Out of the Blogosphere Tour

Happy Friday! Today I'm blogging about the latest novel out on the Out of the Blogosphere tour.

WICKED MAGIC
by Cheyenne McCray

USA Today bestselling author Cheyenne McCray continues her sizzling series with an erotic tale about a gifted witch and a powerful warrior who together create WICKED MAGIC.

A DARK SECRET
Rhiannon Castle is a D'Anu witch whose Coven sisters know nothing of the Shadows that lurk within her. Rhiannon can't reveal the truth to anyone-least of all Keir, a rugged soldier who walks into Rhiannon's life and awakens her to a reckless desire.

A SEARING PASSION
Keir's Tuatha D'Danann brethren are the only real family he has ever known. He trusts no one-until he is sent to San Francisco and meets Rhiannon, the one woman with enough fire to tame him. Every seductive encounter convinces Keir that she belongs with him-even though Rhiannon knows her powers could put him in peril.

A SHARED DESTINY
A new threat rises from the depths of Underworld. When a demon goddess unleashes her evil upon our world, Rhiannon's secret could prove the ultimate weapon in this epic battle-or forge a pathway to destruction for the only man she's ever loved.

Sound good? Check out an excerpt here.

REVIEWS

4 Stars! “Blistering sex and riveting battles…” Romantic Times BOOKreviews Magazine

“…all the ingredients for a fiery dish -- stirred up with a big old bundle of lust… the most fun I've had in awhile.” Fresh Fiction

How do you say vampire in German?

So I have a new pathetic author obsession. Translating German reviews of Boys that Bite. Sad, huh? I'm pasting in reviews to Babblefish and reading them as best I can. Mostly, from what I can tell from the weird translation, German reviewers like it, which is cool. They also totally get the Buffy refs, so I guess Buffy aired in Germany. Buffy probably aired everywhere, but I guess I just never thought about it before.

I even found one webpage with German Boys that Bite fan fic. Awh. I wish I could read it!!

I'll do better when Sk8er Boy is released in French, as I took that in high school and probably retained a tiny bit. Enough to read, at least.

Work has been CRAZY busy still. I get home exhausted. But it's cool cause it feels like we're working towards something good and not just clocking in. Still, it makes it hard to get writing done. I'm home now at 7pm and have to go walk the dog and then work on my anthology. It is very lucky for me I have no life!!

Oh in other coolness, A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest was chosen as a "Fresh Pick" today by Fresh Fiction. Yay! I would love to write the third book in that series, but I doubt it will ever happen. Too much else going on. Maybe someday...

Okay, time to walk the woof and get working some more!

Mar

Speaking of...

...Girls that Growl. I just got my first copy of the finalized book in the mail today. Looks great in real life!

I don't care if it's your first book or your hundred and first...seeing it all put together in book form for the first time is always a special thrill.

I can't wait to hear what people think! One month to go before release date. Woot!

Mar

Happy Monday!

Had a good weekend. Dad came down Saturday afternoon and we took a walk through Central Park and then got pizza at Patsy’s and ice cream at Cold Stone. Mmmm. Yum. Then I went out for a bachelorette kind of thing for my friend who’s getting married next week. We had pre-dinner margaritas and then went out to dinner at a delish Italian place in the East Village. Fun, fun. Sunday I went rollerblading around Central Park.

Now that Moongazer has been successfully launched, I need to turn my attention to Girls that Growl, which comes out in October. I should be getting bound galleys next week and will be starting to form my street team then.

By the way, for those of you wondering, I have not yet gotten a final answer on a 4th book in my Boys that Bite series. They’re going back to look at the numbers and will let me know soon. I am really, really hoping I’ll get to write it – mostly because I love writing the series and have so many more stories to tell about the twins and their adventures. It would be so sad if I had to end it now. Also, I don’t want to disappoint my loyal readers who have helped me spread the word about the series in their communities, schools, and libraries. They deserve a book #4!!

But of course real life doesn’t always have happy endings so I’m trying not to get my hopes up too much. In any case, I am very appreciative that I got to write the three books that I did in the series and that people responded so well to them. So thank you all and I hope you enjoy Girls that Growl!!

Mar

Crappy Weather = Fall Fashion

Another busy day at work. I kept thinking it was Friday. Sad that it was not. Got my 2,000 words done on the anthology. Feel good about that. Now I have to clean my apartment for my dad's visit. Always something.

The weather in NY has been so crappy lately. All cloudy and rainy. I hope it's nicer this weekend. I do like the fact that it's been nice and cool though. Have been able to break out some fall fashions. I feel like I spent all summer in a sundress.

Speaking of fall fashions, today we had Dannielle Romano, editor at large from DailyCandy.com come into our studios to do some fashion and jewelry trends. She had the cutest dress on, which she said she got from the Vera Wang collection at Kohl's. Vera Wang does a line for Kohl's? Who would have thought! But yes! Seems it is true. The line launches September 9th and the clothes are totally affordable.

So um, is there a Kohl's in NY? Maybe? I hope?

Mar

Busy, busy

Busy day today - just now getting a chance to blog. Woke up late -- 9:20am -- supposed to be at work at 9:30. Rushed in and got there by 10am. Not bad, considering.

Went through like 200 emails of people interested in being featured on our new TV show at the day job. At least we won't be short content. Seems like everyone in the world has something they'd like to promote on TV. It's good though. Gives me a chance to start my NYC Rolodex...essential for a booker/producer.

Up to 5,000 words on the anthology. I think I'm calling it Karma Kitty. Or maybe Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con. It's definitely a comedy. Silly, but fun. I'm enjoying writing it. Going to try to get 2,000 words a day written so I can be done in 2 weeks. Cause I've also got revisions on Gamer Girl that I have to tackle by the end of September.

I think my dad is coming in on Saturday to visit, which will be great. Haven't seen him since March and I really want to show him my place and around NY. Then at night I have a party to go to for a friend who's getting married the following weekend. Looking forward to that, too. Should be a fun weekend.

I finished Book #6 in Stephen King's Dark Tower series (Song of Susannah). Ended in a cliffhanger so of course I swung by my favorite bookstore (Posner's in Grand Central Station) and grabbed the 7th and final book in the series. Stephen King is one of those authors where I absolutely adore some of his stuff and can't stand other things. The Stand, for example, may be one of my favorite books of all time. Not so much on the horror stuff though. The Dark Tower series is amazing though. Got a bit stalled with Book #5 - Wolves of Calla - which I didn't really love and so I put off moving on to Book #6, but now that I'm done reading it, I'm mad I didn't get to it sooner. I really like the twist of King being in the book, not to give too much away. Book #7 is 850 pages (gah!) but I bet I'll breeze through it.

Okay off to play some WoW. I started a draneai character. A shaman. She's level 10 right now. Having fun playing her. Also doing the Netherdrake quests so I can get my dragon mount. I'm revered now -- less than 21,000 rep to go!

Mar

Murloc Suits

I meant to post this earlier for the WoW fans out there. Here's my WoW character, Allora, dressed in her limited edition Murloc suit, which they gave out as a bonus for people attending Blizcon. Isn't he...cute? He does a funny little dance, too. hehe. If you want a suit of your own, but couldn't attend Blizcon, they're going for like $100 plus dollars on eBay. :P

It's pouring rain in NYC today. Bleh!!

Mar

Comic Con Pics (Finally!)

I realized I never shared with you guys our pics from Comic Con!

You can check out the rest -- our costumes and everyone else's -- on Flickr.

My virtual "stalkers"

So I sign into World of Warcraft last night (from a friend’s house since I still have no internet!), log onto my character Allora, and see that I have in-game mail. I wander over to the mailbox and look inside. The letter says “Moongazer.” Intrigued, I open it. It’s a reader letter from a WoW player who read the book! They looked up my character’s name (who I mention in my bio) on the Armory (where you can find every WoW player by name), figured out what server I was on, then created a character on my server just so they could mail an in-game letter to me to say how much they liked the book. What effort! I was so pleased. I think it’s my favorite fan letter yet!

Okay, but then it gets even weirder. A few minutes later, I suddenly get messaged by DawnGrey. Now, for those of you who haven’t read Moongazer, Dawn Grey is the book’s hero. Yes, another reader has found me. This one is a high school boy who got the book in the Houston airport while waiting for his flight. He read it, loved it and since he’s a WoW player, decided to create a character on my server so he could “meet” me…virtually, of course.

My friends were teasing me that I now have virtual stalkers. But I think it’s kind of cool. I love that people would put that much effort into finding me in-game instead of just being content with sending an email or MySpace message. It really says a lot about the growing online network we’re weaving around our lives and how the world is shrinking. And that I, as a person, can really represent myself and exist in the form of a virtual character. I can “meet” anyone from around the world, face to face.

Mar
PS I also think it's cool that Shomi is enough of a hybrid to interest teenage boys.

William Gibson

I got to meet one of my favorite authors of all time last night. William Gibson, godfather of cyberpunk and the guy who coined the phrase “cyberspace” in his book Neuromancer, did a reading/q&a at B&N in Union Square last night. There were a TON of people there, of course, and so I had to stand in the back. Then I waited in a ridiculously long line for an autograph of his latest book, Spook Country. Still, it was worth it to meet the master, even if only for a second. I told him I was an author too and that he was a great inspiration to me. I felt really cheesy telling him that, but oh well. He wished me good luck. Of course, I fell short in letting him know that I write cyberpunk romance. I wonder what he would have thought of that... I guess I was a little afraid he'd sneer and I didn't want to lose respect for him, lol.

You know, I can’t think of any other living authors I would have waited in line an hour to get an autograph from… Except Bret Easton Ellis. He would be cool to meet.

I can’t believe my Internet/cable is STILL down. It’s been a week now. How frustrating. I’m now going to have to have a technician come out on Friday to look at it. Which means two more days without Internet at home. And no WoW. Booo!!! And I just got my elite flying mount, too!! (Yes, I saved up the 5,000 gold and didn’t resort to a goldfarmer. And yes, I’m working on the Netherdrake quests, too.)

We’re so connected these days with the Internet. I realize this more in its absence. Like, something random will pop into my head and I’ll instantly move to look it up online and then realize I can’t. It’s almost like an extension of my brain. You can find out seemingly anything! I don’t know how people survived without it, I really don’t. I do read a lot more. Read a 660 page book in a week, which is unheard of for me. Though it was a good book – The Other Boleyn Sister. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.

Marianne

88!

Mrs. Giggles has weighed in on Moongazer. And she gave it an 88!! (And a great review.) Woot! She's really been singing the praises of the Shomi line. I'm so happy about this cause as you know, she's SUCH a tough critic. I think once she gave me a 2. (Though it was a really funny review, so I had to laugh.)

After reading the review, I'm wondering... is Mrs. Giggles a WoW player? Hmmm....

Monday

Hope you all had a good weekend. Mine was nice and relaxing – which I really needed after being away for so long. On Saturday night I saw The Simpsons movie, which was cute, and then went out to dinner at an Italian eatery called Celeste, which is on 84th/Amsterdam. Great food—authetic Neapolitan. Good wine. Yummy cheese imported from Italy. And reasonable prices, too. The only drawback is it’s one of those tiny places where they cram you in. But that’s NY for you. Service was great – though we had a real Italian in our party who spoke the waiters in their native tongue. Might have helped a bit.

Sunday I went rollerblading around Central Park, which was fun. I really need to exercise more. I’m thinking of joining a gym. They have a great deal through my work where it’s only like $25 a month to join a really nice one called Equinox. I’d like to get more in shape.

Tomorrow, one of my writer heroes, William Gibson (Neuromancer), is doing a reading and signing his new book, Spook County, at a bookstore in Union Square. I am so there! Gibson is such an amazing cyberpunk novelist – he’s the guy who actually coined the phrase cyberspace! – and I’m very much looking forward to reading his new book. I think I’m going to be a little tongue tied when I actually meet him. Either that or total geeky fan girl…

Marianne

Yay Friday!

Yay it's Friday. Sooo happy about that. It's been a really busy week at work, as we're launching our tv show. We're still in test runs, though. Real show won't be syndicated out until September 10th.

A big shout out to Joy Nash for her appearance on the USA Today Bestseller list for her Dorchester Immortals installment. That series is on FIRE. I'm so happy for the authors!!

As for me, my week of slacking is coming to an end. On Monday I'm going to start working on my anthology story for "These Boots Were Made for Stomping" - an April Dorchester release with Julie Kenner and Jade Lee. My story is going to have a young manga artist attending her first Comic Con. She buys a pair of special shoes off the Internet to go with her costume and they turn out to grant her magical powers to .... well, can't tell you, yet!! hehe

This is my first ever anthology so I'm excited. Also, to get to work with such great authors like Julie and Jade is great as well.

Have a great weekend everyone!
MARIANNE

The Rebels and their hero Sherri

I have no time to post today, so I thought I'd share with you a picture from Comic Con. :) Liz and I with our new hero, Sherrilyn Kenyon. She's on tour now to promote her new book, Devil May Cry. I hope if she comes to a city near you, you will get a chance to check her out in person. Trust me, she's worth waiting in line for! A great public speaker and the nicest person ever. Also, she says she'll sign anything "except a check"!! hehe

Marianne

Stupid Flooding!

Flooding in NYC early this AM caused a nightmare commute. I ended up having to walk to work (Upper West Side to midtown east.) The hour walk (even in the sweltering heat) was still a better option than standing on a subway platform for 2 hrs. There is absolutely no air down in the subway and it’s brutal, suffocating heat. At least this way I got some exercise. Ahh, New York. Best place to live, except when something goes wrong.

For those of you interested in writing for the SHOMI line, Dorchester has launched a new contest, in which the prize is publication of a SHOMI book! It’s open to all unpublished authors and e-book authors who have never had their books in print format. You can find the complete rules etc on the Shomi website.

I’m reading the BEST book. It’s called The Other Boleyn Girl. It’s the story of Mary Boleyn, sister of the infamous Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry XIII. Fascinating book and really compelling. I’m totally into it. I think it’s been out a while, I’m behind the times as always. But if you haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend it.

I got copies of the German version of Boys that Bite yesterday. Very different cover then the American version.

It looks better in real life, actually, then online. It’s a nice matte finish. I see on Amazon, someone reviewed it, but I can’t read German. They gave it 5 stars, though, so I guess they liked it. Can anyone roughly translate?

Echt witzig,
Ein echt klasse Roman um bei Regenwetter auf den Sofa zulümmeln...
Rayne will umbegingt zum Vampir gemacht werden,lernt auch ein Vampir names Magnus kennen.An den Abend wo es passiren soll ,geht ihre Zwillingsschwester Sunny in den Club mit.Leider wird Sunny gebissen und das caos nimmt seinen lauf.Die arme versucht alles um wider Umgewandelt zuwerden.Sie tut einen schon leid!!!!Aber immer mehr verliebt sie sich im Magnus....ups...mal nicht zuviel verraten.
Echt schön,witzig beschrieben die Story,wenn mal so ein echter blöder Regentag vor Euch steht,nichst wie hin zum Buchladen!!!!


Marianne

New Cover!!

Here's the cover of my March book. A contemporary romantic comedy called "NEWS BLUES."

TUNE IN

All 27-year old Maddy Madison wants is a cute guy, a designer handbag and to work at Newsline. What she has is a dead-end job at News 9 San Diego, a psycho boss and a counterfeit Kate Spade. One with a badly glued on label. Oh, and no guy.

TURN ON
Just when Maddy’s sure her days of producing sensationalistic puff pieces will never end (“Perilous Pets!” “Deadly Dishwashers!” “Clay that Kills!”) she’s offered a promotion. From now on she’ll work as an investigative producer—and if that isn’t good enough news for one day, she’s also partnered with the station’s newest photographer: sexy, motorcycle-riding bad boy and former moviemaker Jamie Hayes. But every silver cloud has a stormy lining. Her new job’s with News 9’s narcissistic anchor, Jamie’s getting married (not to her), and reporting the truth is about as easy as watching your divorced parents get remarried (not to each other).

TAKE OFF
So, how does Maddy get to produce real news, bag her boss and win her man?
Stay tuned. It’s the story of a lifetime.

Shomi on Romance Novel TV

The SHOMI girls - me, Liz, and Eve Kenin - talk about the new line of books on Romance Novel TV. (Which, if you haven't checked it out yet, is a fabulous new broadband television network that deals exclusively with the romance genre.)

At Blizcon

Greetings from Blizcon. The 2nd official World of Warcraft convention. It's really cool - though very crowded. There was a costume/voice/dance contest last night, hosting by Jay Mohr. Was really funny. Though, of course, every girl in the contest HAD to do the blood elf female dance. Duh. (It's Britney Spears' Toxic)

They introduced details about the upcoming WoW expansion as well, which looks fab. There's a new level cap to 80 (yay more leveling!) a new area with quests and instances, and even a new character class called a Death Knight. It's the first WoW "Hero Class" which means you can unlock him at 80 but you don't have to start him from level 1 to play, which is good.

I'm off to day #2 today. Will write more later!

Marianne

Viva Mexico

Ah Mexico.

We've been having a fabulous time. It's so relaxing and beautiful here. The weather is hot and sunny and both the pool and the ocean are warm. Yesterday we went into town (Cabo San Lucas) and wandered around, skipping the chain/fancy restaurants to eat at a little Mexican restaurant off the beaten path -- the kind that locals eat at. Muy Bueno!

We've been swimming nonstop and lying out on lounge chairs reading. I even had a massage this afternoon. Ah paradise. It definitely beats being home and obsessing about my book release. :)

It's sad to think we have to leave tomorrow afternoon. But then I'm off to Anaheim for Blizcon - which is a con for people who play World of Warcraft! Woot. I'm meeting up with one of my best friends, Bobby, and we're going to be videogame geeks for the weekend. (As if we're not on normal days, lol.) Then on Sunday we're going to Disneyland!

And, lest you think I've been all play and no work, I did edits on my next year's Shomi proposal that my agent had for me yesterday. So the proposal is officially with my editor as of today. Cross fingers that he likes it!!

Hope you all are having a good week!! :)

Marianne