ponchie" or a "ponchet."

4. Writers Love Titles

And not just titles for their books. Valynne Maetani decided that our writing group should finally have an official name, and Emily Wing Smith decided that we should each have an official figurehead title within the group. We debated much and we went through several names such as: The Clique (too cliquish), The Craft (too witchy), Scribble Sisters (not too fond of the S.S. acronym), and BAM (an acronym invented by Brodi Ashton's son that doesn't actually stand for anything.)

We finally settled on "The SIX." We also assigned each person an official figurehead position. Here they are in order of craziest person:

#1 Brodi Ashton: Crap, um, I can't remember her position. Maybe she's just Official #1 Crazy?
#2 Emily Wing Smith: Official Group Scribe
#3 Bree Despain: Official Hair Consultant and Nutritionist (b/c I insist everyone eat a bit of protein at each meal)
#4 Valynne Maetani: Official Bouncer (seriously, don't mess with V)
#5 Kimberly Webb Reid: Official Ledger Keeper (Not sure how this is different from Official Scribe)
#6 Sarah Bolton: Official Sartorial Advice Giver (Because she supplies our group with fashionable yet affordable shoes. Like the yellow ones I'm wearing in this pic. You should check out her online shoe biz here)

5. A Grouper is NOT an Amphibian

Actually, I already knew this. But get a group of slap-happy, sleep deprived, sugar O.D.ed, snuggie wearing writers into a game of Scattagories and anything can happen--like Brodi adamantly trying to convince us all that fish and amphibians are the same thing. And don't you dare try to get a made-up word past Emily. That girl is a walking dictionary and she will tackle you while wearing a leapard print snuggie and wrestle you over a correct definition. I'm not normally a game player, but I have to admit that this was one entertaining board game experience.

6. Being the group's Official Hair Consultant actually has official responsibilities (who knew?)

Earlier this week, Brodi Ashton asked me if I thought she could pull off being a brunette. I said, "Um, No" because she has really light eyebrows. Well, Brodi, being #1 crazy and all, decided that I was saying that being a brunette required special skillz that she does not possess and took this as a challenge to prove me wrong.

So first she went to a professional hair dresser and had her hair dyed. Then she tweeted me this picture and claimed that she was now a brunette:



But then I saw Brodi the very next day at the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES launch party and she looked like this:

(Sara Zarr, Valynne, Emily, Brodi, Me, James Dashner, Kika, Kika's Friend)

Anyone else notice the discrepancies in these two pics? Yeah, I thought so.

I declared that Brodi was indeed NOT A BRUNETTE, so during the retreat she decided to dye her hair AGAIN. This time with a $7 bottle of dye from Target. (Emily and Valynne decided to get in on the action and also wanted to dye their hair.) And since I had just been voted "hair consultant," I was forced to do the actual dying for all three of them (as opposed to just laughing at their antics like I'd originally planned). Em's hair turned out fantastic. Valynne's you really couldn't tell the differnence. And, well, Brodi's . . . still didn't turn out brunette. It was more like dirty, dirty, dirty dishwater blond (Brodi's own words, not mine).

Devastated, Brodi drove in a snow storm to Walmart to buy and box of blond highlights to try to restore her original hair color, but then we somehow decided to use Emily's left-over bottle of dark brown die on her instead. Which means that:

6. Brodi Ashton still can't pull of being a brunette

Yep. Apparently Brodi's hair is resistant to the color brown. After THREE dye jobs, she is now officially a red head. Em's dye had a touch of red in it, and that's all Brodi's hair seemed to care about. (I'd show you a picture but by the time we'd done four dye jobs in Kim's guest bathroom, we were all looking a little worse for wear and nobody would pose for a pic.)

7. I can actually get some work done in a house full of crazy people

Shocking, huh? Despite all the craziness, I actually got a good 23 pages out of the experience. That's a big deal for me. And they're actually 23 pages that I really, really love. I can't wait for the next retreat!

So what did you do over the weekend?

Clarifying Countdown Contest rules, and my Thanksgiving gift to you: Grace Divine's infamous caramel apple pie recipe

So I wrote my last blog post really late at night and I've realized that the The Final Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest rules are totally confusing. Therefore, I will clarify them here (and on that actual post). And for being patient with my previous nonsensical rules, I will treat you all to the fantastic recipe for Grace Divine's Caramel Apple Pie.

Here's what you have to do in order to enter The Final Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest:

1. Be a follower of the blog. (So if you're not a follower, start following :D)

2. To get 1 entry in the contest, all you have to do is leave a comment here saying that you'd like to entered. Easy peasy, right?

For bonus entries you can do the following:

1. Get 2 extra entries for Tweeting/Facebooking/blogging about the Countdown contest

2. Get 2 extra entries for Tweeting/Facebooking/blogging about the Romantic Times preview (Plus, you will get entered into the weekly random prize giveaway, if you tweet about the preview, and leave a comment on the RT blog.)

3. Get at least 5-10 BONUS entries (as determined by me or hubby based on what you do) for doing something to show your excitement for THE DARK DIVINE. I'm assuming since you are reading this blog and entering this contest, you are at least somewhat excited about TDD. So all I'm asking you to do is to share that excitement with the people around you. (Creativity will get you closer to the 10 entries)

You can vlog, make a music video, make a youtube commercial for the book, get all your friends to wear all purple and black to school one day, start a campaign to get TDD to be a trending topic on twitter, wear a Team Daniel t-shirt to New Moon, go door to door at your dorm and tell people how excited you are about the book release, call your local bookstores and ask them to carry the book or have me come do a signing, 0r get your entire English class to read the first six chapters of TDD on the RT blog . . .

Okay, you get the point, right? Do something creative to show your excitement for TDD and then come back here and tell me about it. Physical evidence is also requested (not required) such as posting a picture or video on your blog/myspace/facebook/twitter/youtube. Or you can email it to me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com. (Please nothing obscene or illegal!!)

Remember, this is just for BONUS POINTS, don't let the creativity thing scare you off from entering the contest in the first place.

UPDATE, originally I was going to to end the contest and announce the winners on December 22nd, but I have decided to end the contest on December 14th and announce winners December 15th instead. That way if you want to give away any of the books you win as Christmas presents, you will get them in time for the holiday.

*Sorry, for legal/customs reasons, this contest is only open to U.S. residents.

Okay, I hope that all makes more sense. Basically, all you have to do is comment to be entered in the contest. . . anything else is just for bonus points. You can comment on this post to be entered, or you can comment on the previous post. If you have already commented on the previous post, you are already entered in the contest, so don't worry.

To see a list of the many fantastic prizes (including an iPod nano and 8 different books) CLICK HERE.

And now, for being patient with me, I give you the much requested and much coveted award winning (I'm not kidding, it's really won awards) recipe for Grace Divine's Infamous Caramel Apple Pie:

1 jar of Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Caramel (You can find this in the aisle with the Hersey’s Syrup)

Pie:

Your favorite pie crust (Grace would make pie crust from scratch, but I use Pilsbury pre-made crust that you roll out into the dish. It saves a lot of time and tastes just as good as homemade, in my opinion.)

¼ cup sugar

3 Tbsp flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

5 ½ cups peeled apple, thinly sliced (I use Rome apples)


Mix apples with sugar, flour, and spices and fill pie crust

Topping:

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup flour

½ cup oats

½ cup butter

Mix topping ingredients. You can spoon out the topping onto the top of pie and smooth it out, or roll it out like a giant cookie onto wax paper and then transfer to the top of the pie.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, and then put foil around the crust edges and bake for another 20 minutes or until the top is crunchy and firm. (Grace would like me to remind you not to leave the pie in the oven while you run to the store to get last minute Thanksgiving supplies. Seriously, it's not a good idea.)

You can serve the pie hot or cold. Just before serving, warm a jar of Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Caramel (with lid off) for 30-60 seconds in microwave and then pour desired amount over the top crust of the pie

(Hint, hint: Making Grace's pie for Thanksgiving and telling everyone at the table about TDD would be a great way to earn bonus points in the contest.)

The Final Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE (a.k.a. A huge frakking giveaway)

So business first:

1. Don't forget about The Romantic Times' serialization of THE DARK DIVINE. They are posting a new chapter a week of TDD up until the debut on December 22nd. (That's SIX chapters total!!) Plus they are giving away signed hard-copies of the book + TDD nail polish. They will be posting chapter 2 sometime on Monday the Nov 23rd. Go here to check it out.

2. I'm giving away random prizes from my random prize grab-bag for people who read the chapters and then leave a comment on the RT blog. Be sure to come back here and let me know that you commented so you can be entered in the weekly drawing. And you get extra points for tweeting or blogging about it. The random prize grab-bag includes autographed books, TDD Nail Polish, gift cards, and more!)

3. This week's random winner is: Bunny B
Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and I will send you a list of prizes to choose from.

Okay, on with the actual post:

So this is it! There is officially only one month left until the debut of THE DARK DIVINE!!! Holy crap, can you believe it? I know, I know...I can't either. No matter how many times I pinch myself, I still can't believe this isn't all some crazy tripped out dream and I'm going to wake up and realize that I've been lying in a hospital bed for the last seven years since that terrible car accident.

But just in case this isn't a wacky comma induced fantasy, we need some big time Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest craziness going on. I'm thinking it should be our biggest giveaway yet!

Sound like a good plan?

Yeah, I thought you'd agree.

Okay then, let's get down to business.

Grand Prize:


An autographed hardcover copy of THE DARK DIVINE (The final cover is so fantastically beautiful in person I about died when I held the proof in my hands. Even better than the ARC.)


A bottle of TDD nail polish

A TDD custom T-shirt (Designs soon to be unveiled on the blog. I'm very excited!)


And A purple 8GB iPod Nano engraved with a personal message + the TDD soundtrack

(Apparently, the Beautiful Creatures ladies are giving away a similar package, but this is something I've been planning for a while, so it's honestly just a coincidence. You should go enter their contest, too.)


Prize #2
Egmont Prize-pack including:

Hardcover copy of CALLIE'S RULES by Naomi Zucker

Hardcover copy of VIOLET WINGS by Victoria Hanley

Hardcover copy of LITTLE BLACK LIES by Tish Cohen

And an ARC of BRIGHTLY WOVEN by Alexandra Bracken


Prize #3

Utah Author Prize-pack including:

Signed copy of THE RING by Bobbie Pyron

Signed Copy of THE HOURGLASS DOOR Lisa Mangum

Signed Copy of THE WAY HE LIVED by Emily Wing Smith

Here's how to enter:

(Update: these are the clarified rules and are different from what was originally posted. Please read them over again. You will find that entering is much easier now.)

1. Be a follower of the blog. (So if you're not a follower, start following :D)

2. To get 1 entry in the contest, all you have to do is leave a comment here saying that you'd like to entered. Easy peasy, right?

For bonus entries you can do the following:

1. Get 2 extra entries for Tweeting/Facebooking/blogging about the Countdown contest

2. Get 2 extra entries for Tweeting/Facebooking/blogging about the Romantic Times preview (Plus you will get entered into the weekly random prize giveaway if you tweet about the preview, and leave a comment on the RT blog)

3. Get at least 5-10 BONUS entries (as determined by me or hubby based on what you do) for doing something to show your excitement for THE DARK DIVINE. I'm assuming since you are reading this blog and entering this contest, you are at least somewhat excited about TDD. So all I'm asking you to do is to share that excitement with the people around you. (Creativity will get you closer to the 10 entries)

You can vlog, make a music video, make a youtube commercial for the book, get all your friends to wear all purple and black to school one day, start a campaign to get TDD to be a trending topic on twitter, wear a Team Daniel t-shirt to New Moon, go door to door at your dorm and tell people how excited you are about the book release, call your local bookstores and ask them to carry the book or have me come do a signing, 0r get your entire English class to read the first six chapters of TDD on the RT blog . . .

Okay, you get the point, right? Do something creative to show your excitement for TDD and then come back here and tell me about it. Physical evidence is also requested (not required) such as posting a picture or video on your blog/myspace/facebook/twitter/youtube. Or you can email it to me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com. (Please nothing obscene or illegal!!)

Remember, this is just for BONUS POINTS, don't let the creativity thing scare you off from entering the contest in the first place.

UPDATE, originally I was going to to end the contest and announce the winners on December 22nd, but I have decided to end the contest on December 14th and announce winners December 15th instead. That way if you want to give away any of the books you win as Christmas presents, you will get them in time for the holiday. 1. This contest is only open to followers of the blog. So if you're not a follower . . . well . . . hint, hint.

*Sorry, for legal/customs reasons, this contest is only open to U.S. residents.

And don't forget to pop over to the Romantic Times blog to see if the next chapter of TDD is up. UPDATE: Chapter 2 can be found by clicking HERE.

Countdown Contest Winners!

Hey all,

So this is just a quick post to announce the winners of the TDD Countdown Contest. Things are crazy with the sequel writing and Halloween festivities, and we're finalizing the street team, so I apologize about this post being brief. But I promise a better post soon, complete with videos and Halloween pics.

Without any more ado, I give you the winners:

Grand Prize winner of WAR DANCES and THE MAZE RUNNER is: Chase92

Prize #2 of ONCE WAS LOST: Cari

Prize #3 of HUSH HUSH: The Book Vixen

Winners, email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address and I'll get your prize off in the mail.

Countdown To The Dark Divine Contest: Help me title my new book!

(Note: If you came here looking for info about the street team, click here.)

Shout outs to some awesome friends:

1. Congratulations to bff Emily Wing Smith for winning The Utah Book award for her exceptional YA novel THE WAY HE LIVED. The awards ceremony was neat, and our adventures afterward were some of our wackiest--complete with blood, gore, cheesecake, and Brodi Ashton walking barefoot down 4th South and me screaming things like, "Don't smell that, you might get hepatitis!" I'm sure Brodi will blog about it in much funnier ways than me, so be sure to pop over there.

2. Congrats to James Dashner and his whirl-wind tour of the USA to promote his new book THE MAZE RUNNER. Plus, he was featured in two articles in PW Daily yesterday, and according to them, the book is doing A-Mazing.

3. And huge congrats to new friend Becca Fitzpatrick whose novel HUSH HUSH is debuting at #10 on the NYT bestseller list!!! YAY! She'll be signing at several Utah Costcos over the weekend, so if you are in the area, check out her schedule here.

Shout out for myself:

Did you guys see my beautiful ad in PW Daily? It's run three times over the last week. It's so beautiful. Click here to see it, then scroll down until you see it in its purple glory.

Okay, on with actual post:

HOLY CRAP, SO I JUST REALIZED THAT IT'S ONLY 2 MONTHS UNTIL THE RELEASE OF THE DARK DIVINE!!!! Excitement! Joy! Fear! Trepidation!

So, this next month is going to be a bit crazy. I am attempting to finish the first draft of the sequel to The Dark Divine in the next 32 days. As a result, my brain power failing....words not coming.... loosing ability to type...

Sooooo, yeah. The rest of this blog post will be short and too the point (I hope) and my posts will likely be a bit sparse between now and November 23rd. Never fear, though. The Street Team will still be announced a couple days after the deadline (which is the October 26th btw if you have not yet applied. And if you haven't applied, why not? And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, click here).

Ok, on to the point. Time to celebrate only 2 months left! This month the prizes are as follows:

Prize #1: signed copy of WAR DANCES by Sherman Alexie, and a signed copy of THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner
Prize #2: signed copy of ONCE WAS LOST by Sara Zarr
Prize #3: signed copy of HUSH HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick

So here's what you gotta do for me if you want to be entered in the contest. As I mentioned, I am in the middle of writing the sequel to THE DARK DIVINE. I am loving spending more time with the characters from TDD and am very excited about where the story is going, but here's the deal, it doesn't have a title yet. Got any suggestions? (No titles with spoilers please!) (UPDATE: I'm thinking of things that either play of the words "dark" or "divine" or "desire" or "Grace" or "temptation" or some variation of similar words--yet not something that sounds like a steamy Harlequin romance novel.) Post a comment to be entered into the contest. Rules are below:

1.) Must be a follower of the blog and post a comment to qualify (UPDATE: You don't have to suggest a book title . . . you can always just say"hi")
2.) Answer question = 1pt
3.) Already a follow of blog = 2pt, Become a follower = 1pt
4.) Already a twitter follower = 2pt, Become a twitter follower = 1pt
5.) Tweet contest = 1pt.
6.) Post contest on your blog = 1pt

The contest ends at 11:59 pm on October 28th. Winners will be announced sometime within the next two days after that. . . I promise . . . assuming I'm still alive.

Okay, back to my writing cave. And don't forget to spread the word about the STREET TEAM!!! We need you!!

Contest winners, and a word about banned books

So here are the winners for the The Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest:

Grand Prize winner of 3 Egmont books of your choice: Sara (from The Hiding Spot)

Check out the list of books here , then email me with your choices. Please note that a few of the books on the list have not been released yet and would need to be a pre-order.

2nd place winner of autographed copies of Shannon Hale's FOREST BORN and BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS: Mhm, yup (Kristen)

3rd place winner of an autographed copy of Michelle Zink's PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS: RK Charron

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

A word on banned books:

I'd like to say something eloquent here about free speech and how censorship is wrong and how if a bunch of "concerned citizens" got their way in the world I would have never read some of my favorite books that have truly impacted my life for the better. . .but basically all I can muster up to say at the moment is: BANNING BOOKS SUCKS!

Okay, so that was 3 words about banning books, not "a word," but you get the gist, right?

I'd go on and on for a bit, but some of my friends have already written much more eloquently on the subject, so I'll send you guys to them:

Emily Wing Smith (author friend extraordinaire) just found out that her brilliant book THE WAY HE LIVED is being challenged by a school in Florida and may soon be added to the banned books list. She blogged about her feelings on the subject here.

Author friend James Dashner also blogged about it here, and links to the Random House First Amendment Committee. But what's most of interest there is the discussion/brawl that's broken out in the comments section on James's blog between people with opposing views on censorship . . . and semantics. (P.S. James's THE MAZE RUNNER debuts 1 week from today!)

And writer friend Nikki Mantyla wrote a very nice post about discussing censorship issues with her writing students, and the ridiculousness of some of the books that are on the banned books list. Check it out here.

Considering some of the books that have been banned or challenged in this country (Hello, LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE?!) I have no doubt that THE DARK DIVINE will be challenged and/or banned someday. But hopefully that won't stop other teens who would love and appreciate the book (and maybe even need the book) from being able to read it. Support free speech! Go read a banned book this week. I think I will dust off my well-worn copy of TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, or perhaps OF MICE AND MEN, or maybe HARRY POTTER, or SPEAK, or BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA, or, or . . . you get my point, right?

Okay, so I've said quite a few words already. Be sure to come back later this week so I can tell you all about my trip to Denver for my very first tour stop at the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association expo. I picked up some cool goodies there (including a signed final copy of HUSH HUSH, plus a HUSH HUSH locker poster . . . and more) that I will be giving away to a lucky blog reader. So stay tuned!!

Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest: Again!!!

So um, HOLY CRAP!!! It's only 3 months away until the release of THE DARK DIVINE!!! I can't believe it. So you guys know what this means: It's contest time!

Lately, I've been giving away ARCs of THE DARK DIVINE, but since two awesome bloggers are hosting ARC + SWAG giveaways this week, I'll steer you guys over to their blogs to enter to win an ARC of TDD.

The first is:
The Bookologist

The second is:
Windowpane Memiors

And for a third chance to win a TDD ARC this month, check out this awesome contest for the upcoming HUSH HUSH by Becca Fitzpatrick that Fantastic Book Reviews and The Book Butterfly are running here.

As for my own contest, I've decided to do something extra special this month. . .

My publisher, Egmont, is a powerhouse publisher in Europe and the UK, but their American arm of the company, Egmont USA, is brand new to the US. In fact, their first line of books for the US market has just started rolling out over the last few weeks. Well, I've been collecting their books as they've popped up in my local bookstore so I can give them away to you guys. (Fun fact about Egmont: they are owned by a non-for-profit company that donates all of their proceeds to childrens' charities. So buying an Egmont book actually helps kids!)

So to celebrate the countdown to TDD, and the launch of Egmont USA, I'm going to be giving away some of the Egmont books that have been released so far. . . along with some other goodies I've picked up at recent signings.

Grand Prize: 3 Egmont books of your choice (you can choose from this list but some may require a pre-order as not everything on the list has been released yet)

2nd Prize: Autographed copies of Shannon Hale's FOREST BORN and BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS

3rd Prize: An autographed copy of Michelle Zink's PROPHECY OF THE SISTERS

That's 6 books total that I'm giving away!

So here's what you have to do to enter:

1.) Qualify - Must be a blog follower to qualify (so go hit that button over there already :P)
2.) +1 Answer the question below in a comment to this post
3.) +1 Get an extra entry for following me or @egmontusa on twitter (one additional entry for each)
4.) +3 Blog about the contest in a blog post (side-bar mentions get +1)
5.) +1 Tweet the contest
6.) +2 Become a fan of Egmont USA's Facebook page

Now for the fun part. Reply to the following question in a comment to get the conversation going--

If you are/were a student in junior high or high school, and an author came to visit your creative writing or English class, what would you want them to talk about? The creative writing process? How to get published? Their own story of getting published? The industry in general? How to get one of your best friends to yell "belly boobs" to a elevator full of people? And.... go.

UPDATE: Contest ends Monday, September 28th at 11:59 p.m. I'll post winners the next day, so be sure to come back and look for you name.

Countdown Winners!

So it's time to post winners!!

I am so happy for the enthusiastic response to this month's Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest. We had over 90 different people enter, with several entries per person. Hubby spent a good two hours making a spread sheet of all the different entries, then cut out all the entires and put them in KidA's toy boat, hubby jumped up and down and shook it around while doing a little jig, and then we drew out our winners.

So the winners are:

Grand Prize Winner (pedicure kit, TDD nail polish, ARC of THE DARK DIVINE, & $15 B&N gift card): Jessica Kennedy

2nd Place Winner (signed copies MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS and LIFE IN THE PIT): Book Dragon

3rd Place Winner ($30 B&N gift card): Hillary

Winners, please email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address so I can send off your prizes.

And to everyone else, the SCBWI L.A. contest is still on-going. You can click here to enter that contest, and I PROMISE I'll post the 3rd (and final) list of favorite SCBWI L.A. moments soon (I know, I know, I've been saying that for a week now). All you have to do for this contest is comment on one of the 3 SCBWI L.A. posts (or all--multiple comments gets you multiple entries). I'll then enter you in a drawing for one of three signed books I picked up at the conference:

THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN by Sherman Alexie

BREATHING by Cheryl Renee Herbsman

KING DORK by Frank Portman

(Sorry, I really wanted to get 13 REASONS WHY for the contest, but they were all sold out :( )

Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE contest and purple toes too!

So its that time of the month again! Wait...I don't mean that... well I do...but that's not what I wanted to talk about. Wow. TMI. Um.... yeah.

So what I mean is "Yay, its the 22nd of August and that means only 4 months until the release of THE DARK DIVINE!!!!" And to celebrate? You guessed it-- CONTEST TIME!

But before we get into the contest, I have to tell you about something really cool. Hubby and I thought it would be really neat if we found some nail polish to match the girl on my cover's pedicure. Then we took the idea one step farther and said, well what if we actually found a manufacturer who could make THE DARK DIVINE nail polish? It seemed like a long shot, but we presented the idea to my publisher (who loved it by the way) and long story short, I give you THE DARK DIVINE nail polish!
Okay how cool is that? And I totally know that you want to know how you can get one for your very own. I mean, they are awesomely cute, don't you think?

Well, that's where the contest comes into play. And since the girl on my cover has beautiful feet (though oddly squarish toes), the grand prize this month includes a THE DARK DIVINE pedicure kit! (A foot file, a tub of peppermint smoothing pumice scrub, a bottle of peppermint cooling foot lotion, and a bottle of the nail polish.)

So here's how this month's contest will work:

Qualified participants will be entered into a drawing to win one of three prizes:

1. A pedicure kit complete with my new THE DARK DIVINE nail polish! + An autographed ARC of THE DARK DIVINE + $15 gift card to Barnes & Noble.
2. Signed copy of MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS by Sydney Salter + Signed copy of LIFE IN THE PIT by Kristen Landon
3. A $30 gift card to Barnes & Noble

What's a qualified participant you ask? Well, you must be a follower of the blog or twitter to qualify, so if you are not already a follower....you know...become one :D. You must also earn a minimum of 5 points from the list below to qualify.

1. Already a blog follower= 4pts
2. Already a twitter follower= 2pts
3. Become a new blog follower= 3pts
4. Become a new Twitter follower= 1pt
5. Post a twitter update about contest= 1pt
6. Blog about the contest= 5pts (must be in a post)
7. Post a comment responding to the questions posed below= 2pts

To enter, and make sure I don't miss anything, please post a comment to this post with the URLs of your blog/twitter posts and totaling your points (While you're there, you might as well comment on the questions posed and earn a couple extra points too).

For every point you earn in addition to the 5 points needed to qualify, you get an additional name entry in the drawing. For example, if you are already a follower, blog about the contest, and also post a twitter update (10 points), you would get 6 entries in the drawing (1 for the 5pts to qualify and 5 more for the additional 5pts earned). Contest ends midnight Aug. 29th. I'll post winners the following day.

Now, as mentioned, you can respond to a couple questions to earn points toward the contest. So, I'm wondering loyal followers:

1. What was the last book you read that gave you a new perspective?
2. Who's your favorite fictional bad boy?
3. What's your favorite paranormal creature and why?

Now, go forth and blog and tweet and comment, and may the best readers win! (Oh, and as a side note, the "Favorites from SCBWI" commenting contest for Sherman Alexie's ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART TIME INDIAN and other books I picked up from the conference is still going on. I'll finish my stories sometime early next week. . . and then pick a winner for that contest shortly thereafter.)

Winner of the ARC Giveaway . . .And the Reason I Should Have Listened to Frau Pond in High School

So first things first, the winner of the Countdown To The Dark Divine ARC Giveaway is: Sab H.
Update: Forgot to post the winner of THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE. Sorry! The winner is NICOLE--my very first follower ever!

(Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address and I'll sent the ARC your way.)

Thanks everyone for participating! I just got word from my publisher that they might me send me a few more ARCs, so hopefully we can do this again soon.

Secondly, after looking over the votes, It looks like Nathan and Talbot were neck and neck. I love how opinionated you guys are about your names! I'm leaning toward naming the character Nathan Talbot, but calling him Talbot--and possibly Tal for short. What do you guys think? (Okay, hopefully nobody hates me! I promise to save Ramses for something in the future.)

So what does Frau Pond, my slightly crazy (okay uber-crazy) German teacher from high school have to do with this blog post?

Well, you know how language teachers insist on talking to you only in the language you are supposed to be learning? And you know how there's always that one kid in your class that always looks completely lost, and the teacher tries to ask her questions in German/French/Spanish/Whatever and she just stares blankly back at the teacher, so then the teacher just keeps asking the question louder and louder, and the student turns all red and still has no idea what the teacher is saying, so then they teacher starts making gestures with her arms that vaguely look like she's milking a 30 foot cow, and then suddenly everyone is laughing, and the teacher starts shrieking (finally in English), "I asked you about the water buffaloes?! Why do you not understand about the 'water buffaloes'?!" and the student still has NO IDEA what the heck she's talking about . . .??

Yeah, so that student was totally me. Poor Frau Pond tried her hardest, but no matter how loud she shrieked at me about those darn water buffaloes (do they even have water buffalo in Germany?!), I still couldn't figure out a word she was saying. . .

Which I now totally regret because when my book comes out German, I will have no idea what Grace says to Daniel after the first time they kiss . . .

But anyway, we sold German rights!!! Squuueeee!!! Which means my book will be coming out in Germany some time in 2010. Hopefully, this will be the first of many forgein rights deals (*crossing fingers, knocking on wood*--which kind of hurts, btw).

And maybe, just maybe, I'll wrap up a copy of the German version of THE DARK DIVINE and send it to Frau Pond with an apology note about the water buffaloes. . . .

Countdown To The Dark Divine Contest: Help me name a new character and you might win an ARC edition.

First item of business: The 2nd winner of the Random Things Giveaway is californiameaghan!

Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send you list of your choices from the Random Prize Grab-Bag.

Last week's Random Things winner, Taschima Cullen, chose a signed copy of WINGS by Aprilynne Pike.

(The Random Things Contest is now closed.)


Okay, on with the post:

So does anyone know how it got to be the 22nd again already? Seriously, the time is ticking away until the release of THE DARK DIVINE. We're down to 5 months already!!! The weirdest part about getting closer to the release date (December 22nd, btw) is knowing that advanced copies of my book are being sent out to reviewers, and people--real people, not just my writer friends--are possibly reading my book right at this very moment.

Exciting!!

Thrilling!!

Horrifying!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, primal scream moment over. *Shaking it off*

Back to the post . . .What was I saying? Oh yeah. Reviewers and other such super awesome people are reading my book. In fact, I recently got my first written review on GoodReads. In honor of it being the first, I thought I would share it with you all.

This was written by Sarah Steele, one of the fabulous winners from last month's Countdown To The Dark Divine Contest ARC Giveaway:

"Okay I was SUPER excited to read this book and when I won and ARC from the author's blog, I absolutely was not disappointed!!!! (Apologies to the author for comparing her great novel to "Twilight." I don't mean it as an insult.) Basically if you loved "Twilight," you'll also love this book. And if you despised "Twilight," you'll probably also love this book and after reading it you'll think, "Wow, Stephenie Meyer could stand to learn a few things from Bree Despain." Seriously. Read this book."


How sweet is that?! Thanks, Sarah!


Sarah's review put me in such a good mood, I've decided to give away another one of my ARCs as part of this month's Countdown To The Dark Divine Contest.

(Note to new readers: The CTTDDC is a special contest I run on the 22nd of each month leading up to the release of my book on 12/22/09. So be sure to come back each 22nd for you chance to win a neat prize.)

However, there's no such thing as a free lunch. You've got to do a little work for me in order to get an entry in the contest.

So here's the deal. I'm working on the sequel for TDD, and I've dreamed up a new character. He's hot, cocky, has paranormal superpowers (sorry, can't tell you what kind), and is possibly going to be British. He's the kind of guy you LOVE to hate, and hate yourself for loving. But, sadly, he still doesn't have a name. This where I need a little help from my friends. Which of the following names do you think is best for the hot paranormal jerk:

A. Nathan
B. Talbot
C. Ramses

Cast your vote in the comments, and I'll enter you in the contest to win a signed ARC of THE DARK DIVINE. Our second place winner will get a signed copy of Shannon Hale's THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE. Contest ends at 11:59 pm on July 29th.

Disclaimer: I'm leaning toward one of the names already, so I may or may not go with the outcome of this contest . . .but my decision will probably be swayed if enough of you agree on a different choice.

(Note: This contest is only open to blog followers, so if you're not a follower . . .um, start following ;) )

Oh, and one more thing. YA author James Dashner gave me a shout-out on his blog, so I'm returning the favor. He's giving away an ARC of his awesome upcoming YA novel, THE MAZE RUNNER, on his blog, so you should pop over there and check it out. (After you leave a comment here, of course.)

Winners of the Countdown to The Dark Divine ARC Giveaway . . .and The YA Carnival!!

So I can't tell you all how much fun I had with the first crush contest! Your stories were so amusing, and I can't thank you all enough for sharing with me. I wish I could buy you all a copy of THE DARK DIVINE in return . . .but I think that might make my husband a tinsey bit cranky. But I do have a couple of ARCs that I've promised to giveaway, so let's get to it.

Since we are celebrating 2 contests this month (The Dark Divine Countdown, and The YA Carnival) I decided to choose each winner by a different method. The first winner was determined by the first crush story that amused me the most. I don't know if it was because it was so late at night when I read it, but "Stan, Stan, the Ice Cream Man" made me laugh so hard that I MUST award the first ARC of THE DARK DIVINE to: SARAH STEELE!

I decided to choose the winner of the second ARC (in honor of The YA Carnival) by a random drawing. So I printed out all the comments, cut them apart, and put them in a bowl. Then I let KidA draw a name. And the winner was . . . my mom.

Yeah, so we threw that name out (sorry, Mom!) and tried again. Which makes the second winner: DEBBIE'S WORLD OF BOOKS!


Congrats winners! Please email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address. And if you'd like your book inscribed to a certain name (such as your own :-D) let me know.


Thank you so much to the many people who entered the contest!! I'm sorry that not everyone could win. But don't worry, I'm kind of obsessed with giving stuff away, so there will be plenty more countdown contests in the future (on the 22nd of each month up through December 2009!). Also, I've heard rumor from my publisher that they might send me another box of ARCs, so hopefully I'll have a couple more to give away in one of those future contest.

xoxo,

Bree

p.s. I finally decided to let my parent's read my book, and ended up giving them one of my ARCs . . .so don't feel too bad for my mom ;-)

Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE ARC giveway, the YA Carnival, and who was your first crush?

So I had this realization yesterday. And that realization is that I don't know how to count. Actually, I've already had that realization several (no, thousands) of times in my life. So the real realization that I really had was that last month during the Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest I claimed that the debut of my novel was a whole 8 months away, but once I figured out how to count, I realized it was actually only 7 months away. (How's that for a long sentence?) Which means now, a month later, the debut of THE DARK DIVINE (on December 22nd) is only 6 MONTHS away!!!! Holy crap, let's do the time warp again, Batman! Seriously, only 6 months away! It's like somebody knocked a whole month off of the time we have to wait until the book debuts. Isn't that cool?

Well, I think it is.

And since 6 months sounds way cooler than 7 months, I've decided to make the prize for this month's Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest/Giveaway extra special: A signed ARC of THE DARK DIVINE!!

But wait! It gets better . . . I've also decided to participate in the YA Book Carnival started by Shooting Star Magazine. And in honor of this fun event, I'm going to give away a second signed ARC of THE DARK DIVINE to another winner.

That's right, you now have 2 chances to win one of the signed ARCs. Neat, huh?

Well, I at least think so.

So how do you enter to win? Well, I'll tell you. . .

In THE DARK DIVINE, the main character, Grace, has had a crush on her brother's best friend, Daniel, ever since she was nine years old. She's been tagging behind her brother and Daniel ever since she was old enough to walk, and even though Daniel loved to tease her, she couldn't help totally crushing on him. But then, one night when she was fourteen years old, something terrible happened between Daniel and Jude, and Daniel suddenly disappeared. Grace thinks she's moved on, she thinks she's buried her feelings for Daniel in the past . . .That is, until three years later when Daniel mysteriously returns to town, enrolls in Grace's small Christian high school, and Grace realizes that maybe what she'd always felt for Daniel wasn't just a crush after all.

So what does this have to do with the contest, you ask? Well, since Grace tells us all about her first crush in THE DARK DIVINE, she wants all of you to tell us about yours. All you have to do to enter the contest is leave a comment to this post, telling me (or Grace, I guess) about your first crush. And you know you've had a first crush, so don't go claiming you don't have a story to share!

(Secondary stipulation, this contest is only open to my blog or twitter followers, so if you're not a follower . . .well, become one! :-D)

To kick off the contest (and so you'll feel a little bit less shy about sharing) I'll tell you all about my first crush: So my brother had this best friend (we'll call him Drew). They did everything together--and I tagged along constantly. And even though Drew loved to tease me, I was totally smitten by him. His dad was my dentist, and he would always tease me about how Drew and I were going to get married. Well, then as Drew and my brother got older, they had some kind of weird falling out, and then awhile after that Drew ran away from home and totally disappeared off the face of the planet . . .oh wait, this is starting to sound familiar . . .

Okay, time to share away! The contest runs until midnight on June 27th. Winners will be announced on June 28th. So bring on those first crushes!

(And if you're new to the blog and you don't know anything about THE DARK DIVINE, you can read the first chapter by clicking here.)

ARCs . . .or Galleys . . .or Uncorrected Bound Proofs . . .Whatever they're called, they're here!!

So stalking the mailman for the past couple of days has finally paid off. Today, I got a lovely package of ARCs.

(Side Note: For anyone who is unfamiliar with the term ARC, it means "Advanced Reader Copy." Basically, an ARC is a cheap paperback version of your book that publishers send out to reviewers and such a few months before your book comes out. ARCs are typically "uncorrected." As in, they may still contain typos and grammatical errors that will be fixed before the final hardcover copies are produced. ARCs are also referred to as Galleys or Uncorrected Bound Proofs. And if you're lucky, your publisher will send you few to give away on your blog!)

Anyway, when the mailman came to the door, KidA started yelling, "Is it pizza? Is it pizza?" (Which is weird since we haven't ordered a pizza in over 8 months . . .Unless Hubby has something to tell me . . .) KidA was sorely disappointed that it wasn't pizza--until he caught onto my giddy squeals of excitement. (Which made the mailman raise his eyebrows as he tried to coax me to stop jumping around and sign the receipt already!) Then KidA insisted on getting his "crap scissors" (craft scissors) so he could help me open the box.

We were just pulling the ARCs out of the package when KidZ came running up the stairs to see what we were so excited about. When he saw my books he said, "So does this mean you get lots of money now?" Yeah, I laughed pretty hard at that one.













It is so absolutely amazing to hold my words in my hands in the form of something that is so much like a real book. Serious dream come true!













All of my babies together!













Twins: I started the first draft of THE DARK DIVINE before I was even pregnant with KidA, and finished it just a few weeks before he was born. KidA just turned 3. His twin has taken much longer to get here. (But worth the wait!)










Apparently, I'm having a hard time letting my new baby out of my sight. Hubby snapped this pic when he found me putting on my make-up . . .with one of my ARCs in my lap.

And for your viewing pleasure, my older children begged their dad to let them record a message for me. (And it pretty much sums up KidZ and KidA's personalities to the tee.):


Yeah, you heard him right. That is what he said. See what it's like at my house?


Anyway, as hard as it is to let my baby go so soon, I might be persuaded into giving a signed ARC away on June 22nd for The Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest. Come back then!

A post in which I announce countdown contest winners, and then ask readers for a favor *sheepish grin*

Many thanks to everyone who entered the Countdown to THE DARK DIVINE Contest. The winners are as follows:

1.) Grand Prize winner of the Utah Author Sampler Package (Autographed copies of THE CHOSEN ONE, WINGS, and EVERYTHING IS FINE): Llehn

2.) Winner of an autographed copy of THE CHOSEN ONE: Khy

3.) Winner of autographed copy of WINGS: Ragdollvampgirl

4.) Winner of autographed copy of EVERYTHING IS FINE: Cam

Winners, email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address, and I will ship your prize to you. Thanks again for entering!!

Okay, and now that I have your attention, I will shamelessly ask for a favor. The Tenners are hosting a pillow fight of sorts over on GoodReads. Basically, we're just having a friendly competition to see who can garner the most votes for their book. I'm a little down in the rankings, so I'd love your support. Mostly so I can say, "nah, nah, nah" to Josh Berk and Heidi Kling who decided to start this little competition. So if you don't mind taking a second to help up my ranking, then click here and vote for THE DARK DIVINE. Also, you'll get a little sneak peak of the many Tenners books coming out next year. Thanks in advance!

Countdown to The Dark Divine contest!

So I promised you guys awesomeness, and awesomeness is here! Today marks exactly 8 months until THE DARK DIVINE debuts on December 22, 2009. Dude, that's less time than it takes to have a baby--and far less painful (well, physically anyway). To mark the occasion, I'm kicking of The Countdown to The Dark Divine Contest . . .or should I say CONTESTS. Yep, that's plural.

Here's how it works: For the next 8 months, I will be hosting a contest on the 22nd of each month to count down to the debut of my book. Prizes will range from autographed books from other great YA authors, t-shirts, swag, signed advanced copies of THE DARK DIVINE, and pretty much any other neat prize I come across along the way.

So here's the deal with May's contest: I wanted to find a way to show my appreciation to my current followers, and encourage people to spread the word about the THE DARK DIVINE to their friends . . .so I'm actually hosting two contests rolled into one.

For my current followers:

You guy's qualify for the Grand Prize, which is a Utah Author Sampler Package. (In case you guys haven't heard, Utah is pretty much a haven for awesomeness when it comes to YA fiction.)

The package includes:

1. An autographed copy of the highly praised THE CHOSEN ONE by Carol Lynch Williams.










2. An autographed copy of WINGS by Aprilynne Pike (which just hit #1 on the NYT bestseller list!)










3. An autographed copy of EVERYTHING IS FINE by Ann Dee Ellis.












Yep, that's right, the grand prize winner gets all 3 autographed hard-covered books.

All you have to do is promote this contest and get your friends to become followers of this blog, or to follow me on twitter at @breedespain. For everyone you get to follow me, you get an entry into the contest (so be sure to tell people to tell me that you sent them). The more followers you send, the more entries you get! And don't worry, there's something in it for your friends, too.

For new followers:

New followers get entered into a separate contest to win one of the three books from above. (But the only one that is autographed is THE CHOSEN ONE, so we'll consider that one the 1st place prize.) UPDATE: I WAS ABLE TO GET AUTOGRAPHED COPIES OF ALL THREE BOOKS, SO YAY, THEY'RE ALL AUTOGRAPHED!

All you have to do is become a follower of this blog, or follow me on twitter (you get two entries if you do both) and then introduce yourself to the group in the comments section of this post. (You will especially need to introduce yourself if you choose to follow through RSS feed.)

Now if you're a new follower, you can also enter to win the Grand Prize Utah Sampler Package if you promote this contest and get other followers to join. And current followers, if your follower gets another follower to join, then you get an additional entry into the grand prize drawing, and so on and so on. It's really a win-win situation.

(But you can only win one of the contests.)

Okay, that's it. Simple, eh? (If not, then you can always ask me a question here on the blog or through my contact form on my website). The contest runs from May 22nd until midnight on May 29th. Winners will be announced on May 30th. Now ready, set, go!

P.S. Don't forget to check back here every month on the 22nd until December 2009 for a new contest giveaway.