Back from Atlanta

I am wayyyy too tired to tell you everything that happened in Atlanta (and - heh - maybe some of it best stay in Atlanta anyway :P) but needless to say the conference was a blast and I'm so glad I went. It was wonderful to see all my fabulous author friends!

But the big news of the week?? Guess what my dear friend Alesia Holliday won! Yup, a RITA! For best novella! WOOT! Sooo well deserved!!!! Here are the two of us. Doesn't she look sooo happy?

For those of you not in the writing world, that golden statue is called a "RITA" and it's the best award a romance author can win. Sort of like an Emmy. Yay Alesia!!

Mar

P.S. For those of you wondering, my apartment is fine. No lightning disasters this year!

Next stop: Atlanta!

Well in two days I'll be off to Atlanta for the National Romance Writers of America conference. I'm so looking forward to seeing all my friends and going to all the parties. If you see me in the hall, please stop me to say hi. I love meeting new people!!

Stuff I will definitely be attending:

* Paige Wheeler's Chocolate Devastation party (my agent's party for clients)
* From the Heart Romance Writers party (Thursday)
* National Reader's Choice Awards (Thursday) - wish me luck in the Young Adult Category!
* Berkley book giveaway - signing copies of "Boys that Bite"!! (Friday afternoon)
* Dorchester Publisher's dinner (Friday)
* Berkley cocktail party (Friday)
* Ritas/Golden Heart post party (Saturday night)

I was thinking of trying to sightsee during the day on Saturday. Anyone know any cool stuff to see in Atlanta? I've only been there once, for a work related thing, so I'm not very familiar with the city.

I have the BEST dress for Friday night! It totally looks like something right out of the 1920s - flapper style - to go along with my "What, No Roses?" book's theme! I can't believe I found such a perfect dress. :) Very psyched to wear it!

Marianne

Blog Slackers Unite

Hey all,

Sorry for the week of silence. I've just been going through some personal drama that has sadly become all-consuming. But hey, what else is new, right? :P And, as they say, whatever doesn't kill us will make us stronger. (And after the last year, I'm destined to become the strongest person ever!)

Anyway - I'm looking forward to seeing people at Nationals in Atlanta next week. I am going for a few days - just to network and party. I'm up for a Reader's Choice Award, which is cool. If you see me, make sure to say hi! My usual partner in crime, Liz Maverick, is in Paris and can't make the festivities - so if you're an author behaving badly who has a thing for conference chicken, find me in the bar!!! :)

I got a copy of the coverflat for "A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest." It's really pretty - much prettier than the online version. The lettering is pink foil. (Did I mention I love foil lettering? haha) I've got to stop using really long titles in my books though - my name is practically microscopic in order to fit it on the page. Ah well. Maybe people with bad eyesight will confuse it for a Katie MacAlister book!!

That's all for now!
Mar

Now Touring: Angel with Attitude

I read Michelle Rowan's "Bitten and Smitten" and it was really cute! Now she has a new paranormal comedy out called "Angel with Attitude." The interesting thing is that book features a talking rat--just like my new release, "What No Roses?" Isn't that a crazy coincidence? Obviously talking rats are the new black!!! :)

Anyway - the book looks like a lot of fun. Here's more info:

ANGEL WITH ATTITUDE by Michelle Rowen
(Warner Forever, July 2006)

When you're hot for a demon, you might as well kiss your halo good-bye...

Falling naked into the killer whale tank at MarineLand is always bad news, but it's a real bummer when you've just been kicked out of Heaven. Former angel Valerie Grace is determined to reverse her banishment-Earth's just no fun.

Her best friend is a slightly perverted human-turned-rat, and she's being tailed by a sexy Tempter Demon named Nathaniel, who's trying to lure her to hell with kisses that are almost worth the trip. With the talking rodent sneaking peeks down her shirt and Nathaniel getting more irresistible every minute, this ex-angel has only one hope: find the stolen Key to Heaven and go home.

Then the oddest thing happens-Nathaniel starts to show signs of loyalty and love. And soon Val is asking herself if it is such a bad thing to have the hots for a demon.

ABOUT MICHELLE ROWEN
Michelle Rowen was born in Toronto, Ontario. As a child she decided that when she grew up she would become a flight attendant, a jewel thief, or a writer. One out of three ain't bad. She is a self-confessed bibliophile, the proud owner of an evil cat named Nikita, Reality TV junkie, and has an unhealthy relationship with all things Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

REVIEWS
Rowen does a delightful job mixing things up with her sassy and sexy characters. She has her own unique spin on life and the afterlife and good and evil, which makes for downright fun reading. 4 stars ? Romantic Times

ANGEL WITH ATTITUDE is such a fun story...Michelle Rowen has proven herself to be an ace storyteller with a truly fresh and sharp sense of humor. I'm officially a fan! -- Lani Diane Rich, RITA Award-winning author

An amusing heavenly romance with a hell of a price to pay for not reading it. -- Harriet Klausner

Website: http://www.michellerowen.com/

A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest - COVER!

Okay here it is - the long awaited (at least by me!) cover and back cover blurb of the sequel to "A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court".

(And yes, Diana, it's still mostly blue!)

A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest

"Mancusi writes with style, wit and charm...an absolute treat!"
-USA Today Bestseller Julie Kenner

If Chrissie Hayward knew that morning she'd be traveling back through time to rescue her crazy coworker Kat, she'd have worn better shoes. Doubly so if she'd expected to meet her true love. According to the mysterious gypsy, Chrissie was "the gentle soul who would tame an outlaw's thirst for revenge"-aka, the real Robin Hood. So how come the guy was such a dud?

LOST...IN SHERWOOD FOREST?

No, Robin of Locksley was no Prince Charming. And the part about robbing the rich to feed the poor? He didn't get the memo. In fact, all the guy seemed to do was mope. (And he and his not-so-merry men thought Chrissie was a boy. Sure, she wasn't stacked, but still!) Nonetheless, he was loyal and brave and handsome as sin. If Chrissie could just get him with the program, she could right this wagon and get these boyz 'n the wood to be heroes of the realm instead of twerps in tights. Only then could this prince of thieves become king of her heart.

--

There you have it! Let me know what you think!!!
Marianne

ITALIA!

Well they're dancing in the streets where I live in the North End of Boston (Little Italy) this afternoon! A nailbiting penalty shot finish had Italy beat out France for the 2006 World Cup. Traffic was blocked off on Hanover Street and people overflowed out of bars and restaurants--cheering and singing and dancing and waving the Italian flag. I've never seen anything like it! It was great - so much energy and patriotism! It made me proud to be Italian.

I grew to love soccer/football while married to my ex who is from England. He believes there is nothing better in the world than soccer and can't understand how America isn't into it like the rest of the world. My cynical thoughts are it's because you can't throw in advertisements every 5 seconds in a soccer match like you can with American football. But in any case, it's become one of my favorite sports. I called him after the match and he was saying over 1 billion people watched the game. Incredible.

It may be too loud to sleep tonight- I'm sure the celebrating will go on til the wee hours of the morning--but I don't mind. This is a world event and I'm happy to be a tiny part of it.

Marianne

MySpace

For those of you wondering, yes my Boys that Bite MySpace page has disapeared. I'm not yet sure what happened - it seems to have been deleted somehow. I'm working to figure out what's going on, but haven't heard back from MySpace just yet. Pretty distressing, considering how much time I put into the page. :( But what can you do?

I finished my charity anthology story for "Fangs Again" today. I love how it came out!!! I could totally expand on my main character - the were-dragon virgin Ash-lee Firebreath - and write a whole book on her. I know that after the last anthology some of the authors got a deal with Berkley to do "Mysteria" based on the same characters/storyline of Bewitched, Bothered, and BeVampyred. So you never know. But for now, suffice to say I'm happy with my chapter and glad to be a part of such a noble cause as raising money for breast cancer research.

Other than that, it's been a quiet weekend so far. Which I needed, considering I just got back from five days in NYC. Time to clean my apartment, have a 24 season 1 marathon, and continue to read Shogun. (I'm almost 400 pages in now - what a great book!)

Hope you're also having a great weekend!
Marianne

Thursday Stuff

I've been working on my charity anthology story for part two of "Bewitched, Bothered & Bevampyred: Fangs Again." I absolutely love how it's coming out. It's so fun to write a short story after working on novel length fiction. Totally refreshing. Plus, how cool to write a book and have the proceeds go toward breast cancer research. It's such a great idea. But after I'm done I must buckle down and complete "A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest", which is due at the end of the month. Gah!! Lots of work ahead of me.

I'm supposed to get a royalty statement sometime this month for my first book, "A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court." That'll be pretty cool to see. My first royalty statement! I mean I'm not expecting a million dollar check here - who knows if I even earned out. But it will be very interesting to see the breakdown. Another writing milestone.

I've been getting some great reviews for "What, No Roses?" which is pretty exciting. Here's a portion of one from Romance Reviews Today:

Slapstick, sarcastic, silly, and downright laugh-out-loud funny, WHAT, NO ROSES? is Ms. Mancusi's second foray into this genre, and it's just as entertaining and hilarious as her first, A CONNECTICUT FASHIONISTA IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT. The time traveling part is logical -- if one believes in time travel, that is. It's a machine; no magic is involved. Everything that happens after her arrival in Chicago is pure fun, although also just a tad on the dangerous side. These are mobsters, after all! But Dora is lots smarter than her 1920's body personifies, and she uses common sense to accomplish her objective. Most of the time, anyway.

WHAT, NO ROSES? is a hoot! For a great summer beach read, don't miss it!

Jani Brooks Romance Reviews Today

Nice, huh? I was thrilled, to say the least. You just never know how a new book will be received.

You know what's so weird? "What, No Roses?" features a talking rat who's really an FBI agent, which I thought was a pretty unique idea. Well, another book - released this month no less - also features a talking rat! It's called "Angels with Attitude" by Michelle Rowan. (Warner I think.) AND there's a new movie where a talking rat gets flushed down the toilet in!!

Dude, talking rats are the new black. It's so obvious!

Off to see "Devil Wears Prada." Will let you know what I think!
Marianne

Happy 5th

I'm back from a terrific weekend in New York. Did I mention I'd really love to live there? :) Seriously, the place has absolutely anything a human being could want! Got to see my long lost friend Jamie (who I mentionde previously) and it was soo good to spend time with her again. I hope we stay in touch from this point forward.

I saw Superman Returns--was pretty good, I thought, though a bit long. Very faithful to the original movies -- and WOW does the new Superman look like Christopher Reeve. Crazy.

Went to the bookstore and saw that "What, No Roses?" really is sitting on the shelves!! It's still pretty surreal to see my book just sitting there, waiting to be bought. I remember for so long going to bookstores and finding the "M" section and imagining my book fitting in between people like Katie MacAlister and Liz Maverick. It seemed an impossible dream, but now here I am on Book #4. So for those of you still submitting, don't give up! If I can get here, you totally can too!!!

Hope you all had a great Fourth of July!

Marianne