Christmas Meme

:)

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Ummm can't I pick both? I love Egg Nog around Christmas time, but Hot Chocolate is my favorite drink year round.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?
Wrapped, of course! If it's a present that's too big to be wrapped, it's hidden somewhere like behind the couch or outside.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
No house lights. Tree lights are colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
I used to BEG my parents to put them up the day after Thanksgiving. But sadly, they usually waited until a couple weeks before Christmas. (Though they did let us take the stuff down from the attic - a one a year adventure! - and play with all the ornaments, read the books, etc. before they went on the actual tree.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish?
My dad's baked apple pancakes that he makes every Christmas morning. Mmmmm.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child:
We'd sit at the top of the stairs, waiting for eternally slow parents to be ready to go down. Then my dad would have to go down first and he'd stop at the bottom of the steps and go, "Uh, oh! I think Santa made a mistake! He left TOO MANY PRESENTS!" Only after that were we allowed to run downstairs and take a look for ourselves.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I demanded to know. Then I was mad once they told me. Parents just can't win.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
This was a tradition I lobbyed for for years as a child. Not until I was much older did the parents wear down and say okay to this. But once I have a family, I would DEFINITELY insist on this tradition.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Lights first, then garland, then ornaments, then tinsel. Dad's in charge of the lights and garland. He's also quite a obsessive about perfecting the tinsel distribution. He's a "strand here and there" versus "globber."

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it?
It'd be nice to have a white Christmas. It's been a while.

12. Can you ice skate?
Yup. Not great, but enough that I don't fall on my butt too many times.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
There were so many over the years. I guess getting a Cabbage Patch kid the year they were impossible to get was a real good one. My Mom is an early shopper and simply went out and bought one before the rush, having no idea they would be valuable. My parents then debated selling it over giving it to me because they were going for sooo much. (We didn't have a lot of $$.) But they decided it would be better for me to have it!! :) I felt like the luckiest kid in the world. Her name was Constance Georgia and she was a ponytailed redhead. I still had her until last year when my house burned down.

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Presents! :) (And you thought I was going to say family, lol!)

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Chocolate Cream Pie. Mmmmmmmm.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
It's sad cause my family is split up now, but for years we did the exact same thing every Christmas. Went downstairs, opened stockings, had apple pancakes for breakfast, went into living room and opened presents, relatives came over, ate dinner, showed everyone our presents, etc. etc. It was awesome. I have such happy memories of Christmas. Now I kind of hate the holiday because it's not the same with everyone apart. My brother is in Colorado and never comes home for Christmas. My mom is in Florida. My dad's stepfamily follows a lot of our old traditions, but it's a bit weird to do it with completely different people...

17. What tops your tree?
Usually we had an angel. I used to use her as a doll before the tree was set up.

18. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?
Giving, for sure. I am an awesome present giver. :P I really take the time to figure out what a person would really like - something they may have no idea they wanted but would be absolutely perfect for them. Then I love seeing their faces when they open the gift. One person said to me once after receiving their gift, "Wow, you really listen to me." It made me quite happy.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song?
What Child is This?

20. Candy Canes?
I like 'em. I never crave them, but once I open one, I'm sucking on them nonstop. I like the cherry flavored best.

I'm back from Florida. Okay, okay, I've been back a few days - have just been busy. I'm working a night shift this week at work so my schedule seems all out of whack. Plus I'm hard at work on my August novel "Moongazer." Sometimes when I'm writing a ton of book stuff, the last thing I want to do is blog on top of that.

I finished PRETTIES by Scott Westerfeled. I thought it was better than Uglies. I picked up a copy of Specials, the third book in the series, but it may be a while until I get to it. So many books, so little time to read. However, since my World of Warcraft videogame BFF left to go home for Xmas, I'll probably get some extra reading/tv time next week, lol. I promised not to level my latest toon (character) too much without him.

Luckily I have the second season of Veronica Mars to keep me company! In the last 24 hours I think I have watched 6-7 episodes. It's not my fault - they always end on a cliffhanger, forcing me to watch the next one. I like to say it's research for writing YA novels, but in reality it's just addiction.

If you're a dog lover like me, check out Daily Puppy. It's the best website ever for cute puppy pictures.

:)
MARI

Off to Florida

I've been working the night shift all week and so I'm completely mixed up schedulewise. Also, I'm jetting off to Florida tomorrow AM for the weekend to visit my mom for a little pre-Christmas celebration. I'm FINALLy getting a handle on everyone's Christmas gifts. Thank goodness...one less thing to worry about.

Eargon is opening tomorrow. I think I want to see it. I didn't read the book because it was like 1431554364365437 pages long and I don't have the attention span for books like that, but the plot seems kind of cute and the guy playing Eargon is totally hot.

Charlotte's Web is also opening. Is it just me or does it look like a remake of BABE?

Hope you all are enjoying the holiday season. I'll be back on Monday if not sooner.

:)
MARI

Cute Guy (Random Day) or...I LOVE MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE!!

I always forget to do Cute Guy Friday on Friday. Oh well, as long as we can drool on SOME day of the week, right? Today's choice is a bit eclectic. I didn't use to think he was cute at all, but something about the new platinum haircut and sexy suits really does it for me. Or maybe it's just I'm absolutely in love with his new album "The Black Parade" and play it 24/7. :)

Anyway...I present to you: Gerard Way, singer of My Chemical Romance. He'd make SUCH a great vampire. Mmmmm....

Not sold? Watch and listen to their amazing single. If you don't like him for his platinum locks, you can always appreciate his amazing lyrical genius.

Are you Sunny or Rayne?

Now you can take this quiz to find out for sure! :)




MARI

Blog Slacker Update

Sorry, I'm a blog slacker, I know, I know. But hey - you should be off reading Stake That! and not blogs anyway, right?? Of course, right!

Thanks to everyone who's already written in and said they loved the new book!!! You rock. But you read too quickly! Especially since Girls that Growl won't be out til October! Long wait!! Ah well, what can you do?

I, myself, just finished reading the book UGLIES by Scott Westerfeld. Great book. I highly recommend it if you like stories about post-apocalyptic worlds. (Which I can't get enough of, personally.) I have part 2 - PRETTIES - in my hot little hands and plan to start reading it soon.

Speaking of post-apocalyptic books - I'm currently hard at work on my own. My August book "Moongazer". I'm really having a great time writing it - I literally get to create a whole new world. How fun is that? This is my first non-comedy and actually it's pretty dark and sad. My hero is so very Emo. But I love him much.

Booksigning in Bellingham, Mass on Sunday 2-4pm. Don't forget!

:)
MARI

Cute Guy Sunday

I forgot to post Friday's cute guy, so I'm making up for it now. Today we have Neptune's resident bad boy we love, Logan Echols. I don't know what it is about him, but gah! The tension between him and Veronica ignites the screen.

I'm on Season 2 of the DVDs now. It's become a true addiction.

Mar

New Book Deal!! :)

I've been keeping this news under wraps while it was finalized, but my agent said I can finally announce it today.

I have a new book deal and a new publisher!

Here's the official info, as posted in Publisher's Lunch.

~~
FICTION: YOUNG ADULT
Mari Mancusi's YA novel THE CAMELOT CODE, in which Merlin sends a sophomore girl back in time to meet the teen once-and-future-pre-King Arthur and have him spend a week in the 21st century only to have him Google himself, discover his fate and refuse to return, to Sarah Shumway at Dutton Children's, in a very nice two-book deal, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (World English). knelson@nelsonagency.com
Translation rights: wlee@fieldingagency.com
~~

Cool, huh? For those of you who read Sk8er Boy, the girl who stars in this book is Sophie Sawyer, a minor character from Sk8er Boy and the present day stuff takes place at the same high school, Sacred Mary's. So Dawn and Sean may make cameos as well and of course those mean girl Ashleys!

Of course the book won't be out 'til Fall 2008 - a LONG TIME from now! But in the meantime, there's always STAKE THAT! **grin**

:)
MARI

Interview on TeensReadToo

BTW I was recently interviewed by the folks over at TeensReedToo.

Check it out if you have a sec! :)

MARI

Stake That! Booksigning

So the OFFICIAL release date for Stake That! is December 5th. I'm betting you may start seeing copies on the shelves any day now, though. Since I got my author copies at the beginning of the month to me it feels like it's been out forever.

On Sunday December 10th I'm doing a booksigning at the Barnes and Noble in Bellingham, Massachusetts. First and only December signing of Stake That!

Hope to see some of you there. :) Here are the details:

When: Dec 10th 2-4pm
Where: Barnes and Noble, 270 Hartford Ave, Bellingham, MA

MARI

Three things you need to know

Three things you need to know:

1) If you're a Buffy fan and have never read Jennifer Cruise's essay on "Dating Death" I highly recommend it.

2) My Veronica Mars obsession is out of control. I'll need a 12 step program for when I run out of episodes. What is it about that show that makes it so, so good?

3) Stake That! comes out ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!! (You knew I had to throw that in there, right?)

:)
MARI

Weekend Fun

***COUNTDOWN***

*** 8 Days til Official Release Date of STAKE THAT!***

(Just in case you were wondering...)

P.S. You can go order it on Amazon now... ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Now back to your regularly scheduled blog)

This weekend I was dogsitting so I did a lot of hiking in parks. Very fun. :) Here are the dogs (mine is the black fluffy one (Molly), I was dog sitting the gray one (Adora), and the other two (Harley and Dee) belong to my friend Mary.)

They romped around like crazy...

Sniffed everything...

And basically wore themselves out...

I wore MY self out by finally finishing my Girls that Growl manuscript. I passed it into my editor today! Now I just have to sit with my fingers crossed, hoping she likes it!!!! :)

Hope you all had a good weekend, too!

MARI

Cute Guy Friday

Awhhh...Buffy and Spike!!!! (Good song, too!)
:)
MARI

I'm thankful for...

This year I'm thankful for...

* My wonderful family and friends who are always supportive

* My sweet little dog Molly who lies by my feet when I write and never pesters me when I'm in the zone.

* My awesome new agent and my almost official awesome new book deal that I can't wait to talk about -- stay tuned on Monday for the big annoucement.

* The fact that my fifth book - STAKE THAT! - is coming out next week and that you're all going to run right out and buy it. (hahah -right? right?)

* All my readers who send me such wonderful emails and comments and make writing books more fun and worthwhile.

* The fact that I met my crazy deadline once again and completed Girls that Growl and that I actually like how it came out.

* Veronica Mars

* The fact that season 3 of the OC is FINALLY on DVD!!

* ski/snowboard season being is almost here!!

That's about it for now. What about you guys?
MARI

Glass Houses

I'm reading this new vampire book (I think it came out in October) called Glass Houses by Rachel Caine. It's the first in a series called the Morganville Vampires. It's more horror than a romance or comedy and so far it's really, really good!

So if you're looking for something to read while you're waiting the last two weeks for STAKE THAT! to come out - I highly recommend you check this one out.

Here's what it look like. I originally grabbed it from the store because it had a cool cover and well, it's about vampires. :) It's published by JAM which is the same publisher as my Boys that Bite series.





Anyway, go forth and read.

MARI

Stake That! Street Team

Okay, I'm looking for a few good Boys that Bite fans to join my Street Team. Here's the 411.

What is the STREET TEAM?
The Street Team is a group of readers who totally get my books and want to spread the news.

What do I have to do?
That's easy. You sign up and I send you a free, autographed copy of STAKE THAT before anyone can actually buy it. You read it and then go and spread the word. Tell everyone what you thought about the book. You can post reviews, link to our site via your webpage/blog/My Space...whatever. Just get the word out there. Tell your friends, your IM buddies, your cousin twice removed. Tell everybody and earn cool prizes and stuff.

I'm in, where do I sign up?
Just drop me a line with your name, age, address, websites (such as a blog, My Spaces, ect) and tell us a little about why you dig vampire books. It's that easy. Then I send you an email with details about Street Team and an invitation to join our Super Secret Yahoo Group, where all the top secret stuff is talked about. Viola. See ya there.

MARI

Quick Update

Lots of great things going on in Marianne's world. Not many I can talk about yet - but look for a big annoucement soon. Gah. I got to say, I hate waiting for things. I'm so an instant gratification girl.

I'm ALMOST done writing Girls that Growl. Should be passing it into my editor on Monday. It may be a little longer than I planned it to be, which is odd because normally I write short. But I'm happy with how it's coming out and really, that's all that matters!

I've been so busy lately writing that I haven't had much of a life so I have little to talk about. In fact, I've even had to cut down on videogaming. So sad! Oh well, the end is in sight. And it's worth it. Soo worth it.

:)
MARI

More cool stuff

Bookburger - a really awesome YA book blog had Hannah, a teen reader, do a 10 second book review of Stake That! You can read the entire review (it's short - remember "10 second review") here. But here's a quick quote:

"Mari Mancusi knows what she's doing--she was able to write just like a teenager, online slang included, and make the impossible seem real. "

and...

"It includes all the things that make a book amazing: gorgeous vampires with accents, dangerous missions, and quite a bit of kissing. =]"

Sorry to keep posting reviews. I'm just excited when I hear what people think of the upcoming book and of course I want to share them with you. Especially when people like it. hehe. Cause, you know, sitting writing a book can be a very lonely experience. You wonder sometimes if it's really any good, if people will think it's funny, if the whole being an author thing was just a big fluke and you're really supposed to be digging ditches for a living, etc. Seriously, we authors are all crazy sometimes. :)

In the meantime I'm still finishing up Girls that Growl. And here's some top secret info. This will likely NOT be the last book in the series. Yay! I know what I want the title of the next one to be, but I can't tell yet. Grr... All these secrets, I know, I know. Sorry.

Anyway - gotta go write. I'll ttyl. :)
MARI

Another cool review

Got a fantastic review of STAKE THAT! from the VampireGenre.com. (Which by the way is a way cool website for vampire book reviews!)

They say it's "charming, witty, and snarky as hell." :)

Check it out if you have a moment.

MARI

Crack the Code! & Other Stuff

Hey if you are good with numbers and figuring out puzzles and codes and such, you might want to go check out my fellow author friend Ally Carter's blog. If you crack the code and figure out what the name of her next book is called (She's the author of the super fab "I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You") you can win all these really cool prizes.

Check it out here. And if you figure it out I want to know! (Though Ally might have to kill you if you tell. hehe)

Just downloaded the new My Chemical Romance from iTunes. Very happy right now.

In just 13 days I'll be passing the Girls that Growl manuscript into my editor. Been working like crazy to get it done on time. But I'm really excited with how it's coming out. Wait til you see all poor Rayne goes through this time around.

Speaking of Rayne, Rumor has it I'm getting a copy of the final finished version of Stake That! this week in the mail. Can't wait to see it in the flesh. It's a bit like having a baby. Well, at least I think so, having never had a baby myself. :P

Lastly, I just heard that they FINALLY released Season 3 of THE OC on DVD. I've been waiting a million years for them to do that. Gotta run out and buy that ASAP! Figures they put it out now, when I've finally addicted myself to a new show (Veronica Mars)

:)
MARI

Has anyone read Peeps?

Ooh I'm reading a very interesting book by Scott Westerfeld. It's called Peeps and it's about NYC vampires. But they're not the typical romantic type vampires some authors (ahem!) choose to write about. In this book, vampirism is a disease - a parasite living in the infected that basically makes them go crazy. And there are rats. Lots and lots of rats.




Some of it is wayyy disturbing, but for some odd reason I haven't been able to put it down...

Mari

Stake That Review!

Hey guys! Happy Friday!

So I'm psyched cause I just got a kick-butt 5 Star review of STAKE THAT! from TeensReedToo.com.

STAKE THAT!
by Mari Mancusi
Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 12/5/06
Publisher: Berkley
Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"
Rating: 5 Stars

STAKE THAT! is Mari Mancusi's sequel to BOYS THAT BITE. Mancusi is back with fun characters, plot twists and turns, and humor any teen (or adult) will appreciate.The story of twins Sunshine and Rayne continues with the focus on Rayne's adventures. Mostly written in "blogging" style complete with comments at the end of the posts, Rayne brings readers up-to-date on the girls' vampire dilemmas.

In this second book, Rayne is faced with her new role as a vampire slayer. She's learning everything, from which vampires are which to the art of carving her own wooden stake. To complicate matters she must work with Jareth, a vampire
who makes Rayne's head spin.

Add to the adventures a love interest for the girls' mother, a dangerous, unknown vampire virus, and continued confusion about their absent father, and Mancusi once again grabs teen readers and has them begging for more.

Fans of BOYS THAT BITE will not be disappointed with the direction the story is headed, only with the fact that they’ll have to wait for the story "to be continued"...

Yay! I love that review. And yes, there is another TO BE CONTINUED cliffhanger! Gotta get everyone psyched up for GIRLS THAT GROWL, after all!

Everyone have a great weekend. I'm off to go see (shiver!) Saw 3 tonight!!
Mari

Yay cover art!

Yesterday my editor sent me the best Halloween gift ever! The cover art for GIRLS THAT GROWL. And let me tell you, it rocks!! I love it soo soo much! They did exactly what I hoped they'd do and made it even better than I imagined.

I can sooo not wait to show you!

But sadly, I can't. Not until they put all the other stuff on - like the title, my name, and the tagline. Only then can I post it. So you're all going to have to wait. Nyah, nyah, nyah!

But I promise you, it's a cover worth waiting for. Perhaps my favorite of all covers this far! And that's saying something.

:)
MARI

A new book submission

Last night I started getting a wicked sore throat and it's no better today. Maybe it's the change in weather that's making everyone sick. In any case, I have a hugely busy work week and can't afford to lie around in bed so hopefully I will get better soon.

In happier news, my agent is sending out a brand, spanking new book proposal to editors this week. It's a totally different story - not one of the vampire books - but I think it'd be really cool to write so I'm hoping an editor wants to buy it!

Basically how it works is I write a partial (which is about 50 pages) of a new book and a summary of the book (describing the whole story- about 7-10 pages) and then the editor decides if she wants to buy the book based on what we sent her. We send out to several editors at once so then if more than one of them likes the idea they have to bid against eachother in what's called an auction. This is good for authors cause it means a better deal for them. :) We then sell the book to the editor with the best offer and then I get a deadline to finish it.

Sometimes only one editor will be interested. Or none at all. You never know. It depends on the quality of the book, the subject matter, what the editor has already bought that month, if the idea hasn't been overdone, etc. etc. Sometimes a sale can happen within 2 days of submission (like what happened with Boys that Bite) sometimes it can take months and months.

So cross fingers and wish me luck as we send this new baby out into the world!!!

MARI
PS The reason it can sell on a partial manuscript is because I already have other books out. If you're a first time author you have to write the whole book first.

Cute Guy Friday!

When I was writing Sk8er Boy, this is who I pictured as Sean.

Chad Michael Murray. Mmmmm. Delish.

:)
MARI

Star Was versus Harry Potter

Think Star Wars and Harry Potter are completely different stories with totally different plotlines? This may change your mind... :)

Children of the Universe

Found this on YouTube. I love it.

The process of writing a book

I'm up to page 70 on Girls that Growl. That means I need at least 150 more pages before it's done. Gah! Sometimes when I think about my deadlines I feel like pulling out my hair!

Ever wonder how writers write? Do they plan everything out in advance? Or do they just wing it and see what happens? While everyone's different, I can tell you what I do.

First I come up with a concept. That's sort of like a "What If." What if there were two twins and one of them wanted to be a vampire, but the other got bit instead. What if it were a week before prom? What if the cutest guy in school had just asked her out?

Then I come up with a title. (Though sometimes I think of the title first and the concept second. hehe) My first idea for Boys that Bite was "Wow, That Sucks!" (Get it??) But I thought some people might object to "suck" being on the cover so that's when I came up with Boys that Bite.

Then, if my editor likes the idea, I write up a synopsis. This is basically a plot summary from beginning to end. It's usually between 5-10 double spaced pages. And yes, you have to include the ending. Editors get cranky when you say things like "And to find out what happens you have to read the book!" just like teachers do when you write that in book reports.

Once the synopsis is approved by my editor I start the book. I usually have to write 3 chapters and send them in first because the cover department wants them so they can come up with a good cover for the book.

The way I usually write is I give myself permission to write crap in the first draft. Just get the basic ideas on paper and not worry about perfect sentences, jokes, etc. Then I go back and review each chapter many many times and revise the heck out of it. Edit and polish it to perfection. Then I show it to my critique partner and she edits it some more.

All this time I have to figure out what each scene is going to be. The synopsis gives me some clue -- like a roadmap -- but I really can't know all that's going to happen until I start the actual story. That's because characters can be funny sometimes. They like to do things you haven't planned them to. And sometimes that takes the story in a different direction. Subplots can be added, etc. etc. This is okay, as long as you still are aiming for the same basic plot as the synopsis. You can go from A to B to C or A to D to C as long as you end up at C in the end.

Once I'm done writing and polishing I send the book into my editor. Then they make notes on it and send me a list of questions and/or things they want changed. I make those changes and then send the book back. Then another editor (called a copy editor) goes through and corrects all the grammar and makes sure all the facts are right, etc. For example, in Boys that Bite I had inserted an extra day in the week. The copy editor caught that.

I get to go through the copy edits and check their changes and answer their questions. Then I send it back and they send the book to be typeset. Now it's in the same form as it looks like when you read it in a final book. (Before this it's been double spaced like an essay.) I read through the book again (yes again! at this point I'm usually sooo sick of it!!) and make sure all of it makes sense and there are no typos. You can't change a lot of stuff at this point cause it gets expensive now that it's formatted professionally.

And that's it! Next time I see it it's a finished book!

Whew! A lot of work, huh? But it's fun too. As long as you can make your deadlines. Which, speaking of, I'd better get back to!

:)
MARI

Cute Guy Friday!

When I was six I had a crush on Mark Hamill. As you probably know he played Luke Skywalker in the original three Star Wars movies.




When I was about twelve, I saw Labyrinth and fell in love with David Bowie.





In high school I discovered The Cure and fell for Robert Smith's beautiful, sad voice.




Then there came Buffy. And with Buffy, Spike!





I had a thing for Jude Law for a long time, before he cheated on Sienna with his nanny... (I still think he's way hot, even though he's a dirty dog.)




But now I've replaced him by Jonathan Rhys Meyers.



How about you? What guys rock your socks?

MARI

Girls that Growl

So remember how earlier this week I posted a photo and description of what I wanted the Girls that Growl cover to look like? Well, Kayla, one of my fab readers decided to get creative with PhotoShop and came up with a fabulous mock up!! Check it out! She did such a good job - I'd totally be happy if this was exactly what my real cover looked like. :)


Isn't it great? She even used the same font as BOYS THAT BITE. I think she has a future in book cover design, don't you?

Anyone else want to give it a try? :)

MARI

Halloween

Can you believe Halloween is less than two weeks away?? I love Halloween. This year, my friends and I are going to go to Spookyworld. It's like this indoor area with all these haunted houses and stuff. You'd think it would be totally cheesy, but we went last year and it was actually really scary and fun.

I'm not sure what I should be. I have this costume that I wore to a writer's conference in the spring. (Yes, sometimes they have costume parties at those things!) I was an evil goth fairy.

Here's what it looked like. What do you think?



So what are you guys doing? And what are you going to dress up as? Any vampires? Someone told me their friends (2 sisters) are going as Sunny and Rayne, which I think is awesome! Anyone else going to dress as the Boys that Bite twins?? If so, you'd better take pictures and send them to me!!!!

:)
MARI

Cover Stuff

Have you ever wondered how they come up with covers for books? What most people don't know is that the authors have very little to do with what ends up on the cover. The publishers have an art department that does all that stuff. That's why sometimes you see covers where the characters don't look anything like they're described in the book. I've been very lucky with my Boys that Bite and Stake That! covers -- I love them both and I think they're great representations of the girls in the book.

So now I'm currently awaiting the cover of GIRLS THAT GROWL, the third book in the series. My editor asked me for some ideas, which she will pass along to the art department. Of course, remember, they don't have to take my suggestions - but at least they asked for them!

I told her since the book is about Rayne going undercover as a cheerleader we should do something where you mix a cheerleading outfit with a goth outfit. So she could be wearing combat boots and fishnets, but have a cheerleading skirt and pom poms.

Here's the photo I sent them.





Imagine something like this, but with pom poms and more of a cheerleading skirt. Wouldn't that be so cute on a cover?

I think so. In a few weeks, we'll see if the art department agrees with me!! :)

MARI

Friday the 13th

Yay it's Friday! And not only Friday, but Friday the 13th! Ooooh scary! To celebrate, my ex and I (yes, we're still total BFFs, isn't that great?) are going to do a Friday the 13th movie marathon at my house tonight. Fun, fun.

Both of us love horror movies and when we were together we'd schedule regular "cheesy horror movie nights" where we'd go to Blockbuster and find the most random B-movies ever and watch them into the wee hours of the morning. Some of them were SOOO terrible. Like "Jack Frost" - which is about a killer snowman. (They actually made a sequel of that - where Jack Frost came to the Bahamas or something - if you can believe it.) And then there was the one about the sadistic dentist. Oh and we can't forget the ice cream man who chopped up kids and served human flesh in ice cream cones. (Or something like that...)

Yeah. They're silly and gross and not a bit scary, but they're also fun!!

Mari

Welcome!

Hey all,

I'm Mari and welcome to my new blog. Here's where you can find out the latest stuff going on with the Boys that Bite series as well as my life in general. Feel free to add comments if you have questions, opinions, or just want to say "hi!"

So it's less than two months before STAKE THAT! hits store shelves! Are you excited? I know I am. I can't wait to see what you guys think of Rayne's adventures as a vampire slayer.

Because we authors have to work sooo far ahead, I'm now writing the third book in the series. It's called "GIRLS THAT GROWL". We should get a cover very soon and of course I'll post it as soon as I get it!! Can't wait to see what the artist comes up with. I really love the covers of Boys that Bite and Stake That!, don't you?

Anyway, I've got to get back to work, but I'll write more soon, so make sure you keep checking back.

MARI