Book Triplets Scavenger Hunt!!

(Note, if you're looking for the winners of the HUGE FRAKKING GIVEAWAY go here . . . but be sure to come back and read this post since there's a contest going on here, too.)

So as you all probably know, today is the 1 week mark until the debut of THE DARK DIVINE . . . but did you know that there are some other awesome books that are also coming out on December 22, 2009? I've teamed up with two of my amazing author buddies, Lindsay Eland (SCONES AND SENSIBILITY) & Rhonda Stapleton (STUPID CUPID) to celebrate the joint birthdays of our books--and we're throwing a scavenger hunt party for all of you!!

The prize is a triplets birthday package with a signed author's copy of THE DARK DIVINE, a signed author’s copy of SCONES AND SENSIBILITY,and a signed author's copy of STUPID CUPID! (I am very excited about both Rhonda & Lindsay's books and I will definitely be giving them out as Christmas presents this year . . . and getting a copy of each for myself.)

Here's what you need to do play the party game:

1. This post contains 2 questions about each of us authors. Find the answers to the questions by perusing each of our websites.

2. Once you find the answers, email them to me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com.

3. Everyone who answers all the questions correctly will be entered into a drawing for the book triplets prize pack.

4. You can earn additional entries by tweeting, facebooking, or blogging about the scavenger hunt. Be sure to leave a comment here to let me know where you have advertised the contest!

5. All three of us authors are hosting this scavenger hunt with different questions on our blogs. So that means after you enter my contest, you can visit their blogs and play again. (Hint, you may want to collect all of the questions from out blogs before you peruse our websites for the answers to save time.)

Okay, on to the game:

First off it Rhonda Stapleton and her book STUPID CUPID!

Felicity Walker believes in true love. That’s why she applies for a gig at the matchmaking company Cupid’s Hollow. But when Felicity gets the job, she learns that she isn’t just a matchmaker…she’s a cupid! (There’s more than one of them, you know.)

Armed with a hot pink, tricked-out PDA infused with the latest in cupid magic (love arrows shot through email), Felicity works to meet her quota of successful matches. But when she bends the rules of cupidity by matching her best friend Maya with three different boys at once, disaster strikes. Felicity needs to come up with a plan to set it all right, pronto, before she gets fired…and before Maya ends up with her heart split in three.

Now check out Rhonda's website www.rhondastapleton.com to find out the answers to these questions:

1. In her 1st Q&A question, what does Rhonda say she's really bad at?

2. How many different ways total are listed on Rhonda's site for contacting her?

Next up is Lindsay Eland and her book SCONES AND SENSIBILITY being released by Egmont USA on December 22, 2009!

Seek tirelessly and you shall not find a contemporary heroine of middle-grade literature as refined and romantic as Miss Polly Madassa. Still swooning over the romantic conclusions of Pride & Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables, twelve-year-old Polly decides her purpose in life: helping along lonely hearts in search of love. Polly's only task this summer is to make deliveries for her parents' bakery, leaving ample time for this young cupid to find hearts to mend--beginning with the kite-store owner, Mr. Nightquist, who will pair perfectly with Miss Wiskerton (the unfairly labeled town curmudgeon). Polly's best friend Fran Fisk is in desperate need of a mother ever since hers ran off with a man she met on the Internet; Polly must find a match for Mr. Fisk. And while she's at it, it wouldn't hurt to find Clementine, Polly's teenaged sister, a beau worthy of her (so she can shed that brute, Clint). Polly's plans are in full swing, so she definitely cannot be bothered by the advances of classmate Brad Barker.

But maybe Polly should have turned her attention to Miss Austen's Emma next, because she quickly learns the pitfalls of playing matchmaker. How will Polly patch up her own relationships, while ensuring that destined love can take its course?

Now go search Lindsay's website www.lindsayeland.com to find the answers to these questions:

1. What is Lindsay's all-time favorite TV show...ever?

2. True or False: Lindsay loves nuts in her chocolate.

And finally, here are two questions about me. Find the answer at www.breedespain.com

1. True or False: Bree has 3 little girls who keep her really busy.

2. Name 2 of Bree's favorite bands.

Thanks for playing our Book Triplets Scavenger Hunt! Be sure to email me your answers at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com. And don't forget that you can enter the contest on each of our blogs.

Winner’s will be announced on release day…December 22, 2009!

Huge Frakkin' Giveaway winners + more.

So THE DARK DIVINE releases one week from today. Woohoo! (Holy crap, holy crap holy crap... *rushes to find a brown paper bag to stop the hyperventalation*).

Ok. All better now. So one week left, and that means we have some business to take care of and winners to announce.

First, don't forget about the Romantic Times preview of THE DARK DIVINE. Chapter 5 was posted yesterday on their blog. If you go over there and read the chapter, leave a comment on the RT blog, and then come back here and tell me about it, I'll enter you in the weekly random grab-bag prize giveaway.

Our random winner from last week is: Jessy

Congrats! Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send you the list of prizes to choose from.

Second, I'm excited to announce that Mundie Moms has launched a THE DARK DIVINE forum to discuss the characters, plot, and other fun stuff. For those that have already read the book, its a great way to discuss the details without worrying about spoilers for those who have not. But if you haven't read the book, you should still check it out (just avoid the topics that have *spoiler alert* in them). Head on over there and join the conversation by clicking here. You can also visit the Mundie Moms blog here.

Okay, now on to the winners of the Huge Frakking Giveaway. I want to thank all of you who entered and especially those that went above and beyond with artwork, book trailers, and other fun ideas like passing out flyers or tying book info to balloons.

All the names of those that entered were given a number. If you earned extra points for doing something extra, you were given additional numbers. I then used Random.org's interger generator to pick the top three winners. So here we go.

The winner of the Grand Prize including a signed hard copy of THE DARK DIVINE, a TDD T-shirt of her choice, a bottle of TDD nail polish, a copy of the TDD soundtrack, and a personalized 8GB iPod nano is:

Kim Heldman

The winner of Prize #2 - The Egmont Prize Pack including a hard copy of CALLIE'S RULES by Naomi Zucker, hardcover copy of VIOLET WINGS by Victoria Hanley, hardcover copy of LITTLE BLACK LIES by Tish Cohen, and an ARC of BRIGHTLY WOVEN by Alexandra Bracken is:

KatieDoll

And lastly, the winner for Prize #3 - The Utah Author Prize Pack including a signed copy of THE RING by Bobbie Pyron, a signed Copy of THE HOURGLASS DOOR by Lisa Mangum, and a signed copy of THE WAY HE LIVED by Emily Wing Smith is:

ronna15

Congratulations guys and thanks again to everyone who entered! All winners should email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com with their mailing address and I will get the prizes in the mail as soon as possible. Prizes must be claimed in one week.

Well, that's it for now. Leave your comments here for this week's Romantic Times commenting contest, and stay tuned for another fun contest either later today or tomorrow.

T-shirts, Trailers, and Ten Days Until TDD

So, um, holy crap! There's only ten days until the release of The Dark Divine. Can you believe it? I think this calls for some fun . . . before I hyperventilate.

First up, I give you the BEST CHRISTMAS CARD EVER!

The guy on the left with the dreamy hair is my brother. And yes, ladies, he is single.

Second fun thing: the TDD store is finally up and running, and we have T-shirts!!! I'm really excited about these. Here are some of the designs that I really love.












To see all the shirts, check out the TDD store here. And don't forget that the grand prize winner of the BIG FRAKKING GIVEAWAY gets a TDD t-shirt of his/her choice.

(FYI: All shirts are sold through Cafe Press. We designed them, but I haven't actually seen the printed shirts yet, so there may be slight differences in color and such.)

Third fun thing: Speaking of T-shirts, Alice Pope featured me, Brodi Ashton, and Emily Wing Smith on her CWIM blog because of our bad review t-shirts at the L.A. scbwi conference.

Fourth fun thing: We have book trailers! A couple street team members, and a couple of fans (including my #1 fan) have made some awesome book trailers for THE DARK DIVINE. I love them all so very, very much. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! To check them out, go to the trailer page on my website, or click here.

Okay, so um, I need to go hyperventilate now . . .

Top 7 Things I Learned At This Weekend's Writing Retreat

So Business first:

1. Don't forget about the The Romantic Times preview of THE DARK DIVINE. Chapter 4 just went up on their blog. If you go over there and read the chapter, leave a comment on the RT blog, and then come back here and tell me about it, I'll enter you in the weekly random grab-bag prize giveaway. Our random winner from last week is: YA Vampire Books
Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send you the list of your prizes to choose from.

2. Don't forget about the BIG FRAKKING GIVEAWAY. All you have to do to enter is comment on that post. But creativity in spreading the word about TDD will get you bonus entries. Also, don't forget that the deadline has changed to December 14th.

3. My first two book signings have been scheduled:

The official launch party for TDD will be on January 2nd at 3pm at The King's English in SLC, Utah. I'll be doing a book talk, reading, and signing. I imagine there will also be refreshments and prizes :)

I will also be doing a reading and signing at the West Jordan Barnes & Noble on January 16th at 2pm.

If you'd like me to do a signing in your hometown, then ask your local bookstore to have me come out for an event, or start pestering my publisher @egmontgal on twitter to send me your way. Hey, it's worth a shot right?


Okay, on to the fun stuff:

Top 7 Things I Learned At This Weekend's Writing Retreat

1. If you don't want to be murdered in your bed, fill your house with a bunch of crazy people. And it snows A LOT in Payson, Utah.

Writing buddy Kimberly Webb Reid had her house in Payson to her lonesome this weekend while her hubby went to Vegas with his brother. And since the sleepy little town of Payson, Utah experienced it's first ever murder a couple of weeks ago (I may or may not be making up that statistic) she wasn't too keen on spending the weekend alone. Figuring no one would want to invade a house filled with crazy people, so she invited our critique group out for a weekend of writing at her place--needless to say, we were ready and willing to come protect her. And since it apparently it snows a lot in Payson, we were pretty much stranded there all weekend. (We were able to make one quick trip Walmart for supplies in Valynne's SUV, but after sliding on the roads we dared not make another trip out.)

2. Brodi Ashton is still #1 Crazy.

Awhile ago, our friend James Dashner asked us who was the craziest person in our critique group. Brodi was named #1. (I'm number #3, btw.) Brodi insisted that the vote was unfair since she wasn't present, and has been campaigning for a re-vote ever since. We debated much, and Brodi tried to explain why we were all crazier than she, but ultimately the matter was tabled, so therefore Brodi remains at #1 crazy.

3. Snuggies aren't all they're cracked up to be.

On our supply run to Walmart, Valynne decided to buy a leopard print snuggie. However, the darn thing just kept sliding off everyone's shoulders. Which kind of defeats the entire purpose of the Snuggie in the first place. I think it should be redesigned with a back like a giant fleece poncho. We could call it a "ponchie" or a "ponchet."

4. Writers Love Titles

And not just titles for their books. Valynne Maetani decided that our writing group should finally have an official name, and Emily Wing Smith decided that we should each have an official figurehead title within the group. We debated much and we went through several names such as: The Clique (too cliquish), The Craft (too witchy), Scribble Sisters (not too fond of the S.S. acronym), and BAM (an acronym invented by Brodi Ashton's son that doesn't actually stand for anything.)

We finally settled on "The SIX." We also assigned each person an official figurehead position. Here they are in order of craziest person:

#1 Brodi Ashton: Crap, um, I can't remember her position. Maybe she's just Official #1 Crazy?
#2 Emily Wing Smith: Official Group Scribe
#3 Bree Despain: Official Hair Consultant and Nutritionist (b/c I insist everyone eat a bit of protein at each meal)
#4 Valynne Maetani: Official Bouncer (seriously, don't mess with V)
#5 Kimberly Webb Reid: Official Ledger Keeper (Not sure how this is different from Official Scribe)
#6 Sarah Bolton: Official Sartorial Advice Giver (Because she supplies our group with fashionable yet affordable shoes. Like the yellow ones I'm wearing in this pic. You should check out her online shoe biz here)

5. A Grouper is NOT an Amphibian

Actually, I already knew this. But get a group of slap-happy, sleep deprived, sugar O.D.ed, snuggie wearing writers into a game of Scattagories and anything can happen--like Brodi adamantly trying to convince us all that fish and amphibians are the same thing. And don't you dare try to get a made-up word past Emily. That girl is a walking dictionary and she will tackle you while wearing a leapard print snuggie and wrestle you over a correct definition. I'm not normally a game player, but I have to admit that this was one entertaining board game experience.

6. Being the group's Official Hair Consultant actually has official responsibilities (who knew?)

Earlier this week, Brodi Ashton asked me if I thought she could pull off being a brunette. I said, "Um, No" because she has really light eyebrows. Well, Brodi, being #1 crazy and all, decided that I was saying that being a brunette required special skillz that she does not possess and took this as a challenge to prove me wrong.

So first she went to a professional hair dresser and had her hair dyed. Then she tweeted me this picture and claimed that she was now a brunette:



But then I saw Brodi the very next day at the BEAUTIFUL CREATURES launch party and she looked like this:

(Sara Zarr, Valynne, Emily, Brodi, Me, James Dashner, Kika, Kika's Friend)

Anyone else notice the discrepancies in these two pics? Yeah, I thought so.

I declared that Brodi was indeed NOT A BRUNETTE, so during the retreat she decided to dye her hair AGAIN. This time with a $7 bottle of dye from Target. (Emily and Valynne decided to get in on the action and also wanted to dye their hair.) And since I had just been voted "hair consultant," I was forced to do the actual dying for all three of them (as opposed to just laughing at their antics like I'd originally planned). Em's hair turned out fantastic. Valynne's you really couldn't tell the differnence. And, well, Brodi's . . . still didn't turn out brunette. It was more like dirty, dirty, dirty dishwater blond (Brodi's own words, not mine).

Devastated, Brodi drove in a snow storm to Walmart to buy and box of blond highlights to try to restore her original hair color, but then we somehow decided to use Emily's left-over bottle of dark brown die on her instead. Which means that:

6. Brodi Ashton still can't pull of being a brunette

Yep. Apparently Brodi's hair is resistant to the color brown. After THREE dye jobs, she is now officially a red head. Em's dye had a touch of red in it, and that's all Brodi's hair seemed to care about. (I'd show you a picture but by the time we'd done four dye jobs in Kim's guest bathroom, we were all looking a little worse for wear and nobody would pose for a pic.)

7. I can actually get some work done in a house full of crazy people

Shocking, huh? Despite all the craziness, I actually got a good 23 pages out of the experience. That's a big deal for me. And they're actually 23 pages that I really, really love. I can't wait for the next retreat!

So what did you do over the weekend?

Street team updates, pictures to share, and more.

So first of all, the winner for last week's Romantic Times random grab bag prize drawing is:

Kiirsi!

Email me at readbree(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll send you the list of random prizes to choose from.

Next item of business: Chapter 3 is up on Romantic Times! If you haven't already--head on over there, comment, then come back here and let me know you did, so you can be entered in a drawing for a prize out of my random grab bag.

Also, don't forget about the Huge Frakkin' Giveaway. Contest ends Dec. 14th and all you have to do is comment to be entered. Extra entries are available for those who do something fun and creative to help promote TDD.

On that note-- I wanted to share with everyone how awesomely cool my street team is. Seriously, they completely and totally rock and I can't thank them enough for all their efforts to spread the word about The Dark Divine so far.

Several of the street team members took advantage of the gatherings centered around the release of New Moon to show some Team Daniel support with their TDD shirts and by passing out bookmarks and stickers at the theaters--so I thought I'd share a few of the pictures they sent me.


Alexus showing off her mad SWAG distribution skills.


Debbie at one of the New Moon Party events she helped organize.


Sarah handing out bookmarks in line (even though she didn't get to see the movie that night, she still stuck around to hand out SWAG. How cool is that?!)


Katie in TX and Kelly in NY were able to put book marks in hundreds of SWAG bags for the attendees of the premier parties they were hosting.


Amber handing out bookmarks and talking up TDD before the movie starts.


And the Literati group went all out filling a whole row with TDD shirts after spending the preshow time handing out SWAG.


Hubby even got into it and was able to get some co-workers to wear the TDD shirt at work and pass out even more SWAG at the movie release that evening.


Like I said: Awesomely cool, right?