Contest Winners!

Book Status: Revisions are on my editor's desk. I'm just waiting to find out if we're on to copy editing, or if the manuscript needs a few more tweaks. Hopefully, I'll know by tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Worst Diet in the World Status: After six months on a doctor mandated dairy/egg/wheat free diet, I've finally gotten the "okay" on attempting to add the forbidden foods back into my diet (very very slowly). For one day this week, I get to eat dairy and then keep a diary to see if it makes me sick. There's a $10 piece of cheese sitting in my fridge right now. Yes, that's not a typo, I did say a TEN DOLLAR piece of CHEESE. Gruyere, if you're wondering. I keep waiting for a stress-free day for The Great Dairy Experiment of 2009 so my results won't be tainted, but apparently stress-free days don't exist anymore. (Did they ever?) I'm thinking the cheese will have to wait until Tuesday. In the meantime, I might start writing dairy themed poetry . . .

Contest Status: Thank you everyone who entered my little contest. And extra thanks to those of you who promoted it on your blogs and Twitter. You guys rock. I wish I could send one of my favorite books to everyone who entered, but as my husband likes to remind me: I can't afford to prop up the book buying industry on my own. But at least I can make my little dent with these prizes for now. And I promise more contests and neat prizes in the future!

Everyone who entered was assigned their allotted tickets, and through a very scientific process (involving a spread sheet, scissors, and a bowl) I've chosen our winners! They are, in order:

1. Jessica Kennedy
2. Paradox Revealed
3. D (Danielle Wheeler)
4. Kiss My Book (Erica Lynn)
5. Eliza Jackson
6. Charlotte (from Charlotte's Library)
7. The Not So Closet Geeks

If you are a winner, email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and give me a list of the prizes (1 through 7) according to your preference. The #1 winner will get her first choice of the prizes, and the #2 person will get her preferred prize based on availability, and so on and so on. Please claim your prize by this Wednesday, April 8th, so I can get the prizes assigned and in the mail by the end of this week. THANKS! Oh yeah, and I'll need your mailing address too. (Girl scout honor I won't share it with anyone else.)

These are your prizes to choose from:

1. An autographed copy of WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson
2. An autographed copy of THE WAY HE LIVED by Emily Wing Smith
3. A copy of the newly released MY BIG NOSE AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS by Sydney Salter
4. A copy of SELF EDITING FOR FICTION WRITERS
5. A copy of NEED by Carrie Jones
6. A Young Adult novel of your choice (and, yes, it must be YA :P)
7. A bag of dairy/egg/wheat free Oreo-like substance OR a bag of real Oreos

So send me your list in order of preference, and I'll get these prizes off in the mail! Congrats winners!!

And keep coming back for future contests.

XOXO

Bree

My First Ever Blog Contest

My brain is fried from working on revisions so much status: On Thursday I noticed that we were desperately low on diapers, so I pulled myself away from my computer for a quick dash to the grocery store. Ran through the store, grabbed diapers, a bag of gluten/dairy free chocolate, corn chips, and a roasted chicken (because for some reason my family still expects to be fed these days) and paid for the diapers and food (I have the receipt to prove it!). And then, somehow, got home without the diapers . . .A fact that was not discovered until several hours later when I got a frantic phone call from hubby (who graciously offered to watch the kids so I could go meet Laurie Halse Anderson at a book signing downtown) because KidA had developed a sudden case of diarrhea.

This week revisions. Next week potty training.

My kids are completely crazy status: KidZ is quite the little story teller. He really has a knack for it like his dear ol’ mom. KidA has also been trying his hand at it. So here’s his latest literary creation:

KidA “Hey, guys. Want to hear my dump-truck story?”

Me: “Sure.”

KidA: “Once upon time, there was a helicopter.” (KidA then picked up his Lego helicopter and rammed it into the wall, busting it into several pieces.) “The end.”

Me: “Wow, KidA. That was a nice, surprising twist there at the end!”

Hubby: “Um, I thought it was supposed to be a story about a dump-truck?”

Me: "I know. That’s why it was such a great twist.”

(Can’t you just picture the dump-truck coming along to haul away all the helicopter pieces after the story was over?)

Contest Status:

Ok—on to business. As promised, I give you my very first ever blog contest. No book lives until it is read. And so it is with a blog. No blog lives until it is read. That which drives a writer is an abundance of readers. And how do authors get readers you ask? Well, the publishing industry relies heavily on word of mouth. And this presents both of us with an opportunity. I ask you to find people who would enjoy my blog, following my tweets, or who may be interested in my forthcoming book. And, in return- you get a chance at winning some pretty cool prizes. You scratch my back, I scratch yours. Sound good? Good. Well then, let’s get on with it.

Here’s how it works—for the next five days you can do the following:

1.)Become a follower of my blog by adding me to your “blogs that I follow” in your blogger dashboard, and you get one ticket. (If you are already a follower you automatically get a ticket because you are a leader… you so heard of me first… you joined the bandwagon while it was still just a wagon… etc. etc. ). If you choose to follow (or already are following) by another means, such as Google Reader or the RRS feed, please make a note of it in the comments section so I know who you are!

2.)Add me as someone to follow on Twitter and you get another ticket (click here to make it easy @breedespain). Then leave a comment on my blog telling me that you did so.

3.)Once you are a follower, you can earn more tickets by getting others to become a follower on either my blog, or on Twitter. You get one ticket for each individual you bring into the family (and they will get their respective tickets too). Please leave a comment on my blog to let me know who you got to follow, after they become followers.

4.)Promote this contest on your own blog or on Twitter with a link and you get another ticket. (Again, you will need to leave a comment on my blog stating where you referenced it to get credit).

All these tickets are then placed in a raffle. From that raffle you have a chance to win:

1.) A signed copy of Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

2.)A signed copy of The Way He Lived by Emily Wing Smith

3.)A copy of My Big Nose and Other Natural Disasters by Sidney Salter (only just released).

4.)A copy of Need by Carrie Jones

5.)Another young adult novel of your choice

6.)A copy of Self Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and David King (an invaluable resource for any author—aspiring or otherwise).

7.)A bag of gluten, dairy, egg free Oreo-like substance (or real Oreos if that’s not your thing).

The first winner will have their pick of the prizes. Then the second winner can take their pick of the remaining prizes, and so on until they’re all gone.

So go forth and share the love. Have fun. And feel good that you are helping to stimulate the book buying economy. The contest will end this Friday, April 3^rd at midnight. I will announce the winners the evening of April 5^th and will give further instructions on how to claim your prize. Ok… on your marks, get set, go!

Come Tweet With Me

I'm taking the plunge. I've joined that illusive, somewhat baffling world of giving constant, random updates on everything I'm doing. Yep, that's right, I'm on Twitter.

You can follow me on twitter @breedespain.

Hope to see you all there!

P.S. Sorry for the short post. I'm on a roll with revisions and I can't interrupt the flow, man.

P.P.S. I'm gearing up for my first ever blog contest. It's coming very soon, so stay tuned.

Shout-outs for a few lucky friends

Hey all-

Since it's St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would take a minute to give props to a few of my friends who have had a lot of good luck lately. (And when I say good luck, I mean they are finally reaping the rewards of all their hard, hard work. And you know, a little bit of good fortune mixed in with the work too.)

The first shout-out goes to my friend Matt Kirby ,who just sold his Middle Grade debut novel to Scholastic in a preempt. It is slated to come out Fall of 2010. I haven't read this book yet, but I can assure you that if Matt wrote it, the writing is guaranteed to be superb.

The second shout-out goes to my friend Elena Jube, who just landed a fabulous agent for her novel based on the fairytale Thrushbeard. Her book is wonderful with an enchanting romance that made me neglect all my household duties (more than usual, that is) just so I could finish it. And she even used a few of my suggestions when revising. Neat. You can read more about her journey over on her brand new blog.

(Side Note: Matt, Elena, and I all met in a writing workshop almost 2 years ago, so I think it's extra cool that we're all coming into our writing careers at about the same time.)

The third shout-out goes to my agent sister Brodi Ashton who turned in her final revisions to Agent Ted last week, and she should be going out on submissions any minute now. I'll keep you posted on her progress. Plus, she gets to celebrate by stalking her mocha honey, Rafa. And she'd better come back with pics! Oh yeah, and her book is freaking hilarious. . .and one of the guys in her novel looks like Rafa. (Drool.)

The last shout-out goes to one of my new Tenners buddies, Lindsey Leavitt, who is celebrating that her YA novel, PRINCESS FOR HIRE, comes out 1 year from today by having a "good luck" contest on her blog. Pop over there and leave a comment about a time you experienced good luck, and she'll enter you in a drawing for one of 5 sweet prizes (4 are YA books, the 5th is a writing critique.) Plus, her post talks about the influence of "good luck" on a writer's odds of getting published. Worth checking out, and definitely worth entering the contest.

Hope you all have a wonderfully lucky week! And if you win a book, can I borrow it?

Look Mom, I've got friends

Book status: I'm in the middle of a round of revisions that are due April 1st. And all I can say to that is, "How did it get to be March 15th already?" Warning: if you see me in real life sometime in the next couple of weeks, don't expect me to be able to form coherent sentences. In fact, you may want to turn and walk the other way because I won't be able to guarantee that I've showered within any socially acceptable amount of time. . .just kidding . . .possibly.

Weird things my kids do status: Every time KidA finds a strand of my hair on the floor, he brings it to me and demands, "Put it back on, Mommy! Put it back on!" And he keeps hollering until stick the loose strand of hair back on my head.

On with my post: Mostly I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about a couple of really neat blogging communities I've joined in the last week or two.

The first is called Fangs, Fur, and Fey and was started by best selling author Melissa Marr (of Wicked Lovely fame). It's a community for authors and fans of urban fantasy and paranormal romance. After a rigorous auditions process (I had to prove that I'm a nationally published author of either UF or PR with a reputable house) I was granted "member status" in their community. This means I will occasionally be posting on their site about things that are of interest to writers and fans of the genre. Whenever I do that, I'll be sure to link to it from here.

The second group is called 2010: A Book Odyssey (a.k.a The Tenners) and is a community for Middle Grade and Young Adult authors who will debut in 2010. Oh, hey, did I mention that my book has been slated to hit bookstores in Spring 2010 (which is more like February/March ish)?

Now before some of you go asking why my pub date is so far away I would like to note that this is actually pretty fast timing for the publishing world (and why my revisions need to be done by April 1st). The average amount of time it takes for a book to go from being purchased by a publisher to actual publication is typically anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3 years--so yes, 1 year for The Dark Divine is fast. There's a lot that goes into making a book, from revisions to copy editing, jacket design to interior layout, approving proofs, more editing, sending out advanced copies for reviews, getting blurbs from other authors, showing the book to buyers from B&N and Amazon to get their feedback. It all takes time. And looking at the mountain of revisions I have to do in the next couple of weeks, I honestly wouldn't want my pub date to be any sooner than next Spring. And don't worry, I'll be sure to announce the official date over and over again as soon as I know it.

Anyway, the Tenners is a great place to discover new authors who will be debuting in 2010 along with me. A lot of the discussion happens in locked posts that are for members only, but there are still a lot of posts for the general public to follow. So far, they have been a very friendly bunch, and I am so excited to get to know other authors who are in the same boat as me.

Yesterday, I posted my bio on their site along with a synopsis of The Dark Divine. Head over there and check it out--you'll even get to learn five random things about me (you know, since I never found the time to fill out 25 random things about myself on Facebook.) Note: if you can't find the bio by scrolling down, then click on the tag "bree despain" and that should pull it up.

Have a great day!