More RT pics

More pics from RT!!!




Me, accepting my 2007 Reader's Choice Award for MOST INNOVATIVE HISTORICAL ROMANCE



Liz Maverick and I hanging with booksellers.



Serena Robar, Cindy Holby, me, and Liz Maverick at the fairy ball.




Who said fairies weren't kick butt?!?



Conference hook up alert! Me and Flame get it on!



Travis, the cover model, is jealous of Flame's attentions! He attacks!!!



Poor Flame!!! Vanquished by a cover model!! /cry!!

Back from Houston

I'm back from the Romantic Times convention. Had an amazing time. Did tons of promotion for my August SHOMI book (including dressing up as my cover character!) but saved time for some pretty great partying. I'm half dead tired so I'll tell you more later, but here are a few pics to tide you over. :)

Liz Maverick and I promoting WIRED and MOONGAZER at Club RT.

Me as a vampire slayer for the vampire party.

Susan Kearney, Colby Hodge, Alyssa Day, Liz Maverick and I after our bookseller event. (Which was so much fun! The booksellers were all sooo great!)

MORE PICS AND STORIES LATER!!!

Marianne

ONE DAY UNTIL ROMANTIC TIMES!!

MARIANNE'S OFFICIAL ROMANTIC TIMES CONVENTION CHECKLIST

Cute day outfits from H&M – check!
(no business casual BS for me!!!)

Costumes for nighttime parties – check!
(Vampires and fairies and moongazers – oh my!)

Wig for costumes – check!
(Though I might swing by Ricky’s for one more – to match my punk rock fairy costume…)

New suitcase – check!
(Hmm…should have bought the bigger size…)

Shoes – check!
(The main reason I should have gotten a bigger suitcase…stupid boots!)

Mani/Pedi – check!
(Black! Someone in my office was like OMG, you’re sooo trendy. Really it was just for the vampire party...)

Promotional materials – check!
(Amongst other things: 200 Rebels of Romance posters – argh!)

Makeup – STILL NEED
(Gotta grab some new black eyeliner and maybe some fun glitter/eyeshadow pots)

Dog - Still Need to drop off!
(Vacation for Miss Molly)

HOPE TO SEE YOU IN HOUSTON!!

Mar

Another gorgeous day!

It's beautiful again out today. I'm so glad. This afternoon my friend Jenny and I are going to go walk Molly in Central Park. Perfect day for a dog walk!

Yesterday was a productive "me" day, which I totally needed, as I've been on the go non-stop. I went to the hairdressers and got a conditioning treatment done cause my hair and scalp have been sooo dry cause of winter. Plus you get a head massage with the treatment - worth it just for that!! ;-)

Then I walked 40 blocks down to H&M where I shopped for some fun convention clothes for this week. Got a couple of really cute things to wear. I love the styles this summer - all baby doll dresses and jumpers. I adore that kind of look. Fun, flirty, and girlie, without being all revealing.

Then I came home and cleaned my apartment and did laundry while watching LOST. (I have the first season on DVD.) I'm getting more into the show as it goes along. At first I wasn't sure about it. The worst thing is all those plane crash scenes. When we encountered major turbulence on the way to South Carolina last week, that was all I could think about!!

That's about it. Nothing too exciting, but it was a good day all the same. I love NY. :)

Mar

Saturday and SUNNY!

Yay it's Saturday! And a gorgeous New York day. This is the perfect time of year for weather. I love it! I'm thinking I might go buy some rollerblades this afternoon so I can rollerblade in Central Park. Good exercise and fun!

Last night I celebrated getting my contract/check for The Camelot Code by going out to Ruth's Chris steakhouse on 51/Broadway. Soooooooo good! I can't even tell you! Super pricey, but worth it when you're celebrating!! :)

I think I have all my posters folded. Have to count to be sure, but it's looking good. Now I just have to pack everything up. Speaking of packing, everyone who's going packed for RT yet? My suitcase is going to be massive to fit everything. Day clothes, costumes for night, promo materials -- argh. Jet Blue is not going to be excited to see me show up...

I am very excited to go to RT though! Five days of mingling, schmoozing, dancing, promoting, and just having a great time. A ton of Dorchester authors go and we have a blast hanging out together. This year, Alesia Holliday (as her alter-ego Alysa Day), Susan Kearney, Cindy Holby (as her alter-ego Colby Hodge), Liz Maverick and I are sponsoring a booksellers only bash called From the Sea to the Stars. It's an AM paranormal/sci-fi themed party with mimosas and munchies and should be lots of fun.

Also, I'm captaining the Young Adult panels so will be leading three different sessions on writing/selling the young adult novel. One of my sessions is going to have the amazing MaryJanice Davidson on it, along with her husband Anthony. They're going to talk about their Jennifer Scales series. I'm thrilled to sit on a panel with one of my favorite authors. :)

Anyway, got to run! Hope you're all having a terrific Saturday!!!

Mar

YA Prom & Folding Posters

Hey all,

So the YA prom was pretty cool - lots of people - authors, editors, agents. Problem was, no one had nametags on so it was difficult to put names to faces. But there was a good turn-out and they played 80s music and they even had "spiked punch" at the bar. :)

Afterwards, agents Nadia Cornier, Stephen Barbara and I headed to a diner for food and then to a Union Square bar called the Belmont Lounge where we had drinks and chatted about interesting things that I've been forbidden to blog about. :) I left around midnight because it was a Tuesday and I'm too old to be out and about all hours on a work night. But it was a fun time all around.

Of course hanging out with successful YA agents all night and hearing their stories really motivated me to finish my middle grade proposal. So I finalized that last night and sent it to my agent. Then I folded posters. Liz Maverick and I made posters for booksellers to promote our Shomi books. We have about 2,400. And I need 700 folded by tomorrow so I can send them to RT for their Booksellers that Care mailing. I folded about 75 and then got a bad papercut and couldn't continue without bleeding on the merchandise. Luckily Liz and I did some when she was here so I actually only need to fold about 100 or so more tonight.

Anyway, I cannot wait for RT next week!! Got my costumes. Got my promo materials. It's going to be so much fun! Hope to see some of you there! :)

Marianne

Prom Night!!

Tonight's the prom! Okay, the YA Author prom. But still!! I hope there's 80s music!

Here is the description of the event. I'll let you know how it is!

Break out that tux. Slip on that taffeta dress. Practice those dance moves...The big night has arrived!Yes, it's Prom. Again. The 21 PROMS Prom committee is throwing the very first ever Teen Author Prom: a benefit to raise money for Advocates for Youth. And yes, this paragraph has the word "Prom" in it way too many times, but we can't help it. We're too darned thrilled.

Advocates for Youth (www.advocatesforyouth.org) is an absolutely essential non-profit: the only organization that works across the globe to help adolescents make safe, educated, and responsible choices about sex. So by coming to our Prom, you will be doing a public service. It's a win-win.

The first hundred promgoers will receive a copy of the promalicious new
collection 21 PROMS, which includes stories by Cecily von Ziegesar, Libba Bray,
Holly Black, John Green, Jacqueline Woodson, Rachel Cohn, Melissa de la Cruz, E.
Lockhart, Elizabeth Craft, Sarah Mlynowski, Aimee Friedman, Daniel Ehrenhaft,
David Levithan, Jodi Lynn Anderson, Leslie Margolis, Brent Hartinger, Lisa Ann
Sandell, Will Leitch, Adrienne Maria Vrettos, Ned Vizzini, and Billy
Merrell.

Virtual Party

Since Diana posted the ohhh-sooo-cute screenshot of her and Sailor Boy's World of Warcraft characters cuddling in bed, I figured I'd show you what my character, Allora, has been up to. As you can see, she's a bit of a party girl. Though unlike her hardcore mage friend Yz, she has a problem holding her liquor...



Maybe she should lay off the sauce? hehe

Mar

Back Home

I'm back from South Carolina. Thank goodness it was a charter plane because like 500 flights were cancelled yesterday due to record amounts of rain. It's still pouring out today. I couldn't even get my dog home cause no cabs would take a wet pup. Booo! Hopefully it will stop this evening so I can retrieve her.

The trip was a lot of fun, but I am glad to be home, too. This weekend I think I will lay low because next week is the Romantic Times Convention. Tomorrow night though I am going to a YA PROM, a charity event put on by some NYC based authors. It should be really fun. I don't have an old prom dress unfortunately, but I think lots of other people will be dressed up in 80s and 90s prom dresses. I'll let you know how it is!

My galleys are in for Moongazer so that's what I'll be up to this week. I hope they're clean. That also means I'll get ARCs soon. I'm so excited to see what people think of the book! Nervous, too. It's a special book for me AND my first non-comedy. I just hope it'll be well received.

TTYL
Mar

Blogging from Charleston

My new job for Better.tv is so great. I can't believe I get paid to do this stuff. I'm down in Charleston, South Carolina to cover the Family Circle Cup (an all women's tennis competition.) We flew down on a chartered plane yesterday and arrived in the evening. My friend and now fellow Shomi author Cindy Holby came down to meet with us and we went out and about in the historic district of Charleston, had some food, some drinks, etc.

Today we went over to the tournament. We watched and shot video of the various matches, including Venus Williams (she won - amazing match!) and sat in on the press conference with her afterwards. We shot video of celebrity chef, Bob Wagner of the Charleston Grill teaching us how to make a diver scallop dish. Then we shot a segment of my reporter and I learning how to play BEACH TENNIS which is this crazy new sport that's a combo of tennis, badmitton, and beach volleyball. It was sooo much fun!

Tomorrow there will be more tennis and more activities. It's exhausting and my feet hurt, but it beats hanging out in an office all day. The weather is sunny and in upper 70s-lower 80s and back in NYC it was raining and like 40 degrees. We fly back to NYC on Sunday after the finals. I'm going to be so tired. But it certainly beats the grind of local TV News, that's for sure. :)

Off to go scout out dinner!

Marianne

Writing, writing

I've been sick and busy and that's made me a slacker when it comes to writing. But I did force myself to sit down and finish my proposal for book #4 of my vampire series. I've been dragging my feet on that one, for some reason, which is stupid since 1) my editor is waiting for it and 2) the sooner I pass it in, the sooner I get paid.

In any case, I sent it to my agent this morning and am glad to get it off my plate. Can't wait to see what my editor thinks. I'm pretty amused with the plot I came up with. (No, I can't tell you until she officially buys it. I will say it's back to Sunny's point of view, though.)

Now I need to do my agent's edits for the middle grade proposal I'm working on. I'm giving myself til the end of the week to get that done. If I slack, then it's not going out til after I finish writing The Camelot Code. **cracks whip**

I'm not really a math person until it comes to book writing. Then I'm all about using complex equations to meet my deadlines. For example, The Camelot Code is due June 15th which means I must start my 1,000 words a day on April 15th. Seeing as it's a 50,000 word book and I've written 10,000 words (approx) already that means I will be done May 25th. That gives my agent a week to edit it and me approximately 2 weeks to revise based on her edits, give or take a few days.

Then I'll need another book to work on, which is why I need to get in the vampire and middle grade proposals passed in now so those schedules can be set for when I'm done and there's not too much downtime between books.

My biggest problem is I want to write so many different books and I have limited time to do the actual writing. I have some great new series ideas, but I can't overcommit myself too much or then the writing becomes a chore. That's one thing nice about YA books, actually. They're half the length and go a lot faster. Yet, I still want to write adult books. So I don't know. We'll see, I guess. :)

Mar

Now Touring: Parallel Seduction

The wait is over for the new Deidre Knight book!! Woot!! Check it out...

PARALLEL SEDUCTION

by Deidre Knight
Signet, April 3, 2007

The author of Parallel Attraction unleashes the next novel in a series about an alternate world, where treachery can destroy the strongest of allies, the most loyal of friendships, and the fiercest of passions...

Warrior Jake Tierny travels back in time to stop a traitor in his beloved king's camp. But when a twist of fate proves the mission unnecessary, Jake is trapped in a time not his own, with friends who cannot learn his true identity.

Scott Dillon may be the king's trusted lieutenant, but he is also a man at war with himself, a human hybrid who refuses to succumb to the Antousian nature he abhors-and that Jake Tierny embodies.

FBI linguist Hope Harper refuses to let near-blindness keep her from joining the Refarians in their war to defend mankind. Yet her sizzling attraction to both Scott and Jake, and the strange memories they share, force all three to question the core of their beliefs. As their enemies surround them, Hope knows she must choose one man for all time.

Check out an excerpt!!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter!!

Good weekend so far. On Friday, my friend Jenny had a dinner party with great food, wine, and videogames on her husband's PS3 afterwards. (I kicked everyone's butt in Tekken!!) Lots of fun. Then yesterday a couple friends and I went to see 300 on the IMAX. Loved it!! Those Spartans really could kick some butt!! I thought the movie was great - visually stunning, interesting, and passionate. Then we went out for drinks and food. Fun night. I'm finally getting a chance to spend some time out and about in NYC. :)

I'm 95 percent recovered from my flu. Still got a nasty cough, but other than that I'm fine. Hopefully I can kick that before I head down to South Carolina on Thursday. Even though it's a work trip, I want to enjoy myself down there!

I was also productive yesterday - did my taxes (ugh), cleaned my apartment, did laundry, and worked on my 4th vampire book proposal. It's soo close to done - I hope to pass it in this week.

That's about all for now! Happy Easter!!!
Marianne

Happy almost Easter!

Sorry to be a blog slacker. The flu really took me out there. I'm feeling better today. Still coughing and stuff, but at least not feverish.

It doesn't help that it is freezing in NYC and the last two days we've had snow flurries. Grrr.

So this weekend is Easter. I'm taking it easy. Probably going to a friend's for Easter dinner. It's too much, having been sick, to travel all the way back to Massachusetts. Especially since I just came from there last weekend. And I have to travel to South Carolina next week to cover the Family Circle Cup Tennis tournament. (Which should be fun!) Then in a few weeks is the Romantic Times Convention! Crazy how fast that came up. I need to get my costumes in order. This year is flying by!

I need to start working on Camelot Code again as it's due in June. But I have two proposals that are both 90 percent ready and I'm tempted to just get them out the door first. The sickness has robbed me of a week of writing, which annoys me to no end. Thank goodness it happened after I finished my Moongazer revisions!!

Oh, I almost forgot to mention. At the New England conference I picked up a free copy of a JR Ward book. I figured I'd give it a try, see what the fuss is all about. Wow. That's all I can say. I'm rivetted! And it takes a lot for me to get really into a book these days. The characters are so amazing, they just suck you right in. I've been scrambling to find more time to read it. If you like dark paranormal (and I mean, really dark) you should check her out.

That's all for now! Happy Easter!
MAR

Weekend Wrap-up

I'm way overdue to blog, but I've had quite the week, which ended in three days of the worst flu imaginable. I'm finally feeling a little bit better, but boy was I sick!!

Weds night Liz Maverick flew into town and the two of us headed down to Times Square to meet up with Alesia Holliday for drinks. Then the three of us went to dinner with a bunch of authors in town for the PASIC convention and our editors Kate Seaver and Cindy Hwang.

Thursday was the PASIC cocktail reception. Lots of industry people attending. And we got to chat with Sue Grimshaw of the Border Group about how we could help her promote the Shomi line.

On Friday I headed to New England to the NEC RWA conference. It was a fun conference. They even had a costume party. Here's me, vamping it up as Rayne from "Stake That!"

Jennifer O'Connell dressed up as her chef in Dress Rehersal. Next to her is our agent Kristin Nelson and NEXT author Hank Phillippi Ryan who is also a Kristin client.

I gave a workshop on writing and selling YA fiction which I think went well. And I sold a lot of books at the book fair afterwards. Then that night I went back to Boston and met some friends for drinks then took a 9:30 train back to NYC. It didn't get in til 2:30am!!

The next morning I realized I was really, really sick. Bad news, since Liz was coming to stay with me and we had a busy two days. So I sucked it up, even though I was dying with a high temperature that at one point was 104 degrees! We went to Dorchester on Monday to meet with our publicist Brianna (who is leaving the company - cry!) and then did a photo shoot for promotional shoots. A word of advice: never have professional photos taken of yourself when you have a fever of over 100. It is NOT fun.

I slept most of today. I still feel like crap, though I feel maybe I've turned the corner...

So anyway, besides the sick part, it was a fun week.

Mar