New Book Deal!! :)

Okay this is official now and will go into today's Publisher's Lunch so I can finally announce it!!

~~
FICTION: YOUNG ADULT
Mari Mancusi's YA novel THE CAMELOT CODE, in which Merlin sends a sophomore girl back in time to meet the teen once-and-future-pre-King Arthur and have him spend a week in the 21st century only to have him Google himself, discover his fate and refuse to return, to Sarah Shumway at Dutton Children's, in a very nice two-book deal, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson
Literary Agency (World English). knelson@nelsonagency.com
Translation rights: wlee@fieldingagency.com
~~

So exciting! And these will be my first books in hardcover! I'm very happy. And I couldn't have done it without my fab, superagent Kristin Nelson. She's amazing. I'm so lucky to have had her take me on.

:)
Marianne

Promised News--Please stand by

I know, I know. I promised I could spill about my good news on Monday, but my agent has one more issue to resolve before I can make my final decision and have things official and announce'able. Argh. Talk about agonizing. This has been going on for over 2 weeks now. But it's all good stuff. :)

So as they say in the tv news biz: STAY TUNED!

Or better yet, go forth and pre-order Stake That! It's officially out on Tuesday. I'll be your best friend forever if you do. :)

MARIANNE

Dying to buy the OJ book?

Okay you sick little puppy - but it'll cost you more than 8 grand...

(no offense to sick puppies)

Mar

Post Turkey Day

Hope everyone had a yummy Thanksgiving. I went to my aunt's house in North Andover. It was great. Tons of food and people. My cousins and I have a tradition going all the way back to when we were kids of playing the Game of Life. We have this really old version - totally out of date - but it's so much fun. :) We were dying laughing through the whole thing. I have to see if there's a modern version out there -- where a doctor job doesn't pay you $50,000 year and houses cost $40,000 to buy.

I am especially thankful this year for my new agent and my new book deal which I can't talk about til Monday. But I promise to post details as soon as I'm able. It's so, so exciting!!

I'm just polishing the final chapters of Girls that Growl and passing it in on Monday. I wrote that book in record time, but I really like how it came out. Can't wait to see what my editor thinks. Then it's on to Moongazer, which I also have to write in record time. Gah! Do the deadlines ever end? I'm not complaining though. :) I actually like being busy.

For those of you in the New England area, I'll be speaking at the Rhode Island romance writer's group next Saturday. Topic is: "Boldly Go Where No Writer has Gone Before" - basically about starting trends rather than following them. More info is on their homepage. Hope you can make it!

MARIANNE

What Tarot Card are You?

Too lazy to write so I stole the "What Tarot Card are You" quiz off Barb's blog.

You are The Moon

Hope, expectation, Bright promises.

The Moon is a card of magic and mystery - when prominent you know that nothing is as it seems, particularly when it concerns relationships. All logic is thrown out the window.

The Moon is all about visions and illusions, madness, genius and poetry. This is a card that has to do with sleep, and so with both dreams and nightmares. It is a scary card in that it warns that there might be hidden enemies, tricks and falsehoods. But it should also be remembered that this is a card of great creativity, of powerful magic, primal feelings and intuition. You may be going through a time of emotional and mental trial; if you have any past mental problems, you must be vigilant in taking your medication but avoid drugs or alcohol, as abuse of either will cause them irreparable damage. This time however, can also result in great creativity, psychic powers, visions and insight. You can and should trust your intuition.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Fan Fic - Yes or No?

So I know there's always this raging debate about fan fic. Is writing your own stories about characters you love a means to creative expression or stealing from the author?

I know of several teens who write Boys that Bite based fan-fic and have published it on the Internet. And while I feel this should bother me in some way, actually I feel just the opposite. I love that my book inspired kids to write their own stories and express themselves on the page. (Or screen, as it were.)

Here's one example of a budding young author's Boys that Bite inspired story.

What about you guys? Would you be flattered or dismayed if your characters starred in Internet fan fic?

Mari

Obsessive Behavior

I'm one of those people who is all or nothing. I can't just watch an episode of a television show or listen to a band. Once I discover something, I end up obsessing and overdosing on it til I'm totally sick of it and then move on to the next thing. I do it with food, too. I'll eat the same thing every night for like 2 weeks and then never want it again.

Here are a few of my current obsessions:

• Watching Veronica Mars
• Listening to KEANE
• Drinking sparkling water
• Eating grilled cheese sandwiches made on a George Foreman grill
• Drinking New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
• Reading Phillip K Dick novels
• Playing World of Warcraft videogame (though this is a long term obsession)
• Going to bookstores and checking out what imprint published what YA book
• Reading my agent's blog and all the comments people write
• Looking for NYC apartments on Craigslist to rent
• Looking up my friends' MySpace pages and reading what other people wrote about them
• Checking my email 50,000 times a day for a reason I cannot disclose at the moment
  

What about you? What are some of your obsessions?
Marianne

Oh how I loved Little House on the Prairie

Monday nights. Eight pm. Gathered in front of the television with my mom and dad. And this theme would start to play. It still gives me chills today.

My kindergarten teacher used to call me Mary Ingells cause I was blonde and, well, my name was Marianne. But Mary was so stuck up and boring. I was definitely a Laura all the way! :)

I'm so buying the DVDs one of these days and watching them all over again from start to finish.

:)
Marianne

Manga

So...I'm interesting in trying to read some graphic novels/Manga, but I have no idea where to begin. There are a dizzying array of choices at my local bookstore. I ordered the new Labyrinth one online (I was such a fan of the movie) but I'd like to try some others as well.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Marianne

Wikipedia

So Diana Peterfreund was talking about how she's clearly "made it" since she's now referenced in Wikipedia. Jealous of the so-called cyber fame, I decided to do a search for Mancusi. While no clever pop-culture references referring to me popped up (sigh), I did find an interesting entry for my step-grandmother, Kathryn Hays. As many of you know, she plays Kim on As the World Turns. The article mentions my step mom, hence the last name Mancusi was identified, but also adds some interesting information about my stepsister Kate.

It says the following:

Her granddaughter, Kathryn L. Wells, models for Abercrombie and Fitch from her Boston home.

Wait! What? She does? How was I never told of this? And also--I swear the last time I visited them they lived in New Hampshire! Not to mention the fact that Kate's actually in college in some midwestern state -- nowhere near Boston. And before that she went to boarding school in Missouri. And seriously, if she currently models for A&F I swear my family's keeping it a deep, dark secret. (I gotta get my hands on a catalog!)

Anyway - this is a silly example, but it proves a VERY important point. (And no, it's not spend more time with your family or you'll suddenly be learning stuff about them off of Wikipedia.)

The information on the Internet is often taken as FACT even though much of it's never been verified or vetted. Some random person wrote that article. And someone else will read it and assume it's true. And while yes, who cares if my stepsister is currently a model in Boston or not, other entries could cause much more catastrophic errors. What if journalists refer to Wikipedia for their research? Then they write articles based on false information which are then uploaded to the Internet. Then the false information appears to be vetted by a major news organization.

Also, entries can be CHANGED. While this is good in a way and assumes a checks and balances system, it also is quite scary in a Big Brother is watching you type of way. After all, in 1984, Winston's whole job was to find old news articles and change the facts in them to go along with what was currently being done by the goverment. (We are at war with Eurasia. We have always been at war with Eurasia.) Isn't that very scarily similar to what's capable of being done by Wikipedia?

Anyway, just food for thought. I'm off to email my stepmom to figure out if Kate is/was a model and if so, am I entitled to any discounts at Abercrombie and Fitch. ;-)

Mar

Friday!

I'm so happy it's Friday. Especially since I have a lot of fun stuff planned for the weekend.

Last night I attended a reading at the BU Bookstore in Kenmore Square with chick lit author Stephanie Lessing. She read from her book Miss Understanding. It was so funny -- I laughed out loud several times. So definitely pick it up. The main character works as an editor at a fashion magazine just like Stephanie used to do in real life. And you really get a good insider's peek at the craziness. :)

Afterwards, Jennifer O'Connell and Hank Phillippi Ryan and I went to the Evening Standard for drinks and food. Jen and I got the BEST DRINK EVER. I've tried a lot of drinks in my life, but we both agreed there was nothing better than this one. It's called a Strawberry Cobbler and has strawberry infused vodka, sweet mint, and fresh strawberries actually in the drink. It was so delicious! Sweet and yummy. Jen swears she's going to figure out how to make them. If she does we'll post the recipe I'm sure!

Tonight I'm going to see Saw 3 and get dinner after. Then Saturday I'm going to work on Girls that Growl during the day and go out with friends at night. Not sure where yet.

That's about it for now!
Marianne

Sweeping through

Today is the first day of November sweeps. For you regular people that means good tv shows will start playing all month long! Horray!

For us TV people, that means a whole lot of work. Producing those stories you see promoted all through those good tv shows.

"Can your couch kill you? Find out...tonight at 11!"

Yup. That's what I do for a living. :) But it beats digging ditches. (No offense meant to ditch diggers who love their jobs.)

Tonight though Harlequin NEXT author Hank Phillippi Ryan (PRIME TIME, June 07) and I (STAKE THAT!, Dec 06, lol!) will join the lovely Jennifer O'Connell (oh, damn now I have to go look up her next book to shamelessly promote it. This is what happens when you set a precedent....one sec....here we go....INSIDER DATING, May 07) to go see Stephanie Lessing read her book Miss Understanding at the BU Bookstore. Then we're going out for a drink or two. Fun, fun. :)

Marianne