TDD2 Title Revealed & Contest Winners!!

Wow, so picking winners for this contest turned out to be harder than I thought it would be. You guys can be pretty funny! Also, hubby said that I made the clues too easy for guessing the real title, but I didn't want it to be too hard. But kudos to everyone who guessed right!

Okay, the funny winner first...

There were many runners-up for the funny titles like:

The Lustful Smoochie
Tender Lice Sandwiches
Twilight Literally Sucks (not my words, so don't get mad at me)
The Laxative Strategy (which would be a pretty funny title for a chick-lit novel)
True Love Sucks (Also a great chick-lit/vampire novel title)
Try Lactating Simultaneously
Totally Lusty Sexpot (which would be a good title for a book I'd be embarrassed to read in public)
The Lingering Smell: Removable with Little Stinker Baby Butt Spay!
(And SO many more!)

But ultimately the winner of the funny title contest goes to: Alysa (from Everead) because she had two titles that made me laugh pretty hard.

The first: Tasing Lippy Schoolchildren, which she also provided a visual aide for that made me laugh harder than the title itself. (Love the taser behind the teacher's back!)

The Second: Trogdor Levels Scranton. Which made me laugh because of the Trogdor The Burninator reference.


Now on to the correct title winner . . . and the unveiling of the real title for TDD2!

There were surprisingly a lot of people who guessed the right title (and also there were a lot of other great title suggestions) so I ended up using Random.org to pick the winner--and the random winner just happened to be the first person who guessed it right!

So the correct title winner is: Elie (from Ellz Readz)

And her winning guess, and the real title for TDD2 is:

*drum roll...*

*drum roll...*

*drum roll...*

THE LOST SAINT

Okay, I really hope y'all love it as much as I do. (And hopefully didn't get too attached to any of your great guesses.)

We tossed around several titles for TDD2, but this is the one that kept popping into my mind. For some reason I put off suggesting it, but finally pitched it to Editor Greg (aka Jimmy Olsen) and he came back and said that he and the rest of the Egmont crew are all "enamored" with it. Which makes me so happy because I think it's the perfect title.

The coolest part is that THE LOST SAINT actually has (at least) three different meanings in the book. So if you think you've got the sequel figured out already . . . think again!

Also, the title for the entire series will be: THE DARK DIVINE
(As for how many books will be in the series, I can't tell you that.)

Winners, please email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com to claim your prize!

P.S. As part of the Mundie Mom's b-day bash, I will be posting a never-before-read-by-the-public deleted scene from TDD on their blog tomorrow (March 8th) so be sure to stop over there and check it out.

CONTEST: TDD2 Officially Has A Title! Now Can You Try To Guess It?

So I just got word that my title suggestion for TDD2 has finally been approved by all the important peeps at Egmont USA. Which means TDD2 OFFICIALLY HAS A TITLE!!!!!

Now I asked my tweeps if I should just come right out and say it, or if I should have a fabulous contest in order to announce the title. The reaction was mixed. Some wanted me to blurt it out, others wanted cool prizes. . .

And since I have this weird addiction where I can't help but to give things away to my awesome readers, I couldn't stop myself from having a contest.

(Sorry to the folks who wanted me to just blurt it out. I swear, I can't help myself!)

So here's the deal:

1. I'm going to give you a couple of clues as to what the official title is. These clues are:

A. The initials for the official title are T. L. S.

B. One of the words in the title is from the last name of an obscure character in THE DARK DIVINE. (But don't let that throw you off too much. Focus mostly on the initials.)

2. Now try to guess the title, and then leave your guess in the comments.

3. I will award two prizes. The 1st prize goes to the person who guesses the title (or comes the closest to it). The 2nd prize goes to the person who can come up with the funniest/absurd title guess using the initials T.L.S. Whoever makes me laugh the hardest wins that prize.

4. In the event that more than one person guesses the correct title, I will have a random drawing to select the winner.

5. I'll accept entries into the contest until Noon on Sunday, March 7th. The winners of the contest (and the REAL TITLE for TDD2) will be announced later that day.

6. Tweeting/Facebooking about the contest is always greatly appreciated. :)


Prizes include your choice of one of the following:

1. Signed copy of PRINCESS FOR HIRE by Lindsey Leavitt (that I will get at her March 20th signing at TKE.)

2. Signed copy of THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner

3. Your choice of any of The Tenners books that have debuted so far this year or a pre-order of a one that hasn't come out yet. (Including but not limited to: HUSH HUSH, HEX HALL, THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPEN, THE IRON KING, THE LINE, THE SECRET YEAR, FORGET HER NOTS, SCONES & SENSIBILITY, THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY.) For a complete list click HERE. (You can also choose a singed copy off TDD if you want.)

4. Your choice of any TDD T-shirt in my website store & a bottle of TDD nail polish

5. A bottle of Little Stinker Baby Butt Spray

Is that clear? Anyone have a guess as to what T.L.S. stands for? Or do you want to just make something up that's totally off the wall?

Then start guessing . . . now!

Writing ain't always easy

People often ask me why I write, and the answer is simple: I love it! Making up stories and sharing them with people is one of my favorite things to do. Writing is fun!!

Being "in the groove" as a writer is one of the most awesome feelings in the world, and if given the choice on one of those groove days, I'd choose getting a chance to write for a few more hours over just about any activity. I mean, even if Taylor Kitsch showed up on my doorstep with a box of chocolates and a motorcycle, I'd totally choose . . . well, to go for a ride with Taylor--but I'd probably talk his ear off about my book the entire time.

But then there are those days, weeks, months, sometimes years, when writing is just plain work. Hard, brain-frying, work that takes over your life. Right now, it's taking over my family room and edging into the dining area.


Yep, that's my plot for the sequel to TDD. It's literally all over the place!

I've tried outlining, I've tried snowflakes methods, I've tried free-writing, but the plot has been eluding me. So that's when I turned to writing on the walls like a crazy person in an asylum. Luckily, hubby found those HUGE post-it notes at Office Max in order to save the paint job on the walls. We spent most of Labor Day weekend and almost all of this last week writing out character sketches and scrawling down every possible plot idea that popped into our heads. It may look like a insane process, but hey, it's working. It's easier to see how the plot pieces fit together when you can see them all at the same time . . . and I'm starting to feel that wonderful elating sensation when I know a really good groove is coming on. My mind keeps flitting to my story at every quiet moment, I can hear the characters talking in my sleep, and my fingers are itching to get to the actual writing part. Come on, groove! It's time to start working.

You hear that, Taylor Kitsch? If the keyboard is a tappin', then don't come a knockin'! Okay, so YOU can come a knockin' but the chocolate had better be dark, and the motorcycle had better be something reminiscent of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE. (And yes, I know tappin' and knockin' don't rhyme. :-D)

Countdown To The Dark Divine Contest: Help me name a new character and you might win an ARC edition.

First item of business: The 2nd winner of the Random Things Giveaway is californiameaghan!

Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send you list of your choices from the Random Prize Grab-Bag.

Last week's Random Things winner, Taschima Cullen, chose a signed copy of WINGS by Aprilynne Pike.

(The Random Things Contest is now closed.)


Okay, on with the post:

So does anyone know how it got to be the 22nd again already? Seriously, the time is ticking away until the release of THE DARK DIVINE. We're down to 5 months already!!! The weirdest part about getting closer to the release date (December 22nd, btw) is knowing that advanced copies of my book are being sent out to reviewers, and people--real people, not just my writer friends--are possibly reading my book right at this very moment.

Exciting!!

Thrilling!!

Horrifying!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, primal scream moment over. *Shaking it off*

Back to the post . . .What was I saying? Oh yeah. Reviewers and other such super awesome people are reading my book. In fact, I recently got my first written review on GoodReads. In honor of it being the first, I thought I would share it with you all.

This was written by Sarah Steele, one of the fabulous winners from last month's Countdown To The Dark Divine Contest ARC Giveaway:

"Okay I was SUPER excited to read this book and when I won and ARC from the author's blog, I absolutely was not disappointed!!!! (Apologies to the author for comparing her great novel to "Twilight." I don't mean it as an insult.) Basically if you loved "Twilight," you'll also love this book. And if you despised "Twilight," you'll probably also love this book and after reading it you'll think, "Wow, Stephenie Meyer could stand to learn a few things from Bree Despain." Seriously. Read this book."


How sweet is that?! Thanks, Sarah!


Sarah's review put me in such a good mood, I've decided to give away another one of my ARCs as part of this month's Countdown To The Dark Divine Contest.

(Note to new readers: The CTTDDC is a special contest I run on the 22nd of each month leading up to the release of my book on 12/22/09. So be sure to come back each 22nd for you chance to win a neat prize.)

However, there's no such thing as a free lunch. You've got to do a little work for me in order to get an entry in the contest.

So here's the deal. I'm working on the sequel for TDD, and I've dreamed up a new character. He's hot, cocky, has paranormal superpowers (sorry, can't tell you what kind), and is possibly going to be British. He's the kind of guy you LOVE to hate, and hate yourself for loving. But, sadly, he still doesn't have a name. This where I need a little help from my friends. Which of the following names do you think is best for the hot paranormal jerk:

A. Nathan
B. Talbot
C. Ramses

Cast your vote in the comments, and I'll enter you in the contest to win a signed ARC of THE DARK DIVINE. Our second place winner will get a signed copy of Shannon Hale's THE ACTOR AND THE HOUSEWIFE. Contest ends at 11:59 pm on July 29th.

Disclaimer: I'm leaning toward one of the names already, so I may or may not go with the outcome of this contest . . .but my decision will probably be swayed if enough of you agree on a different choice.

(Note: This contest is only open to blog followers, so if you're not a follower . . .um, start following ;) )

Oh, and one more thing. YA author James Dashner gave me a shout-out on his blog, so I'm returning the favor. He's giving away an ARC of his awesome upcoming YA novel, THE MAZE RUNNER, on his blog, so you should pop over there and check it out. (After you leave a comment here, of course.)

Shower Epiphanies and Little Bit More Randomness

So I've decided to just embrace the whole "so" thing and start all my blog posts with the word "so." So . . .um . . .on with the blog post . . .I guess . . . .


So today I had one of those perfect moments that every writer dreams of having. The kind of moment that changes your course in a story forever. . . and in essence also changes your life. It's the kind of moment that you'll share over and over again when people ask "so how did you get the idea for your book." The kind of moment an author never forgets. For THE DARK DIVINE that moment came one dark night in January of 2005 when I was riding in the car and looked up at a billboard and a conversation between a brother and and sister popped into my mind. Today, that moment came in the shower.

Yep, I had a shower epiphany. (Aren't those the best kind?)

So I was standing in the shower this morning, thinking about my current frustrations with my sequel, wondering if my ideas would ever come together into an actual book, and if the writing of THE DARK DIVINE was a complete and total fluke, and perhaps I was never really meant to be a writer in the first place . . .when all of a sudden somewhere between rinsing out the conditioner in my hair and washing my face, the absolute perfect image for the ending of my sequel popped into my head. And no sooner did that image of a scene flash through my mind, then tons of other scenes before and after that one flooded my thoughts.

Yeah, that's pretty much when I started jumping up and down in the shower yelling, "I've got it! I've got it! I've got it!" And my husband, who was in the closet picking out church clothes was like, "What on Earth?" and then he was like, "Hey, can you do that jumping thing again . . . ?"

Okay, sorry for the tmi . . .

Anyway, so I got out of the shower and followed my husband around while we got ready for church and told him all of my ideas. And the more I talked, the more ideas came. Then hubby (amazing man that he is) grabbed a notebook and pen and ordered me to start writing everything down while he got the kids dressed and fed. I took the notebook with me and kept on writing through church and by the end of the 3 hours, I had my plot--and a lead in for a 3rd book. (Woo Hoo!!!)

Sorry to be a bad example for the kiddies (the writing in church bit) but I truly believe moments like that are gifts from God, and you have to roll with them when they come. So if God chooses to hit me with the perfect plot idea 45 minutes before church, I imagine he's okay with me writing during the sermon :-D (And don't think I didn't say any prayers of thanks!)

Okay, okay, enough with the warm fuzzies. On to the randomness! I had so much fun with all of your random things last week (man, some of you guys are almost even weirder than I am) I have decided to share a few more random things . . .and give away more random prizes.

So to continue on with last week's list:

8. (I shared this in the comments, but I'll repeat it here for the list.) I don't like when people (or pretty much anything) touch/s my neck. My siblings would always torture me with threats of "I'll touch your neck if you don't give me your candy!" or something like that. And my hairdresser always laughs at me because I can't stand that cape she snaps around my neck.

9. I can't sing, and I HATE singing. (At least in the traditional sense). Yet I seem to have a running soundtrack to my life. I'm always making up little random songs about what I'm doing, or things that my kids do--and singing them out loud. Little diddies like, "Stinky poops baby," sung as a rock ballad is one of my particular favorites. KidZ loves it. KidA screams, "Stop singing!" at me. And when I say, "But singing makes me happy," he responds with, "You're not allowed to be happy!" Party pooper.

10. Someday, if I sell enough books, I'm going to buy myself a Mustang. (The car, not a horse. Though I've always wanted a horse . . .) I think Mustangs are hot. Totally impractical for a mother of 2, but I want one as a third car just for me. (Sorry, hubby, no touchy.) Every time I write a hot guy in a book, I always want him to drive a vintage Mustang. Swoon.

11. I'm a citizen of both New Zealand and the USA. My dad was born and raised in NZ to American parents. He moved to the US as a teenager, so I'm citizen of both by default. And I LOVE New Zealand. It is truly paradise on Earth. I fully plan on retiring there someday.

12. I once went to a royal ball in an Austrian palace. In high school, I was a student ambassador for the United States. I got to travel to Hungary, Austria, and Italy and do some really amazing stuff. The ball was probably the best of all. Women get really dressed up for those things. I even saw this one lady with a trellis of roses weaved into her hair. And in case you're interested, I've already started writing a novel based on my trip.

Okay, that's enough random things about Bree for this week. I'll get to 25--eventually. I promise.

Anyway, the winner of last weeks Random Gift from the Random Gift Grab Bag is: Taschima Cullen
Email me at readbree (at) gmail (dot) com, and I'll send you a list of prizes to choose from.

But the giveaway is still ongoing, so tell me another something random about yourself and you'll get another entry into the contest. (You can win an autographed book from the grab-bag!)

Oh yeah, and here's a little present for putting up with this very long, random post:



















Yes, that is the infamous duct tape dress. Sorry for the fuzziness. I still don't have a scanner, so this is a photograph of a photograph. Ah, to be 18 again.

The trouble with sequels (pt 2)

Hey All-

Sorry for the blog silence for the last few days. Exciting things are happening here in Read Bree land, and I've been struggling to keep up with everything else. (And hopefully I'll be able to tell you all about some of those exciting things soon!)

Anyway, thank you for all of your sequel advice. So here's what I've learned so far:

1. Readers like it if the characters develop more and grow.
2. But readers don't like it if a character changes too much.
3. Some people like it when a sequel is told from another character's point of view, or is about a whole new set of characters in the same world.
4. Other people read a sequel because they want to know more about the main characters, and they would be disappointed if the story was too different.
5. Readers want more of the same of what they loved about the first book. They want to recapture what they felt/experienced when they read the book the first time.
6. Readers don't want the sequel to be "just more of same" over again.
7. Some readers like sequels because they like to spend more time in the "world" of the story. (Such as the Harry Potter/Hogwarts world.)
8. Other readers don't like it if the setting doesn't change enough from book to book. (Such as the Harry Potter/Hogwarts world.)
9. Many readers come back to a sequel because they love the sexual tension and romance from the first book and want to experience it again.
10. Some readers think it's not good to focus too much on the romance in a sequel.
11. Some readers think Friends is a great example of how to develop romance over a long period of time.
12. Other readers think Friends is bad example of how to handle romance over a long period of time.
13. Some people think the Pirates of the Caribbean movies are an example of stinky sequels.
14. Others recommend Pirates of the Caribbean movies as an example of fun sequels.
15. Pretty much everyone hates it when an author separates her romantic leads because of a "stupid misunderstanding" just for the sake of separating them. (Duly noted, my friends.)

So I think the thing I've learned most from this experiment is that we have a diverse, opinionated, helpful, and totally awesome group of readers here. I think I've also figured out that the key to writing a great sequel is balance. A combination, or a "somewhere in-between" of most of these comments.

Now I just need to actually find that balance and write it! Woo hoo, there's nothing like a good challenge. Alright, I'm pushing up my sleeves and getting to work.

But for now, I'm leaving you with this little teaser: Be sure to come back here on the 22nd (that's this Friday). Goodness will ensue!

P.S. The winner of our sequels giveaway is: Cinnamon! Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with your contact info and I'll send you your YA sequel (or any YA book) of your choice.

The trouble with sequels . . .and a giveaway (of course)

Book Status: Revisions: check. Line edits: check. 1st round of copyedits: check. And for those who haven't heard, I have a release date. THE DARK DIVINE will hit the shelves on December, 22, 2009. Yep, that's not a typo. My book is coming out this December. Squeeee!!!

THE DARK DIVINE is considered a Valentine's 2010 title, but it needs to get to bookstores by the 22nd of December so they can put it in their Valentine's promotions that go up right after Christmas. How cool is that? THE DARK DIVINE = Awesome last minute Christmas gift . . .or . . .THE DARK DIVINE = Perfect V-day gift. Double squeeee!!

Mother's Day status: It all started when the boys came busting into my room around 7:00 am so they could present me with their gifts.
KidZ gave me a beautiful bouquet of Popsicle-stick flowers.


And KidA gave me, well, um, this:

And yes, that is a decapitated lego head on a post. That kid knows me so well.

Sequel Status: I'm 12 pages (15 if I put it in Courier font, hehe) into my sequel, and I'm determined to make sure that my new novel doesn't turn out to be one of those "ho-hum, not as good as the first book" kind of sequels. So that's where I need your help, dear readers. I want to know what you guys look for in a sequel:

What do you like/dislike about sequels?
In your opinion, what makes a great sequel, well, great?
What makes a stinky sequel a stinker?
What's the best sequel you've ever read?

And what do you get for helping me out? Leave a comment about what you think about sequels (the good, the bad, or the ugly), and I'll enter you in a drawing to win a YA sequel of your choice (or any other YA book, if you wish). I want to hear from as many people as possible, even you lurkers. Yes, I'm talking to you . . . go leave a comment. I promise I don't bite (most of the time) and you may even win a free book. Neat.

Thanks in advance!!