Moongazer Release Day!

Doing a happy dance in Mexico to celebrate the day that's been long in coming. My SHOMI book Moongazer is now in bookstores!! Run, don't walk to pick up your copy today! Or if you're not into the whole running thing, click over to Amazon and get them to run for you. :)

I hope you all enjoy the book. Be sure to let me know what you think!! Also, any bookstore sighting reports are most welcomed. I'm sort of glad I'm in Mexico at the moment so I'm not running to various bookstores, seeing if it's in stock. (Yes, we authors are crazy like that!)

This book is really special to me and so I'm really hoping it does well. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

hugs!

Marianne

Rebels finally get some R&R

We are here. In Cabo. Finally!





And we have nothing to do except swim, read, drink margaritas and eat.

Yay!
:)
Marianne

Back from Comic Con

Sorry I didn't post for a couple of days -- had no Internet access while attending Comic Con in San Diego. We just got back to Liz's house in LA and tomorrow we are heading off to Cabo in Mexico for 4 days, so I figured I'd better sneak in an entry now. If I get ambitious, I'll upload a few pics later tonight.

Before I go into details about Comic Con, I want to be sure to mention that Michelle Rowen is giving away a copy of MOONGAZER on her blog. So head on over and post a comment to be entered to win. :) Michelle is also an upcoming SHOMI author -- her book (which sounds utterly FAB) will be out next June. Can't wait for that!!

Okay, back to your regularly scheduled Comic Con programming. As you can imagine, it was a BLAST. It was a bit overwhelming, but totally cool. So many awesome costumes -- it just astounds me how creative everyone was. I loved it. I felt so at home there - my dorky, geeky self. These were soo my peeps.

Anyway, while there, Liz and I handed out excerpt booklets for the Shomi line. We didn't have a booth, so we just stood in a corridor and gave them out as people passed by. The target audience came in droves -- and they all seemed very excited to receive the booklets. We probably gave out about 500-600 all together. It was a great opportunity to reach a readership that might not otherwise have heard of Shomi line because they wouldn't normally peruse the romance section. Hopefully they will like the excerpts and end up checking out the books themselves. I would love to count some of the amazing, creative costumed girls we gave booklets to as my readers.

Today we had lunch with Sherrilyn Kenyon and her son (who was the cutest ever.) Sherri is amazing -- so giving and open and wise. Just a genuinely nice person. I have to say -- what a wonderful positive thing to come out of the whole costume controversy -- making a personal connection with a writer who has always been such an inspiration to me. Both Liz and I walked away so impressed by her. It's great when people you admire by far live up to expectations. Sherri actually exceeded mine.

Let's see, what else? One of the coolest things I experienced was meeting Peter Beagle, who wrote The Last Unicorn (book and movie). It has been one of my favorite movies since I was a little kid, so that was quite exciting to meet the man behind it all. I bought the book (which I haven't read) and a copy of the digitally remastered movie and he signed them both for me. Definite highlight.

My other purchase? Pooka, the Goblin Cat. Picture to come.

Guess that's all for now. It was a wonderful, amazing, overwhelming experience all together. I definitely want to go again next year.

Will write more once I upload the pics. :) (And yes, I did dress up in costume.)

Marianne

One more pic...with feeling!

The Rebels of Romance do Dallas - stolen from Michelle Rowan's Flickr.

Fun with Photoshop

Fun with PhotoShop on Gena Showalter’s blog. I always knew she was an honorary rebel!! She looks good in those thigh-highs, doesn’t she? Gena actually was one of the first readers of Moongazer and did my cover blurb. She rocks. So go buy her latest book – Black Listed. I want to. Actually I'm going to. So there!

Tomorrow night I head to California! I’m all packed up and ready to go. Can’t wait.

Our Shomi sister, Eve Kenin, got a STARRED REVIEW for her Shomi book DRIVEN. Woot! Go Eve!! Go Shomi! This line is getting such good feedback from reviewers. I can’t wait to see what readers think. Not toooo much longer now!

BTW is anyone else addicted to the LOLCATS site?

Okay, later. Short entry, but that’s all I got. :)

Marianne

One week til Moongazer!

Haven't been to work in a week now - building still closed. We did meet all morning to talk about the show launch, etc., but there's only so much we can do with no camera equipment.

Met up with lovely YA author Melissa Walker this afternoon. She writes for Berkley Jam as well and we share an editor. Her book, Violet on the Runway, comes out in September. It's got models and fashion - sounds like a lot of fun! Definitely go check it out. I love meeting new authors, especially if they live in NYC and we can chat over food or drinks.

In case you're counting, it's now exactly ONE WEEK until Moongazer is officially out. Woot. I spied in a couple bookstores today, but no one had it stocked yet. Which is a good thing, actually. When you have a book come out early, it dilutes the first week sales and lessens an author's chance of making any bestseller lists. Not that I think I will make any lists, but it's still good practice. :)

Actually, it's my guess that this week the bookstores are so overwhelmed by Harry Potter sales they didn't really have the energy to put out MORE books. So thank you, JK!!

I did find out that the best bookseller ever, Stacey at Grand Central, is making Moongazer her STAFF PICK for August. (She got an advanced copy at BEA this year.) Did I mention I love her?? She is awesome and so supportive to romance authors.

Lastly, thanks for the continued support on the whole stocking debacle. I know I've said it a bunch of times now, but I am still so appreciative of all your comments and emails. And I'm soooo happy to have people say they hadn't heard of Shomi before, but now want to check out the books! Because at the end of the day, that's what's important. Introducing readers to a new line that we really think is something special. THAT makes it all worthwhile!!

SWAN HONKS AND HUGS!
Marianne

Random Monday musings

My work is closed again today! We're renting out temp office space tomorrow cause the work is piling up and we're launching our show soon. Not that we can do much, since all our camera equipment is locked away inside. Such bad timing. But what can you do?

I am very pleased to say that I passed in my new Shomi proposal to my agent today. w00t! She'll look it over and then send it on to my editor. This is for a September 2008 slot. It's a completely unrelated book to Moongazer, btw. AND my...drum roll please...first book in THIRD PERSON.

I'll tell you more about it once things are all official like. :) In the meantime, go finish up Harry Potter so you can be free to read Moongazer when it comes out next week. hehe.

BTW Sherrilyn Kenyon posted an official statement about the whole RWA outfits thing on her blog in case anyone is interested. Did I mention I love her? And how cool is it to be mentioned in her blog!! :)

She also posted lyrics to The Safety Dance. Read 'em. They're perfect. In response, Sherri, here's one of my personal faves. I know you'll sing along with me. :)

(Everyday Is) Halloween
By Ministry

well i live with snakes and lizards
and other things that go bump in the night
cos to me everyday is halloween
i have given up hiding and started to fight
i have started to fight

well any time, any place, anywhere that i go
all the people seem to stop and stare
they say 'why are you dressed like it's halloween?
you look so absurd, you look so obscene'

o, why can't i live a life for me?
why should i take the abuse that's served?
why can't they see they're just like me
it's the same, it's the same in the whole wide world

well i let their teeny minds think
that they're dealing with someone who is over the brink
and i dress this way just to keep them at bay
cos halloween is everyday
it's everyday

o, why can't i live a life for me?
why should i take the abuse that's served?
why can't they see they're just like me
it's the same, it's the same in the whole wide world

o, why can't i live a life for me?
why should i take the abuse that's served?
why can't they see they're just like me
i'm not the one that's so absurd

why hide it?
why fight it?
hurt feelings
best to stop feeling hurt
from denials, reprisals
it's the same it's the same in the whole wide world

Everyday is like Sunday...

I have been a very good girl today, sitting inside and finishing up my next Shomi book proposal. Want to send it to my agent tomorrow and get it into my editor before I head to Comic Con.

I also got my Comic Con outfits ready. They are so awesome. These are outfits that I had bought earlier, but figured might be a little over the top for RWA, lol. Now I'm wishing I'd worn them so I at least could have had something for people to REALLY talk about. I mean miniskirt/thigh highs? I'd wear that damn outfit clubbing.

I can't believe my Shomi book MOONGAZER is officially out next week. I'm kind of glad Liz and I are headed to Mexico after Comic Con so I won't be sitting home, obsessing about whether anyone is buying it or not. This book really means a lot to me and I really want it to do well. So I hope a lot of you -- whether you approve of my outfits or not -- will give it a chance. If it's really, as some have said, all about the book, then forget about my skirt and let Moongazer speak for itself.

I don't know if I'm going back to work tomorrow or not. There was a big explosion near my work on Weds (I work near Grand Central Station in NYC) and we've been locked out of the building ever since. It's been nice to get some extra R&R since I was exhausted from RWA, I must say. And it definitely helped me get my proposal into shape. But I also don't want the work to pile up too much--especially considering all the time I'm taking off for Comic Con, Mexico, and Blizcon.

Lastly, thanks again to everyone who's emailed or commented support on the whole debate. It means a lot to me that I have such good friends and also the kindess of strangers. Just so you know, I'm no longer upset about it all. I have come to realize that you can't live your life to please others or live up to their standards. I am who I am. I like dressing up. And no one from this point forward can make me apologize for that.

I am a face of the romance genre, too. And I'm not going anywhere.

xoxo
MAR

Sherrilyn Kenyon...

...is the coolest author EVER.

Read her MySpace blog.



For those of you who don't know the backstory, Liz actually said this in one of her SB comments. Sherrilyn made the pins and you can actually buy them!

Moongazer Review

Fresh Fiction just weighed in on Moongazer:


""This cutting-edge sci-fi fantasy will blow you away."



Funny, they didn't even mention my skirt...

For the record...

BTW for the record, I place no blame on Kate R for originating all of this on her blog. She simply brought up an issue, as bloggers do, and obviously it was an issue a lot of people were interested in discussing online. So it was reposted on some very popular blogs and debated. A lot.

But now I think she's getting it as bad as Liz and I are, so please don't send her anymore hatemail. We appreciate your support, but we want to keep it all positive and professional here. I don't want to see ANYONE hurting, not just those on our "side."

Whether you agree with our right to wear costumes or not, I agree with your right to argue online about it. At the same time, try to remember, we're only human and five days of this debate does get hard to deal with. Even for a self-styled rebel. :P We know it's not intended to be personal, but at the same time, just keep in mind when you post that being made an example in 500 posts in front of all of your peers can kind of wear a person down. Just sayin'.

And thank you everyone who has commented and sent emails in support. I swear I'll write you all back eventually - it's just there are so many of you and I've GOT to work on my September 08 Shomi proposal. But I've been reading them all and I love you guys!!!! I couldn't have gotten through this without you.

xoxoox
Marianne

Rebels on GalleyCat

Liz and I are featured on the Media Bistro blog GalleyCat today.

Welcome New Readers!

Hi new Cosmos and Chat readers!

It's great to have you come by. Over 1,000 of you in the last 24 hour period. I'm so glad you were able to take the time to visit my blog and catch a glimpse of me in a miniskirt.

After all, we all know you have a lot of choices when it comes to internet pics of girls in miniskirts, so I'm truly honored you decided to check out mine.

Sooo... in case you haven't heard, in addition to prancing around conferences in miniskirts and single-handedly setting back the suffragette movement years (not to mention smoking crack, walking the street, and encouraging sex with minors) I also write romance novels.

Yup, romance novels. And I have a new one coming out in 2 weeks that I just had to share with you!! It's called Moongazer and it's part of Dorchester Publishing's new Shomi line. A speculative fiction, cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic romance mashup.

~~
Okay, okay, go look at the miniskirt picture if you must. It's about 7(?) entries down. When you're done, come back up and I'll tell you more! Cause as I've learned from the 400 plus comments on SBTB, promo should be all about the book, NOT the author. So how about we all stop talking about me and my hemline and take a closer look at the book behind the author.

~~

MOONGAZER

Imagine every night entering a nightmare world you can’t escape and being told real life is a dream. Skye Brown has it all: the cool job, the hot boyfriend, the apartment on New York’s Upper West Side. But lately she can’t enjoy any of it. She’s having dreams of a post-apocalyptic world. Of a bleak futuristic wasteland. Of a struggle against oppression. And she’s been told she’s a…MOONGAZER.

But what is that? And what is reality? In her dreams, she’s not Skye Brown at all, but Mariah Quinn. In her dreams there’s Dawn, the beautiful yet haunted soldier, and Skye is but the empty shell of a girl he once loved. And there was a betrayal, a great betrayal. Ripped between Dark Siders and club kids, the mundane and the mystic, Skye must discover who she is, what she wants and who wants her. And why. But in the glow of the moon, it’s not always easy to recognize the face in the mirror.
~~

Romantic Times Magazine gave Moongazer 4 stars, calling it an "exciting and frightening new futuristic thriller." And SF scope called it a ""An enthralling combination of The Matrix and Snow Crash with a bit of Blade Runner thrown into the mix." Romance Reader at Heart gave it a * top pick*, saying it's "amazingly innovative" with "lots of allure for a broad range of readers."

Intrigued? Well you can read a sample chapter here. And it looks like Amazon is shipping early, so if you can't wait, here's the link to buy it.
~~

Again, thanks so much for stopping by! It's really great to have so many new blog readers. I hope you'll all come back soon.

Marianne

Sigh

We have, in the last 24 hours, been called prostitutes, pedophile bait, and been accused of singlehandedly setting the suffragette movement back 20 years. It was fun at first to read everyone's comments, but at 270 and counting over at SB and other blogs it's getting kind of hard to deal with. I wish people would just let it go at this point. We did something we thought would be fun and a great icebreaker to introduce people to the Shomi line. We didn't think it would stir up such a storm.

The miniskirt heard round RWA

The implication that troubles me the most, however, is that because we chose to market ourselves by wearing manga inspired outfits to promote a manga inspired book we must have crap books that no one would want to buy elsewise. Or that we didn't spend any time writing these books because we were too busy...shopping? I don't know. We worked our asses off to write these books. Liz's got a starred review in PW and I got an awesome 4 star review from RT. (My PW review is not out yet.) The costumes were part of our author branding...totally different thing.

And people who believe that good books stand on their own and succeed without publicity should meet some of my extremely talented writer friends who have had their series cut midway through or have been unceremoniously dumped by their publisher even after winning major awards.

I'm not saying costumes are the way to go. Or that they will replace the responsibility of writing a good book. But costumes are just one tiny part of our author branding. It just seems to be the part everyone is choosing to focus on in the last 24 hours. And yes, there are plenty of bestselling authors who never wore costumes, but there are also famous musicians who never wore anything but jeans. But I like David Bowie better. :)

I'm trying to remind myself that people who would declare in blogs that they would NEVER buy a Shomi book now that they've seen my thighs at conference are probably not my target audience anyway. And at least now thousands of people who never knew me and my books existed now do. Will it lead to sales or book burning? I don't know. (If you're going to burn my book though, can you please purchase it the first week it goes on sale? hehe) All I know is that I had fun at the conference and the costumes helped Liz and I meet a lot of great people we normally wouldn't have met and so I can't say, even though controversial, it was a mistake.

At the same time, I think I'm going to like Comic Con next week much better. ;-)

Marianne

Nora knows we exist...

Our RWA costumes are the talk of the blog world. Even Nora Roberts has weighed in!! Check it out if you're bored. It's very interesting.


Me, in one of my controversial costumes...

In any case, here is our official response:

Liz says: “You know you’ve made it when your thighs are being discussed on the Internet.” Heh.
Okay, seriously. The entire point of our marketing campaign for our books is this: We’re the Rebels of Romance and we’re going to give you a kind of romance novel you’ve never seen before. We want to expand the fan base for the romance genre and attract readers (young and old) who have never before been willing to give romance novels a chance. We want to show that romance novels can be cool and relevant to an entirely new generation of readers.

You can check out the media site we developed at www.rebelsofromance.com. It has all of our messaging. The bottom line: Who knew the romance genre had a cutting edge?

On the issue of professionalism. Dressing up as manga-inspired characters was a fun way to promote our manga-inspired books. Obviously, it’s not for everybody. (It is, however, completely normal at SF/F events and SF/F readers are also a target readership for these books.) But it happens to suit our personalities, our image as “rebels” and the kind of out-of-the-box books we write.

Meaning, we don’t feel forced to do something “unnatural.” Dressing up and having fun is part of who we are. And we certainly don’t believe short skirts and thigh highs equate to being unprofessional. It seems unnecessarily pompous to go on about the advanced degrees, Emmy awards, etc that we have between the two of us, but seriously, we understand what it means to be professional. We’re not “silly women” or “tarty” in the worst senses of the words. (It’s not always bad to be silly or fun-tarty.) We just understand how to market ourselves and our books, we’ve taken a strong approach to branding, and we’re working it.

In any case, regarding concerns about the image we are projecting to the media and readers, this “Liz Maverick Q&A” with Publishers Weekly should ease your mind. We think it’s a nice example of how articulate and effective we can be as ambassadors for the romance genre rather than the reverse.

Whether the costumes turn you off or on, we hope you’ll give the Shomi books a chance. After all, as pointed out, great books speak for themselves. Marianne’s August book, MOONGAZER, received a fabulous review from RT and Liz’s July book, WIRED, received a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Again, these are really fresh, edgy takes on romance novels and the launch features a line-up of fantastic writers: Eve Kenin, Colby Hodge, Michelle Rowan to name a few. We should point out that every one of us is different and none of the other authors chose to don character costumes.

Yours in good humor,

Liz Maverick and Marianne Mancusi who are...The Rebels of Romance
www.rebelsofromance.com

P.S. Liz says: “If you see me at a conference or other event, definitely stop and say hi. I love to meet new readers and writers and you can tell me what you think of my new socks.”

One more photo...

post RITAS - stolen from Alyssa Day's blog...

Me, Caren Johnson, Barb (the worthy winner!), and Alesia

Some Pics

I am still so tired from RWA. I went home yesterday and slept two hours instead of working on my proposal. Tsk. Tsk. Then this AM I was STILL too exhausted to really put much into it. Annoying, but evidently necessary. Hopefully I will rally soon. I really would like to get the proposal in by Monday at the latest.

Here are a couple more pics of RWA:


Colby Hodge winning her Prism!


Me and Liz with our editor, Chris Keeslar.


Liz, sitting pretty like the good little girl she is...


Liz doesn't like this pic of her, but I think she looks badass in a slightly crazy way. Like, don't mess with the Shomi girls, man!

Anyway, there's always some controversy after an RWA and this time some of it has centered around me and my friends. There's a debate about my friend Barb's RITA award win for a YA book going on at Smart Bitches and another blog talks about whether RWA is going more RT with the costumed authors (aka me and Liz who were in good company with Sherrylin Kenyon!) attending this year and whether this sort of public display of bookishness will prompt publishers to force their authors to don thigh highs and short skirts.

To set the record straight:

1) Barb deserved a RITA for her YA. The book rocks. People need to get over it and understand that a good book is a good book, no matter what the age of its hero/heroine. (cough, Harry Potter, cough.)

2) Liz and I like to dress up in costumes cause we think it's fun and feel it's a great icebreaker at conferences. People would comment on our outfits and we would have an opportunity to introduce them to the Shomi line. But our publisher did not put us up to it. There were three other Shomi authors attending and none of them sported manga outfits. :) The costumes are part of Liz and my Rebels of Romance campaign - NOT our Shomi promotion.

Marianne

Back from Dallas

Back from Dallas. Back to reality. It was great to see everyone and hang out and cheer Barb on her RITA win. I am so happy for her!!

I was thinking back to the last time the conference was held in Dallas, three years ago. I was an unpublished writer who had her first book sitting on the desk of Kate Seaver, then at Dorchester. I met Kate at the conference and she said, "I read the first chapter of your book and I like it so far." I couldn't sleep all night! At the same time, I was very discouraged at that conference cause I saw all these incredibly successful people who wanted the same thing as me (publication) and I said to myself - Am I crazy to think it'll be ME?

Three years later I've sold 11 novels and 1 novella to three different publishers. Dreams do come true. And for any of you who were at Dallas, feeling overwhelmed, just remember, the only secret to publication is perseverence. So don't give up!!

Next up is Comic Con, less than two weeks from now. That should be fun. Totally different than the typical romance conference I'm used to. Gotta start picking out my costumes! :)

BTW Moongazer got a top pick from Romance Reader at Heart. Woot!!

What if everything you know about your life isn’t real? That’s the dilemma facing Skye Brown. She thinks she has a normal life with a great job and loving boyfriend, but keeps having strange dreams that seem almost more real than her life. Then, she’s pulled into her dream to discover an alternate post-apocalyptic world, where New York has been rebuilt underground and the popular recreational activity is “moongazing.” In this alternate world, she becomes embroiled in a revolutionary war where the lines between real life and dreams are blurred.

MOONGAZER is reminiscent of such popular SF movies as Bladerunner and The Matrix. (In fact, there are several pop culture references to both.) Part of the Shomi line, it’s geared for the fans of anime/manga, and will definitely appeal there. It gives you a taste of the action-adventure so often seen in the manga genre, but with an overtly romantic focus.

MOONGAZER is an amazingly innovative novel for the romance genre, and one that will have lots of allure for a broad range of readers. Even if you don’t normally read SF/fantasy romance books, you will want to pick up this one. I found it a thrilling, page-turning yarn, and I highly recommend it.

Kendra Patterson

That's all for now! :)
Marianne

Nationals

Hi all from Nationals! It's been fun so far. Seeing lots of old friends, making new ones, networking, meeting with agent, all good stuff. This afternoon I have my panel on writing out of the box books. Hope it goes well! Then tonight we have the Dorchester dinner to attend. Then tomorrow Liz and I are doing a workshop on author branding.

Meanwhile, my art contest is still going on on MySpace. Here's the latest entry. It's a scene from Stake That where the bad vamp (Maverick) bites our heroine Rayne, giving her the blood virus. The BB on his shirt stands for Blood Bar -- the establishment he owns.

My readers are soooooo creative!! I love it!



:)
Marianne

Cosplay at RWA

At the RWA conference. Yesterday was the booksigning. Liz Maverick and I did our cosplay thing again to promote Shomi. Here's one pic. More to come when I have time.

I'm holding an art contest over on MySpace. Anyone who draws a picture (manga or otherwise) of characters and/or scenes from my books wins an autographed copy of one of my books. Then we're going to vote on the best pics and the winner will get a big prize. :)

Here are a few initial entries. I have another good one I got by mail today, but I have to scan it in still. It's a scene of Rayne and Jareth making out in the funeral parlor broom closet though and it's really cool.

My readers are soooo cool and creative!! :)

NOTE: Click on the pics for the full screen version - they got cut off a bit by blogger.

It's Friday already?

This week’s been a whirlwind. Having Weds off was supposed to help, but my computer picked 4th of July to explode and I spent much of the day unsuccessfully trying to fix it. Much of the day I was SUPPOSED to be working on my Gamer Girl revisions. Grrr. I ended up having to kill myself on Thursday to get them all in there since my mom is coming to visit this weekend and the book is due on Monday.

But I’m happy to say I got them done and the book is so much better for them. I am so lucky to have an agent with such great editing skills. I know not everyone likes that in an agent, but I feel her input really works to make my books better. And who wouldn’t want that? Now I’m confident I’m turning in the best book I can to my new editor at Dutton. Fingers crossed she likes it!

As soon as Mom goes home, I will be going back to my new Shomi proposal. Gotta get that passed in relatively soon as well. But that should be fun.

So this is the first time my mom has been to NYC since she was eight years old. (Which, let’s face it, doesn’t really count seeing as that was 52 years ago!) She has no idea what it’s like. She’s going to be blown away! I’m going to take her to see WICKED tomorrow. I’ve wanted to see that for a while now, so I’m psyched to go as well. And I might take her down to Coney Island on Sunday if the weather’s nice, even though I did just go. She loves the beach and grew up with summers on the Jersey shore, so she likes that whole boardwalk thing.

And then next week – Nationals! I can’t believe it’s already here. Then again, it is super early this year. I’m flying in Weds morning and heading straight to the spa, as my agent is doing a spa day for her clients. (Did I mention she rocks?) Then a bookseller tea, the literacy book signing, and the FF&P Gathering party at night. Busy, busy!

On Friday Liz Maverick and I, along with our editor Chris Keeslar and my agent Kristin Nelson are doing a panel on writing out of the box books. If you’re going to Nationals, I hope you’ll consider attending – especially if you want the inside scoop on breaking into the Shomi line! It’s at 4:30 on Friday. I promise it’ll be a great pre-Friday night party event!!

That’s all for now!
Marianne

Shomi launch day!!

Woot - it's finally here! The launch of Dorchester's brand new speculative fiction line SHOMI!

First up and IN STORES NOW: LIZ MAVERICK'S WIRED



Followed in August by: MY BOOK - MOONGAZER!



And in September - EVE KENIN'S DRIVEN



Woot woot! The revolution begins!!! Please support the cause by heading to your loca bookstore and picking up Liz's book. It's an awesome read -- you won't regret it!

Marianne

Exhausted

I'm blogging about SHOMI and Moongazer today over at The Good, The Bad and The Unread. Please stop by and comment. You can win a copy of Moongazer, as well as a copy of A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court if you do. So what do you have to lose?

Liz's Shomi book WIRED - the first Shomi book EVAH, I might add - is OUT! Find it at a bookstore near you! Woot! Remember, it's always best to support authors their first week out as it's usually the only chance they have for making a bestseller list. Sadly, bestseller lists are not about selling a lot of books, but about selling a lot of books in a one week time frame.

I am so exhausted. Mentally drained. I have to do revisions on Gamer Girl this week before my mom comes on Friday. I really need to work on my Shomi #2 proposal too, but something just has to give at the moment or I'm going to make myself sick. So I'm concentrating on what NEEDS to be done and trying not to be too wracked with guilt over the proposal. After all, I'd rather miss the slot than pass in something shoddy because I rushed it, right?

But yeah, crazy weeks ahead. Mom coming Friday - Monday then Weds I leave for Dallas til Sunday for the RWA conference. All fun things, but they take time away from actually writing. Sigh.

Okay, enough whining. I'm heading home to drink a couple liters of diet coke and get cracking on those revisions!

:)
MAR

Coney Island

**SHOMI AUTHORS ARE BLOGGING OVER AT THE FAB REDWYNE.COM THIS WEEK**

Coney Island was fun! We road the infamous Cyclone rollercoaster - which is celebrating its 80th birthday this year. It's more than a bit rickety -- my shoulder was sore after riding it. Still, it's one of those cool, historic things I'm glad to have done. We then walked around the beach and to the Russian community of Brighton Beach and ended up eating at a beachfront Russian restaurant called Tatiana, which was yummy. The Russians will actually order a bottle of vodka for the table like Americans would order wine. Of course Jenny and I stuck with a couple glasses of wine tyvm.

While I was out having fun, my darling agent finished up my revisions for Gamer Girl. She says she was pleased with how it turned out -- cheer! So now I have a week to work in her revisions before passing it into my editor at Dutton. It's scary working with a new editor so cross fingers she likes the book! She seems really nice though.

Next week my mom is coming to visit. Her first time in NYC since she was eight years old! Crazy. I want to take her to see WICKED. I have been dying to see it myself--everyone I know who's gone has raved about it.

Happy Sunday!
Marianne