Nocturnal Animals, Hubby Watches New Moon, and I Need YOUR Help

1. So KidA (my 3 year old who just turned 4) said to me the other day: "Mom, I wish we were nocturnal." And ever since then, he's been determined to make this happen. His brilliant plan: "I'm gunna sleep all morning, so then I can stay up all night. And then I can use my eye-shine to see other animals in the dark."

So far he's holding true on the trying to stay up all night part. Don't know how many times I'll have to tell him to go to sleep tonight. The only problem is, the kid still gets up at 6:30 and wakes me up to feed him breakfast. I. Am. Not. A. Fan. Of. This.

2. After months of refusing to be in the same room as me and Taylor Lautner (after the incident in which he caught me grinning like a school girl while watching Taycob on SNL) Hubby finally agreed to watch NEW MOON with me. (And when I say agreed, I mean that he's the one who actually suggested that we rent the movie.) Anyway, hubs and I snuggled up on the couch for a night of Twilightly fun (and I managed to keep my drooling to a minimum) and the best part of the evening was listening to hubby's many observations about the movie.

Here are a few of my favorite:

A) Okay, seriously, how did they get that kid so buff? Cuz I want whatever they gave him.

B) How come the other werewolves don't have rock hard abs, too? Isn't supposed to be part of the whole werewolf package?

C) Tell me again why does Bella likes Edward?

D) Whoa, they actually made that wolf look pensive.

E) Okay, so I kind of get why you have a crush on that Jacob guy.

F) Eew. Does Edward have a third nipple?

G) What was with Bella and Edward wearing those 1920s clothes while running through the forest?

H) So I'm pretty sure the wolf was the best actor in that movie.

Needless to say, it was a very entertaining evening.


3. Calling all Book Bloggers, Authors, Industry Professionals, and Readers: I need your help, peeps!

I'm teaching a class this Friday about paranormal fiction, and I'd love to get a wide range of opinions and input from all of you to put into my speech. I have a series of questions for y'all, and I'm kind of hoping to spark a bit of debate.

In exchange for your help, I'm having a contest.
For each of the questions you answer below, you'll get an entry into a drawing for a $25 Amazon gift certificate (or to your favorite book retailer). And, as always, promoting the contest will get you more entries to the contest.

Here are the questions:

A. What is the difference between Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy?

B. Why do you think YA Paranormal Romance is so popular?

C. What trends are do see as being hot right now (or in the near future) in the YA paranormal romance genre?

D. What trends seem overdone? Any clichés writers may want to avoid?

E. What makes a favorite YA paranormal romance novel really stand out from the pack?

I need to put my class together, so this contest is a short one. You have until Wednesday, April 21st at Noon MST to get your answers in.

Can't wait to read what y'all have to say!

Exciting Things Happening. . .

So it's been busy, busy, busy around here lately. But some very exciting things have been happening (both book and non-book related) and I thought I'd share:

1. THE DARK DIVINE is taking on the world! I'm pleased to announce that we've sold the foreign rights to THE DAR DIVINE for the following territories:

Germany, France, Spain, Hungary, Indonesia, Poland, Thailand, Estonia, the UK, and Australia/New Zealand.

The best part is that Egmont UK bought the rights to TDD for the UK And Australia/New Zealand, so they'll have the same cover as the US edition. Also, the UK edition is scheduled to be in stores in July!

2. I won my first award!! The folks over at the Smoochie Awards selected Daniel and Grace to win an award for one of the Best "Otherworldly" YA Kisses of 2009! (For their kiss under the walnut tree.) You can watch the amusing virtual awards ceremony here.

3. THE REALLY BIG NON-BOOK RELATED NEWS:

I've been teasing peeps on twitter for the last couple of days about our BIG NEWS. And no, I am still NOT having a baby. But our news does have something to do with babies . . .

Okay, but I think I need to give you some back-story before the announcement.

Regular readers of blog will know how incredibly awesome and supportive Hubby has been with all of my book related craziness. He is my faithful reader, beta-editor, motivator, sounding board, web designer, marketing guru, street team manager, biggest fan, and he even pinch-hits for me in the kitchen when I'm on deadline. Many of my friends have said that Hubby should win some sort of award for being the most supportive spouse on the planet--and I whole-heartedly agree.

But if you think that Hubby's whole world revolves around me and my book, you'd be wrong. He's actually been working very hard on his own exciting project that is finally launching TODAY!

And what is this exciting project you ask?

Well, it all started a little over a year ago while I was sitting on the couch, working on edits for TDD, and KidA came toddling into the room with a rank diaper. Usually, every diaper change in our house was a negotiation that went something like this:

Hubby: I changed the last poopy diaper, so it's your turn.

Me: Yeah, well I changed 2 poopies while you were at work, so it's still your turn.

Hubby: But I got up with him in the middle of the night, so it's your turn.

Me: But I was pregnant with the kid for nine months and had to have major surgery in order to bring him into this world--so therefore it is ALWAYS your turn.

Hubby: *silence* *goes to get wet-wipes*

Me: (In my head) Muwahahahahaha

Anyway, since I was hard at work on TDD, Hubby very kindly skipped the negotiation part and started changing KidA's diaper without any prompting from me. But he was half-way through when he suddenly said, "Yeesh! There has to be something you can do about the smell. I mean, even after I change the kid, he still smells poopy. And it's not like we can bathe him every single time he poops."

And then I could practically see the light bulb go on just above his head.

Yes, an idea was born. Hubby took that idea and his business savvy to his two good friends, one who just happens to be a scientist who works in the cosmetics industry, the other who is an experienced marketer. They banded together as a team, and after a year of formulating, testing, trialing, designing labels and packaging, and many other tasks I won't delve into. . . that awesome idea became a whole new company dedicated to solving the problems faced by new parents.

That company is called LITTLE STINKER. And today is it's launch day!

LITTLE STINKER is a new skincare line for babies and mommies, dedicated to making all-natural, safe, effective, and innovative products that solve the problems created by the "little stinkers" in our lives.

The company plans on launching several new products in the near future, but today they are kicking off the launch with their flagship product:

LITTLE STINKER Baby Butt Spray!!

Okay, so I'm a little biased, but seriously, I think this stuff is awesome. No more lingering poop smell in the air, or on your kid's bum, after a diaper change! It's even great for potty-training kids who need to wear a pull-up to bed. It can be spritzed on diaper pails, smelly toilets, stinky feet, or even your husband. Heck, I often use the stuff as body splash for myself because it smells so darn good. Plus, it's dermatologist and pediatrician tested to be good for your baby/toddler's delicate skin. And it makes the perfect baby shower gift!

We swear by this stuff at our house, and the friends we've given samples to come back begging for more!

If you're a mom or dad, or know someone who is, be sure to check out the LITTLE STINKER website and blog.

Okay, okay. Don't worry, this is just a temporary change in programming on the ReadBree blog. I won't be turning it into a giant infomercial for LITTLE STINKER. But I just HAD to tell you all how thrilled I am for Hubby on this special day. And I am even more excited that it's my turn to be supportive of him as he embarks on his own exciting adventure.

Congratulations, Hubby! I Love You Right Up To The Moon And Back Again.

And if you want to help spread the word about LITTLE STINKER, please Tweet/Facebook/or Blog the following link: http://www.littlestinkerusa.com/

And if you come back and tell me about your word-of-mouth efforts (with linkage), I'll enter you in a drawing for a chance to win your choice of one of the following prizes:

1. A first chapter (up to 15 pages) critique of your YA novel by me (to be done AFTER my March 15th deadline)

2. A signed copy of THE DARK DIVINE

3. A YA novel of your choice

(Giveaway ends at noon on Sunday, February 28th. Winner will be announced later that day. . .or the next.)

Guest Post: Life of an Author's Husband - or - Who in the what now?

Hello fellow readers of Bree. Many know me as "hubby" while others may know me by different names. Considering the point of this post however, I think "hubby" will do. After all, someday I hope to define myself simply as Bree's husband. I even already have a t-shirt that claims the designation of TROPHY HUSBAND (though I may need a few more goes on the treadmill before I can fully claim that awesome title).

So, I wanted to share with you a bit of what its like being the hot guy in the background, playing the dutiful role of supportive spouse. Bree may claim to be somewhat neurotic and even a little crazy when faced with deadlines and potential rejection, but I don't know if that is how I would describe it. Its more like this: Have you ever had a friend that is awesome at pretty much anything they try (well, except for maybe singing-- sorry hun, its really your only flaw), but they just don't believe they are? Yeah, that's what its like. Perfectly annoying, jealous making, yet endearing.

I'll give you a for instance. The night before she was supposed to get "the" call from her now fabulous agent Ted, she was doing what we would call "freaking out."

Bree: What if he's calling to tell me he doesn't like it and is passing on it?!

Hubby: Why on Earth would he CALL you on a SATURDAY to tell you he was passing on it? I'm telling you, he's calling to woo you into being his client.

Bree: But what if all the others at the agency hated it? What if they all think Ted's crazy for wanting to take me on and they fired him and now he's calling me to sarcastically thank me for causing him to lose his job? What if--?

Hubby: Bree, I'm telling you they love it. They wouldn't call over the weekend if they didn't love it and want to move on it right away.

Sure enough, I was right, Ted sold her on acting as her representation and I got to be all smug about being so awesomely right for a few days. So really, in a way, its kinda rewarding acting as the voice of reason to an Author (even if I am grossly under qualified to be the voice of reason) because I get to walk around saying stuff like "nah nah nah nah nah, I waaas riiight" and blow raspberries like KidA.

So here we are: Bree's awesome, and I'm right, and there's nothing she can say about it.

Thanks for letting me share (not that you really had any say in the matter :P). As a reward, I leave you with a great video that was recently shared with us by a fellow Egmont USA author, Alexandra Bracken. I especially like the fat guy in the leather jacket and the very end. I laughed for a good ten minutes afterward.

Also stay tuned for another upcoming contest in May as well as some good news on the way!



p.s. Thanks for all the compliments (and help with finding the broken links and typos) on the new website for Bree. It was a lot of fun to work on and we worked pretty hard, so I'm glad you all liked it.