Long dayz

Nothing too exciting going on today. I worked a double but still managed to get in some good editing. I'm sooo close to being done with Camelot Code! My agent really thinks this could be my breakout book so I want to make sure it's as perfect as possible.

The chicken marsala came out really good last night, I thought. We ate it while watching Friday the 13th Part VII. That's the one with the psychic girl. I don't think it's as bad as people like to say, though the ending is kind of silly. Next up, speaking of silly, is Jason Takes Manhattan. Yeah. I heard they shot most of that in Vancouver though so we'll see.

I was very tired tonight after my long day so I decided to just veg and watch something off Netflix. (Love the Netflix instant service!) I picked the first episode of HEROES. Everyone has told me I will love this show. Hard to tell yet. But then I wasn't convinced about Lost until a few episodes in, so I'm willing to give it further investigation.

Anyway, I'd write more, but I really don't have anything fascinating to say so I think I'll bid you goodnight! :)

Marianne

Don't Bogart Bacall!

So today I’m at a gym near the Time Warner Center, shooting a story with Gabrielle Reece’s trainer on pre-natal fitness and who should be there but Lauren Bacall herself. (And her dog, who was running all over the place.) How crazy to randomally walk by a living legend. She grumped at my photographer for being in her way. I wished I could have sat down and chatted with her. Oh the stories she must have! I did pet her dog, Sophie. She’s a pappillion and had a really fancy tail. I was going to take a photo, but then Lauren came back out of the dressing room and scooped the dog up and left. Oh well. Still was a cool sighting though.

In other celeb news, I interviewed Christine Baranski yesterday. She’s doing some promotions for the upcoming Mama Mia movie. (Which looks really good!) She was good on camera, but I think she must have been tired from being at the event all day. (I believe we were her last interview of the day.) I never know what to say with celebs to make small talk so I’m always a bit awkward. Maybe someday I’ll be able to get over that. It’s not that I’m starstruck or anything – just I get kind of tongue tied. And these are usually stars I don’t even care about. I can’t imagine sticking a microphone in the face of someone like Jude Law or David Bowie!!

Tonight I’m going to work on editing Camelot Code and go running and then Jacob’s coming over after school and we’re going to make chicken marsala. Should be yum! We have to do an inpromptu cooking night this week cause I’ve got night shoots tomorrow and Thursday. Actually Thursday’s shoot is going to be super fun though so I don’t mind. More on that soon!

Marianne

Razor Girl on The Good, The Bad and the Unread

Sybil was nice enough to post an excerpt of Razor Girl today on her blog.

Go forth, read, and post a comment! Help me look popular! ;-)

Marianne

Weekend Wrap up

Friday:
Dinner at Ruth’s Chris – Mmmmm. Yum. Then clubbing with Leanna and Jacob at Contempt, the once a month goth night at MI-5 in Tribeca. Highlight of the night? A guy dressed as a girl and using the “it’s my first night as a girl” shtick to pick up real women. At first they felt sorry for him and were trying to take him under their wing. Then he asked them to take off their clothes…Um, yeah.

Saturday:
Beautiful day out, Jacob and I played aerobie in Central Park. It’s like Frisbee, but a different kind of disc. At first we both really sucked (especially me who can’t catch worth anything) but we got better as we played. It was fun and nice to get outside and enjoy the weather. Afterwards we went back inside to work – Jacob on school work and me on Camelot Code. Then we met up with Liz to go down to Hill Country for some genuine barbeque. (Did you know real barbeque doesn’t have barbeque sauce? Jacob looked slightly appalled as Liz and I doused our meat anyway…) After that, home for another installment of Friday the 13th. We’re on Part six, so more than halfway there. Supposedly there’s an actual Friday the 13th in June – maybe we’ll watch the final episode on that day.

Sunday:
Slept in then went on long run – 4.6 miles! I’m really finding my groove now. I’ll be really proud when I can do six miles and go all the way around Central Park. Then we headed down to Brooklyn Heights to meet friends for Mexican food at Lobo.

Was a fun weekend overall. Now I’ve got the week from hell at work to pay for it. So many shoots lined up! And lots of them night shoots. Which isn’t bad, actually, considering I get a lot done writing wise if I have the morning off. Want to finish polishing The Camelot Code by next Thursday at the latest. I’m definitely on track to do that. The book is shaping up really nicely – I’m very proud of it!

That’s all for now! Hope you all had good weekends, too!
Marianne

Random non RT stuffz

I think you're all probably RT'ed out by now so on to regular things.

* I posted an excerpt of RAZOR GIRL on my website if anyone wants a sneak peak.

* I got the Japanese cover of Boys that Bite and it's soo beautiful! Totally manga style. I'll post it soon - it's in pdf form currently and I don't know how to upload it to flickr. Even cooler - the Japanese publisher is setting up magazine interviews for me in Tokyo when Liz and I visit! I'm so excited about that!

* Lost is back on the air!

* Jacob and I ran over four miles yesterday. Now that the weather has turned nice I'm starting to train. I want to be able to run a half marathon by August. It's a lot more fun and motivating to run with a partner so I feel now this is an achievable goal. Of course, Jacob's run full marathons, but that's a bit much for me!

* Here's a couple of segments that I've done recently for Better. Day in the life of a sommelier (Heather Branch at the newly opened Eighty Eight on the Upper West Side) and making your own tomato sauce (with the always fabulous Donatella Arpia). Today I shot a "how to make a margarita" segment that will air on Cinco de Mayo.





That's all for now! Happy weekend!

Marianne

Some More RT Photos

Are you sick of all the RT photos yet? I swear I'll get back to real life stuff soon! But I can't resist one more round:


The Shomi Girls hear, speak and see no evil!


Yeah, we're with the band!


SWAT Girls go to Hollywood


Booksigning fun!


I don't know this girl's name, but she was awesome!


Hanging out with Mr. Romance himself, Chris Winters

Adrian Paul

The Highlander!! :)

Air Guitar!

Liz Maverick and Leanna Hieber....caught on tape! Sadly only for a few seconds before my camera battery ran out.

Smile!

It's amazing how much fun you can have with a pair of vampire teeth and a camera...

Drive By Videos

Barbara Vey, the wonderful Publisher's Weekly blogger, spent the RT conference doing drive-by videos of authors with her little video camera. Such a cool concept! You can go to her blog and check out all the videos here.

This is the one she did of Liz and I.



I really need to get with the program and start bringing my little camera everywhere. I do good with stills, but it'd be fun to get more video stuff.

By the way, I blogged yesterday over at the Rebels of Romance site. Soon we should have the video up of the last day of the conference. Should be a good one!

Marianne

Karma Kitty Power!!

This is me, dressing as my "These Boots Were Made for Stomping" character (Hayley), who dresses as her character (Karma Kitty) in "Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con."

The story was inspired by the costume controversy at RWA last year when Liz and I were accused of dressing up like our characters at the booksigning. (Which we didn't, actually. We just dressed in generic manga inspired outfits.)

Scandalous! ;-) Of course no one at RT would bat an eye. :)







Here's the rundown, in case any of YOU want to become Karma Kittty!

* Cat Ears: From Anime Fest 2007 in NYC - belongs to Liz
* Pink Hair: extensions bought off of eBay. They come in all colors - manic panic sells good ones, too.
* Skirt: Skelanimals brand. Their motto? "Dead Animals Need Love, Too!"
* Tie: Tripp (previously worn at aforementioned RWA event)
* Gold sequin tank top: Filenes Basement - $6.99
* Shirt: Mine - I think it's Express...
* Gold Boots: www.HiHeelia.com

RT: The Outfits

After last summer's RWA costume controversy, everyone is always asking about Liz Maverick and my conference outfits. So here they are in order:

Many more fun pics to come! Have to space them out though -- I took over 100! :)

Marianne

Fabio!

fabio, originally uploaded by starrgirl77.

I think he's sort of groping Liz here...

RT Highlights

It's the last day of the Romantic Times Convention. I haven't been blogging because we've been doing the videos. (The final two will be available Monday and Tuesday.) But I did want to throw out some highlights. Oh and give a major shout out to the best producer/photographer ever - Morgan Doremus of Miss Media Productions! She is the amazing talent behind the videos you've seen so far. Yay Morgan!

Some other highlights:

* Meeting and playing the chocolate game with urban fantasy author Kim Harrison. I've always loved her books and she was super fun and nice in person.

* Fun with vampire teeth (pics to follow when I go back home and can upload them)

* Having bestselling YA author Mellisa Marr tell me her and her daughter were fans of my Boys that Bite series.

* Getting an email from my editor back in NYC that my Japanese publisher for Boys that Bite wants to set up magazine interviews for me while I'm visiting the country. (Not RT related, but still way cool!)

* Cheering on Hank Phillippi Ryan for her RT award. (Also catching up with her in general as I used to see her everyday. I'm so proud of all her success in writing in such a short time!)

* All my panels - from Shomi to media marketing to YA. They were fun and I think people got a lot out of them.

* Attacking editor Chris K with glitter and getting it on camera.

* Meeting great new people like Judi McCoy and the ladies of the Lipstick Chronicles.

Oh and I have to say, for someone who's known for her crazy costumes at romance conferences, I feel like I've looked pretty damn normal compared to everyone else here! Boring even! The costumes are amazing. I will have pics of all my costumes once I upload from my camera, but as an example, here are Liz and my very tame day outfits. :)





(Though you can't see in this that my sweatshirt has cat ears. hehe)

That's all for now! Must run to booksigning!

Marianne

RT Blogging/Videos

Liz and I are blogging - video and otherwise over at the Rebels of Romance site. So check out all the antics and conference hilarity there!

:)
Marianne

Au Revoir, NYC - Bonjour, Pittsburgh!

Heading to Pittsburgh tonight to the Romantic Times Convention. Liz and I will be video blogging the convention for the magazine so expect daily video updates on their site and mine. The RT convention is so much fun! My favorite conference of the year. Can’t wait to get there and get started.

The only downside? My suitcase weighs like 300 pounds with all the costume changes!

Marianne

Better TV on YouTube

So the powers that be in the old day job have now started uploading our videos to YouTube in addition to the better.tv site once they air in the show. The quality isn't as good as on the official player (youtube compresses video) but it's a great way to easily embed the videos into websites and blogs.

Here's one I did recently with DailyCandy.com editor at large Dannielle Kyrillos(who is so adorable! I love working with her.) on how to "shop" for spring clothes in your very own closet.



I think I'll be posting my favorite videos from time to time now so you can better see what I do in my day job. :)

Marianne

Home vs. Out

Last night Jacob and I stayed in and cooked (as has become our Thursday tradition) some good old southern chicken fried steak and gravy, complete with cornbread and margaritas. (Not exactly diet food, but to our credit, we did run 3 ½ miles before we cooked.) Then we watched Friday the 13th Part 3 – yes, the 3D one. (We bought some 3D glasses off eBay.) Let’s just say it’s not the best in the installment, even WITH the cheesy 3D effects.

I have to say, I love these Thursday nights in. I feel like, as a New Yorker, I’m always out hitting this trendy restaurant or that scene’y club. And while it’s fun to go out, don’t get me wrong, going out all the time makes nights in feel even more special. Home cooking, cheesy movies, good conversation with someone special – it’s just as good—if not better!!—than bottle service in the balcony of The Box. I’ve done both now, so I know!

Back in college I used to be a huge club kid. I promoted for parties, I ran coat check at this after-hours club called The Loft. I was VIP everywhere, totally hooked into the scene. And while it was fun and glam and all that, it was also so, so empty. I’m glad I’ve grown up and left all that behind. Now I’m a tourist in the club scene. I visit. I dance. But I don’t work it. I don’t play the game. And my friends are real. They don’t disappear at last call. I can depend on them.

Anyway, that’s not to say I don’t love going out and trying new restaurants and dancing at new clubs, etc. I embrace these experiences with open arms and always strive to live life to the fullest!! I just don’t think people should get so wrapped up in these night excursions that they lose all sense of self and what’s important in the grand scheme of things. Getting past the velvet ropes at the Beatrice Inn shouldn’t count as a significant life achievement. And always remember, the three hundred dollar bottles of vodka at Lotus cost $30 at your corner liquor store.

Marianne

Dorchester Featured of Better TV

Hey all!

As most you know, I'm a television producer as well as a writer. And for my day job, producing for Better TV, I decided to do a story on how a romance cover is created - from concept to final design. (I get a LOT of questions about covers from people every day, so I figured it was something worthwhile to explore.) In the story, I featured my publisher, Dorchester, in the story and we followed CL Wilson's cover for Queen of Song and Souls - one of her next releases.

Anyway, it's up on our Better.tv site today. Check it out and let me know what you think! :)

UPDATED: OR YOU CAN WATCH IT BELOW WITH THE YOUTUBE LINK!



Marianne

I can has vote, plz plz?

I love the LOLCats and LOLDogs sites and now I've made my very own LOL - based on a picture of Molly, of course. And she's now entered her in the Jones Pure Cane soda competition. Obviously Molly deserves to win, so please click on her picture to go rate her! It only takes a second. :)


moar funny pictures

Monday, Monday

Today was a crazy busy day at work. Had to write two scripts AND go on a shoot. Interview with Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles. (Anyone into country music here?) She was actually really nice and easy to work with. So beautiful in person, too! I felt so frumpy around her as I'd rolled out of bed late this morning - exhausted - and didn't do much in the way of primping.

UPDATE: Here's the Jennifer Nettles Better TV piece finished.



I started on my Razor Girl edits that I got back from Chris. He said he really liked the book and that it was interesting and the characters were likeable and he believed their romance and actually he cared what happened to them. Phew! I'm so glad! This was such a tough book to write. But I think it really came together in the end. I can't wait to see what people think of it!

So I'll do my edits on that this week - nothing hard so I should be done in a few days - and then go back to The Camelot Code. I have the first draft of that already done so it's just a matter of really smoothing it out and perfecting each scene. I need this book to be better than anything I've done before and so I plan to spend a lot of time on it over the next couple months. Luckily, it's such a fun book that I don't think this will be a chore to do.

I'm too braindead to write any more so I'll wish you goodnight!

Marianne

Weekend Wrap-up

Ah, weekend, you are over and I feel you never really began. Especially since I had to work but Saturday AND Sunday. Bleh.

A brief wrap-up:

On Friday night, Jacob and I went to see Sasha and Digweed spin at Webster Hall. It was so crowded though - you couldn't really dance - you just had to stand there and stare at the stage. And let's just say neither of us are that keen on just watching a guy spin techno without dancing to it. Might as well stay home and crank up the iTunes. So we ended up leaving. (The line to get in was down the block when we did - I have no idea how they were expecting to cram more people inside!) We walked all the way down to The Knitting Factory for a little gothing at Necromantic. Necro was the right kind of crowded - good vibe, but plenty of room on the dance floor. We danced to a few songs, then Father Jeff (the greatest goth DJ in NYC) got down and his bud started spinning non-goth tunes like Garbage. Boo! Since I had to work the next morning anyway, we decided it was time to leave.

The next morning I went to cover National Love Your Children Day, this charity event celebrating kids. Did the Red Carpet thing where I interviewed people like Meredith Vieira from The Today Show and Cameron Mathison from All My Children (and Dancing with the Stars). Oh and the new Menudo. The boys were so adorable and man, they could sing! Meredith was so down to Earth and really cool and later I got to watch her to Karaoke to "Achy Breaky Heart" and "Mamma Mia." I'm very impressed by her. Cameron was awesome too - so charismatic!! He totally had me swooning a bit. It's funny how some stars just have that magnetism while others are complete let-downs.

UPDATED: Here's the finished video from the event:




That night, Jacob and I cooked a garlic Beef and Broccoli dish from Rocko's Dispirito's cookbook. Came out great! One great thing about my job is we get all these top chefs' cookbooks sent to us to be featured on the show. So I've been looking through them for good recipees to try out. My New Year's resolution to learn to cook better is really going well now! And I've realized it can be a lot of fun to cook - if, at least, you're cooking with a partner.



For those of you who were thinking those previous cooking shots were in my kitchen (they were at Jacob's apt), I took a pic so you could see what my ACTUAL microscopic kitchen looks like! That's it! Just a tiny row by the front door. Gotta love NY living! Thank goodness there's a deli across the street that will make anything I want to eat. :)



Today I woke up at the crack of dawn to cover the More Magazine Marathon. It's a marathon and half-marathon for women over forty. Was quite inspiring to see all those women out there in Central Park running their hearts out. I don't think I could ever do a marathon myself, but they do make it look fun!

After working, Jacob and I met my cousin Jessica and her husband Thompson for brunch at Arte Cafe. They do a really good brunch. I had waffles with fruit and whipped cream and it was real cream. Yum. It was great to see Jess - she lives down in DC now so I don't see her too often. Especially now that I don't always make it back to Boston for holidays now that I'm in NYC.

While we brunched, Molly went to the groomers and got shaved. Here's the before and after! Quite a transformation!!





But don't worry! She won't be cold! Thanks to an old Christmas present from my mom.



Anyway, that's about it. As you can see I packed a lot in, even if I did have to work!

Hope you all had great weekends yourselves!

Marianne

A Friday Meme

So Elizbeth has tagged me with this meme. Here goes!

You're feeling: a little tired, but content overall.

To your left: a red wall

On your mind: my works in progress – Camelot Code and Razor Girl

Last meal included: salad with chicken, avocado and other goodness

You sometimes find it hard to: just sit and do nothing

The weather: rainy (bleh!)

Something you have a collection of: DVDs, books, stuffed animals

A smell that cheers you up: bread baking

A smell that can ruin your mood: dog mess (as I have to pick up after mine!)

How long since you last shaved: last night before going out

The current state of your hair: messy and down (rain messed with it good)

The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): Latin Chic cookbook

Your skill with chopsticks: so-so

Which section you head for first in a bookstore: young adult, then romance – gotta research!

Something you’re craving: Magnolia Cupcakes

Your general thoughts on the presidential race: Plz don’t let a Republican win!

How many times have you been hospitalized this year: Never. Never have been either

Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: wander through Central Park

You’ve always secretly thought you’d be a good: actress!

Something that freaks you out a little: calling strangers on the phone

Something you’ve eaten too much of lately: Tasti-D-Lite with chocolate sprinkles

You have never: gone to Europe

You never want to: jump out of a plane

People I'm tagging: Leanna, Liz, Diana, Brian

Techno dancing, people watching, and dead animals who need love, too

Is it Friday yet? This week seems to be dragging. Not that the weekend will make much difference…gotta work Saturday AND Sunday. On Better TV stuff, not even my writing! Boo!! But we are going to see Sasha and Digweed spin on Friday night, so that’s good. They’re old techno/trance DJs from back in my old-school raver days past. Haven’t seen them spin in years! Should be really great.

Last night Jacob and I went and got steak at Rossi’s and then went to this real swanky bar at the Hudson Hotel. It was one of those places that’s great for people watching – seeing all the desperate rich guys and the girls using them for free drinks. We would watch the interactions and make up stories about each one.

Here’s a picture of the place I stole off Flickr, which oddly enough was taken from exactly where we were seated…



Nothing else too exciting going on. I’m just about finished with the rough draft of The Camelot Code. I figure I’ll put it aside for a week to do revisions on Razor Girl, then go back to it with a fresh eye for the polishing. That’s usually the best way to do it. I really love how it’s coming out – so much fun! I hope my agent/editor like it!

I can’t believe that in two weeks I’ll be in Pittsburgh at the Romantic Times Convention. Where does the time go? Can’t wait, though. This is my favorite conference of the year.

And lastly – have you guys heard of Skelanimals? My friends and I have become completely obsessed with them!!! Their motto is: "Dead Animals Need Love, Too!" More on this soon!

Foreign Sales and Foreign Travel

I just found out today that my March book “NEWS BLUES” was bought by a publisher in Estonia. Kind of random, huh? I had to look it up to find out more about the country. Turns out Estonia has its own language that is similar to Finnish. It’s one of the smallest members of the EU with 1.3 million inhabitants. It’s bordered to the north by Finland and the west by Sweden and to the south by Latvia.

Anyway, pretty cool that a country I barely knew existed is publishing one of my books! I always get such a kick out of foreign sales. And it’s so fun to hear from readers. I get so many German kids writing to me saying they’re doing book reports on “Boys that Bite.” I love it!

Here’s the list of counties my books have been put out in. Doesn’t count places like Canada and England, which use the American versions. I’m talking special, translated editions with unique covers.

Australia
France
Germany
Japan
Sweden
Estonia

I really, really want to see the Japanese cover of Boys that Bite! I’m hoping it’s manga style.

Speaking of Japan, I booked the Ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) that Liz and I will be staying in for part of our Japan visit in June. It’s going to be so interesting; the place is decorated in the old Edo style and you sleep on mats and eat traditional food, and can even bathe in traditional communal baths. Should be quite the experience!

Here's a room shot I stole off someone's flickr of a typical room at our Ryokan.



I’ve never been to any foreign countries except Mexico and Canada before this. No warming up on Europe for me! I’m going to jump into the foreign travel thing with two feet! Can’t wait!

Marianne

These Boots Were Made for Stomping!

Today is the official release date of "These Boots Were Made for Stomping" - a funny, paranormal, kick butt anthology featuring Julie Kenner, Jade Lee, and yours truly. Each of the stories has to do with an adventure a woman has when ordering a special pair of shoes from www.hiheelia.com. The shoes, you see, give magic powers to their wearers!



My particular story, KARMA KITTY GOES TO COMIC CON, takes place at the NYC Comic Con. The heroine, a comic book artist named Hailey, is supposed to go for a booksigning. Little does she know that, while dressing up as her comic book character (a little poke at the RWA costume controversy of last summer!) she would suddenly attain all the comic cat's powers as well. Thank goodness, too, seeing as she has to suddenly do battle with ninjas and convince her ex boyfriend to take her back.

This story was probably the most fun thing I've ever written. I really got to get my geek on!! Julie and Jade's stories are a lot of fun, too. And there's a part two: These Boots Were Made for Strutting - out next month!

One interesting thing - the website where you buy the boots in the story - actually exists! Through a partnership, readers can buy the shoes featured in the stories at http://www.hiheelia.com/. Magic powers, sadly, not included. At least I don't think so!!

You can find These Boots Were Made For Stomping on Amazon.com or a bookstore near you!

Oh and we've gotten great reviews so far. I've pasted some below so you can check them out!

"These three stories, connected by shoes purchased from Hiheelia.com, will appeal to readers fond of the absurd, larger-than-life characters found in comic books and cartoons. Throw in a dash of romance and be prepared for some lighthearted entertainment."--Romantic Times Book Reviews

"These three stories are at times so silly. But the comic book aspects of all the stories warmed my heart, and I found myself enjoying them all. Go with it -- you'll have fun, smile, laugh a little. THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING will give you a couple of enjoyable hours."--Fresh Fiction

"Oh my God readers are going to love this...and want the boots themselves. Loved it all. All of these were awesome and can't wait for the sequel: These Boots Were Made for Strutting."--Night Owl Romance


"Whether you are in love with shoes or not, get your shoes on, even if they're just house ones that you put on to get to the computer and place the order, and get this."--Huntress Review


"THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING is an excellent, butt kicking compilation by fan favorites Julie Kenner, Jade Lee, and Marianne Mancusi....Whether you like full length novels or short stories, THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING is sure to keep you entertained. With its fun filled, action packed, and sexy as hell stories you can't help but smile and say "You go, girl!""--Simply Romance Reviews

"THESE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR STOMPING will delight readers as fashion and fighting go hand in hand in these three tales of love and a little bit of war. Do not miss out!"--Romance Reviews Today