YA Paranormal Authors

I blogged today over at the YA Paranormal Authors blogsite. If you haven't checked that site out, you definitely should. It's MaryJanice Davidson and her husband, Gena Showalter, Serena Robar, Bev Rosenblum, and yours truly. We each blog once a week about a specific topic. This week we talk about what we'd like to undo in high school. :)

MJ's story is great. Everyone should bring pickles to Nationals to torture her with, lol. :)

Mar

P.S. Did I mention it's one month 'til "What, No Roses?" comes out? So, um, everyone go and pre-order it so I can obsessively watch the Amazon ranking go up and down. hehe. Just kidding. Well, sorta. ;-)

***Sniff**

Today's kind of bittersweet cause my boss is leaving. She's moving to Connecticut cause her husband got some sweet NYC job and she's going to be a full time mom to her adorable baby. I feel happy for her, but sad for us cause she's been a great boss and also a friend. I'll miss her. I know I'm not supposed to talk about my day job in this blog, but I did have to say that.

I think Gena Showalter's book "Enslave Me Sweetly" is now out in stores. I have to go buy that. I love the cover!! And the first book "Awaken Me Darkly" totally kicked ass.

Nothing too huge planned for the weekend. Going to go to a wine and fondue bar on Sat night. Yum, yum! There's a 21 page wine list! And cheese. And chocolate! Three of my favorite things!

And...8 days til Vegas!!! woooooot!

Marianne

Random Tuesday Stuff

Hope everyone had a lovely Memorial Day weekend. :)

In less than two weeks I'm off to VEGAS BABY!!!! WOOT!! Total Girl trip--five of us--hit the town!!! Yay! We're staying at the Mandalay Bay hotel which has an amazing pool! And my cousin's husband is getting us VIP access to one of the top clubs. I cannot WAIT.

If I don't run into Paris Hilton I am going to be very annoyed.

I saw the Da Vinci Code last night. I thought it was pretty good. I'd never read the book though. (I know, I know, I'm the only person in America who hasn't. Sue me.)

Got my July issue of Romantic Times Magazine today. If you subscribe, check out the Clubhouse section. I have 1920s slang dictionary to celebrate my release of "What, No Roses?" next month. I can't believe it's so close to release day. I remember after my house burned down last summer thinking I'd never be able to finish writing the book. Being funny in the face of tragedy? Not so easy, let me tell you. But somehow I did it. And I'm really proud of how the book turned out. And it got 4 Stars from RT and a great review! So yay!!

Mar

Sunday Blogging

See! It's Sunday and there's another blog entry!! Aren't you impressed? :) I wonder how long I can keep this up.

Went to my cousin's birthday party last night. Found out she's having a baby girl. Yay! First of my cousins to have a baby. :) Then I came home and played World of Warcraft with my friends online 'til 3am. (And you thought I was hip and cool and had a life, lol!)

Today I plan to spend writing on my current WIP "A Hoboken Hipster in Sherwood Forest." (Sequel to CT Fashionista, set in Robin Hood times) It's a fun story and boy do I have a crush on Robin Hood!! :) I may actually attempt to go outside for a bit as well, since it looks sunny and beautiful out. I've been sick all week and feel a bit slug like at this point.

Someone sent me this link: MyCatHatesYou.com. Sooo funny. I swear there is a website for everything! It's quite incredible.

Lastly, I need a cool prize to give away for a "What, No Roses?" release contest on Fresh Fiction. Anyone got any ideas? It'd be cool if, well, it somehow tied in to Roses. :)

Marianne

A blog...though not a profound one

Me again! I've decided to (shock/horror!) try to blog everyday again. Even if they're short posts. :) Sometimes I feel the reason I don't blog is I have nothing profound to say. But maybe profoundness is overrated.

So I'm just going to tell you random stuff.

Like that "Date Me Baby, One More Time" by Stephanie Rowe is awesomely funny and if you like Katie MacAlister and Lindsay Sands you should read it.

Or that my dog rolled in something dead while staying with my ex over the weekend and smells really bad now. (No, I don't think he pointed to the dead thing and said "Have at it, pooch! Teach her a lesson!" LOL! He's one of those legendary friend ex's that any girl would by lucky to have!)

Or that I stumbled over the most amazing review for Boys that Bite from Round Table Reviews that made me want to dance on a...well, round table. (Or even a square one...)

Or that at the one meal at the Romantic Times Convention I ate at they did not serve conference chicken, but rather conference tuna salad. And at the Dorchester dinner they had conference ribs. Yeah. I miss the chicken, too. Maybe it was cause Liz Maverick was not there to take pictures of it. Liz, come back to the conference circuit! It's not the same without you!

Or that Alesia Holliday and Cindy Holby are the best conference buddies ever. Even if they don't let me borrow their swords to go to the fairy ball. (Next year I'm so bringing my own plastic weapon of death. The airlines will love me!)

Or that Blushing Fan Girl here went out of her way to give MaryJanice Davidson a copy of her "Boys that Bite" book at the RT booksigning and then got all tongue tied and failed to produce real sentences in front of one of her favorite authors. MJ probably now thinks she's a stalker and left the book in the hotel room in a raging panic. (She was gracious in person and said, "Here, have free stuff!", gesturing to buttons and keychains. Yes, Fan Girl took free stuff and wore the button "Betsy Rules" for the remainder of the conference.)

Or that Blushing Fan Girl avoided Laurell K. Hamilton's table all together because she knew she'd probably fall to her knees and say things like "I'm not worthy!" to the woman who created Anita Blake. The MJ incident was embarassing enough, thank you very much.

And there you have it. Random thoughts, so not profound. More tomorrow, I promise!

Marianne

RT Stuff

Sorry I've been sick and thus a total slacker and haven't had a chance to post photos from the Romantic Times convention til now. It was a fabulous time, as usual and I met many great people, drank far too much wine, and got freaky on the dance floor to really bad music. I can't wait til next year!!! :) This is by FAR my favorite conference of the year.

Oh and I also gave a panel on Chick Lit and signed books at the bookfair. (Just so you don't think I didn't work at all!)

So...(and click on pics to enlarge them) we start with a very serious Marianne signing books. (Just disregard the pink fluffy pen. :)

And here's sweet little Marianne posing by her "What No Roses?" book cover...



And with her editor (um, nice shirt, Chris! Did an animal have to die for that??) and her dear friend Alesia Holliday at the Dorchester 60s/70s party...


But then the transformation takes place!! Sweet innocent Marianne turns into.....EVIL GOTH WARRIOR FAIRY!!


Of course, EVIL GOTH WARRIOR FAIRY needs her EVIL COHORTS! Who better than Alesia Holliday, Allison Brennan, Eileen Rendhal, and Cindy Holby??


So there you have it! RT in pictures! Well, sort of.

Oh and this year's DJ didn't know who the Smiths were either. Sigh. We need to start a campaign! DJs for THE SMITHS!!! Come on, who's with me???

Mar

Boys that Bite Book Trailer

I recently had the (very awesome) COS Productions create a book trailer for myBOYS THAT BITE series. Sort of like a movie preview, but for books! For some reason the framing of this blog prevents me from posting it here, but please go to my website if you get a chance and check it out. You can also find it on my MySpace page. I'm really excited with how it turned out, so let me know what you think!! :)

Marianne

More Covers!!

I've gotten permission to share the cover for STAKE THAT!, the sequel to Boys that Bite. Comes out in December. I love this cover! Let me know what you think. :) (And yes, Diana, more blue!!)

STAKE THAT!

All I want is to be a vampire. But nooo-I have to be Rayne MacDonald, Vampire Slayer....

Sisters. They'll swipe your clothes, your boyfriends, your destiny. But it wasn't exactly my twin Sunny's fault. Magnus, vampire hottie and coven leader, mistook her for me last month and bit her instead. Now they're doing the inter-species dating thing.

But back to me. Turns out that for every generation, there's a Vampire Slayer-and this time around, it just happens to be yours truly. My first mission: infiltrate a seedy vamp bar downtown and expose its vampire owner for purposely spreading a blood disease he created himself. A task almost harder than passing trig.

After going it alone once, I realize I need help. So Magnus sends his hot homey Jareth to go undercover with me. And let me just say I wouldn't mind going under the covers with him. Maybe fate doesn't bite after all...

Fangs Again

So check this out! It's the cover for the new anthology I'm contributing to. It's called "Fangs Again" and is the second book in the Bewitched, Bothered, and BeVampyred series. This time all royalties go to benefit breast cancer. I've read some of the chapters and let me just say - anyone who reads this book is in for a treat!

As for me, I'm just thrilled to see my name on the same cover as MaryJanice Davidson's. Not to mention Susan Grant, Gena Showalter, Alesia Holliday, etc. etc.

My chapter's going to be about a young dragon shapeshifter who desperately wants to lose her virginity. Problem is, when she gets hot -- she gets REALLY hot. Like fire breathing hot. A few innocent makeout sessions and the fire department is starting to believe there's a serial arsonist on the loose. Not to mention burning a guy's hair right off his head doesn't normally get you a second date. So how can she learn to control the heat, but still get out of the virginity kitchen?

National Reader's Choice Award Nomination

Ooh I just got great news! My book SK8ER BOY got nominated for a National Reader's Choice Award. Very exciting!! I like this award cause it's judged by normal, everyday readers instead of people in the industry.

I'm especially pleased that SK8ER BOY finaled because that book was released very soon after my house burned down and so I didn't give the release the attention it deserved. (Or any attention, really.) I didn't publicize it. I didn't do any promotion. I don't think I even really told my family it was out in stores. Sad, huh? So it's nice to finally see the little book get some recognition after I neglected it for so long.

Of course it's up against some awesome authors - including two friends - Niki Burnham and Stephie Davis. So cheers to them as well!!

Mar

Back from Conference Land

Hey all,

Monday and I'm back from the New England RWA conference. A fab time had by all. Special thanks to Cathryn Perry who coordinated this terrific event.

Too many highlights to mention, but sneaking out of dinner to head to the mall with my coherts to buy tiaras at Hot Topic comes to mind. Wearing aforementioned tiaras in the bar afterwards. Having Jenny Cruise sign a book for one of my teen Street Team members with the phrase "u r great!" was pretty funny. (I told her it would prob end up on eBay as the only Jenny Cruise book in existence with an AOL speak autograph.) Watching Liana Dalton's face dawn with recognition when they described the winner of the Goldrick award. Ganging up with my new BFF -- author Lauren Barnholt -- to "torture" dearest beloved agent Nadia Cornier - hehe! Passing out the very coveted BITE ME pins to everyone in sight. (People will long remember the pins - I can only hope they remember the book...) And meeting some of my MySpace friends who came to the signing.

In all - a fun time had by all. It was great to see old friends and meet new ones. But now back to reality and back to work. Bleh!

Mar

Gone for the weekend

I'm off tomorrow to the New England Romance Writers of America conference in Natick. Hope to see some of you there! :) There's also a booksigning on Saturday afternoon where I'll be signing copies of Boys that Bite. The signing is open to the public and goes from 4:30-6pm. The location is the Crowne Plaza on Route 9 in Natick.

In the meantime, for those of you stuck home, here's a fun website to suck away your time. It's called Dog Pic of the Day and it's soooo funny!!!

Mar

RELEASE DAY!!!

Yay! Today is the official release day of my teen vampire comedy BOYS THAT BITE!! Wooooot!! Sooo excited!! :)

Here's the blurb:

My mom is so going to kill me if she finds out I'm turning into a vampire...

Okay, so technically she can't because I'm immortal. Well, not yet. See, due to the worst case of mistaken identity with my dark-side-loving twin sister at a Goth hangout called Club Fang, Magnus, a vampire hottie, went for my innocent neck instead of hers. Now, if I don't reverse it in time, Magnus will be my blood mate forever and I'm doomed to be a blood-gulping, pasty, daylight-hating vampire. Believe me, it seriously bites!

After the unfortunate slaying of the vampire leader, it's up to me, my sister, and Magnus to find the one thing that can solve my problem--the Holy Grail. No joke. I seriously hope I can get out of this on time because, somehow, I scored the hottest prom date in my school, the mouth-watering Jake Wilder. And I do NOT want to be a vampire for the prom--let alone the rest of eternity.

If you dig MaryJanice Davidson, Katie MacAlister or Buffy the Vamp Slayer, this is the book for you. It's technically a teen book - as in the characters are in high school - but I wrote it like a regular vampire comedy - so I think it's something adults would enjoy just as much. At least I hope so. :)

It's now in bookstores or on Amazon if you want to check it out. You can read a sample chapter here.

Thanks for listening to me ramble. Did I mention I'm excited?!? :)

MAR

Anyone seen Boys that Bite?

Boys that Bite officially hits store shelves April 4th, but I know that doesn't stop some bookstores from putting it out early. If you've seen it on the shelves, I'd love to hear from you! :)

I'm so excited about the release of this book and I can't wait to hear what people think of it!!

I'm off to Florida for the weekend to visit my mom. Yay Florida sunshine!

In the meantime, check out the new paranormal YA author blog Serena Robar and I started, along with MaryJanice Davidson, Gena Showalter, PC Cast, and Bev Rosenblum. You can access the blog from Serena and my promotional site SummerBites.com or directly at http://yaparanormal.blogspot.com.

And I know I sound like a broken record, but if you haven't joined the MySpace party, what are you waiting for?!? Everyone who's ANYONE is there. :P But seriously - I'm having such a blast meeting people and spreading the word about Boys that Bite. What started as a mere promotional idea has turned into a total obsession. :)

My last thing - next week is the New England RWA conference in Natick. Who's going?

Marianne

Introducing Crimson Rogue

Back in the summer I wrote a blog entry called Crimson Envy. About how I wished I could have been a part of the amazing vampire/werewolf/mech/demon world of Crimson City created by the uber talented, red hot Liz Maverick. Well, this month the final book in the series - Crimson Rogue - hits bookstore shelves and I can't wait to check it out. This series has become so successful - several books have hit the USA Bestseller List. And for good reason. The world Liz and her coherts have created is so very cool. Hip, action packed, yet deeply romantic. If you haven't been reading along - well what are you waiting for?!?!

I'm sad that the series is coming to a close, but I can't wait to read Crimson Rogue.

Liz, you rock. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.

Everyone else? Order your copy today!

Mar

PS SHAMELESS SELF PLUG - Liz isn't the only one with a new book out. My BOYS THAT BITE will be released next week too! If you like vampire books make sure you order your copy today! :) And come join me on MySpace! It's become quite the party over there!

Congrats Rita Authors

A big huge Cosmos and Chat shout-out to all the wonderful authors who finaled in the RITAs this year. For those of you who don't know - that's like being nominated for an Emmy in the romance writing world.

Special kudos to:

Alesia Holliday - for her novella story in The Naked Truth
Marjorie Liu - for her paranormal "A Taste of Crimson" - part of the fab Crimson City series
Stephie Davis - 2 noms for her Smooch books in Best Traditional
Myretta Robbins - my chaptermate, nominated in the regency category for Once Upon a Sofa

YAY ALL OF YOU!!! I'LL BE CHEERING YOU ON!!!

Mar

Happy St. Patrick's Day (mmmm sushi!)

As most of you probably know, Boston has a huge Irish population. Some actually from the country itself and others who fancy themselves to be Irish since their great-great-great grandmother's cousin's babysitter's uncle was rumored to be from the Emerald Isle. So when St. Paddy's Day rolls around, it's a huge deal.

So...being a resident of said community, one would think I spent Friday evening downing pints of a Guiness in some dive pub in Southie. Sadly (or maybe not so sadly) you'd be very wrong.

Cause you see, however charming I think Ireland is, I find drunk frat boys screaming "Yankees Suck!!!" and "Wicked Pissa" to be far less appealing. In a way, St. Paddy's Day, like New Year's Eve, is what one might call ametuer night. It's crowded. It's loud. People drink too much and then throw up and get into fights. Once, that might haev sounded like a grand night out. Today, that sounds like a nightmare.

So...my friends and I decided to do the most anti-Irish thing on the planet this St. Patrick's Day. We went to a brand new sushi place in the Back Bay called Douza. The guy who opened it used to work at my fave sushi place in the entire universe -Fugakyu - and he sold his shares and opened up this new place. Well, I can't recommend it high enough. The sushi was absolutely delicious. The wine menu offered many great bottles. Even the bartender was awesome. In short, I couldn't think of a more delicious way to spend my St. Patrick's Day. I may have to make this a tradition.

Anyway - I'm off to my RWA meeting. Have to go congratulate my former critique partner Marley Gibson who just sold a 4 book YA series this week!! Amazing, huh?

Mar

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!!!!

I'm done, I'm done, I'm done, I'm done!!

Please excuse my jubliation, but I'm finally done my latest book - Stake That! - which is the sequel to Boys that Bite and comes out in December. It was a struggle to finish on time - I took two days off last week and then worked the whole weekend, but it's finally done! And I'm really happy with how it came out. I can't wait to see what my editor thinks.

Of course, now I have to start right up on the next book, but for a few blissful hours I can breathe and bask in the happy feeling only a completed book can bring.

For you other writers out there - how do you celebrate "the end"? (Or the "to be continued", as is the case with this book.)

Mar

Florida Fun

Hey all,

I just got back from a fabulous trip to Orlando where the weather was 80 degrees (as opposed to Boston's currently 20s.) I got to see my best friends Ali and Bobby (who live there), celebrate my birthday with chocolate cake and champagne, and spend a day at Walt Disney World. We also saw one of my all time favorite goth bands, "Sisters of Mercy" on their 25th anniversary tour. On Saturday, Ali and I went to Casadaga and got our tarot cards read by a psychic. That was pretty interesting, let me tell you! We bought a deck home with us and were doing our own readings for anyone who would let us. After a few glasses of wine, we had convinced ourselves that we were darn good psychics.

Anyway, I just got home today and I'm kind of sad to be back. I love it down in Orlando. It's one of the few places I can travel to and not feel anxious and homesick. I used to live there for about a year and a half back when I was 23 and it still feels like home to me. Plus I miss my friends. I wish everyone I loved could live close to me. It seems just the opposite. Most everyone is far away. :( I guess that's what you get when you have lived the nomadic tv news lifestyle.

I thought I'd post a couple pics for your amusement.

Ali and me at Epcot
We ate (and drank) at Epcot's Germany
We needed help finishing these beers!
For the last nine years Bobby has tried to take a sexy photo of Ali and I on the old fashioned car at MGM Studios. It never comes out exactly right, but has become a tradition.
"Disney World, I wish that I could quit you!"
Woof! A big dog nose in the "Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground"
Glowy Drinks at MGM's SciFi Diner


Back to nature

Ali and Bobby's adorable son Ian

Yup, they carry it in Florida bookstores, too!

Ali is enthralled.


PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME GO HOME!!!

Friend Me!

I've set up a new MySpace page today for my "Boys that Bite" book and I'm in need of friends! (All I've got right now is the default friend Tom and he's more of a music lover than a reader, I think....) So please, please, please those of you who have MySpace profiles, click on the link below and "friend" me and my book. The vampires will greatly appreciate it. :)

For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, ask your kids. (And have them "friend me" too! :) Or read this article.