Busy, busy...but no longer sick!

This week has been incredibly busy and I still feel like I'm mostly in boxes. But the new place is great! I can't wait til I have a moment or two to enjoy it. Maybe this weekend...

Last night I met up with Ron Hogan of GalleyCat, Leanna Heiber, and Melissa Walker for a drink at Carnegie Club. Melissa had some great news, but I'm not sure if it's public yet so I won't spill. And Leanna had a copy of her upcoming book cover. (Her first book is out in September from Dorchester!) The book's called The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker and is a Victorian ghost fantasy romance. I can't wait to read it!

I actually got the brand new covers of The Blood Coven Vampire series from my editor this week as well, though I'm not allowed to post them yet, until they're finalized. But I can tell you - they are soooo beautiful! I love them to death. I think they might be my favorite covers ever. They're dark and sexy and moody. And so in tune with other big paranormal covers out there right now.

I've been mostly lucky with covers, with a couple exceptions. But these just blow me away with their beauty. Can't wait to show them off. They're such a different style than the originals, that's for sure!

Today I did an online interview (using a microphone in a chat room, something I'd never done before) with OPAL - a collaborative program that provides web-based programs and training tolibrary users and library staff members. It was an hour long live interview that will also be archived on the website. I'll let you know when it's up, in case you want to take a listen. The moderator, Tom Peters, did a fantastic job interviewing me - and asked a lot of unusual questions that I don't normally get. You could tell he read the book and really thought about it, which I love.

Lastly, I have been watching the first season Mad Men. LOVE IT! What a great show!!! Oh and Lost's on tonight! Yay!

Marianne

Turning the Corner

I was sick ALL WEEKEND. Couldn't eat, could barely get out of bed. Which is so not good when you have to move. Thank goodness Jacob stepped up to the plate and finished the packing. Poor guy - his work was moving the same weekend so he's been going nonstop since Thursday. And he was just getting over his sickness, too! Plus it was his birthday on Friday! I was too sick to do anything for it, but will make it up to him soon!

Anyway, we managed to pull it off - thank goodness we hired movers and it wasn't a do-it-yourself type move! All the stuff is out of the Queens place and in the Jersey City place and we slept there last night. I took a few photos so you can see what the area looks like. They were with my iPhone so excuse the quality.

View from balcony.




Second view from balcony - that's the Statue of Liberty there on the island! (You can see it a lot better in real life.)




The actual balcony. No furniture yet! I didn't take any indoor pics because there are boxes everywhere! Soon! The cool thing about this balcony is there are entrances from both the living room and bedroom. So the apartment gets a ton of light!








There's a nice park right off of the apartment building, jutting out into the water. Everyone lets their dogs run free. Molly has already met dozens of new friends!


That's all for now! More soon!
Marianne

Puking at Fashion Week? Priceless

So today was supposed to be a fun-filled adventure at New York's Spring Fashion Week. I had the backstage access to Rebecca Taylor and was working two stories for Better TV. Instead it turned out to be a nightmare. (WARNING: Not a good post for sensitive stomachs or those eating - though I'll try not to be too descriptive!)

I started feeling a little weird at work. Really tired, run down. I was a bit worried since I'd gotten like nine hours of sleep the night before, which is a lot for me. Not to mention Jacob had just gotten over a horrific stomach something-or-other that we attributed to possible food poisoning. I mean, he was messed up hardcore for two days- couldn't keep anything down.

Anyway, I ignore the symptoms, hoping they'll go away if I have a little lunch. After all, I HAVE to do this shoot. And I want to! So I eat and feel a tiny bit better and my photographer and I head down to the tents. I'm wearing some pretty intense high heels and my feet are killing me, but I figure I won't be walking much so no big deal. More important to look fashionable, I decide. After all, once we finish part one of the story, we're heading over to the Rebeca Taylor after-party to shoot some more footage and mingle with some regular Better TV interviewees. Fun!

We go through the backstage. See Jamie Lynn Sigler (who I've interviewed before), one of the Real Housewives of NY (Ramona - who I am shooting a story with in a couple weeks.), and in the tents we see Tori Spelling and her husband Dean. She looks pretty in real life. Very polished. I can't wait til she's on the new 90210 again!

ANYWAY we get our set-up shots of Mina Jacqueline-Au, the socialite who we work with all the time at Better, and Mary Rambin of Nonsociety.com who we're also doing a piece on. (About bloggers at Fashion Week.)

Mina urges me to find a seat, but I suddenly feel extremely sick. Faint and sick to my stomach. I want to see Rebeca's collection SO BADLY - I loved her spring show back in the fall and her clothes are so feminine and pretty. But I realize I need to suck it up and head outside. So I walk out the front door, watching mobs of people trying to get into the show. Hopefully the girl who took my seat is a big fan and was worthy of admission. :)

I walk out and sit down and wonder what I should do. At the very least I'm supposed to interview Mary for my blogging story after the show. But I feel so badly! I can't find a free bathroom and the heels are stabbing into my feet like knives as I try to push through the crowds. I find a Starbucks, finally, but it's one of the bathroom-less kind. I start to panic. What am I going to do?

Marty calls and Mary calls and I arrange to meet them, but then the sickness overwhelms me. I tell Marty I have to go and I quickly empty my makeup bag - the only bag I have - to prepare for the inevitable. I don't even make it out of Bryant Park before I lose my lunch. People all around - so embarrassing! Though someone at work joked that I was just like the models now.

Now I'm in bed. Have thrown up everything I've drank this afternoon. Feeling weak and yet bored. What a horrible sickness! Now I know what Jacob was going through. Major bleh! And I'm sad I missed the show and the party and that my story might not work out anymore. Booo!! Also we're moving on Sunday and I should be packing, but there's no way I can get out of bed at the moment. I will definitely need to stay out of work tomorrow.

I guess it's horrible to feel sick anywhere, but NYC is particularly bad. There's no place here to be alone. You're often in spots with no bathrooms. And you don't have a car to drive home with. I figured a cab would make me sick so I ended up taking the subway.

So that was my "glamorous" day at Fashion Week! Oh well, there's always the fall shows!


Marianne

Packing and Writing and Packing and Writing...

That's my week in a nutshell. Putting on the finishing touches of BAD BLOOD and putting all of my worldly posessions in boxes. I can't wait to be done with packing and moving, but I'm having fun with my vampire story. I just love writing that series. Guess I'll have to see about a Book #5. :)

I found a photo on the interwebs which shows the new apartment, in case you are curious!

Pretty, huh? I always wanted to live on the water.

Let's see, what else? For Gossip Girl fans, TV Guide has an article on how to fix the show. As much as I like the show, I agree. Last season the second half was breathtakingly good - I couldn't WAIT to watch the next episode. This year it's like some mildly pleasant brain candy. Yummy, but forgetable. Also, what's with all the repeats? You lose momentum if you air new shows once every 2-3 weeks.

Tonight I'm hitting a Fashion Week event and tomorrow I'll be at the tents doing a couple segments for Better TV. Looking forward to the Rebecca Taylor show and after-party. I love her stuff so much. Someday I'm going to buy something of hers! (If I can ever afford anything better than H&M quality clothes!)

That's all I've got for now! More packing and writing soon!

MARIANNE

Publisher's Weekly

PW blogger extraordinaire Barbara Vey was sweet enough to post Melissa and my Better TV clip, which airs on the show today. Go check it out and be sure to leave a comment on her blog!! :)

Thanks!
Marianne

Valentine's Day Recap

With Valentine's Day on a Saturday the celebration can go all weekend long!

On Friday we pre-celebrated by grabbing some BBQ and then seeing the 10:00 show of the Friday the 13th remake. I thought it was a very worthy remake (or reboot/reimagining whatever you want to call it.) I didn't think the new Jason was as good as Kane Hodder, but only true fans would understand my reasonings why so I won't get into it too much here. But I thought it was a lot of fun and in the true spirit of the originals. (And certainly a lot better than certain installments (*cough* nine *cough).

But you want to hear the romantic part of the weekend, I know, I know!

On Saturday I woke up to a dozen red roses, a bottle of champange (for the evening, not breakfast!), and some Teuscher chocolates.

If you've never had Teuscher chocolates - they're these special chocolates flown in daily from Switzerland. So delicious! Jacob picked a box of champagne truffles and one of chocolate mints. They're made with no additives or perservatives so they have to be eaten within 10 days. I think I'm up to the challenge.




He also gave me a fluffy bathrobe and some of the softest flannel pajama bottoms - two things I've been really wanting. Shows he pays attention to my rambling. :)

After having breakfast and watching the Valentine's Day 30 Rock, we started packing. We're moving to our new apartment in a week and decided to bring some stuff over today to get started. (We have storage space to put stuff in before the apartment is ready.) So we packed up a zipcar SUV and headed to Jersey City.





I know you're probably saying JERSEY? You're leaving NYC for Jersey? But truthfully, it's just over the river - one stop on the PATH train and you get SOOO much more for your money there! Our apartment is almost a thousand sqaure feet for one thing, whereas similarly priced buildings in NYC only give you 650 sq feet. It has a washer/dryer IN the unit (unheard of for NYC), a dishwasher, two bathrooms, and a balcony that overlooks the Statue of Liberty. In fact, I think that's what I like most about the place - it's right on the water. There are also tennis courts and a fitness center downstairs.

Here's the skyline view from one side...





And here's the sunset view from the other.





And you can walk along the water on a little promenade.





I'll post more photos next week - of the actual apartment - once we move in. But I'm very excited to leave Queens and become a resident of Jersey. Who knew?!

After dropping our stuff off we went back into the city for dinner at Rosa Mexicano, a delicious upscale Mexican restaurant in Union Square.

They make guacamole by hand right at your table.





And serve it in a molcajete shaped like a pig!





They gave us a free jar of salsa as a Valentine's gift and I tried their signature drink of the night - a Passion Margarita. Served with a rose petal floating on top.





It was a delicious meal and I left feeling so full, but happy! Jacob definitely made Valentine's Day memorable and special for me!! Even the packing was fun. :)

Today our three day weekend continues with a Game Night scheduled by our friend Jenny. (Actually game afternoon to be more accurate.) And then we're going to a Vampire Ball that's being held tonight at a local club. Must figure out what to wear for that!

So all in all a good weekend! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Marianne

On TV!

My show, Better TV, did a segment on me and fellow YA author Melissa Walker. It'll air Monday on 47 different tv stations around the country. Here's the clip!

Let me know what you think!
Marianne

Happy Friday the 13th!!

We're going to see Jason tonight!!!

Marianne

The Blood Coven Vampire Series lives on!

I forgot to officially announce this on my blog. Duh! But better late than never and always an excuse to pop some cyber-champagne!

(The above champagne was indeed popped when I first got the news and couldn't tell anyone publically, in case you were wondering.)

Anyway, my Blood Coven Vampire series (Boys that Bite, Stake That, Girls that Growl) will be re-packaged and re-released starting in October of this year. One book per month - Oct, Nov, Dec - culminating with the long awaited Book #4 in the series, which will be called BAD BLOOD.

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that Berkley is doing this and that I'll get a chance to continue the series. I'm actually almost finished writing BAD BLOOD because I was already writing it for Germany, who bought the book independently. It takes place in Las Vegas and is written from Sunny's point of view. It's been a ton of fun to write - to go back to my favorite twin heroines and continue their adventures.

The re-packaged books will have new covers and will be branded as a series, unlike the originals. They'll also be a more traditional trade paperback size. I'm really hoping this will introduce a whole new generation of readers to the books who love Sunny and Rayne just as much as I do.

Okay, enough gushing. I will end by saying this is something I thought would never happen. I begged for a year and a half and got turned down for the fourth book a ton of times. Finally, Berkley not only changed their mind, but made the new deal even sweeter than I could have ever imagined. Sometimes it's all about timing and it's a good example of why you should never give up in this business and in life in general.

Marianne

Weekend Wrap-up

Hey all,

I swear I'll be less of a blog slacker this week. Or at least I'll try.

On Friday night I went out for drinks with Liz, Leanna, author Alisa Kwitney, and PW blogger Barbara Vey at the Old Castle Pub in midtown. After drinks, Liz and I headed back to Astoria to get our Dance, Dance Revolution on. She's still better at it then I am, go figure. Then we ate pizza and I forced her to watch an episode of TRUE LIFE, the MTV documentary show I'm addicted to.

On Saturday Jacob and I headed to the Javitt's Center to attend the NY Comic Con. It was really crowded, but the booths had some cool stuff. I didn't dress up but a lot of people did. Still, there it was nothing compared to something like Dragon Con where the costumers go all out. I bought a box set of .dot//hack manga and a few other small things.

That night we went home and watched the documentary "His Name was Jason" about the Friday the 13th series. It was okay, nothing spectacular. This week the re-imagining/remake of the actual film comes out in theaters. (On Friday the 13th, of course!) Can't wait!

On Sunday Jacob and I did brunch then went to see My Bloody Valentine in 3D. We'd tried to see it once before, but the audience was very loud - talking through the whole thing. Luckily this time people were more respectful and we were able to stay for the whole thing. (I run into this problem SO OFTEN in NYC. I don't understand how people spend $14 for a ticket and then want to just text and talk through the whole film!)

So all in all it was a good weekend. I also worked a ton on my 4th Blood Coven book, Bad Blood. I'm up to 50k now and closing in on the end. I'll be sad to be finished - I love writing about Sunny and Rayne - but since it's due March 1st I guess it's for the best. :)

That's about all I've got to report for now!

Marianne

Molly eats very spicy chili

We had very spicy chili at the Superbowl party and there was tons left over that Jacob's been eating every night. (I don't like spicy food so it's all him.) He gave some leftovers to Molly and I filmed the results. She gets VERY slurpy after eating it...can't keep that burning tongue in her mouth. TOO funny!

DDR Marathon! (Oh, and Superbowl watching, too)

Yesterday Jacob and I had a Dance Dance Revolution Superbowl party. There were two kinds of chili (hot/mild), two kinds of guacamole (manly/girly), two types of cornbread (with jalapenos/without) and two television centric activities available (watching the Big Game/playing DDR)

So basically, something for everyone who attended.

If you haven't played Dance Dance Revolution you're missing out on a cultural phenomenon of our time. Basically there's a touch-sensitive mat attached to the XBOX 360 that serves as the dance floor. On screen you hear a song and see dance moves (in the form of <- ->) and you have to hit them at an exact moment. It's not much different than Guitar Hero, really, except you're using your feet. And it's better exercise. In fact, I'm pretty sure we burned at least a thousand calories a piece last night playing. Probably enough to counteract that first bowl of chili.

I sadly did not take any video of this. Maybe because I was afraid of the blackmail potential of having something so embarassing end up on the interwebs. Instead, I'll give you video of a true expert.



Out of all the party goers, Liz has the most potential to someday become as good as that little kid. Next time I'm going to video her.

Oh and we also watched the Superbowl. It was a good game and Pittsburgh won, as you know. I was rooting for them because my sister-in-law Karen is from there. It was a pretty exciting game. Especially the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet at halftime.



Sometimes it's the little things. :)

Marianne

RoleMommy at the Ritz

On Saturday morning, I headed to Battery Park on a blustery winter day to take part in the RoleMommy at the Ritz mother/daughter brunch. The event was hosted by publicist extraordinaire Beth Feldman, who runs the RoleMommy.com blog. There was a great group of people in attendance - moms, daughters, bloggers, other authors and even a troupe of children's performers. We mixed and mingled and ate a delicious brunch. I talked about my book, Gamer Girl, and why I wrote on the subjects of bullyinig and girl gaming.

I met some great people - a woman running a site called Fortune Girls - an amazing site for tweens - you so have to check it out. Barbara was so dynamic, her enthusiasm was catchy! I only wish I could have met her daughter, who designed the fortune girls themselves. She's very talented, as you will see.

I also met the owner of another tween style site called Sophie, designed for girls from 13-17. She also had a lot of amazing ideas. I look forward to speaking with her further in the future.

I did a Podcast with Manic Mommies, which you can find on their website, though I'm embarassed cause I hate the sound of my voice. They were really cool though. The one who interviewed me is a gamer girl herself and a lover of vampires. My soul mate! :)

Here are a few photos from the event!

Beth doing her introductions.


Junior Reporter on the case!


Me, talking to the group. I really love that dress and wear it whenever I can. I actually wore it on my very first date with Jacob so I consider it lucky, too! (But I digress!)


Me, Beth and a wonderful tween named Angelica. I gave her a copy of my book cause she was so cute.


All in all, it was a great event and I'm glad I had the chance to participate. It's also led to some great future opportunities that I will be talking about soon!

Marianne

Quick Pick Reluctant Readers!

I'm psyched! Just found out today that GAMER GIRL made the American Library Association's Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers list. w00t! I actually made the list a few years ago for Boys that Bite and it was my favorite honor to receive. I love the idea that my book is working to inspire tweens and teens to start reading!

Here's the complete list, in case you're curious about who else made it.

MARI

Dog LOLz

For you dog lovers out there!

Killington Pics

Sorry I've been a blog slacker - but I've been using every free writing moment to work on my actual books, which is definitely time well spent. I passed in my new draft of The Camelot Code to my agent today - can't wait to hear what she thinks of it!

As I mentioned, this past week I went up to Killington, Vermont to shoot a bunch of ski/snowboard related stories for Better TV. It was a lot of work - and COLD! - but also a lot of fun. Here are a few pics.

I hadn't actually snowboarded for a couple years - having moved into the city and all - so it was great to get back on a board. I thought I'd be rusty, but I totally wasn't. Definitely like riding a bike! Now I want to go back and do it more - when I'm not stuck working.





Mike shooting some ski school. We did a segment on what to expect your first time out on the snow. I was the pupil for the mock lesson. Mike said I looked too good and made me fake fall on camera a few times so it'd be more realistic. :)







Being on the bunny slope was such a tease! Luckily, after that, we got to go up to the new terrain park "The Stash". It's one of the only all-natural terrain parks in the world and was really cool. All wood, no metal at all. I didn't take photos cause it was so darn cold up there. But you'll eventually see the video.

One of the most fun things we did was go snowmobiling! I'd never been before and had no idea how much fun it is to do! I'm addicted now and can't wait to try it again. It's sort of like jet-skiing on snow. And you can go really fast! We went up and down an old mountain's ski trails. You could still see the abandoned lifts. Supposedly the chairs are buried just over the cliff.















All in all - a fun trip - though very busy! I'd love to go back when I'm not working though - it was kind of a tease to be there, but not be able to just go off and have fun. :) Hopefully sometime in March I can get up for a weekend. That's one thing I definitely miss about New England - it's so easy and close to go up to the mountains for a day! It took like 5 + hours to get there from NYC!

Marianne

Up at Killington

Doing ski related stories for Better TV this week. It's sooo freaking cold! What was I thinking? Next time I need to pitch a week's worth of tropical island segments instead!!!

I forgot my camera cord AGAIN so I can't post pics until I get back. However, I will post this one that I found off Facebook. A lot of my friends are posting old high school pics on their Facebook pages lately. I LOVE this because, as most of you know, I had that house fire and lost not only all my pics, but my family's photo albums as well. So I have very few pics older than three and a half years. (Wow, was the fire really that long ago?!)

Anyway, here's an eighth grade play I was in which appears to be a weird mix of Wizard of Oz and Christmas. I'm Dorothy, with the blue dress and basket. Look at the hair!! :P

Marianne

Coldness

It's snowing today and slightly warmer than it has been. Meaning it's like 30 degrees. Jacob hates the cold - he's a Texas boy after all - and is always amazed how my hands/body stay warm when he's a total icicle. I just tell him that I have thick, hearty, New England blood to keep me warm. He doesn't believe there's such a thing as "New England blood" but he's wrong. To prove it, I dug up an old joke and thought I'd share.

It's the New England Temperature Conversion Joke.

60° F:
Southern Californians shiver uncontrollably.
People in New England sunbathe.

50° F:
New Yorkers try to turn on the heat.
People in New England plant gardens.

40° F:
Italian & English cars won't start.
People in New England drive with the windows down.

32° F:
Distilled water freezes.
Maine's Moose head Lake's water gets thicker.

20° F:
Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats.
People in New England throw on a flannel shirt.

15° F:
New York landlords finally turn up the heat.
People in New England have the last cookout before it gets cold.

0° F:
All the people in Miami die.
New Englanders close the windows.

10° below zero:
Californians fly away to Mexico.
The Girl Scouts in New England are selling cookies door to door.

25° below zero:
Hollywood disintegrates.
People in New England get out their winter coats.

40° below zero:
Washington DC runs out of hot air.
People in New England let the dogs sleep indoors.

100° below zero:
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole.
New Englanders get frustrated because they can't start their "kahs."

460° below zero:
All atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale).
People in New England start saying, "cold 'nuff for ya?"!

500° below zero:
Hell freezes over.
The Red Sox win the World Series!

Friday!

I have been working like crazy on my Camelot Code manuscript this week, writing every free second I can find. Which means I've only gotten like six hours of sleep a night - writing until midnight then waking up at six am to squeeze 2 1/2 hours of writing in before work. It's not a schedule that I would recommend. In fact, it's a good way to get burnt out. That said, I've got a TON accomplished and I'm really proud at how the book is shaping up.

I got the most amazing (writing related) news yesterday. I guess I can't say anything public yet, but it's what I've been dreaming about happening for about a year and a half now. And it's happening in the best way possible. It's like a dream come true! Okay, I won't tease anymore until I can spill.

I did a segment with Mary Rambin of NonSociety today. She's a sweetheart and very good on camera, too. I don't care what all those rebloggers have to say, I like her.

Won't be doing much this weekend (though I am going out to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse tonight - yum!) but that's not a bad thing. I feel like I've been on-the-go a lot and will very much enjoy staying home. Plus I still have a lot of writing to get done.

That's all I got for now! I'll leave you with a photo of where my toes still wish I was. Ah, Cozumel. I miss you so. Especially today, when it's about 11 degrees out.

Marianne

Boys are still biting

Sorry I've been a bit of a blog slacker. I've been hard at work whipping my book into shape so I'm putting effort in where it counts! Problem is, when I'm writing every night that means I'm not doing anything else and therefore have very little to blog about!

I did find out today that Berkley, being the wonderful publisher that they are, has been busy reprinting my vampire series. They did the fourth printing of Boys that Bite back in August and have a new printing of Stake That! scheduled for February of this year. This is wonderful news! It means that these books will stay in print and be available for the forseeable future! Yay Berkley!

Speaking of the series, the German version of Girls that Growl was just released this month. The cover is sure a lot different than the American version! I love the little bat though - he's been on every cover of the series in different poses.

But I think the Stake That! bat is my favorite. Cause he looks all secretive.





I also recently got a copy of the Japanese version of Stake That! I really need to scan in the photos so you can see the amazing manga pictures they did inside the book. Girls that Growl comes out there in February.

That's all I've got for now. Talk soon!

Marianne