Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!!

Tonight my friends and I are going to march in the Village Halloween parade. We’re going as the four elements (air, earth, fire, water.) I’m fire. I think I might look more like a club kid or drag queen than an actual element in my costume, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, considering the parade! :) I need a couple of finishing touches which I’ll run out and grab at lunch, but then I should be all set! It’s a lot harder to be something abstract than say, a pirate, I’ve realized, but creating costumes is fun.

I’m sure we’ll take pics and I’ll post them.

Yesterday I attended a NY Library teen Halloween party and read from my Girls that Growl book and talked about writing to the teens. They were really great – so into it and we had a really good discussion together. I’d like to do more events like that in the future.

I told you how the other day my dog Molly came into work to film a segment about dog massage, right? Well, it’s since aired and is now up on our Better.tv website. Check it out! I think she did a very good job! Most dogs would have jumped off the table! I am a very proud dog mommy.

Marianne

Monday, October 29, 2007

Let's go Red Sox, Let's go!

Yay Boston won the World Series!!! Go Boston!!!

It seems weird to be in NY and be so far removed from the excitement. I remember the last time they won I was working in Boston at the NBC station and so we were crazy busy, working nonstop every day and night. Then I'd go to parties to watch the games. I was so exhausted, but it was an exciting time. Seems like a lifetime ago.

When they had the celebratory parade I got to go out on Fenway's field and interview players. Here is me with my then favorite Red Sox - Bronson Arroyo - with his infamous cornrows. Yes, I had quite the crush! (Taken with my camera phone, which is why the quality is bad.)

Hope you all had a good weekend! Halloween is in 2 days!!!

Mar

Friday, October 26, 2007

Yay Friday and Sat YA library event

Yay it's Friday! I've been so tired all week, I'm soo ready for the weekend. Going to go out dancing tonight with my friend Leanna. Woot! Can't stay out too late though cause I'm going to do a writer event at the NY Public Library at 2pm the next day. Actually I should post the details of this, cause it's kind of cool, for those of you in the NYC area.

When : Saturday, October 27 @ 2pm

Where : Donnell Library Center 's Central Children's Room2nd floor of the Donnell Library Center20 West 53rd StreetNew York , NY

Description : A monthly opportunity to join others interested inchildren's and young adult literature for a stimulating discussion ofbooks, reading trends and services to youth.

This group is open to authors, librarians, parents, publishers, students,teachers and anyone else who loves children's and young adult literature.

This is not a formal book discussion group, but rather a chance to:-connect with others-find out what's going on in the world of publishing,-come away with exciting new ideas and reading recommendationsWe'll also have lovely refreshments and piles of Advanced Reader Copies ofbooks to give away.

The second meeting of the Children's and Young Adult LiteratureCafe will take place on Saturday, November 10 at 2pm. Shaun Tan, authorof the critically acclaimed graphic novel The Arrival , will be ourspecial guest!

For more information, please contact: Sarah Couri (Senior Young Adult Librarian in Teen Central):scouri@nypl.org ; 212-621-0633Rebecca Schosha (Senior Children's Librarian in the Central Children'sRoom): rschosha@nypl.org ; 212-621-0636

Thursday, October 25, 2007

10 Tenors

I promised you a picture of the hot Australian opera singers who graced our Better TV studios on Monday. So here they are! The Ten Tenors and me. (Yes, I have a great job!)

Blogger is cutting off the 10th guy so click on the pic for all their true glory. :)



And yes, they can really sing too! Check them out online at TheTenTenors.com.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Win Girls that Growl

The lovely Melissa Walker (author of Violet on the Runway) is giving away an autographed copy of GIRLS THAT GROWL. Go over to her website (or MySpace) for your chance to win it!

All is well here. Finished my novella story and am on to edits on News Blues. Luckily they are minor and I should be done by Monday. Then I have to do revisions on Gamer Girl. Then start the new book!

Shot a few stories with Dannielle Romano, editor at large of DailyCandy.com yesterday. She is such a sweetheart. I love working with her. And I love the Daily Candy newsletter, too.

Not too much else going on. Saturday I am doing a YA author event at the NY Public Library, which means if I go out on Friday I need to force myself to get home at a reasonable hour! I haven't been sleeping well because of the lingering cough and so I'm really exhausted all the time.

Marianne

Monday, October 22, 2007

Doing time in Boston

I’m back from Boston. It was great trip. The 6B Lounge didn’t play 80s music cause the Red Sox were playing so we ended up going to CLINK, this bar in Boston that was converted from an actual jail! It still looked like a jail, too, with bars and original brickwork. The center was open and there were different levels of balconies (where the cells used to be) circling the building, just like you see in regular jails. It has to be one of the coolest bars I’ve ever been to. Here’s my friend Mary and her boyfriend “locked up.” And below, me, evidently posing as one of the femme fatales in Chicago, lol.


Then on Sunday we went walking the dogs with my dad and Sherri at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport. Very beautiful day and nice to see some fall foliage.

Now I’m back. We had some great studio guests in this morning on our show. The Ten Tenors – a group of 10 hot Australian men who sing. Nice way to start off a Monday! And those accents! I think Audra and I were swooning a bit. Their PR guy took a picture. If he sends it to me I’ll post it here.

I’m mostly better from being sick, but still have a bit of a cold. Will be happy once I’m 100 percent again. Hopefully soon.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Quick Update from Boston

Hey - been a blog slacker so I thought I should quickly update and say I'm alive and well and in Boston for the weekend. A bunch of friends and I are going to a the 6B lounge, which is spinning 80s tonight. Woot! I spent the day wandering around shopping. Got a nice new pair of Steve Madden boots.

Boston was PACKED though! Evidently everyone is in town for the Sox game and some Regatta thing on the Charles river. I'm sick of Sox talk already, but I'm sure there's going to be a lot more out at the bars. I mean, I do hope they win. But let's talk about something else!

It's great to hang with Mary. Missed her while I've been in NY. Luckily with good friends like her you can pick up right where you left off.

Okay gotta run! More later. :)

Marianne

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Sk8er Boy en Francais

I stayed out of work today cause of my sickness. Didn't want to infect my coworkers and all that. Been vegging out, watching Battlestar Galactica, which I borrowed part of the first season from a friend. Finished what I borrowed - need the rest now. Maybe it's best that I ran out, however, since I really should get some writing done.

In the meantime, I found a cover for the French version of Sk8er Boy. They spelled it "Sk8ter Boy" though. I don't get why people do that. It's sk-eighT-er, right? Don't need an extra "T". Oh wellz.



It's a cute cover though! Funny - the girl is wearing a very similar getup to my RWA "costume" -- maybe THIS was the character I was accused of being dressed as! Who knew? Hopefully they'll send me a couple of real copies. I can read a little French - would be fun to try to interpret.

:)
Marianne

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Still Ill

I was way too sick to go to work today, but did anyway cause I had so much going on. We had Keri Russell (aka Felicity or the actress with the curly hair who once cut it, lol.) in for an interview. She is so sweet and nice and down to earth. So tiny too! I can't believe she just had a baby 4 months ago. But yes, she was great. She's evidently in a movie coming out with Robin Williams and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. She told me all the girls love Jonathan. What?!? I thought my crush was exclusive!! haha.

Had a lunch meeting at The Capital Grille that I didn't even feel like eating cause I was feeling so rough. Hopefully I didn't come off as a moron to the potential guest. She was fab, actually. Runs a site called SpaAddicts.com. We'll probably be working with her on some spa segments in the near future.

Lastly, I had a night shoot at our resident hair stylist who is giving one of our contributors a makeover. Even though they were completely nice and wonderful, I was so happy to leave and come home to collapse.

The sickness is bad cause I haven't been able to write this week. I need to get better for Boston, too!

So I guess I should sign out and rest, huh? TTYL!

Marianne

Monday, October 15, 2007

Ugh, Monday already?

Clubbing at the Knitting Factory on Friday night was a blast. It was so good to hear the music and dance and we stayed until like 3:30am. Was cheap to get in ($8) and cheap drinks, too. I can’t wait to go back! I love goth clubs because unlike regular clubs you don't get harassed by guys who want to grind up on you.

The rest of the weekend I kind of vegged out and played WoW. Oh Saturday I lost my phone in a taxi and so I bought a new one on Sunday. Then they found my phone, but I love my new phone and my old one was dying anyway, so it’s for the best.

I saw some cover art conceptions for my Dutton book, Gamer Girl, today. Looks really awesome! I’m psyched. They’re going with a manga look since my heroine is a budding manga artist. Sooo cool!!

This weekend I’m going to Boston for a visit. About time – I haven’t been back since I moved here in March. I’m long overdue to see friends. Can’t wait!!

I’m not feeling very well, so I’m on my way home to take a nap.

Mar

Friday, October 12, 2007

Sex and the City Sightings

Went to meet a friend for lunch in Bryant Park this afternoon and ran into today’s Sex and the City movie filming. (I swear they’re everywhere!! Drove past them filming earlier in the week down in the village.) There were a ton of people crowded the street set and I had my dog so it was hard to stop to look, but I did walk right by Chris North. (Ahhh, Big, I loves you!!!!) Anyway, just seemed like a very New York moment.

Oh and yes, my dog got to come to work with me today, which was extra fun! We were shooting a segment on dog massage. She did a great job lying still on a table under the bright lights, allowing some stranger to touch her. Actually the stranger was the masseuse for the NJ Nets, so I guess Molly was in good hands, to say the least.

So glad it’s Friday! I think I mention I’m going clubbing tonight. Fun, fun! Then tomorrow I’m going to try to go to the NY RWA meeting if I’m not too tired from being out all night dancing. I’ve also got to work on my novella which is getting very close to being finished. Just in time to start the edits for my book News Blues, which should come to me next week. THEN I hope I can start my new Shomi book!

Speaking of, I asked before if anyone knew what Razor Girl referred to. Well, it’s a nod to William Gibson’s Neuromancer. The original Razor Girl, Molly Millions, had 4cm retractable razor blade implants in her fingers, along with other cybernetic enhancements, which helped her fight and hustle. She’s a street samurai and one of the coolest women ever in cyberpunk fiction. I don’t want to spoil the plot of my book by explaining why my title fits, but that’s what it references.

Happy Weekend!

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Thursday

Wet and rainy Thursday here in NYC. Bleh.

Last night I had drinks with my fellow Berkley Jam author Melissa Walker (Violet on the Runway – go buy and read, it’s fab!) at this really cool bar on West Houston called the Pegu Club. They specialize in gin drinks and had some amazingly creative ones. It’s cool because they bring you over a thing of “drink condiments” where you can add sugar or bitters or lemon juice or other things if you want to customize your drink more to your tastes. Of course the drinks were so delicious I didn’t even need to use them!

Melissa is going to be giving away a signed copy of Girls that Growl on her blog soon – I will let you know when. I am going to run a contest at the same time for a copy of Violet on the Runway.

Afterwards I met my friend Jamie in the East Village and caught up with her. It’s amazing how busy I’ve been with the book and work stuff and how I’ve managed to neglect friends and going out. So it was nice to have a night off of writing for a change. Just can’t get too caught up in it all or I’ll fall behind again. I don’t know how writers with husbands and kids do it.

Friday I’m going dancing with my new friend Leanna, who I met at the NJ conference this past weekend. Totally psyched to find a clubbing buddy in the city.

Marianne

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

New Cover!!

(A reminder, I always cross post to Livejournal now if you prefer that format. User name is Starrgirl7.)

On the heels of yesterday's new SHOMI book news, I have a new cover to share with you as well. This is for the shoe anthology that's out in April.

The title of my story is "Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con."



As for dressing like one's character, I'm not sure I could balance in those!!!

:)
Marianne

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Shomi: Round #2

Okay, I promised you news, so here it is. I have agreed to write a second book for the SHOMI line. Woot! The book is called RAZOR GIRL and will be out September '08.

The best way to describe it would be as folows:

A post-apocalyptic pilgrimage to Disney World (the last remaining civilization on Earth) featuring a cybernetically enhanced heroine, a reluctant, drug addicted hero, thirteen orphan children, and zombie like creatures who are hoping to eat them.

Or as editor says: Edwards Scissorhands meets 28 Days Later.

More soon. Also have my anthology cover to post!

:)
Marianne

PS Bonus points if one of you can tell me what Razor Girl references without Googling...

Monday, October 08, 2007

NJ Conference Final Wrap-up

I have to say, NJ RWA so did NOT disapoint. Probably the most conference fun I've had since RT in the spring. The last night was an after party with a DJ and dancing and though a lot of the music was on the cheesy side, we had a blast dancing to it.

A couple pics:










As you can see, lots of fun to be had. :)

On Sunday I returned to reality and did lots of writing. Finished up the tweaks I wanted to make on News Blues so I could pass it into my editor for editing. Now I'm back to my anthology, which is still coming along swimmingly. I figure I'll try to finish it by the end of the week or Monday at the latest.

Oh and I got some really good news today! But I'll save it for tomorrow!! ;-)

MARIANNE

Saturday, October 06, 2007

NJ RWA Conference Part 2

The conference is over, though there's an after party tonight. Our author branding workshop went really well and people asked great questions. Then we heard a truly inspiration speech by Sherrilyn Kenyon that made me cry and afterwards I went to her and Diana Love Snell's world building workshop which was fab and had a great handout that I'm definitely going to use next time I create a world. :) Then this afternoon we had a booksigning. I sold out of Girls that Growl and sold quite a few Moongazer books, too. So that was good. Here are a few pics:


The Black Swan Posse!! Me, Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Liz. (We're not worthy!)


Liz and her swan posse tank top.


My original outfit before I had button issues.


Talking up Shomi to attendees.


That's all for now. Return home tomorrow morning. Gotta do some writing.

Oh and I'll be annoucing contest winners tomorrow - entries cut off at midnight!!

MAR

NJ RWA Update

I'm sitting in my hotel room in NJ, getting ready to do our author branding workshop. The conference has been great so far! Liz and I led a PAN discussion on publicity yesterday, then went to a Q&A with Sherrilyn Kenyon. She called me out in front of everyone to chat about goth fashion. :) I love her. We chatted with her for a while afterwards. Did you hear there's a release date finally for Ash's book? It's July 08, I believe. Cannot WAIT! She was like "You stole my corset" cause remember I found the exact one her Simi character was wearing (the girl who plays Simi is actually her cousin, I guess.) She said she has it in purple though.

Here's what my outfit looked like. (Liz and I took goofy pics before going out.)





Liz also took this pic of me after we had a few drinks and were waiting around for the awards ceremony to begin. I really like how it came out so I'm posting it as well.



That night we went to the awards ceremony. I like how they read a steamy passage from each winner's book. The woman who reads them is really good. Liz had to go up and present the paranormal award cause she won the category last year. They gave away gift baskets and I won one with lots of Christmas goodies in it! Very cool cause I don't have a lot of Christmas stuff since I lost it all in the fire.

Then there was an amazing dessert reception with the most delicious cakes. I stuffed myself with sweets. We met up with Stacey Agden from Posner Books and her friend who was a really cool goth girl type. She and I made plans to go clubbing in NYC sometime soon. I'm totally psyched about this because I miss going to goth clubs since Manray in Cambridge closed down and before now didn't know anyone in NYC who was into that scene. Can't wait to go!!

This morning we heard a breakfast speech from Karen Robards which was really funny and inspiring. I can't believe people used to have to write books with typewriters. I would NOT be a writer today if I had to - my brain just doesn't work like that! Thank goodness for computers.

Okay better get ready for my workshop. Will recap more later. :) Having a wonderful time!!!

MARIANNE

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Vampire Week: My Turn!!!!

Okay we've heard from fab authors PC Cast and Rachel Caine about their vampire mythology. Now it's my turn to round out Vampire Week here on the blog. And yes, you have a chance to win all three books - Boys that Bite, Stake That! and Girls that Growl - when you comment.

Commenting is still open for PC and Rachel as well. Contest closes midnight on Saturday.

So now...let's talk Blood Coven!



In BOYS THAT BITE, all sixteen year old Rayne McDonald wanted in life was to become a vampire. She networked, got on the waiting list, even took her vampire certification class (which required some heavy homework.) But on the night she was supposed to be bitten and made undead, her intended Blood Mate, Magnus, accidentally bit her identical twin sister Sunny instead. Sunny had no idea, up until this point, that vampires even existed, and was so not pleased to be informed that she would now be turning into one a week before prom.

Poor Rayne’s luck doesn’t get much better in Book #2, STAKE THAT!. She’s informed by her school’s drama teacher (who also happens to be VP of Slayer Inc) that she’s the one in her generation destined to become--not a vampire, but a vampire slayer. Her first assignment? To get into a seedy blood bar downtown and slay its owner, a baddie vamp named Maverick. Luckily, she has help in the form of brooding, emo vampire Jareth.

In book #3, GIRLS THAT GROWL, our Goth heroine Rayne gets a new assignment—her toughest yet. To infiltrate the ranks of her high school cheerleading squad! Some football players have gone missing and the cheerleaders have been heard, well, growling.

A lot of people have compared my series to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I would definitely say I was influenced by Joss Whedon’s brilliance. But while the humor may be similar, the vampire world I created is very different than his. My vampires are high tech and organized and most of them are good—mingling with humans and getting blood from specially tested paid Blood Donors, instead of running around biting and killing people. They don’t like garlic and crosses, but have no problem with mirrors. They can regenerate quickly when injured, except when infected by tainted blood. They can’t go out in the sunshine and live in massive underground crypts hidden below cemeteries. They are extremely rich and hold many prominent positions around the world.

When Rayne decided she wanted to become a vampire, she had to go through a ton of testing and take certification classes. Once she was approved, the Council had to find her a Blood Mate with compatible DNA. A Blood Mate is kind of like a soul mate, who agrees to share his or her blood with the vampire-to-be and become partners with them for eternity.

I hope you will get a chance to check out the series. Book 1, BOYS THAT BITE, was released in May 2006 and was a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Book 2, STAKE THAT!, came out in December 2006. And now, we continue the story with GIRLS THAT GROWL, out this week!! For more information, friend me on MySpace at www.myspace.com/marimancusi.

Comment below to win the entire trilogy!

MARI

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Vampire Week Continues with Rachel Caine! WIN BOOKS!

Today we have our second teen vampire author with us--Rachel Caine - who writes the truly awesome Morganville vampire series for NAL Jam. If you haven't checked them out yet, you definitely should.

Make sure you comment below for a chance win all three books in the Morganville series! Both Rachel and PC's contests will be open until Saturday. Also, if you want to be entered to win MY vampire series (Boys that Bite, Stake That!, and Girls that Growl) head over to Rachel Caine's livejournal and comment there. And you can get a second chance over at PC Cast's blog as well.

Now, without further ado, here's Rachel!






Hi, I’m Rachel Caine, author of a young adult series called THE MORGANVILLE VAMPIRES. The latest book, MIDNIGHT ALLEY, is coming out on October 2, and I’m very excited to welcome you back, if you’re already a Morganville resident, or if not, give you the Visitor’s Tour!

Morganville, Texas is a small, dusty town in the middle of nowhere – it has a not-very-good college, and not much else to recommend it. But Morganville hides a drastic secret … because it’s the last safe haven for vampires. In fact, the town was founded by vampires. Vampires are the shadow government – and the not-so-shadowy rules of the human population, sometimes interacting directly, sometimes staying apart.

It’s like the Mafia, with fangs.

Claire Danvers, who was all set to head off to a glorious Ivy League early admission, has been forced to attend Texas Prairie University in Morganville … a “safe place” until she comes of age, at least according to her parents. But her parents don’t know just how dangerous things are. Claire’s made a lot of enemies in town – some accidentally, some deliberately – and she’s also made some very powerful allies, including the biggest, baddest vampire in town, the Founder Amelie.

Now, in MIDNIGHT ALLEY, Claire is being asked to take on a new job as an assistant to a secret, very dangerous vampire … one who holds the secrets to everything in Morganville. She’s balancing that with keeping her boyfriend Shane and friends Michael and Eve out of trouble, making her classes, and keeping her parents from becoming even more suspicious about her Morganville lifestyle. But the new job is going to be both seductive and even more deadly than she’s been told … and all of Morganville is at stake.

You can check out the entire Morganville experience in GLASS HOUSES, THE DEAD GIRLS’ DANCE, and this new release, MIDNIGHT ALLEY. I’ve also got short stories out on my website at http://www.rachelcaine.com//morganville!

Comment below to win signed copies of all three Morganville books!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

PC Cast Vampire Guest Blogging AND Giveaways!

October—Halloween month!--is a great month for vampire books, don’t you think? Well, obviously publishers agree, too. In fact, today marks the release of at least 3 teen vampire books!! Girls that Growl is mine, obviously. But we’ve also got the third book in the Morganville Vampire series by Rachel Caine and PC Cast’s second book in her House of the Night series.

So for the next couple of days, Rachel, PC, and I are going to be guest blogging on each other’s sites, talking about our own “rules” for vampires and celebrating the releases of our latest books. Oh and we’ll all be giving away free books, too. I’m on PC’s blog today and she’s on mine.

So without further ado, here’s PC. Make sure you comment – she’ll be giving away a set of her vampire books to a lucky commenter!

~~



When sixteen year old Zoey gets Marked by the vampyre Tracker and the outline of a sapphire colored crescent moon appears on her forehead the good news is she won’t have to take her geometry test the next day.

The bad news is she has to pack her bags that night and move to the House of Night, a private boarding school in Tulsa’s Midtown, commonly known in the ‘real’ world as Vampyre Finishing School or Hell High, where she’ll spend the next four years going through bizarre and unnamable physical changes, as well as a total religious and social shake-up. And that’s only if the whole process doesn’t kill her.

The Change from human teenager to adult vampyre kills at least one in every ten Marked kids.

So the vampyres my co-author and daughter Kristin and I have created are based on biology and then enriched with culture and magic. We came up with the physiological versus mystical basis of our vamps by working with our dad/granddad, who is a biologist. Here are our world rules:

The setting for the House of Night is in a world much like our own, except in Zoey’s world vampyres have always existed. Religion and superstition were all that could explain the phenomena of how perfectly healthy teenagers suddenly began Changing into powerful beings who drank blood and walked the night until modern medicine developed enough to discover that during the hormone surge of teenage years a junk DNA strand sometimes activated, causing an irreversible and incurable physiological chain reaction. During this Change recessive pheromones begin to secrete a trail that only a Tracker vampyre (one with highly developed scent senses) could detect. Once the pheromones become active the fledgling vampyre must be brought within an adult vampyre fold so that the physiological Change can be controlled and slowed, but even when surrounded by the power of mature vampyres, not all human teens survive the transition to become mature vampyres.

Vampyre society is strongly matriarchal. They worship the Goddess Nyx, who the personification of Night, as their main deity. A secondary deity is her consort, the God Erebus, who is the personification of Darkness. Adult vampyres have enhanced human abilities, which means that women are stronger psychically, and over the centuries have evolved into the majority of the leadership roles. Male adult vampyres are warriors, protectors and consorts.

There are five House of Night vampyre finishing schools in the United States, each in a different region of the country. They each have a sister school in Europe. The vampyre society is close-knit and because they are virtually immortal the culture has amassed an enormous amount of wealth, which the Priestesses of Nxy control and the Warriors of Erebus protect.

Vampyres do age and die, but their lifespan normally reaches several hundred years. They have amazing regenerative abilities, but can be killed if their heads are removed, their hearts are pierced, or their bodies are burned.

So take a stroll over to our world and discover the House of Night and our version of the timeless myth of vampyres. Book 1, MARKED, was released May 2007 (and has recently been nominated YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers List). Book 2, BETRAYED, will be released October 2nd. Book 2, CHOSEN, will be out March 2008. Check out: http://www.pccast.net/, and coming in October, http://www.houseofnightseries.com/

Monday, October 01, 2007

Monday Monday

Happy Monday!

I had a good weekend. Went to this really cool Renn Faire in Ft. Tyron (which is upper Manhattan) on Sunday. There were like 50,000 people there, but it was fun even with the crowds. Lots of cool booths to check out, as well as sword fighting, etc. I found a really cool necklace to go with the outfit I'm putting together for NJ. It's a beautiful gothic cross kind of thing. Perfect! A lot of people were dressed up in Medieval garb and I was jealous that I didn't have any to wear. There was even a gypsy reading palms, which totally reminded me of the scene in Connecticut Fashionista where Kat gets sent back in time.

This week I really need to buckle down and work on my anthology story so I can get that turned in soon. Then on Friday I'm going to the NJ RWA conference, which should be fun. I've been to this conference for like the last 5 years and it's one of my favorites. Actually the first year I went I pitched and got my first agent! That was exciting, to say the least!! Please come up and say hi if you see me there. Liz and I will likely be hard to miss. :)

Tomorrow is BOOK RELEASE DAY!! Yay GiRLs that Growl!! Also, we're going to have a very special guest blogger later today -- with vampire giveaways! So check back soon!

Marianne