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

Ahh Weekend!

Great weekend, sadly coming to an end. On Friday Liz and I went to Morgan's studio to tape an intro for our Romantic Times Convention video blogging pieces.

It was a lot of fun, even if Morgan wouldn't let us wear glitter or empire waist dresses. ;-) She took some still shots of us as well. I don't know if I love the ones of me, but this one of Liz is really great.

On Saturday I worked on my book, rollerblading in Central Park, cleaned my apartment and watched some Lost. (I'm almost caught up! Two more episodes to go!) Then my old college friend Scott came down from Connecticut and me, Jacob and him went down to the East Village to begin our night out.

We hit this great sushi place called Avenue A, which is on, shockingly enough, Avenue A betwen sixth and seventh street. Delicious and creative sushi rolls, yummy cocktails, and a techno DJ spinning the tunes made it a delightful experience all around. Here's Scott and I with our martinis. :)



After dinner, we headed next door to the Pyramid Club. Arrived WAYYY too early, but we hung out for a while and it eventually got crowded. Leanna and Marcos joined us and we danced up a storm to 80s new wave classics.





By the way, I bought the dress I'm wearing at Strawberry. That store is so hit and miss and I know a lot of my friends say they can't find anything there. But when you hit - you can really hit and since there's one across from my work I can browse it with enough frequency that sometimes I do. This dress, for example, only cost like $25 -- but it's sooo cute!!



And lastly, I love how this photo of Jacob and I came out. It looks like he's whispering secrets in my ear. :) I don't like to get all mushy in my blog, but I will say I am very lucky to have him in my life!



Today (Sunday) Jacob and I (and Molly!) spent most of the day outdoors, wandering around Central Park. It was so peaceful and nice -- I'm so lucky to live near the park. It makes my ridiculous rent almost worth it! Molly went for a swim and I think I need to bathe her now...

Tonight I think I'm going to work a little more on my book, then watch Lost and head to bed early -- content and happy after such a nice weekend. Next weekend I have to work both Sat and Sun so it won't be half as fun. :(

Marianne

We're Here, We're Dead, Get Used to it!

A zombie mockumentary!! I so wish this was playing in NYC!!

Random stuff wrap-up

I was psyched yesterday to receive my first arcs for Gamer Girl, my November book with Dutton. They look gorgeous! Like finished books (except the finished book will be hardcover.) I love the packaging – it’s just so adorable and girly and manga-like – I couldn’t be happier with it. The internal emoticons are just too, too cute.

I wonder if they’ll keep the manga style when designing The Camelot Code cover. I kind of hope so. I think it could be super cute.

Speaking of Camelot Code, I am writing up a storm. The book is so much fun – it practically writes itself. I love the characters – they’ve really come alive for me. It’s funny how much easier it is for me to write Young Adult books. I wonder what that says about my maturity level…

Let’s see, what else? I’m almost caught up on Lost – only five episodes of season four to go. How am I going to wait during the hiatus? Oh yeah, I’m going to watch The Tudors. Mmm Jonathan Rhys Myers.

Last weekend a group of us went to see Avenue Q, a Broadway play that uses puppets – kind of a more raunchy Sesame Street. Was very fun. And Jacob bought House of the Dead 2 & 3 for the wii – along with rapid fire guns. So we spent Friday night shooting zombies, which always makes for a good night. I am so out of practice though!

This weekend my old college friend Scott is coming into town and we’re going to do some clubbing. Not sure where yet. Something techno related, I’m sure. Will be fun!

Hm, what else? The Romantic Times Convention is fast approaching. I don’t feel the least bit prepared! Got a lot of costumes though – cause that really just requires digging through my closet.

Oh I know – I found out that Sk8er Boy is coming out in Sweden. Oddly enough, I found this out by reading Romantic Times magazine. They’re obviously in the know more than the authors sometimes! I’m still trying to find out more about the Japanese Boys that Bite and Stake That! I’d love it if they were in print by the time Liz and I head to Tokyo in June.

That’s about all for now! Have a great weekend everyone!

Marianne

Poor little Mexican Emo kids

I know emo kids can be a bit annoying at times, but the anti-emo riots in Mexico do seem a bit extreme...

Anna Devane!!

me and Finola Hughes, originally uploaded by starrgirl77.

I don't know about any of you, but I was a HUGE fan of General Hospital in high school. One of my fondest memories was being over my friend Kristin's house when Duke returned to the show and finally revealed to Anna that he was her husband! (He'd had major plastic surgery, of course!) I remember just bawling my eyes out at the poignant scene.

So it was pretty cool today to meet Anna -- aka Finola Hughes -- in person at the Better TV studios where I work. She was really nice and approachable. Really tiny in real life, too, as stars always seem to be. She's very into green living and was saying her house in California is almost self-sufficient and soon won't need external power to run. Pretty cool!

Anyway, just brings back memories of General Hospital and all my favorite characters so I thought I'd share!

Marianne

Bush vs. Zombies

Diana posts about unicorns, well, I'm going to routinely continue the zombie theme in my blog until Razor Girl comes out!

Today we have our President, explaining why we need to mobilize against this coming threat.



PS I told my agent we need to start describing Razor Girl as "Casablanca with zombies." How's that for an elevator pitch? ;)

A doggone expensive woof

My dog Molly is a little angel. But she cost me $375 at the vets this week!

And that's just preventative treatment!

Last year she had an actual operation and cost me $1,200!

She was NOT a fan of the cone head look.

So I've decided she needs to earn her keep. I'm thinking of hiring her out as a maid.

As you can see, though she's not thrilled with the idea...

In fact, rather than work, she'd prefer to drown herself and end it all!

So I gave in. Let the princess charge up my credit card and sleep all day while I work to pay it off.

This time from Mom...

And also from Mom, originally uploaded by starrgirl77.

More Peeps!! Does my family know me or what?? :)

Thank you thank you!! Happy Easter!

Thank you Easter Bunny!

You have new Picture Mail!, originally uploaded by starrgirl77.

Okay, really thank you Dad. Still the most dedicated mailer of chocolate and sugar treats during the holidays that I know!

And of course he sent my favorite...

Yay PEEPS!!

:)
Marianne

Disney's Horizons

Some of you may not know this, but I used to live in Orlando and my friends and I had annual passes to Walt Disney World and would go all the time just to hang out. But while on some occasions we’d stand in line for the “e-ticket” rides, a lot of time we just wanted a more mellow experience. Something without lines and crowds. One of those rides was Horizons. I still think it’s one of the best Disney attractions around. I was so sad when they closed it and put “Space” in the spot instead! Luckily, through the wonders of youtube, I can still watch the ride from the comfort of my own home! Yay!

What is your favorite Disney ride? What have they closed down that you miss?

A few more party pics :)

More Future Love: 2108 pics. These courtesy of Morgan.


The SWAT writer girls, all dressed up and ready to go!


We're trying to look like robots, but I think I might have more of a Charlie's Angels pose...


Dance lessons from a pro!


Microphone Man


It's alive!!!


Pregnant Katrina is an automatic outlaw in this future, where love has been banned.


Sparkly!


In the future, the laws of gravity don't apply. Much to Nick's delight.

Future Love 2108 - The Photos

The Future Party was a complete success. Great costumes, great location, great time.Everyone's already talking about what we can do for the next theme party. (I think it might be Summer of Love themed.)

Here are a few pics, courtesy of Sarah Sweeney. I forgot to put my battery in my camera after charging it so thank goodness she had hers!


John time warping to the party


Leanna, me, Jamie. You can't tell from the pic, but the barretts in my hair are fiber optic and glowed.


Lounging at the lounge


Here, through this iphone pic, you can actually see the fiber optics glowing. :)


Glow necklace hula hooping


Everyone in the future will look like they shopped at Forever 21...


Check out my shoes below. Silver bling for the win. And Liz's boots, well, they're already famous.


It was harder to balance in these things than it looks


Rebels of Romance as Femme Bots


"How can I serve you, master?"


This needs to be the cover of some 70s disco album.


In the future, everyone will have a microphone. Wrapped in duct tape around one's wrist. A deadly weapon indeed!


John, Sarah, Me, Jacob


"Yay, party!"


Sarah's a sad femme bot who has to wake up in the morning to take a plane to Iowa.

Pseudo Spring Break

So Jacob's on "spring break" starting next week. But, of course, when you're in graduate school getting an MBA and still working a full time job, that sadly leaves no time for drunken trips to Cancun or Cabo. Which just doesn't seem fair to me!

So we found a little taste of the islands in Manhattan's East Village and ordered Jacob an official spring break drink...

It's called a Zombie Volcano. (Yay zombies!) And yes, as you can see below it's a) about the largest drink ever and b) comes with its own firey volcano! Which, I think, makes it pretty much the coolest (if not tackiest) drink ever. And thus, perfect for pseudo spring break.


Bartender preparing the drink. Even the fruit was soaked in rum...


Dawn, with her sensible, normal size drink, looks on, doubtfully.


Tome is fine with his scorpion bowl. He's drinking for only two.


But Jacob wants fire! And that means the four person volcano. It's actually even bigger than it even looks.


I decided to help Jacob out. In the end, we didn't make that much of a dent. Still, it was worth it, just to have a flaming firey cocktail for Jacob's spring break!

:)
Marianne

Future Love: 2108

After forced rescheduling and multiple location changes, tomorrow Liz Maverick and I are finally throwing our futuristic theme party, FUTURE LOVE: 2108.

Here’s the blurb we created for the evite, describing the back story and theme. (We are writers, after all!)

It's 2108.

A mass population explosion has forced the government's hand.

No marriage. No childbirth by natural means. Babies conceived in test tubes, harvested in labs, cultivated in orphanages. "Family" no longer has meaning. Love is outlawed, relationships obsolete.

It's Big Brother, people. And not the kind who buys you your first beer.

But not everyone in this not-so-brave new world accepts the prohibition of one of life's greatest miracles, and so these brave souls dare to defy the law with a secret rendezvous, to celebrate the subverted holiday of love.

This year, through special time travel technology*, you're invited to join these rebels of love at their top secret midtown Manhattan location.

This March find the courage to...
Let Love Rock

Doors open at 9pm. Ends when government raids.

NOTE: Proper Year 2108 dress required. (Think futuristic, silver, weapons, excessive amounts of glitter, etc. Anything goes - except boring! We will have extra costuming on hand.)

*Time travel technology provided thanks to generous donations by Kaysar Corporation.

We’ve got around 20 or so people signed up to attend so it should be quite the bash! Hopefully we’ll see some good costumes – I’ll have my camera ready, for sure! I tried on my outfit last night and think it really works. The fiber optic barrettes I got off eBay give it an extra special touch, I think!

I also bought a bunch of random fun stuff for partygoers – glow necklaces, plastic aliens, iridescent silly putty, glow makeup, etc. I still need to come up with a prize for best costume.

It was fun planning the party, but also a lot of work and stress. I was originally wanting to hold theme parties once a month. Now I think once every 3-4 months is probably all I can handle!! Still, we’ve got a good crowd and a cool location – so all the work should be worth it.

Marianne

One Day at a Time.

Me ane Valerie Bertinelli, originally uploaded by starrgirl77.

Attended a Ladies' Home Journal luncheon with guest actress Valerie Bertinelli this afternoon at Beacon. (Great restaurant btw! Had yummy filet mignon to die for.!) I was there to interview her for a story we're doing for Better TV about her new book and Jenny Craig weight loss. I've been to a lot of these luncheons but I have to say this was the most entertaining yet. She was so cool. Very down to Earth and said exactly what was on her mind, even if it wasn't always PC. The Village Voice reporter probably got a lot of material for his article!

My favorite moment though was when she announced that (former husband) Eddie Van Halen sucks at Guitar Hero. Go figure! :)

Marianne

The Ultimate Peep Show

peeps, originally uploaded by starrgirl77.

I love Easter mainly for the Peeps. They are the best candy ever. I think people either love them or hate them though. There's no "meh" on Peeps.

In any case, this is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Right up there with the knitted zombies I posted the other day. :)

Marianne

The End!

I typed "The End" in RAZOR GIRL yesterday. Sure, it still needs mucho editing, but there is, ladies and gentlemen, an actual book now. Beginning, middle and end! So I feel somewhat accomplished by that. There was a time I was convinced I'd NEVER finish this particular book. (I often feel this way when writing adult books - they're just so darn long!) So yay me.

Next up - The Camelot Code. Can't wait to dig into that. Should be a really fun book to write.

Okay off to edit. :)

Marianne