Blog Tour: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain (& Giveaway!)

Today is my stop for the blog tour of Bree Despain's fabulous, and amazing novel, The Dark Divine. The Dark Divine was released Dec. 22, 09 and has gotten a load full of 5 star reviews on the blogs. I'm going to be interviewing Bree for the second time! I might have asked a couple of similar questions. I think I've bugged Bree too much already! My first interview with her was quite a while ago, but you can check it out here.

Describe yourself in 3-5 words.
3rd most crazy since 2009

How did the cover come to be for The Dark Divine?
Hah! That’s a very long story but I’ll try to make it short. My editor asked me if I had any “thoughts” about what I’d like on the cover of my book. What he got back from me was a 2 page letter about all the things I did/did not want for the cover. I didn’t have a specific image in mind, but I did have a specific feel that I wanted: striking, beautiful, and yet still eerie.

In the meantime, my publisher went through several possible covers for my book, but they still hadn’t found the “right” one. We were only a week or two from having to go to print for the galleys of the book, and I was concerned that the book was going to end up with a cover I didn’t like. When my editor heard that I was unhappy, he actually stayed at the office all night long going through thousands of images until he found the one that fit what I had envisioned for the cover. When he sent me the new cover design (only a couple of days before we went to press), I was so completely blown away by it. And I can’t tell you how grateful I am that my editor cared enough about me and my book to go through that kind of effort to get just the right cover for TDD.

What are some of your strengths and weaknesses in writing?
I love writing dialogue, and I’ve been told that I have a knack for capturing the teenage voice. But that’s probably just because that’s the way I talk.

I hate writing transitions between scenes. Once I’m into a scene, I can write and write with pleasure until it’s done. However, if I have to start the day with writing a transition, it can take me all morning to psyche myself up enough to actually start writing.

How are you and Grace and/or Daniel alike? How are you different?
Grace and I have a similar family dynamic and upbringing, but I like to think of Grace as the stronger version of myself as a teenager. She says and does the things that I only thought about doing. Whenever I need to decide what Grace should do a in a certain situation, I think “what would I have done?” and then make Grace do the opposite. It’s kind of cathartic!

If you were to pick a theme song for The Dark Divine, what would it be and why?

Oh, this is so hard to answer because I have so many great songs on my TDD playlist, but I guess I’d have to say “Such Great Heights” by The Postal Service because that was actually the song that was stuck in my head when I got the idea for TDD. There’s actually a chapter in the book that is a bit of an homage to the song. It’s kind of easy to spot since the chapter title is “Such Great Heights.”

I liked the idea of there being two people who, against all odds, are in love. And from far away when they look down at their lives, everything seems perfect—but everyone else around them is shouting at them to “Come down now” because their fantasy isn’t really true.

What's next for you?
I’m finishing up the sequel to TDD called THE LOST SAINT. It addresses some of the questions left unanswered in TDD, and also explores some of the new possibilities that popped up at the end of Book One. I’m also mulling over ideas for a possible 3rd book in THE DARK DIVINE series, and I also have the beginnings of a new paranormal romance novel that is begging to be written.

I can't, can't, can't wait for TLS! Thanks so much Bree! =)

--- Giveaway---

Thanks to Nisa @ Egmont USA/ Goodman Media, she has provided me with (4) bottles of The Dark Divine Nail Polish. I'm keeping one for myself so technically, I'll be giving away (3) beautiful, violet/purple, divine nail polish to (3) luck readers!