Halloween pics, Fantasy Casting THE DARK DIVINE movie: Talbot, plus an exclusive exerpt from TLS

10/31/2010

***Upcoming Event: I'll be speaking and signing at the Bingham Creek Library in West Jordan at 7 pm on November 15th. If you come, you may get a chance to get your hands on a paperback copy of TDD that includes the 1st chapter of TLS.***

Happy Halloween, friends! I hope you've had a great weekend. In honor of TLS, I donned a Little Red Riding Hood costume and went out on the town with my very own wolfman/woodsman and a couple of tiny Clone Troopers.


(Is hubs the woodsman who killed the wolf, or the wolf who killed the woodsman?--You decide.)


(Little Red, post kicking some wolf butt)


(KidA felt very empowered by that Clone Trooper gun. He blasted anything remotely scary away with it--including every sweet grandma who opened the door while we were trick or treating--in the pouring rain.)

I have to apologize for all silence and slowness on the blog lately. I got hit with an unexpected deadline this past week that totally took over my life. And I'm so ashamed that I missed October's Countdown to THE LOST SAINT contest. Since we haven't finished our Fantasy Casting fun, I've decided to wait until we're done with that before starting a new giveaway. (But I promise it'll be worth the wait!)






So Nathan Fillion won our poll for playing Pastor Divine with 46 votes (40%) and Tim Daly came in second with 36 votes (31%).





Our next contestant for our fantasy casting is a new one for most of you:

NATHAN TALBOT

Talbot is a new character in THE LOST SAINT and plenty tasty--and instead of just giving you a physical description, I thought I'd give you an exclusive excerpt from TLS (Eep!--at least that's how I feel about sharing it.)

So are you ready to meet Talbot?

I turned to dash from the scene, but I’d taken only a few
stumbling steps in my stupid heels when I ran straight into
what seemed to be a flannel-covered brick wall.

“Whoa, there. You okay?”

The brick wall speaks?

I took a slight step back and looked up to see that I’d
smacked right into the chest of a guy wearing a flannel
shirt. He looked down at me with wide green eyes.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and took another step back. “I
didn’t see you there.”

But really, I didn’t know how I hadn’t noticed this guy
before. I mean, if I thought I stood out here, how had I
not noticed someone like him in a place like this? While
the current fashion statement in the club involved ink
and an abundance of black, this guy wore a green flannel
shirt, light blue jeans, and a large bronze antiquey-looking
belt buckle that resembled a Texas marshal’s
star. He had wavy hair the color of milk chocolate that
stuck out from under the edges of his blue baseball cap,
and his tan face was completely free of weird markings
or bad facial hair, unlike most of the guys here. I looked
down, expecting him to be wearing cowboy boots, but
instead he had on a pair of gray Nike running shoes—
otherwise, he would have looked like he’d sauntered
right in here off a ranch or farm or something.

He gave me a friendly smile—making his tanned,
chiseled cheeks dimple—and he wrapped his warm fingers
around my elbow. “A pretty girl like you should be
more careful in a place like this,” he said, and pulled
me farther away from the fight that brewed behind me.

“Yeah. Um. I know. Sorry.”

His large, callused hand was still on my elbow. His
words—pretty girl like you—finally sank into my brain.
I bit my lip as heat rushed into my cheeks. I wanted to
excuse myself and run off to hide in the bathroom or
something.

The guy’s smile widened, and it struck me that there
was something about him—perhaps the shape of his
mouth, or the tone of his voice—that seemed inexplicably,
yet comfortingly, familiar. Like the first wafting
scent of warm caramel-apple pie on Thanksgiving Day
after a full year of not having tasted it. . .

(Oh, and also of note, Talbot is in his early 20s.)

Now are you ready to pick an actor to play our "tasty new treat" (as April calls him) in a TLS movie?


Kellan Lutz (Cute, and got the most nominations [8] but is he too Twilight famous?)


Matt Lanter (Yes, I know, Matt was the winner for Pete Bradshaw, but this pic of him looks so much like the Talbot in my head that I couldn't not include him.)


Channing Tatum (Nice jawline--may be a bit too old, though.)


Jared Padalecki (Looks hott! in plaid flannel)


Jensen Ackles (also hott!)


Now be sure to vote in the poll up over in the sidebar and leave comment on this post for another entry to win 1 of 10 bottles of TLS nail polish. The poll will be open until Tuesday (11/2/2010) at 6:30 pm.

Also, keep spreading the word about the $2.99 ebook promotion of THE DARK DIVINE and leave a comment telling me what you did in order to win 1 of 5 additional bottles of nail polish. (I'll announce winners for this sometime next week.)

Now go vote!

P.S. What did you dress up as for Halloween?

MY HALLOWEEN TREAT FOR YOU ALL + Fantasy Casting THE DARK DIVINE movie: Pator Divine

10/25/2010

****IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

You guys know how much I love Halloween, right? Like love, love, love, love it. And not because I'm into creepy things (really, I'm not--says the paranormal fiction author). I love Halloween because it's an entire day (more like week at our house) devoted to playing dress-ups and eating chocolate. What could be awesomer than that?

Oh wait, I know something that would make it even sweeter!

Here's my Halloween treat for you all: Starting today until November 22nd, the e-book version of THE DARK DIVINE will be available for only $2.99 from most major e-book retailers (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-a-million, Amazon etc.) and many indie bookstores.

UPDATE: B&N and Amazon are both now offering the e-book for only $2.39!!

Please share this promotion with your friends and followers. Tweet about it, blog about it, facefook it. The more people we can get to read TDD, the better things will be for THE LOST SAINT out of the gate. And who can deny such a fabulous price? I'm going to buy an e-book copy of TDD for the kindle app on my phone just to have a portable version of it with me at all times--and at $2.99, why the heck not?!

But wait, it gets even better. If you help spread the word about this special promotional TDD e-book price--I'll enter you to win 1 of 5 bottles of TLS nailpolish. (That's 5 bottles in addition to the 10 I'm giving away in the fantasy casting contest.) Just be sure to share link to where you announced the promotion in the comments of this blog post.



Also, to kick off the TDD ebook promotion, the ROMANTIC TIMES posted an essay I wrote about "The story behind the story of THE DARK DIVINE." So if you want to know the real life inspiration for the book. Be sure to check out the essay HERE.****

Okay, on to the fantasy casting for THE DARK DIVINE movie!

So Adam Gregory slammed the competition to play Jude in our fantasy cast of THE DARK DIVINE. He pulled in 54 votes out of 109 (that's a whopping 49%)! But seriously, with those eyes, who could compete? Nolan Gerard Funk came in 2nd with 24 votes (22%) but Logan Lerman was nipping at his heels with 22 votes (20%).







Now on to our next character:

PASTOR DIVINE

Physical description: Half Scandinavian, half Russian-ish ancestry. Fair. Wears glasses. In his early forties.

Colin Firth (Is it okay to have a crush on the actor playing Grace's dad?)


Nathan Fillion (Ditto on the crush thing. I LOVE Nathan Fillion!)


Tim Daly (Has a good fatherly look)


Mathew Settle (Possibly a little too rock & roll to play a pastor?)


Now be sure to vote for your fave choice up over in the SIDEBAR and LEAVE A COMMENT to get another entry to possibly win 1 of 10 bottles of TLS nail-polish. The poll will be open until 2:30 pm (MST) on 11/27/10.

And be sure to spread the word about the ebook promo price--and tell me what you did in the comments to be entered into a seperate drawing for 1 of 5 additional bottles of TLS nail-polish.

Fantasy casting THE DARK DIVINE movie: Jude Divine

***I'm participate in a the YA Spooktacular. It's a ghost story told in a round by a bunch of YA authors and writers. I wrote part 2 of the story called A SOUL LAID BARE that was posted today. You can read my part of the story HERE and find the links to the other parts of the stories.

Also, I'm speaking and signing at the St. George Book Festival on Saturday, October 23st at 1:00 pm. If you're in the area, come check out the event.***

Emily Osment won with 31 votes out of 87 (35 %) to play April Thomas. Sasha Pieterse came in second with 20 votes (22%).

Now on to the next character candidate:

JUDE DIVINE

Physical description: Almost 18. Short, dark brown, hair. Violet eyes. Square jaw. Also has a "roman nose." Jude and Grace look very much like brother and sister.

So Chase Crawford and Pen Bagdley got the most nominations for Jude, but even thought I love both of them, I decided both are a little too old for playing high school students now. (Note: If you haven't noticed, I decided to narrow down to the nominations to only actors/actresses the right age to play the characters now. There were so many great nominations, I had to do something to help narrow it down.)

Logan Lerman (What a cutie!)

Adam Gregory (Those eyes!!)

Zac Efron (Used to be anit-Zac, but I loved him in 17 AGAIN. Totally a Zac-convert now.)

Nolan Gerard Funk (Kinda pale, but he looks a lot like the Jude in my head.)

Gregg Sulkin (Maybe a little goofy looking, but he has cute potential.)

Okay, remember to vote up over in the SIDEBAR and LEAVE A COMMENT to be entered to win 1 of 10 bottle os TLS nail-polish. This poll will be open until 3:30pm on Sunday, October 24th.

Fantasy Casting THE DARK DIVINE movie: April Thomas

10/20/2010

***I'm speaking at the St George Book Festival this Saturday at 1:00. If you're in the area, come on over to the festival and visit me.***

Wow, Matt Lanter won by a landslide to play Pete Bradshaw with 45 votes out of 106 (that's 42%). Except I kinda liked the idea of Matt playing Talbot . . . but the people have definitely spoken! Robbie Amell came in second with 32 votes (30%)

Next up in our fantasy casting is April Thomas, best friend of Grace Divine. Surprisingly, she was one of the hardest characters to narrow down the nominations for--there were so many great suggestions!

Remember to vote in the poll over on the SIDEBAR and LEAVE A COMMENT if you want to be entered to win 1 of 10 bottles of TDD nail polish. Each character you vote for (and comment on) will get you an entry into the giveaway. . . so that's 8 possible entries total.

So here we go. . .

APRIL THOMAS

Physical description: Age 16. Blond, curly hair that resembles Cocker Spaniel ears. Blue eyes. Has that Minnesota "Scandinavian" look.

Taylor Swift (I'm an indie music kind of girl, but I have a lot of respect for Taylor. Plus, I thought she was really cute in Valentine's Day--where she played the BFF of Emma Roberts, our winner for Grace Divine.)

Sasha Pieterse (her hair of reminds me of cocker spaniel ears like April's)

Katija Pevec (love her smile--it feels like April's to me)

Anna-Sophia Robb (I absolutely love her! And I think KidZ has had a crush on her ever since he watched Bridge to Terrabithia)

Emily Osment (Totally rockin' the cocker spaniel ears look, don't you think?)

Ok, be sure to vote AND comment! The poll will be open until Friday at 2:30pm (MST).

Fantasy Casting THE DARK DIVINE movie: Pete Bradshaw

10/17/2010

***Business First: I'll be speaking at the Saint George Book Festival this Saturday at 1:00 pm, and I will be a featured author at the Provo Teen Book Festival on October 30th (along with Scott Westerfeld!! and others) from Noon until 4:00 pm. Oh, and be sure to check out this article in the Deseret News to hear more about how the TDD movie deal came about.***


Sorry for the delay on this post--My computer and Blogger are having a little spat. Not sure who's at fault, though.

We had a great voting turnout for casting Grace Divine. 177 votes in all!

Emma Roberts ended up winning the race with 60 votes (33%) but Allison Miller came in at a close second with 54 votes (30%).

(Winner: Emma Roberts!)

Remember to come back and vote (AND leave a comment on the post) for each character because I'll be selecting 10 random voters to win a bottle of the TLS nail-polish--and each character you vote for equals and entry into the giveaway.

Our next contestant on Fantasy Cast THE DARK DIVINE movie is:

PETE BRADSHAW

Physical description: Age 18. Big and athletic. Captain of the school's hockey team. Rusty colored hair. April describes him as having a "triple threat" smile.

It was really, really hard, but I managed to narrow it down to my top four choices (including the actor most nominated).

And the nominees are:

Cris Olivero (Really like his look, but according to Google Images, he doesn't smile very often).

Kellan Lutz (Got the most nominations [8] and has a great smile--but looking he's kinda too old to play 18 years old.)

Matt Lanter (Great look)

Robbie Amell ( Great smile)

Now consider your choices carefully, vote for your favorite in the poll up over there in the SIDEBAR, and then be sure to LEAVE A COMMENT on this post if you want to be entered to win the nail polish.

The Pete Poll will be open until 2:30 pm (MST) on Tuesday, October 19th.

Fantasy Casting THE DARK DIVINE movie: Grace Divine

10/13/10

***First things first, I wanted to tell you all that I'm speaking at the Salt Lake City Main Library this Friday (October 15th) at 7 pm in the main auditorium as part of their Dewey Lecture series. I'll be speaking about the power of words--and I may have a special little present for people who come out to the event.***


On to the fantasy casting:

Phew! Can I tell you how much work it was to compile all the pictures of the actors/actresses you guys nominated and then narrowing it down to my favorites? Pleasant work, yes, but hard and time consuming, none the less. There were so many great nominations!

I decided to make an individual post for each character rather than overwhelm you guys with too many options at once. That will be 8 posts in all over 16 days. Each post will stay up for 48 hrs so you guys can vote--and then in the end I'll post the "Ultimate Fantasy Cast" for a TDD movie. Be sure to vote in the poll over on the SIDEBAR of the blog, AND also leave a comment on EACH post saying you voted. I will select 10 random commentors/voters to each win a bottle of the new THE LOST SAINT Nail-polish.*

You will get an 1 entry for each character-post you comment on/vote for. But only 1 entry per vote per character--voting multiple times for each character won't get you additional entries.

Today we're starting with Grace. I've narrowed down the nominations to my 5 favorite choices, including the actress who got the most nominations.

So let's get started...

GRACE DIVINE

Physical description: Almost 17. Fair skinned with long, dark brown, loosely curly hair and violet eyes. She describes her nose as being "Roman." Has that "girl next-door" fresh-faced kind of beauty going on. Short.

Actress choices:

Lucy Hale (I think she looks a lot like the actress in the TDD book trailer)


Emily Browning (Got the most nominations [8] but not my own most favorite...)


Allison Miller (Love her "girl-next-door" look)


Dakota Fanning (Not dark-haired, but she gets tons of bonus points for her talent. Plus, she can always dye her hair, right?)


Emma Roberts (Always one of my personal faves)


Now cast your vote in the poll (over on the SIDEBAR of this blog,) AND leave a comment saying you voted on so I can give you credit for your entry. You know you want some of that nail polish!* The poll for Grace will be open until 2:30 pm MST on October 15th.

*Nail polish can only she shipped within the United States. If an international winner is selected, they will be sent TDD stickers and a signed bookmark instead of nail polish.

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!