Intorducing THE ETERNITY KEY: Book #2 of the Into The Dark series. Plus a super HOT suprise and a giveaway!

After slaving away over a mildly warm computer for several months, the fruits of my labors are finally starting to take form. Book #2 of the Into The Dark series is written, edited, and finally has a cover, title, and an official synopsis! Check them out below . . . and then keep scrolling for a super HOT surprise. (Trust me, you will want to see this!)

Synopsis (Warning: mild spoilers if you haven't read THE SHADOW PRINCE):

Fan-favorite author Bree Despain continues her modern-day romance trilogy inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades with this second book in her Into the Dark series.

Haden Lord, the disgraced Prince of the Underrealm, has chosen love over honor and will do everything in his power to protect Daphne Raines, the human girl he was supposed to bring to the Underrealm. Haden's choice is put to the test as the Skylords and a figure from his past arrive in Olympus Hills with a plan that could destroy all of the realms.

Embracing her destiny as the Cypher, Daphne begins to understand the immense power of her musical ability to control the elements, but she must come to terms with her feelings for Haden and what she must sacrifice in order to protect him and her friends.

Believing the Key of Hades is the only thing that can stop the Underrealm Court from releasing the monstrous Keres on the mortal world, Haden, Daphne, and their friends set out to find the Key before Persephone's Gate opens again on the spring equinox.

THE ETERNITY KEY will be hitting shelves some time in Spring 2015, but if you're looking for a review copy, I hear that it is already available on Netgalley.


Okay, so you may have noticed that the cover for THE ETERNITY KEY is significantly different from the hardcover of THE SHADOW PRINCE (Book #1 of the Into The Dark series). Well, surprise, that's because TSP has gotten a HOT (or is that HOTT!? Or maybe even HAWT??) new cover design for the paperback!***

Not only does TSP have a schmexy new cover, it also has a new official synopsis.
Check it out below:

 From Bree Despain, the fan-favorite author of The Dark Divine trilogy, comes her highly anticipated second young adult series: a contemporary adventure inspired by the Greek myth of Persephone and Hades.

Haden Lord, the disgraced prince of the Underrealm, has been sent to the mortal world for six months in order to convince Daphne Raines to return with him to the land of the dead.

The best way to do this, Haden is told, is to get Daphne to fall in love with him. But getting a teenage girl to fall in love with you isn't easy, especially when Haden's life and more depends on the success of his quest. Little does he know that the tenuous peace between the Greek god of the Underrealm and the Greek god of the Sky is breaking and war is imminent.

If Haden succeeds, his honor and standing will be restored in the royal court, and Daphne will be sacrificed to save us all.

The complication he didn't see coming: he's the one who falls in love.

Now Haden must choose to either fulfill his sacred duty or to follow his heart and find a way to rewrite his and Daphne's destinies.

Btw, the paperback edition of THE SHADOW PRINCE will be available in April 2015--and you can already pre-order it HERE.

GIVEAWAY:

To celebrate the new covers, I am going to give away the very first signed ARC of THE ETERNITY KEY to one lucky winner. (Please note: I don't have ARCs yet, but when they arrive, the very first one out of the box and signed will go to the winner.) All you have to do to enter is share one or both of the new Into The Dark covers with you friends. Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***COVER FAQs

Q: Why did the cover for THE SHADOW PRINCE change?
A: Because if certain powers that be want a different cover for your book, and you have a smart publisher, you get a new cover.

Q: Is this the third cover design for TSP?
A: Yes, yes it is. I guess some books are trickier to cover than others. Maybe that's because TSP is so many things rolled into one story: fantasy, contemporary, adventure, mystery, romance, etc.

Q: Does this mean my hardcovers for the series won't match now?
A: Unfortunately, yes. I know, I know, that always bugs me too. But you gotta admit that new cover for TSP is pretty HOT.

Q: These covers are kinda romancey, will boys like this series too?
A: Yes, I think so! The story itself has a ton of appeal for both female and male readers. Heck, the main character is a dude! This series has everything from explosions and monsters and gods and a love story and music and quirky characters and a tiny adorable cat who will probably kill you if you make her angry. There's something for everyone! (If I do say so myself. Heheh.)

Q: Did you design the covers?
A: No! People far more artistically talented than I designed the covers for my publisher. I just write the books.

Q: Did you get to pick the cover models?
A: I didn't pick the model for Daphne on the TEK cover, but I did get some say in the model for Haden on TSP. He was one of a few that I picked out as possible hunks to get the privilegeq of being my Underrealm prince.

Teaser Tuesday #7: Get a sneak peek inside the book (and giveaway)

Happy, happy, Tuesday!  I hope you're having a good one. Did you know we are only 6 weeks away from THE SHADOW PRINCE debut on March 11th?!!!

If you're in Utah, I hope you'll join me for the official TSP launch party on Saturday, March 15th at 2:00 p.m. at The King's English Bookshop. There will be prizes and food and me smiling and talking my face off.  (A full list of TSP events is coming soon!)


So a couple of big boxes arrived on my doorstep yesterday.


Everyone was very excited to see what was inside . . .


As it turned out, the precious cargo was my author copies of THE SHADOW PRINCE!!!! I duly freaked out and squeeeeed and took a million pictures.

 
Even Mei Mei wanted to get in on the action.

 
Or more likely eat the box they came in.

Since I went a little nuts with the pics, I thought that for today's Teaser Tuesday I would give a little sneak peek of the ins and outs of the hardcover book. (Because I'm book-nerdy and I love that sort of thing--so hopefully you do, too.)



First a look at the gorgeous cover. It's even prettier in person than in the comp renderings I've seen before. (Interesting thing to note: in the comp pictures the background seemed more greenish, in these pics it looks more blackish, but in person it's actually more blueish.)



Here's the spine of the dust jacket. (So you know what you're looking for in case the bookstore doesn't display the book face-out. ;) )



 Here's the back of the book with a pull-quote to entice readers. (And it's one of the quotes that I shared as a teaser a few weeks ago.) Love the way this looks!


Here's what the book looks like without its dust jacket. (You know, just in case you're a guy reader, or you know a guy reader, who might like the book but might think the cover isn't gender-neutral enough, you can just slip that cover off and viola, a nice plain blue book! But you know, as far as any picky guys are concerned, as far a both story and cover go, I think this book is pretty boy-friendly.) (P.S. My carpet isn't orange. That picture is just weird.)


 
Here's the spine of the actual book. I have to admit, I am swooning over that gold lettering. How gorgeous is that?!

 Now for a look inside:



The flap jacket copy. (a.k.a. the book summary.)



The title page. (This is the very first hardcopy of THE SHADOW PRINCE that I have ever signed!)



Here's a pic of page one. (If you have really good eyes, you just might be able to read it.)


 
Here's a picture of the first page of chapter two.


 
This is one of my favorite things about the interior design. Each chapter that is from Haden's point of view is marked by the astrological symbol for Hades. (Ya know, because he's from the Underworld and all.)


 
And each chapter by Daphne is marked by the astrological sign for Lyra. (Why? Well, you'll have to read the book to find out.)



Actually, all the other symbols on the cover are astrological symbols for different Greek gods. I bet you can guess a few.



Here's a picture of the very last word in the book. Any guesses as to what it is?

So how big is the book?


 
About the size of a kitten.


Giveaway time:

I've already promised three of these hardcopies out to previous Teaser Tuesday contest winners, but I thought I would give away the copy that I used as my model today.*** (As in, the very first hardcopy that I've signed.) Enter to win using the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.

Btw, if you decide to PRE-ORDER your copy of THE SHADOW PRINCE, be sure to save your receipt. You might want it later. (HINT, HINT pre-order goodies/contest *cough, cough*)

***Kitten not included

Oh and I can't forget. Last week's winner of ROOMIES is: Jamie G.

(Winner, if you didn't receive my email, please hit the contact button in the menu and send me your shipping address to claim your prize. It must be claimed within 30 days or it will be forfeit.)

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

An Extra Special THE SHADOW PRINCE Teaser Tuesday #4 (and giveaway)!

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

First off, the winner of last week's Teaser Tuesday is: Nara Lee! 
(Nara, if you didn't get my email, hit the contact button in the menu and send me your shipping address in order to claim your prize.)
 
Did you know that we are only 9 weeks away from the debut of THE SHADOW PRINCE? (Eeeep! I'm dying with anticipation over here!)

And now I've got an extra special Teaser Tuesday for you all today. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, THE SHADOW PRINCE has a new cover--and I finally have permission to show it to you.

So without further ado, I present to you THE SHADOW PRINCE Teaser Tuesday #4:

A cover re-reveal of THE SHADOW PRINCE!!!***

Now for the Giveaway:

To celebrate releasing the new cover, I am giving away three signed hardcover copies of THE SHADOW PRINCE from my own personal author-copy stash.  This means that the book you win will be a finished copy with the brand new cover design!

(Please note: My author copies are not yet available and may not arrive until the end of February/beginning of March--but the first three copies I get will be sent to the winners!)

Enter to win using the Rafflecopter widget below.****

And please feel free to share the new cover with your friends and followers. With only 9 weeks left until debut, I'd really like to get the new cover out there so people know what they're looking for when they go out to bookstores.

And be sure to come back every Tuesday for a fun THE SHADOW PRINCE teaser and additional giveaways!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***Why the new cover? Two reasons: 1. The title treatment of the old cover was too confusing. Nobody was sure if the title of the book was supposed to be "Into the Dark" or "The Shadow Prince." I think the new title treatment makes it pretty clear--and it's pretty awesome. Definitely my favorite part of the new design.  2. If someone (or a few someones) with a whole lot of clout in the book-selling biz says that they don't think your cover is quite right (and you have a smart publisher) you get a new cover design.

****Contest is open internationally. Winners must claim their prize within 30 days or it will be forfeit.

THE SAVAGE GRACE Cover reveal winners! (And the cover for you to share)

Woohoo! Out of the HUNDREDS of entries, we used Random.org to choose our three winners who will receive an ARC of THE SAVAGE GRACE.

Those winners are:

Tamara Basic

Grace Clyde
Noelle Smith

Winners, I will contact you via the email address you provided to get your shipping info. Your ARC will be sent to you as soon as they are available (probably some time in early November.)

In case you didn't get to see the cover (or want to see it again) I've posted it here. Please feel free to copy and paste the cover and share it on your blog/facebook/twitter etc. The more people who see it the better!


Just as an FYI, the cover looks redder online than it really is. It's actually a gorgeous coral pink color. And it's going to have a beautiful nail polish to match! (Coming soon.)

Full Moon Extravaganza #1: Cover reveal for THE SAVAGE GRACE!!!!

If you didn't know already, tonight is a full moon. It also marks almost exactly 5 months until the release of THE SAVAGE GRACE. So to celebrate, and in honor of a few of my favorite werewolves, my publisher and I have decided to release something super cool and extra special on the day of the full moon each month, all the way up until the release date in March. Starting today!

And I'm really excited about today's special treat. I've been waiting to show it to you all for a LONG time.

Yes, it is finally time to reveal the cover to the final installation of Dark Divine trilogy, THE SAVAGE GRACE!

But, I'm not going to just throw the cover up on my blog. No. That would be too simple. Instead, I've decided to make a game of it. So, do you want to play?

Oh, good. But before we get started, I've got even more awesome news. I will be giving away an ARC of THE SAVAGE GRACE to three random people who participate in the game!*

Ok, so here's how you play: I have created a puzzle of THE SAVAGE GRACE's cover on my website. But I've spread the pieces across the interwebs, so before you can get to the puzzle and put it all together, you need to go find the pieces and unscramble a password. Don't worry. You won't need to copy and paste the puzzle piece images or do anything too technical.

Here's how you do it-

1.) Each group of puzzle pieces has been assigned key letters. You gather these groups of pieces by collecting these letters from the following blogs:

PageTurners
Mundie Moms
Waste Paper Prose

2.) Once you have all the letters, unscramble them to find the password. (Keep the theme to the Dark Divine trilogy in mind.)

3.) Now that you have all the pieces and have figured out the password, you can follow this link to gain access to the full puzzle (that can be pieced together to reveal the cover image): http://www.breedespain.com/puzzle.php

4.) Enter the password when prompted. It has to be entered in all lower-case letters.

5.) After you finish the puzzle, click "view image" to see the cover completed.

6.) Now make sure you fill out the form on the left hand side of the puzzle page. This is how you enter the drawing for one of three ARCs of THE SAVAGE GRACE, so don't forget that part.

7.) The contest is open until 11:59 p.m. MST on Thursday, October 13th. Winners will be announced here on my blog on Friday, October 14th. Contest is open internationally!

Get it? Got it? Good.

Here's a little sneak peek of the cover puzzle:

THE SAVAGE GRACE synopsis:

A troubled soul. An impossible choice. A final battle.

Wrestling with the werewolf curse pulsing deep inside of her, Grace Divine was finally able to find her brother, but it nearly cost her everything.

With her boyfriend, Daniel, stuck in wolf form and Sirhan's death approaching, time is running out for Grace to stop Caleb Kalbi and his gang of demons. If she fails, her family and hometown will perish. Everything rests on Grace's shoulders.

The final installment in The Dark Divine trilogy brings Daniel and Grace's love story to a breathtaking conclusion.

The code letters you need from this blog are: oi

Now head on out to the other blogs
(PageTurners
Mundie Moms
Waste Paper Prose ) and collect the rest of the letters. If you already have all the letters, unscramble them to find the password, and click HERE to access the puzzle.

I really hope you love the cover as much as I do! Be sure to tell me what you think.

Does anyone have any special plans for the full moon tonight?

* Please note: ARCs of THE SAVAGE GRACE aren't available quite yet. Winners will receive the first three ARCs I get. (Probably some time in early November.)


P.S. When the winners are announced, I'll put up a larger version of TSG's cover that you are welcome to post all over the internet as much as you please. But for now, the cover is locked down and can't be copied.

P.P. S. A couple of upcoming events you should know about:

1. October 19--I'll be speaking on a panel will Sara Zarr and Emily Wing Smith at the West Valley City Library, in celebration of Teen Read Week.
7 p.m. 2880 West 3650 South

2. November 5th--I'll be speaking on a panel at the Vegas Valley Book Festival with Becca Fitzpatrick, Rachel Hawkins, and many more awesome authors. Later that evening, we'll be in attendance at the Paranormal Ball. (Fancy dresses, tons of authors & book lovers--who could ask for anything more fabulous?)

THE LOST SAINT Paperback Cover Reveal and more

The options were strong.

The voting was intense.

The time has come.

So, without further ado, I present to you the cover that will be on the paperback edition of THE LOST SAINT:

Ta Da!




I love that Egmont considered everyone's feedback and decided to take the best of both cover options and created a whole new gorgeous finished product. Many thanks to all who participated in the Facebook vote. This cover is for you!

Oh, and speaking of the voting, one of the things promised was access to the first chapter of THE SAVAGE GRACE for the first 200 voters, right? Well, since the response to the voting was so great, Egmont decided rather than limit access to the first 200 voters, they would like to let EVERYONE read the first chapter. Woohoo!

But only for a limited time . . .

Starting Wednesday, chapter 1 of THE SAVAGE GRACE will be available on Scribd.com. The chapter will only be posted for 48 hours, so don't miss out. Be sure to come back here to get a direct link to the first chapter, and to see some of my favorite foreign market covers for THE DARK DIVINE and THE LOST SAINT. There are also some exciting things in the works that I'm hoping I'll be able to tell you about then.

P.S. A couple of upcoming events you should know about:

1. October 19--I'll be speaking on a panel will Sara Zarr and Emily Wing Smith at the West Valley City Library, in celebration of Teen Reads Week.
7 p.m. 2880 West 3650 South

2. November 5th--I'll be speaking on a panel at the Vegas Valley Book Festival with Becca Fitzpatrick, Rachel Hawkins, and many more awesome authors. Later that evening, we'll be in attendance at the Paranormal Ball. (Fancy dresses, tons of authors & book lovers--who could ask for anything more fabulous?)

That's all for now. See ya Wednesday!

THE LOST SAINT Paperback Cover

Hello Readers,

I need your help. The US paperback edition of THE LOST SAINT comes out on November 22nd and we are asking YOU to help us choose the cover. Over on the Facebook fan pages for THE DARK DIVINE and THE LOST SAINT we have posted the original cover that appeared on the hardcover edition, and the shiny new cover concept below.

(You can get a larger view of the covers by clicking on the pics posted on Facebook.)

Head on over to Facebook by clicking HERE or HERE and pick your favorite cover by liking the corresponding post.

As an added (and super special) bonus, the first 100 (and possibly more) people to cast their votes will be granted access to an exclusive read of THE SAVAGE GRACE's first chapter!*
Update: Now the first 200 voters will be granted access to the exclusive sneak peek.*

Voting ends September 9th.

Ready….
Set…

GO!

*Voters will be granted access to TSG's first chapter via Netgalley before the end of September 2011. (That's almost 2 months earlier than anyone else will get to see it!)

May the best cover win.

THE LOST SAINT Official Cover and Countdown to TLS Contest

7/20/2010

So I finally have permission to show the world the official cover for THE LOST SAINT. Yay! I've been sitting on this one since like April while they made a few tweaks . . . and I am terrible at keeping secrets.

But first off, I have to show one of the . . . um . . . failed cover designs for TLS made by my fabulous editor, Greg Ferguson. He tried to enter it in the fan-made cover contest, but being an Egmont employee, and because of it sheer . . . um . . . fawesomeness, we had to disqualify him.

(Note: This is NOT the real TLS cover.)

Love ya, Greg. But, um, NO.

(In actuality, this was originally a gag cover made by Greg for the 1st TDD book after I think he'd been awake for about 48 hours straight trying to find just the right image for the real cover. . . so we'll give him the benefit of the doubt on his sanity.)

Anyway, on to the real THE LOST SAINT cover.

Drumroll . . .

Drumroll . . .

Drumroll . . .

Taduh!

Eep, isn't it just gorgeous? I am in love. (Although, I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I need to replace all the purple in my author wardrobe with blue.)

And yes, there will be TLS nail polish. Just you wait!

And yes, there is a contest to celebrate the cover.

I'm hosting the first the Countdown to THE LOST SAINT Contest. As many of you know, TLS debuts on the 28th of this December. That's barely a few days more than 5 months away! Therefore, I will host a contest on the 28th of each month up until the book debut . . . but I'm starting this months contest a few days early in honor of the cover going live.

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

Share your love for the THE LOST SAINT cover . . . or just share the cover. Post it on your blog/facebook/twitter/website. Or simply refer people to this post so they can see the cover. Leave a comment in this post, telling me what you've done (and leave a link). Followers always get an extra point. You can enter the contest up until 11:59 pm on July 27th, and the winners will be announced on July 28th.

I will pick 3 winners.

Winner #1 will get first dibs at picking 3 books from THIS LIST.

Winner #2 will have second dibs at picking 2 books from the list.

Winner #3 will have third dibs at picking 1 book from the list.

Oh, and one last thing:

Have you heard about the Writing For Charity event? This is a really great conference that supports a really great cause: an attempt to put a book in the hands of every needy child. The conference was started by Shannon Hale three years ago, and will be bigger and better this years than ever before. I'm one of the participating authors, along with many, many others. Please check out the event and come support kids in need if you can.