2 Days to DragonCon!

The work week is winding down and I'm excited to be heading out of town tomorrow. First, Jacob and I are driving down to Philadelphia to go see Nine Inch Nails perform. Then the next morning we're hopping on a plane and heading to Atlanta to attend DragonCon. This will be my first time but I've heard such amazing things about it - I can't wait! We weren't able to get a hotel on site (our hotel is a mile and a half away, boo!) but it'll still be awesomely fun, I think.

Anyone else going? I'll be sure to take lots of photos. And yes, I'll be costuming. In fact, I need to go home tonight and pack! Gah. I also need to go buy a memory card for my camera. Too much to do! But it's a good problem to have. :)

I know this entry's short, but that's really all I have right now! Hope your week is going well!

Marianne

Gossip Girl - New Clips!!

New preview for the new season of Gossip Girl!! Less than a week away!

Can't WAIT!

Razor Girl Release Day!!!

Hey everyone,

I'm so excited - it's the official release day of my latest book - RAZOR GIRL! Another offering from the Dorchester SHOMI line of speculative fiction, Razor Girl is a post-apocalyptic pilgramage to Disney World. Or, as my agent likes me to say, Casablanca with zombies! :)

I know I've posted this before, but once more with feeling for those of you still contemplating on whether to check it out.

Molly Anderson is not your average twenty-one-year- old. It's been six years since she and her family escaped into a bunker, led by her conspiracy theorist father and his foreknowledge of a plot to bring about the apocalypse. But her father's precautions didn't stop there. Molly is now built to survive.

Yes, Ian Anderson's favorite book gave him ideas on how to "improve" his daughter. Molly is faster, stronger, and her ocular implants and razor-tipped nails set her apart. Apart, when—venturing alone out of the bunker and into a plague ravaged, monster-ridden wilderness—what Molly needs most is togetherness. Chase Griffin, a friend from her past, is her best bet. But while he and others have miraculously survived, the kind boy has become a tormented man. Together, these remnants of humanity must struggle toward trusting each other and journey to the one place Molly's father believed all civilization would be reborn: the Magic Kingdom, where everyone knows it's a small world after all.

~~

And here's what the reviewers are saying...

"Opens with danger and will grab your interest immediately. Stellar!"–Huntress Reviews

"An increasingly intense, suspenseful edge-of-the- seat thrilling ride…stunning, cutting edge romance."–Merrimon Book Reviews

"Non-stop thrill ride from page one! Marianne Mancusi spins an eerily marvelous tale in her book RAZOR GIRL."–Simply Romance Reviews

"Mancusi doesn¹t hesitate to take chances and innovate!"–Romantic Times

"Marianne Mancusi has returned with an edgy all-new tale, Razor Girl, filled with fast-paced action and a heroine strong enough to mold her own destiny."–SF Scope

~~

You can find Razor Girl at your local bookstore and online at Amazon.com. It only takes a second to click and order and it would make my day if you did! Let's show the world there's a market for innovative, out of the box romances! :)

Thanks for reading! You guys rock!

Marianne

Win Shomi Books!

The lovely Holly over at Book Binge is sponsoring a huge Shomi contest giveaway! Check it out and enter to win seven (YES, SEVEN!) different Shomi books.

Yay Book Binge. Yay Shomi.

Marianne

Weekend Wrap-Up: Mom Edition

My mom left this morning, back to Boston. We packed in a very full weekend while she was here and I think she had fun. :)

On Saturday we went to see a matinee of the Broadway show GREASE. It was really cute. Taylor Hicks of American Idol fame did the "Teen Angel" role and got more applause than the cast members, which I thought was a little unfair, but I guess they have to do whatever they can to fill the seats.

Afterwards we headed to the M&M store, my mom's favorite place in NYC. It was packed, but we managed to get a few pictures. And, of course, some M&Ms. I got the Halloween Mix - purple, black, and orange - while my mom got almond M&Ms.

Afterwards we headed to Dallas BBQ for some dinner and margaritas. Yum!





The next day we tried to go to this church in Times Square, but it was so packed they wouldn't let us in. The first church I've ever gone to with a guest list and a bouncer! It was housed in what must have been an old theater. Very ornate.

Afterwards we headed down to Williamsburg for some thrift shopping. I got an amazing Betsy Johnson dress for like $40 at Buffalo Exchange. I love that place! Then we headed up to Astoria to Jacob's so my mom could see where I'd be living soon. We had shish kabobs and corn on the cob. Yum. Then we played Scrabble. Jacob won and my mom came in second. Yes, yours truly lost badly. I'd love to blame it on my letters, but I think I'm just a lousy Scrabble player all around.





All in all it was a fun weekend. I'm glad she was able to come! Molly and I are tired today though. Got a lot to do before this weekend's trip to Atlanta for Dragoncon!






Marianne

Steak Yum

My mom's visiting this weekend so last night Jacob and I took her out to Beacon, a swanky midtown restaurant at 56th and fifth. It's still restaurant week (they extended it) so we were able to have a delicious three course meal (appetizer, main course, dessert) for $35 a piece. We got the sirloin steak and it was delicious! It's fun to go out to really expensive restaurants during restaurant week and try things you could never afford otherwise.

Of course we had to get a doggie bag for Molly, too! She looks ready to bite my hand off here for steak!





Today we're going to go see Grease on Broadway.

Marianne

A Day in the Life of a Manhattan Socialite

I recently did a story for Better TV in which one of Manhattan's socialites, Mina Jacqueline Au, founder of Bon Luxe, a luxury lifestyle site, took intern Alex through what a typical day in the life is like for a Manhattan socialite. From being pampered at luxurious 5th Avenue Cornelia Day Resort to private shopping for $800 shoes to equsitite meals at fancy West Village restaurants, it certainly is fun to see how the other half (one percent?) lives. I was so jealous as I watched Alex get that milk bath, facial and pedicure! I think it was probably the best day of her internship.

Marianne

Jacob's Last Day

Today is an exciting day! Jacob has his last class, last final and he's DONE SCHOOL FOREVER and will officially have his MBA degree. Yay! I'm so proud of him. He has worked soooooo hard! It's crazy. Working all day, then going straight to class, getting home after 9pm, studying til midnight and then waking up and doing it all over again. I could NOT have done it!

I've been saving this photo for just this occasion. Double fisting calculators. What a geek! :) (And I mean that in the best possible way - after all, in my mind geeks are totally hot!)

Marianne

The insane marketing of NYC realty

In case you can't read it, this sign, hanging in the window of a NYC relator says:

"Champagne and Cavier for the Cost of Peanuts."

How much are those peanuts in the window you may well ask? $899,000. Plus a maintenance fee of $754 a month. (About the price of a normal person in this country's rent.)

Only in NYC would a 1 BEDROOM (!) apartment costing nearly a million dollars be compared to peanuts. What is wrong with this city?

In comparison, here's the property you can get in Austin, TX for the same "peanuts."





A four bedroom 3 1/2 bathroom place on 2 acres! Check out this beauty!

Sigh.

But okay, you're saying...I don't have 900,000 so this means nothing. Here's another for you then.

For $200,000...

IN AUSTIN: 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath.






IN QUEENS: 1 bedroom, 1 bath.
(I had to use Queens since you can't get anything for $200,000 in Manhattan.)







Okay, that's enough for now. I know I've depressed all of you in NYC and made the rest of you snicker with superiority. :)

Marianne

Hiking Storm King

Yesterday Jacob, Molly and I headed upstate to hike the Storm King Mountain Summit Trail. It's a beautiful hike, a lot of cliff walking along spectcular open views of the Hudson River and beyond. I wasn't sure at first how Molly would do on the hike - after all, she's getting to be an old lady at 12, but I'm happy to say she hiked like a seasoned pro. (Even though just like in the old days she's terrible at picking the right trail.) She stayed ahead the entire trek and even found a tortoise! (Yes, the great tortoise hunter - that's about her speed.) At the top she enjoyed sharing a sandwich with me.

Here are some pics!

(Look closely to see the tortoise here!)


After hiking we headed to the nearby town of Cold Spring. Ate the rest of our lunches, wandered around the quaint village and I got some ice cream.

Then we headed back to NYC and went to the movies. We saw Mirrors with Keifer Sutherland, a horror movie. It was pretty scary. Lots of "jump out atcha" moments. The problem was the audience in the theater was totally rowdy. I should make it a rule never to go to Times Square movies on opening weekend. People just talk through the whole movie and text each other. ANNOYING.

But other than that, it was a good day. :)

Marianne

Razor Girl on Reuters!

This is pretty cool - Reuters picked up the Razor Girl review by Book Binge! :)

Check it out!

Sherrilyn Kenyon for Better TV

On Friday afternoon I headed over to conduct an interview with the lovely Sherrilyn Kenyon, whom I adore. Sherri and Liz and I bonded over the costume controversy at RWA last year and I've loved her ever since. (Of course I love her books as well.) I interviewed her on camera for my Better TV feature. She really has an inspirational life story about overcoming ridiculous obstacles to become such a worldwide success!

Mike tried to get a good over-the-shoulder shot, but she said can't type with someone looking over her shoulder. So we had her pull up the Dark Hunter website instead. She told me that people have met on her bulletin boards and ended up getting married to one another! And she's always being introduced to babies with her characters' names. I do think Acheron would make an awesome name. :)




And check this out! Acheron's coat on the bed! Now get your minds out of the gutter!




Sherrilyn's been on tour all over the country for weeks now (with her partner-in-crime Dianna Love Snell, who we love as well!), promoting her latest book, Acheron. (Amazing book, btw.) And yet, when we headed to the booksigning later that evening to get video of the fans lining up to meet her, she spent time with every single person and signed and took photos. It was amazing - I don't know how she has the stamina. I think that's part of the reason she's so well loved - in addition to writing such amazing books, she's just a great person who really cares deeply about her fans.







I'm going to get the last piece of video for the piece down in Dragon Con at the end of the month. We're sure to get some costumed fans there! And, of course, I will post the final segment online when it's all done.

More pics on the Rebels of Romance blog as well. And don't forget to enter Liz Maverick and my contest to win signed copies of Acheron! She signed them for me on Friday and so they're ready to go!

Marianne

Razor Girl Review

Another great Razor Girl review today. This one's from Fresh Fiction.

"RAZOR GIRL is a brilliant and innovative read that generates speculation as to what the future may hold for us all. A great story!!"

Click here to read the whole review.

Approximately two weeks til it hits store shelves! Yay!

Marianne

New 90210 Promo

I cannot WAIT for this to debut! I'm so glad they brought back Kelly and Brenda. I've been watching reruns in anticipation of it all! This was my favorite, favorite show as a teenager and it's so cool that it's back. I just hope they spend equal time on the adult storylines (with the old castmembers) as they do on the teen ones. Kind of like what they did on The OC.

A writer friend of mine is a writer for the show. I'm sooo jealous of her job!!!

Marianne

Glowy Table

Since we're in cyberlust gadget mode this week, here's one more that makes me go OOOH!!!

Unfortunately it's not for sale. But the makers do explain how to do it yourself, were you so inclined and skilled...

As for me, I might have to stick with these instead...

Coolest Fairy Wings Ever

Found this at Likecool.com...

Imagine sporting THESE babies at the Romantic Times fairy party!

Too bad they cost a grand...

If you're feeling rich you can buy them here.

SHOMI Week at Book Binge

With all that's been going on I just realized I forgot to mention that it's SHOMI week over at Book Binge. (One of my favorite romance novel blogs.) There's a nice review of RAZOR GIRL today, an excerpt from my Shomi of last year MOONGAZER and a video that Liz and I made discussing the Shomi line. Go check it out and comment and make us look popular! ;-)

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

Marianne

Booklist review!

Just got a fabulous review on Booklist for Razor Girl! Woot! Here it is:

Razor Girl.
By Marianne Mancusi.
Sept. 2008. 336p. Love Spell, paper, $6.99 (9780505527806).
REVIEW
First published September 15, 2008 (Booklist).

Six years after the Super Flu decimated the human population and left most survivors mindless zombies, Molly Anderson, 21, emerges from the fallout shelter her father, Ian, locked her away in to ensure her safety. Ian, a scientist who predicted the end of the world before it came about, gave Molly implants—including razors underneath her fingernails—to help her find her way to him when the time was right. Upon leaving the shelter, she sets off, and runs into a group of fellow human survivors, including her high school sweetheart, Chase Griffith. Chase still hasn’t forgiven Molly for not fleeing to the mountains with him and his friends six years ago, but he realizes accompanying her to see her father might be his group’s only hope for a future. Alternating chapters reveal how the Super Flu emerged to devastate civilization. Readers won’t want to put down this captivating novel, in which Mancusi combines a rip-roaring, thrilling science fiction story with an appealing cast of characters and terrific romantic suspense . —Kristine Huntley

YA/M: Teens will devour this tale of survival amid a frightening zombie population. KH.

New Contest! Win copy of Acheron

Want to win an autographed copy of the amazingly awesome Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon? I've read it and I have to tell you it's awesome. Brutal, wonderful, brilliant, awesome. If you haven't read it, you NEED TO!

Anyway, Liz and I are giving away four copies of the book over at the Rebels of Romance website. I'm getting them signed by Sherrilyn when I see her on Friday.

All you have to do is read the excerpt to my book Razor Girl and Liz's book Irreversible and make a comment on the Rebels of Romance blog and you're automatically entered.

So what are you waiting for? Go forth and enter and WIN your own mad, bad, immortal copy!

Marianne

Those of you visiting for Vampire Cafe info...

I'm getting a lot of visitors from around the world to my blog from a link put up by another blog on the Tokyo Vampire Cafe that the WebUrbanist put up. Hi all! The vampire cafe was so cool - I'm not surpised people are interested in it.

A few things important to know before you go:

* The restaurant is REALLY hard to find. Even the cab driver had difficulty locating it.
* You should make a reservation. Have your hotel call beforehand.
* They are not tourist friendly. The staff does not speak any English. There is no English menu or one with photos either. Your best bet is to ask for the tasting menu. (There is a coupon on their website so it's 350 instead of 500 yen.) You don't get to choose your food, but it helps with the language barrier.
* The tasting menu is heavy on shellfish.
* If you get the tasting menu, it's like 7 courses - so plan on spending a long evening there. The service between courses is very slow.
* Like most places Japanese, it's very smoky.

Hope you get a chance to go - it's really, really cool! The rest of you - check out the WebUrbanist article for other weird theme restaurants. The cannibal one is especially creepy!

Marianne

I want.

YUM!

Now THIS is cosplay...

Thanks to Megan for this one...

I've always loved the crazy contact lenses that people wear for Halloween to make them look like vampires or space aliens. Now there's an even more extreme version out - specifically for Japanese girls and boys who want to look like anime/manga characters.

Yes, they're extra wide contact lenses. According to the sales copy, "Wanna get big, watery, shiny eyes without any surgery? CRAVE AND ENVY NO MORE!"

Wait - were people actually getting surgery? Eek.

Anyway, they cost $30-50 and are available in prescription strength as well as cosmetic. I may just have to try them this Halloween!

Marianne

Razor Girl

A Monday video for you! Liz and I chatting about my upcoming Shomi book RAZOR GIRL. (Three weeks til release - yay!)

Razor Girl from Marianne Mancusi on Vimeo.

JC Penney Breakfast Club

I just saw this commerical on TV and had to look it up on YouTube. JC Penney using Breakfast Club to market back to school clothes. Part of me is like "How cute and clever." But who are they marketing this to? Teens wouldn't get the reference, would they? Is this for parents who grew up in the eighties and now have teen kids? I'm starting to feel old!

Also, it weirdly looks just like the original school in the movie. I wonder if they filmed it in the same place or just found a lookalike...

Marianne

Thursday!

I may not write tomorrow cause I'll be away all day at a shoot in the Hamptons. A wedding actually. The couple (two teachers) won a dream Hamptons wedding on 8/8/08, which is supposedly the best day of the year to wed. It's a sweet story, actually. I'll post it, of course, when it's done. And not a big gig on a sunny summer day, though it's a 2 hour drive out to Southampton. However, since this may be my ONLY chance to see the Hamptons (not being a rich and famous type!) I'm happy to go.

I'm off in a few minutes to head down to the Daily Candy headquarters to shoot a story on dressing for less. How to mimic this fall's fashions without spending a pretty penny. With today's economic climate, a lot of our stories have to do with this kind of thing. I've never been to Daily Candy's offices before so that'll be interesting.

I went to the gym for my lunch break today and I accidentally broke my new iPhone. Boo! (It fell off the treadmill.) I have to bring it to the Apple store to see if it can be fixed. Fingers crossed! I'm already so addicted to the thing, I can no longer imagine life without it!

Anyway, off to get ready for my shoot. Then I'm heading home. Jacob's coming over tonight after class and I'm going to make chicken fajitas. Yum! I'm really getting much more into cooking these days. I can't wait to have a full kitchen again where I'll actually have room to do it.

Marianne

Random Blog Stuff

So last night I had my assessment by a personal trainer at Equinox. He was badly prepared – didn’t have all his equipment (to check blood pressure, for example) and the heart rate monitor wasn’t working so I did the walk-the-treadmill thing for nothing! Grr. Plus I have a conspiracy theory thought that personal trainers make you feel bad about yourself so you’ll spend oodles of money to get in better shape. I, for one, would prefer to just do my own thing.

Speaking of, I’m STILL sore from Monday’s Cardio Sculpt class. Kicked my ass like you wouldn’t believe. I think I might try the Pilates mat class tonight though. No pain, no gain! I have incentive to get in shape – Jacob’s training for a November marathon in San Antonio and likes me as his running partner. Not that I have any delusions about running a marathon, but I do want to be able to go out and keep up on the shorter runs.

I do like belonging to a gym again. It’s been a while. I’m much more motivated to go because it’s right near my work and I can go before I get home. Once I walk inside my apartment I get so lazy!

I got my issue of Romantic Times Magazine last night by the way. The one with Liz and my travelogue to Japan. It looks really good! Hope you all get a chance to check it out! It’s funny – four years ago, I would read RT Magazine from cover-to-cover, dreaming that someday they’d mention my name or review my book. Nowadays I feel like I’m in there at least once a month for some thing or another! But this is definitely our biggest feature – a two page spread! Great souvenir of the trip, too…I can show my grandkids someday.

Speaking of something to show the grandkids (or…not!) Liz’s first Hollywood screenplay, “Poison Ivy 4: Secret Society” is now in rotation on the Lifetime Move Network. I cannot WAIT to check it out!!!! Just so campy cool.

That’s all I got for now!

Marianne

Paris for President

Found this on Gawker today. Too funny! I have to say, even though this was, of course, scripted to make her sound super smart, I have long had a feeling that Paris is way more intelligent than people give her credit...

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

No Pain, No Gain

Last night I took my first class at Equinox, the gym I just joined. My work gives me a huge discount on my membership, which is the only reason I can afford going. (I think it costs $160 a month full priced!) Anyway, I’ve been working out on the machines, but last night decided to take this class called Cardio Sculpt and it totally kicked my butt. In a good way, of course. It’s a combo of cardio and weight training and boy is it hard. I felt like Jell-O afterwards and today all my muscles are screaming in protest.

Normally this wouldn’t be a problem. However, I stupidly have my personal trainer session scheduled for tonight. (They give you two sessions free when you join to get you started.) The guy is going to think I’m a complete out of shape loser! (He may not be wrong about that, either!) I can’t even reschedule cause I already canceled on him last week when I was having an emotional breakdown! Argh!

I’m trying to remind myself it the pain is good in the long run!

Marianne

Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday was the monthly Necromantic night so Jacob, Leanna, Marcos and I donned our goth best and headed out dancing. Necromantic (at the Knitting Factory) really is the best goth night in the city. DJ Father Jeff plays the best mix BY FAR and I love the venue as well. Special guesting was DJ Jet of Vampire Freaks. He was good, too. The only thing I don’t like about the night is sometimes they bring in bands, which disrupt the flow. Jeff has another night now – Ward Six at Lucky Chang’s. Gotta check that out soon.

Saturday we went running in the morning, but it was so stifling hot we didn’t make it as far as we would have liked. At night we went to our friend Sarah’s boyfriend’s birthday celebration up at a bar in Washington Heights. Was fun. Photos are below. Note the jellybeans in the ashtray. This was a gag gift since John had just quit smoking.

The drink next to it is something I ordered called a French martini. It had Grey Goose L’orange, pineapple juice, and Chambord down the bottom. Very pretty!


Now that John's not a smoker, he needs a new vice...


MWAHHH!


I look short here cause I'm sitting on a stool.


No, no, take another one!


Blue Steel!

Sunday Liz and I made a bunch of videos for our blog and walked around a Columbus Avenue street fair. For some reason people were really rude to us. I don't know what it is about a home video camera that's able to stir up such animosity! Anyway, I haven’t edited all the videos yet, but you can find the first one at www.rebelsofromance.com.

We also took time out to pester poor Molly.







Sunday night Jacob and I finally finished our 18 horror movie marathon by watching Freddy vs. Jason! I think it’s definitely a worthwhile finale to both series. Of course they’re remaking Friday the 13th now – will come out next year. So that will be interesting to see. Though I read somewhere that Jason will act differently – be smarter and be able to run. What? Why mess with Jason? I personally think he’s much scarier when he’s simply walking and can still easily catch and kill you.

I saw a t-shirt at Fangoria this year saying “Slow Zombies Rule – Fast Zombies Suck!” Same deal.

We’re now in the middle of our John Hughes/Brat Pack movie marathon. Next up, Ferris Bueller and Some Kind of Wonderful.

Anyway, I‘ve babbled enough for now! Happy Monday!
Marianne

Razor Girl: The Reviews Thus Far

Allow me a little self-indulgence this morning. It's been a rough week, ego wise! But these early reviews of Razor Girl make me smile.

“Opens with danger and will grab your interest immediately. Stellar!”
--Huntress Reviews

“An increasingly intense, suspenseful edge-of-the-seat thrilling ride…stunning, cutting edge romance.”
--Merrimon Book Reviews

"Non-stop thrill ride from page one! Marianne Mancusi spins an eerily marvelous tale in her book RAZOR GIRL."
--Simply Romance Reviews

"I won't hesitate to read another of Ms. Mancusi's books, and will continue to enjoy Dorchester's SHOMI line."
--Darque Reviews

"Mancusi doesn¹t hesitate to take chances and innovate!"
--Romantic Times

"Marianne Mancusi has returned with an edgy all-new tale, Razor Girl, filled with fast-paced action and a heroine strong enough to mold her own destiny."
--SF Scope

Today Show @ RWA

Here's the Today Show's RWA conference report. I see a lot of familiar faces in there!