Horrible Flake? Me? aka Answers to your frequently asked questions

March, 7 2011

Sorry it has been a couple weeks since my last post. The move, TDD3, Costco signings, etc. Sometimes I'm not sure how I survive-- I'm so behind! But I'm making some awesome headway with the third book and getting very excited about the story, cover concepts, and titles. Of course, I will be sharing as soon as I can. But for now, waiting is the game.

Speaking of waiting, I must put out a blanket apology for any winners of contests that have not yet received their prizes. If you are still waiting on something from me, would you be willing to do me the favor of emailing my admin at admin(at)breedespain(dot)com with the deets? Please put "Contest Winner" in the subject line to help us sort through the other emails that go to that account. I've got record of what has been sent out, but I'm a little lost on what has not yet been sent, and I've finally got my stack of book prizes box unpacked ready to be... well packed again. Then shipped. :D

Are you sensing a theme to this post? As the title indicates, I've come to the conclusion that I have become a horrible flake to my readers. I have emails dating back to early October I had every intention of responding to, and yet... So here we are. In hopes of answering many of the emails at once, I ask you all to forgive me for the generic blanket answers to the frequently asked questions I have received over the last few months. And here we go:

1.) Is there going to be a third book in The Dark Divine series? I'm hoping if you are reading this blog you are already aware of this. If not - YES :D. I am working on it now.

2.) When does the third book come out? It is scheduled to release in the US in Dec. 2011 (probably around the 27th-ish, but that's not official, just my current guess). I don't know the release date of any other market, but imagine it will be about a year following whenever The Lost Saint was released there.

3.) Will you be writing another series/book after The Dark Divine series? That's the plan. I have several stories floating around in my head and I'll write until they tell me I can't anymore. And then I'll figure out a way to defy them anyway.

4.) What's happening with the movie deal for The Dark Divine/Will they be making your books into a movie? Fingers crossed. The option rights were purchased last year by a production company in LA (same producers that did the X-Men movies), but where it goes from there is completely unknown and out of my hands. All we can do is hope the planets and stars align. Believe me. Nobody wants this more than I do.

5.) Can I get a copy of your book(s) to do a review on my blog? Sorry, but I don't have many copies of my own books to go around. In fact, all that I have has already been spoken for and any additional copies that I give out are purchased by me. However, you are welcome to contact my publisher (Egmont, USA) directly to try your luck. But I can't guarantee they are giving any more ARCs out (since, you know... you can go out and buy the books or get them from the library now.)

6.) Will you read my manuscript/do my homework for me? Honestly guys, I am often putting in 16 hour days writing and researching for my writing. And when I'm not being Writer-Bree, I've still got to be Momma-Bree. As much as I would love to help (and I really really mean that) I just don't have the time to give. As for questions with regards to homework, most of the answers you are looking for can be found on my website with a little effort... or you know, by actually reading the books. Sorry if that came out a little snarky. I just want to make sure you get the most out of your education :D.

7.) Can I interview you on my blog? Normally I would say "Yes! I'd love to do that." Unfortunately I am uber swamped right now. But that doesn't mean I can't/won't in the future. If you've already asked me, I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible, but please forgive me for taking FOR-EV-ER to respond. In the meantime, the best thing to do is contact my publicist, Virginia, directly as she may be putting together a blog tour. Contact her assistant, Brooke, at Goodman Media: Bbotsford@goodmanmedia.com.

8.) Can I tell you how awesome you are? *blushes* Sure. *bats eyelashes* But I can't guarantee I'll always believe you. By the way, you're pretty awesome too. In fact, you readers are the most awesomest people ever. I just hope we can always be friends.

9.) Can I send you chocolates? Always :P. My PO box is listed on the website.

Okay, that last one doesn't actually get asked very often, but I think it's a travesty that it doesn't. So I decided to include it anyway.

Thank you everyone for all the awesome notes and comments I get. You guys really do rock and I'm so freaking grateful to have so many supportive friends and readers. Please know that I do in fact read every email that comes in, but in the words of the late great Sammy Davis Jr., "somthin's gotta give" and I can't respond to them all. Having said that, I am a very active tweeter (twitter-er?) and you may find I respond much faster if you contact me that way. If you have any more questions that I haven't answered above, leave them in the comments and I'll either reply or save them up for another FAQ blog post or a post of it's own.

Oh, and while I've got your attention, I'll be speaking at the Whitmore Library (Cottonwood Heights, UT) on March 12th at 1:30 pm, where I'll be giving my advice for aspiring writers. I'd love to see you there if you can make it.

Ok, apology session over. Gotta get back to the grind. *crawls back into writing hole*

What's up today

Hey all-

We had an awesome response to the TDD fantasy movie casting contest. I've selected a random winner, but I'm not done compiling pictures of the all the actors so I can pick my favorite suggestions for you all to vote on yet. Looking at all those pictures is a fun task--but a very time consuming one! Honestly, I must have been insane to think I could do it all in a couple of afternoons. *Hangs head in shame.*

So here's the deal, I'll announce the random winner today, and then post pictures of my favorite suggestions for you all to vote on later in the week (or possibly at the beginning of next week). Then you guys can vote for your favorites and we'll determine the ultimate TDD fantasy cast! And I'll give out bottles of TLS nail-polish to random voters!!

Anyway, the random winner chosen through random.org is: Jena
{Please email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your mailing address in order to claim your prize.}


Here's what else is going on in Readbree Land:

1. My agent just sent me the cover to the Taiwanese version of THE DARK DIVINE. Isn't it gorgeous?2. Did you hear that Gossip Guru Perez Hilton has been talking about THE DARK DIVINE? Be sure to go check out what he has to say, and then tell his readers what YOU think about TDD. (Pretty please?) I, for one, think that the cover of TDD looks totally awesome posted on his blog. And the post has done great things for TDD's Amazon ranking. (Thanks, Perez!)

(Photo courtesy of the slap-happy folks at Egmont USA. I think that may be Editor Greg's arm.)

3. TDD, called URBAT: THE DARK TALENT in Germany, has a great new website made by my German publisher. They even made a great German trailer. Check it out HERE.

4. There's a website called Storycasting.com that also does fantasy casting for novels. You guys should check it out and suggest all your great casting ideas over there, too. I probably should have used them to host this contest--would have been far less work for me! You can fan-cast TDD on their site HERE.

5. I've got tons of appearances coming up soon. Click HERE to see where I'll be in the next month.

Okay, now be sure to check back soon for our fantasy-cast voting (i.e. smackdown). Can't wait to see who comes out on top!

The Dark Divine soundtrack: song #15

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE BIG ANNOUNCEMENT, CLICK HERE

Today's song is another beautiful one by Death Cab for Cutie. What Sarah Said is an excellent example of amazing writing. Every word of this song just drips with story-telling talent. I love listening to this song when I need some inspiration with my prose. And as literary agent Nathan Bransford once said on his blog, "The very first step of being a good writer is recognizing good writing."

If you haven't figured out by now, I just can't get enough of Ben Gibbard (he's also the singer/songwriter for The Postal Service). In fact, I have a little equation for you all to consider:

My Book		Joss Whedon		Ben Gibbard		Taylor Kitsch
	+		+		+		=	One Freaking Awesome Movie!!!
(Disclaimer- this is NOT the real cover)		Script Writer/Director		Musical Composer		in the leading role of Daniel Kalbi

Great idea, don't you think? Now does anyone have the connections to make this happen? Because, you know, the book is getting PUBLISHED . . .and I still own the film rights . . .so making a movie of it isn't all that far-fetched of an idea. And here I've already done most of the work and laid out a formula for a surefire success. Let's get on it, people!! ;-)

Anyway, go ahead and listen to the song and try not to be too disappointed that you aren't watching The Dark Divine: The Movie while you do so . . .sigh.

Disclaimer: As with yesterday's post, even though this song talks about death, that doesn't necessarily mean that someone in my book dies--it's more the sentiment of the song that I wanted to capture in my soundtrack. (However, me giving you this disclaimer doesn't necessarily mean that someone doesn't die, either. You'll just have to read the book--or see the movie to find out. ;))

Another Note: I have no idea why there is a big huge gap in the middle of this post. Aparently we are having html problems that I can't solve. So, sorry that it looks all weird.

What Sarah Said - Death Cab for Cutie

The Dark Divine soundtrack: song #12

Today I have the absolute pleasure of sharing another Kooks song with you all. I Want You is the kind of song that makes me forget that as a mother of two children, I should be all dignified and mature and whatever, and I just start singing/shouting along with the lyrics and even throw in a mild amount of head-banging. Yeah, I know . . .I'm a dork. I fear the day my kids figure this out, and start being embarrassed by me. For now, I will enjoy the dance parties and the fact that when we drive in the car, they only rarely complain when I play a song (including this one) for the the third time in a row.

Not only does this song perfectly fit the mood of this part of the book, it is also the song that MUST play in the background during this scene if my book is ever made into a movie. I can picture the whole thing in my head right now--it's really quite good. Wish you all could see it.

Anyway, without any further ado, I give you I Want You by The Kooks. And tell me if you don't just love that dirty British accent.

My Gift To You

Now that Christmas is over, and the kiddies are content to play with their new toys for a few days (and pretty much ignore me) it is time to turn my mind to other important things . . .my birthday! And this year isn't just any old birthday, it's one of those big-significant-scary-your-life-will-never-quite-be-the-same-milestone birthdays (let's just say there's a big fat number 3 in it). In an effort to count down to this significant day (and to ease the stress of leaving my twenties) I've decided to celebrate by presenting you all with a gift.

16 of them, actually. That's right, for the next 16 days leading up to B-Day, I will leave you a little gift on my blog for your enjoyment. And what is this amazing gift that I've been working on for many days to make for y'all?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

It's the THE DARK DIVINE PLAY-LIST/SOUNDTRACK!!!!

Okay, so many of you are probably thinking, what the heck is The Dark Divine--and how can it have a soundtrack? And why is Bree so darn excited about it?

First off: The Dark Divine is the title of MY BOOK. Second: Yes, books CAN have soundtracks.

I know a lot of authors are posting play-lists of songs that inspired the writing of their novels--yeah, I'm not all that original or anything--but I am proud to say that my song-list is way super awesomer (I know, I know awesomer is not a real word) because not only is it a list of songs that inspired my writing, but I've also arranged them in a way to reflect the mood/characters' thoughts/progression of the novel. In other words: it's a book soundtrack!

How awesomer is that?! And it totally wasn't easy, either. I mean, some real painstaking work went into selecting these songs and arranging and rearranging them just right. Good thing I've got all this time and anxiety to kill . . . too bad for hubby I didn't channel any of it into doing the dishes . . .

Anyway, I was going to just post the whole thing at once, but then I realized that most people (other than myself) don't have the time to sit and listen to 16 songs in a row. So I decided that since there are 16 days until my birthday, I'll present one song a day for your listening pleasure. I'll also include a little description of the song and why it is part of the play-list. And then on the 17th day (January 13th--my B-Day) I'll post the entire play-list as a permanent resident on my blog so you can listen to any of the songs, anytime you want. (Because I'm hoping you'll all like the songs as much as I do--and it will put you in the mood to read my novel. :-))


To kick off our 16 Days of The Dark Divine Music Extravaganza, I present to you:

Pick up the Phone by The Notwist

I chose this song not only because it is a freaking great song and totally reflects the mood of my book, but also because of the line "Today, I will step out of your past"--which is exactly what happens in the first few pages of my novel when Daniel Kalbi (Grace's first love and Jude's former best friend) shows up out of the blue after a 3 year disappearance . . .

Oh, and don't forget to keep this image in your head while you listen to any of the songs:


Daniel Kalbi (aka Taylor Kitsch)

Because even though Grace is the main character, I found that most of the songs are from Daniel's point of view. Go figure . . .

I found my leading man . . .ehem, for my novel, that is

I come from a theatre/acting background. Because of this, when I'm writing, I like to picture my scenes as actual "scenes" from a play or movie. I think about the dialogue, blocking, body language, etc as if the characters were right in front of me acting out the scene, and I'm the director. (Or better yet, like I'm the lead actress.) I've always hoped that this gives me a bit of an edge when it comes to writing dynamic dialogue and action. But at the same time, it also means I have my whole novel mapped out in my mind as a movie . . .and I'm dying to see it on the big screen.

I know, I know, I'm getting way ahead of myself--after all, I haven't even sold the manuscript yet--but it's perfectly normal for a girl to cast a fictitious movie based on her unsold novel in her head, right? RIGHT?!

So for a while now, I've been on the lookout for actors to play my main characters should the day ever come that The Dark Divine be made into a movie. The only problem is that it's hard to find real people who resemble the made-up characters that exist only in my brain--and on 270+ pages of manuscript paper. Especially since most of my characters are "mix" of different people.
Take Jude (my main character's brother) for instance. He's kind of a Tom Welling (guy from Smallville) meets a young Tom Cruise (pre-crazy-couch-jumping-phase) sort of guy:




And then there's Daniel (Jude's ex-best-friend and the guy Grace has always been in love with). He's always been a kind-of, sort-of, almost but not quite, teen-age version of Spike (as played by James Marsters in Buffy) but with long, dark hair. (Oh, and Daniel's not a vampire. . .but he his a paranormal creature . . .I'm just not telling you what kind.)



So you can see my casting dilemma, right? Tom W+Tom C doesn't actually exist, so calling him in for an audition probably wouldn't go over all that well. And since James Marsters is now in his late 40s, and I really don't have the energy to invent a time machine (what with being so overwhelmed by the shopping trips with the hopped up monkeys) he's really not the right guy to play the part of my 18-year-old male lead. Plus, I have no idea what he even looked like as a teenager--so the time machine might be a total waist of time and money anyway.

So alas, the parts for my male leads were still un-cast . . .or at least they were until I was watching Friday Night Lights with hubby the other night and Tim Riggins (Taylor Kitsch) looked out at me from the tv screen with his soulful yet troubled eyes, and I sat up and and shouted, "Holy Crap! It's him! He's Daniel!" Even hubby looked at him and said, "Whoa, I think you're right."



So what's the verdict, friends? I mean, what teen-aged girl wouldn't want to try to save this boy's soul?

I may even have to cast his co-star, Scott Porter in my movie.



He makes a pretty good replacement for "the Toms" don't you think?

Okay, so somebody had better make my book into a movie fast. I mean, these "teen" actors are probably already in their late twenties. Tick tock, tick tock. Perhaps I'll have to contact Ted with my brilliant casting choices so he can start putting out some feelers in the biz.

Ha ha.

Just Kidding.

Not really.

Okay, seriously, I'm just joking.

Hey does anyone have Taylor Kitsch's phone number?