Mundie Moms

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Interview with The Savage Grace author, Bree Despain

In celebration of The Savage Grace's release day today, I'm thrilled to have author Bree Despain on the blog today. I can't believe this series is coming to an end. *sniff, sniff* This series is one that's been dear to me, because I was one of the few bloggers who was able to be a part of Bree's street team for the launch of The Dark Divine. That was my first experience after starting this blog with being able to really help promote a book and series before it was even out. Through that, I won a contest Bree held and got a character named after me in The Lost Saint, and she's also in The Savage Grace, and that character is Katie Summers. Thank you Bree for being here today!


Hi Bree! Thank you for joining us today and congratulations on today's release of The Savage Grace! Over the course of the series, which character has changed the most for you? How have they changed?

I think Daniel changes the most--especially in THE SAVAGE GRACE. However, I can't really say how without it being pretty spoilery. I can tell you that one of my BFFs called me up after reading an advanced copy of TSG and said something like, "I'm just blown away by what you did with Daniel in this book!"

I approached every character in this series as someone with a different potential to live up to. Some of them reach that potential, some surpass it, and others fail. (Some of them horribly so.) But I'm not going to tell you which characters do which . . .

What's something you've come to admire about both Grace and Daniel?

Something I wanted to explore in Grace and Daniel's relationship is the idea of what it means to be a couple. I think they traverse the rocky waters of relationships and test out different ways of being a couple throughout the series. Sometimes (like in THE LOST SAINT) they are determined to be so independent as individuals that it harms their relationship (and puts them in mortal danger). But towards the end of the second book, and this is explored a lot more in third book, I think they come to learn that the best couples are interdependent. (Which is NOT the same as being co-dependent!) An interdependent couple is made up of two independent individuals who learn to function as equal partners, depend on each other when needed, and bolster each other up. I think they learn how to function as a really great team--and I admire them for that.

Grace for me is a character who's gotten a lot stronger as the series continues, and I've really admired her determination to do what she feels is right despite what those around think. Do you see any of yourself in her character?

I see a lot of myself in Grace. Many of the things she struggles with are the same things I struggled with as a teenager--and in my adult author life, too. Grace is always grappling with living up to expectations, balancing family with other outside duties, and she struggles with the idea of not being able to accomplish what she needs to do quickly or efficiently enough. These are the same things I struggle with as an author, mother, wife, and daughter--and I have to admit that it is kind of cathartic to get to work these problems out on paper.

You have a lot of wonderful secondary characters. Did any of these characters surprise in the roles they've played in Grace and Daniel's lives?

Yes! So many of the secondary characters developed in ways I didn't see coming. In the outline of the second novel, April Thomas was barely in the book. But as I started writing, I realized how much I missed her and ended up giving her a much bigger role in the story as the "Alfred to Grace's Batman." With her elaborate costume designs for Grace and her "bedazzled stakes" she brought a ton of humor and heart to the story that would have been lacking otherwise.

There are also two brand new characters in THE SAVAGE GRACE who totally took me by surprise with how much I loved them. The first is Brent, a nerdy, sarcastic, werewolf with a penchant for blowing things up. At first he was going to be a pretty minor background character, but I loved him so much he ended up becoming one of my favorite characters--and he ends up playing a pretty pivotal role in the climax. The other character was Slade. He's a tattooed former street racer with a bad attitude--who also ended up being one of my favorites once I started delving into his back-story.

You know I have to ask this, because I'm anxiously awaiting to read about her; are you able to tell me a little something about Katie in this book? Does she make a move on Daniel? *snickers*

I had a lot of fun with Katie in this book! Let's just say that she gets unwittingly tangled up in Grace and Daniels affairs--and she might just "get her man" in the end. But you will have to read the book to find out how!

In The Lost Saint there was a lot of shocking revelations and a few emotional scenes, as I'm sure there will be in The Savage Grace. As a writer what do you do to get through writing some of the more emotional scenes?

I cry! Which is a little embarrassing to admit! I come from a theatre background and I approach writing in a very "method acting" sort of way. I feel what my characters feel, and if they are crying or feeling very emotional, chances are, I am crying along with them.

Funny story: My writing room is a sun-room that faces a beautiful lake. Well, last summer, someone plunked a port-a-potty down right outside my writing room (it was for the construction workers who were building a new house down the street) marring my normally gorgeous view. The worst part was that the port-a-potty door faced my favorite window. Well, one day I had just finished writing a romantic yet heart-wrenching scene in my writing room. The tears were streaming down my face and I was all caught up in the tender emotions, when I looked up from my laptop just as a big, grizzly, construction worker walked right out of the port-a-potty. We locked eyes for a moment--mine full of tears--and then he hightailed it out of there as fast as he could! After that, it was really hard to focus on writing emotional scenes while knowing someone might be pooping right outside my window. I can't tell you how relieved I was when the port-a-potty disappeared a few days later.

Do you have a reward system in place to help you meet your daily writing quota? If so, what's your favorite thing to reward yourself with?

I don't have an everyday reward system, but when I am on deadline, I like to hold my favorite Tivoed shows ransom until I've done enough work in the day to earn the right to watch one of them. The best writing reward I've ever gotten was that my husband promised to buy me a kitten when I finished writing the last Dark Divine novel. He actually ended up buying me two kittens (I can be very persuasive)! We call them "the kittens divine."

If you could write in one of your favorite literary characters into this series, who would you choose and why?

Okay, so he's not technically a "literary character" but I would love for Grace to get in a tussle with Spike from Buffy The Vampire Slayer. I love him to no end. Watching Grace battle it out with him would be so much fun.

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Thank you Bree for stopping by and visiting with us today! Enjoy your release day celebrations!!

You can follow Bree via her Website | Blog | Twitter

Don't miss Bree's launch party TONIGHT at King's English! Info here.

You can purchase The Savage Grace from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble



Published by: Egmont USA
Released on: March 13th, 2012
Series: Book #3 in The Dark Divine Series

A troubled soul. An impossible choice. A final battle.

Wrestling with the werewolf curse pulsing deep inside of her, Grace Divine was finally able to find her brother, but it nearly cost her everything.

With her boyfriend, Daniel, stuck in wolf form and Sirhan's death approaching, time is running out for Grace to stop Caleb Kalbi and his gang of demons. If she fails, her family and hometown will perish. Everything rests on Grace's shoulders.

The final installment in The Dark Divine trilogy brings Daniel and Grace's love story to a breathtaking conclusion -quoted from Goodreads

Stop back by later this morning to read my review for The Savage Grace.

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