Interview with Bree Despain

Photo: Chauntelle Janzer of OpieFoto

I had a chance to ask Bree Despain a few questions about her book The Lost Saint. You can win a copy of her book here. 

1.       The Lost Saint is the second book in your The Dark Divine series.  Was it harder or easier to write the middle book?

Bree:  Writing the second book was definitely harder.  Even though I’d written a few “first” books before, I’d never written a sequel.  I found that many of the rules of a first book don’t necessarily apply to a sequel—and nobody offers any sequel writing classes!  Time was also an issue.  It took me four years to write the first book (in my own spare time) while I was only given about four months to write the first draft of the second book.  However, what was easier about writing the second book was that I had an editor to rely upon for input during every step of the process.

2.       Talbot is a new character in The Lost Saint.  Can you tell us about him?

Bree:  Talbot was a fun character to write because on the outside he looks like a dimple-cheeked farmboy but underneath his vast collection of flannel shirts, is a guy with a pretty intense past and some secret abilities.  I kept thinking “Clark Kent with a dangerous side” whenever I was writing about Talbot.

3.       On your website you keep hinting at a TOP SECRET project for the series.  Any clues as to what that might be? 

Bree:  The top secret project will be revealed this week.  It’s a writing project I’ve been working on for fans of the Dark Divine series (check out the secret project on Bree's site).

4.       You have mentioned that The Dark Divine series is a prodigal son story.  Why did you chose that theme to tell a story?

Bree:  When I started writing a story about someone who had disappeared for a few years and then suddenly returned, looking to put his life back together—I was reminded of the parable of the prodigal son.  I’ve always been intrigued by this story because essentially it doesn’t have an ending.  We never find out if the “prodigal son” was ever really able to change and reclaim his old life, and we never know if the “good son” was able to forgive his brother.  I really wanted to explore what might happen to these two people—and the person who loves them both—if their story was to continue.

Thanks Bree and good luck with The Lost Saint.