Contest Winners Announced!

And the winners are:

1st place:

Shaunda Wenger wins a $50 Barnes & Noble gift-card!! Woo Hoo, Shaunda!

Runners-up:

Shesten wins an autographed copy of the Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Trudy wins an autographed copy of Sweethearts by Sara Zarr


Winners, watch for an email from readbree (at) gmail (dot) com. I'll be emailing to get your mailing address--or you can go ahead and email me with your address if you're reading this :-)

Thank you to everyone who entered the contest. We are going to have give-aways each month leading up to the release of The Dark Divine, so stayed tuned for your chance to win books and other neat stuff.

Contest now closed

So I should have posted this yesterday (but I was out having fun with Hubby for our anniversary) but I just wanted to note that the contest is now closed. Thank you to the many people who entered the contest--and to everyone who visited the website even if they didn't find the code :-). It was so fun to hear from so many of you!

I'll announce winners later tonight. So come back and check for your name. I'm also thinking of starting a monthly prize drawing to count down to the release of The Dark Divine. What do you guys think about that?

Website Launch Party Treasure Hunt Contest

It's up! It's up! My website is finally up!! It still has a couple of bugs, and there are still a few features that are "coming soon," but the bulk of www.breedespain.com is up and running. We're dancing for joy over here. To celebrate, I'm hosting a Website Launch Party Treasure Hunt with awesome prizes!

Grand Prize: A $50 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble.

1st And 2nd Runner-ups: An autographed book from an awesome YA author (TBA--but I'm crossing my fingers for Shannon Hale and Sara Zarr. I'll know for sure after Thursday.)


Here's how to play:

Visit my new website at www.breedespain.com. (Or you can just click the logo on the header up above and start from there.) Kick back and have a look around. While you're checking things out, be on the lookout for a hidden image of the treasure box to the left (it'll appear when you scroll over it) with a secret code. Once you find the code, go to the "contact" page on the website and send me a message containing the code, and you will be entered into a drawing for the above listed awesome prizes.

Want more than one entry in the contest? Promo this treasure hunt on your own blog, twitter, facebook, wherever . . .and you'll get another entry for every person who finds the code and mentions your name. (So don't forget to tell people to mention your name :D)

The contest runs from now until 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 26th. I will email the winners, and announce them here on my blog.

Another fun hidden treat on the site: The very first romance I ever wrote. It's got forbidden love, political intrigue, poison flowers, a magic book, and a Sea Hag. Oh, and did I mention that I wrote it in the 9th grade?! Sorry, there's no prize for finding this hidden treasure, but you may get a good laugh out of it.

Please Note: The new address for this blog is www.readbree.com. From now on, breedespain.com will take you to my website--but you can always link to the blog from there if you want.

Many, many, many thanks to Brick Despain (aka Hubby) for designing and creating my website!!!

Happy hunting, everyone! Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment here with your feedback on the website. Thanks!!

Change is in the air. Oh, and a new contest is brewing too.

I wanted to let all those who may read this blog on a regular to semi-regular basis know that some changes are coming. First of all, the URL www.breedespain.com will no longer be used for my blog. That's because I will be using this for my new website which is very close to going live (oh, and I plan on having another fun contest/give-away to celebrate when it does go live, so stay tuned!). I have a new URL for the blog which will, of course, be linked to from my new website.

As part of the new site, the blog is going to have a new look too, so don't be concerned if you come to the blog and everything looks different.... you know, cuz it will :D.

So what does this all mean? Basically it means the next time you type www.breedespain.com into your browser you might be pleasantly surprised by a completely different site than you were expecting.

For those following the blog via blogger or RSS, you shouldn't have to make any changes or adjustments (fingers crossed!). Just enjoy the ride.

Stay tuned to the same bat channel. (oh wait, I mean new bat channel... you get the idea).

Dairy Hates Me

Yes, it's true. The Dairy Fairy has spoken and he says, "I hate your guts"--literally.

The Great Cheese Experiment of 2009 as failed miserably. In fact, I'm thinking of making my next novel a sci-fi thriller because I now know what it feels like to have some sort of alien parasite living under my skin, and crawling around in my stomach . . .Okay, okay, I'll stop. I don't want to gross anyone out (too much, anyway). Plus, I gotta save it for that book :)

The other thing I learned with this little experiment: I have no self control.

I started out all fine and dandy. Just a half cup of milk in my organic gluten-free brown rice crispies cereal. Yum! (And I mean that in the most sarcastic of ways possible. . .about the brown rice crispies, not the milk.) Then I had a sprinkle of cheese on my plain beef tacos on corn tortillas. But then, by the evening, I'd lost all willpower for moderation and started stuffing my face with Caribbean Chicken with Jamaican Jerk Cream Sauce, and chunks Gruyere with gobs of honey. It was bliss. Until about 35 minutes later . . .followed by 48 hours of agony. I know I probably did it to myself with my sheer lack of self control. But still, all I have to say is: "Curse you, Dairy Fairy! Curse you and your wily cheese ways, and wonderful delectable cream sauces, and the miracle of life that is ice-cream. &%$# you!"

Anyway, I'm thinking of trying again in a few weeks. And this time I'll actually take it slow . . . maybe.

Man, it's a good thing I NEVER drink, or I'd be a raging alcoholic.

So what food can you not live without?