Everyone, please welcome Bree Despain--author of her debut novel, The Dark Divine--as she travels through the blogosphere to celebrate her release. ChicaReader is one of the many lucky tour spots that get to host Ms. Divine for a day. I have the delight to present you readers with an interview that Ms. Divine so graciously accepted to participate in.
1. What were your worries/delights during the process of writing The Dark Divine?
While I was working on TDD, I worried that no one would want to publish a book that delved into Christian/religious themes and paranormal mythology in the same story. But even though I thought there was a possibility that the book would never be published, I knew I had to write it. It was the story inside of me that needed to be told. I think the biggest delight has been just how well most people have responded to the story that I feared no one would ever get to read.
2. What are some [major] changes in your daily routine that were caused by the writing/publication of your novel?
The biggest change is the time commitment to my writing and also to the business side of being an author. I used to write for a couple of hours in the afternoon while my kids napped, but now that they are older and I am much busier, I’ve had to hire a mother’s helper to entertain them for a few hours a day so I can focus on my work—especially when I’m under a deadline.
3. Not saying that you dislike the original cover, but if you could design it, what would the cover of The Dark Divine look like?
First of all, I have to say that I LOVE my cover and I definitely couldn’t come up with something better myself. However, when I first sold my novel, I envisioned it having a cover that was a picture of girl’s back (kind of like A Great and Terrible Beauty) who was wearing a white dress with a bright red or purple sash wrapped around her waist.
4) What are some great reads that you've enjoyed lately that you would like to recommend to your readers? Why?
If any of my readers haven’t read SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr yet, I think they would really love it. I read this book after I’d already sold TDD to my publisher, but I was surprised a similarity in the two books (in a non-paranormal way). The two books are quite different, yet have a similar idea to them about a girl dealing with the reproductions of an old friend suddenly reappearing in her life.
5. What gave you the idea for the dark, murky background settings for the different eventful scenes in The Dark Divine?
Hmm, interesting question. I started writing the book while living in downtown Salt Lake City. My neighborhood was mostly comprised of very old houses, mixed in with a few new buildings, old statues, and a few churches that were built over a hundred and fifty years ago. I think I just kind of had this urbany feeling in the back of my head while I was writing.
6. How did it feel writing all the male roles in the plot that made such an effect in the story? (Jude, Pete, and Daniel, of course :))
I am actually surprised at how much I enjoyed delving into these male character’s brains. Not because they were male, but because of all the conflicts they had going on in their lives.
I used to think that I could never write from the male POV, but I am considering doing to in a future book.
7. With all your history of working with/for young teens, how do you see yourself as a writer in the next few years? Staying in the young adult genre or risking a different territory?
I love YA. It really is where my voice belongs and I love the audience. I’ve had a few ideas for some middle grade or adult books, but nothing that has screamed “Write Me!” yet. If that were to happen, I wouldn’t be afraid to try something new.
8. From the acknowledgments, you can obviously see that you have a lot of people to give props to in their helpfulness in The Dark Divine. Could you possibly say which scene it was that your writing posse helped you so graciously to revise?
Ah, the @$&% scene? That would be the one where Grace and Daniel rescue Baby James in ravine and bring him home. That scene was rewritten many more times than any other scene in the book. Each time I turned it in, my editor would say, “It’s good, but it needs to be fantastic.”
At the time, I cursed him for it, but now I am so grateful to him for pushing me to make it what it is now. So many people have told me that is their favorite scene. And I’m also extremely grateful to my writing posse for reading that scene over and over again and giving their suggestions.
From the good people of Goodman Media International, Inc., I have received some lovely purple nail polish to giveaway with for this blog tour. I have three bottles available for 3 winners that will selected specifically for their answers to this question left in the comments: Do you have a loved one you'd practically give anything to save? If it's not to personal, who is that person to you? Eg. Mother, boyfried, father, husband, brother, friend, etc.
2. What are some [major] changes in your daily routine that were caused by the writing/publication of your novel?
The biggest change is the time commitment to my writing and also to the business side of being an author. I used to write for a couple of hours in the afternoon while my kids napped, but now that they are older and I am much busier, I’ve had to hire a mother’s helper to entertain them for a few hours a day so I can focus on my work—especially when I’m under a deadline.
3. Not saying that you dislike the original cover, but if you could design it, what would the cover of The Dark Divine look like?
First of all, I have to say that I LOVE my cover and I definitely couldn’t come up with something better myself. However, when I first sold my novel, I envisioned it having a cover that was a picture of girl’s back (kind of like A Great and Terrible Beauty) who was wearing a white dress with a bright red or purple sash wrapped around her waist.
4) What are some great reads that you've enjoyed lately that you would like to recommend to your readers? Why?
If any of my readers haven’t read SWEETHEARTS by Sara Zarr yet, I think they would really love it. I read this book after I’d already sold TDD to my publisher, but I was surprised a similarity in the two books (in a non-paranormal way). The two books are quite different, yet have a similar idea to them about a girl dealing with the reproductions of an old friend suddenly reappearing in her life.
5. What gave you the idea for the dark, murky background settings for the different eventful scenes in The Dark Divine?
Hmm, interesting question. I started writing the book while living in downtown Salt Lake City. My neighborhood was mostly comprised of very old houses, mixed in with a few new buildings, old statues, and a few churches that were built over a hundred and fifty years ago. I think I just kind of had this urbany feeling in the back of my head while I was writing.
6. How did it feel writing all the male roles in the plot that made such an effect in the story? (Jude, Pete, and Daniel, of course :))
I am actually surprised at how much I enjoyed delving into these male character’s brains. Not because they were male, but because of all the conflicts they had going on in their lives.
I used to think that I could never write from the male POV, but I am considering doing to in a future book.
7. With all your history of working with/for young teens, how do you see yourself as a writer in the next few years? Staying in the young adult genre or risking a different territory?
I love YA. It really is where my voice belongs and I love the audience. I’ve had a few ideas for some middle grade or adult books, but nothing that has screamed “Write Me!” yet. If that were to happen, I wouldn’t be afraid to try something new.
8. From the acknowledgments, you can obviously see that you have a lot of people to give props to in their helpfulness in The Dark Divine. Could you possibly say which scene it was that your writing posse helped you so graciously to revise?
Ah, the @$&% scene? That would be the one where Grace and Daniel rescue Baby James in ravine and bring him home. That scene was rewritten many more times than any other scene in the book. Each time I turned it in, my editor would say, “It’s good, but it needs to be fantastic.”
At the time, I cursed him for it, but now I am so grateful to him for pushing me to make it what it is now. So many people have told me that is their favorite scene. And I’m also extremely grateful to my writing posse for reading that scene over and over again and giving their suggestions.
From the good people of Goodman Media International, Inc., I have received some lovely purple nail polish to giveaway with for this blog tour. I have three bottles available for 3 winners that will selected specifically for their answers to this question left in the comments: Do you have a loved one you'd practically give anything to save? If it's not to personal, who is that person to you? Eg. Mother, boyfried, father, husband, brother, friend, etc.
Remember to visit the next blog tour stop for Bree Despain in the blogosphere at The Story Siren tomorrow.
Catch up on new things happening with Bree on her...
Goodreads
Blog
Become a fan of The Dark Divine on Facebook.
LiLi
