Get SCORCHED for $1.99 for a limited time!!

Great news!! For a limited time, my publisher has discounted the ebook version of SCORCHED to just $1.99 on all ebook platforms. If you've been wanting to try the book out, but hadn't gotten around to it--this is a great chance to add it to your collection!

Amazon - Barnes and Noble - iBooks - Kobo 

Books also make GREAT holiday gifts, so if you have a dragon lover on your list, you might consider a nice little e-book gift certificate stocking stuffer. OR you can always get a paperback or hardcover -- and if you order them directly from me, you can have them personally autographed, too!

I also want to take this chance to thank all of you for your support of me and my books over the years. I've been publishing for TEN (!!) years now and I still get such a kick out of every email you send and every tweet and FB and instagram message. I love meeting readers who have been reading my books for years and those of you who have just discovered them! Some of you found me as teens and are now adults--with kids of your own. (In fact, a first for me - one of my long time readers named their baby girl after one of my characters! How cool is that?)

Sometimes it's hard to stay focused on what I do, especially watching all the tragedy in the world. But I do believe books are important. They give people an escape from reality for a few blissful hours. They show us that we're not alone. And best of all, they give us the hope of a happy ending. Something we are all looking for in the end. So I promise to keep on writing, as long as you guys keep on reading!

Love,
MARI

What to read after SMOKED?

Hey all, 

As you probably know, SMOKED is the final book in the Scorched series. And for those of you who have now finished it, you might be wondering what to read next from me!

And I do have a suggestion!

If you liked the voice of Scorched as well as the apocalyptic setting, the action, the adventure, you might try my novel TOMORROW LAND. It's not a dragon book--it's a ZOMBIE book! And it takes place in two time periods: just before the zombie apocalypse (as people start realizing it's happening) and four years after everything's gone down.

So kind of like "Fear the Walking Dead" and "The Walking Dead" mashed together. With a love story. And Disney World.

Yes, Disney World! :)

The premise of the book is that Walt Disney World is the last safe haven from the zombie apocalypse. Mankind's one human outpost left. And our hero and heroine and their companions have to make their way down to this outpost so the heroine, Peyton, can reunite with her scientist father. He's put some important information in her head that may help save the world. If she can get there to let him extract it.

In addition to zombies and apocalypses, there's a little bit of cyberpunk to the book as well. Peyton has been engineered by her father to be bigger, stronger, faster. With ocular implants in her eyes and retractable razors in her fingertips. Much like the heroine of her father's favorite book, Neuromancer. (One of my favorite books of all time, too!) 

In other words, she's a zombie killing machine. 

Anyway, I think it's a perfect "next book" for those who completed the Scorched series and I hope you will check it out. Here is the blurb and buy links below:

Nineteen-year-old Peyton Anderson will never forget the day she was forced to make a choice--between her family--and Chris Parker, the boy she'd given her heart. Now four years later, as she steps out from the fallout shelter and into a zombie-infested world, he's the only thing on her mind. 

Thanks to her father Peyton is now built to survive: with razor tipped nails, ocular implants and cybernetics that make her stronger, faster, and able to protect herself in a world filled with monsters. Yet all the weapons in the world can't protect her heart when she runs into Chris again. The once sweet boy of her childhood has now grown into a tortured man--still furious at her for breaking his heart and never telling him why.

Now the two of them find themselves on the run, forced to fight their way down the monster strewn east coast to reach the last human outpost on Earth: Walt Disney World. Can they find a way to let go of old hurts and regain the love they lost--all while attempting to save what's left of the human race?

Paperback copy 

Kindle
Nook
iBooks
Kobo

One other interesting note? The cover for Tomorrow Land was designed by the same artist who did the Scorched series!! Tony Sahara. He's awesome, don't you think??'

MARI

Get your GOLD on!

Hey all,

It's hard for me to believe, but we're just a couple months away from the release of my first middle grade novel, GOLDEN GIRL, coming December 15th. This novel has been a long time in coming and I'm so excited to finally release it into the world. And even more exciting? Kirkus, a very prestigious book review magazine, just posted a very stellar, first review for the book! In other words, we're off to a GOLDEN start!!

Here's the review!

KIRKUS REVIEW

With a dad who is a former Winter X Games athlete and an impressive achievement record of her own, Lexi seems poised for the Olympics when a devastating snowboarding accident occurs.

After a lengthy recovery, 13-year-old Lexi returns to her prestigious training school with ambivalence. At school, Lexi faces an old rival and a former best friend—and plenty of doubt about her abilities. Chronicling Lexi’s emotional turmoil as she struggles to re-enter the high-intensity training environment, Mancusi explores the pressures young, driven athletes may encounter, whether from their families, their coaches, or themselves. Meeting Logan, a snowboarder and son of a school employee, provides Lexi with a new sense of the possibilities beyond competitive snowboarding. When an opportunity to join Logan’s friends’ band arises, Lexi must determine if there is room in her life for more than training. Along with Lexi’s evolving relationship with Logan, Mancusi includes some intrigue. Lexi questions the circumstances surrounding her accident, believing rival Olivia was the culprit who caused Lexi’s fall, but the truth surprises her. Lexi emerges with a mature perspective about competition and a confidence that the world offers myriad possibilities.

Mancusi’s engrossing tale provides a gripping glimpse at competitive snowboarding and a penetrating look at friendships within that context. (Fiction. 11-14)

Thanks for letting me share!! You can find out more about GOLDEN GIRL (or pre-order a copy) with the links below. It will be available in Hardcover, Paperback and Ebook formats.

Amazon

Barnes and Noble 

Independent Bookstores 

DRAGONS: CAUGHT ON TAPE

Hey all, 

When I started writing the Scorched series, one of the most interesting parts was imagining how people in our time would react to seeing dragons in real life. How would they react? What would they do? Would they be frightened, fascinated—maybe a little of each? Would the cable news stations debate the reality of their existence? Would the government come in and try to take them down—or use them for their own gain and cover it up in an X-Files’esque type conspiracy?

And most importantly, would people upload their dragon sightings to YouTube? Would they take dragon selfies?

In Smoked, Team Dragon launches a social media campaign to help Emmy gain recognition and acceptance in our world. It was fun to imagine how a group would promote dragons and make them go viral. As part of my research, I went and looked on YouTube to see if there were any dragon sightings already uploaded. And, to my surprise (and delight) there were!

I compiled a few fun ones for you to check out. Fact? Fiction? Real? Fake? You’ll have to decide…

“Real Dragon Caught on Camera”

“Real Dragon sightings in China” (This one is hard to see at first, but once you watch for a minute it’s really cool.)

Ball field dragon sighting  (Just like Emmy landing in the football field!)

Are you a Book Dragon?

Hey all,

Have you ever seen this meme? It always makes me laugh!

Of course when I do a school visit we ALWAYS talk dragons! And I love talking dragons on this blog as well. But if you want to meet other dragon fans (and fans of my books) and have a Facebook page, well I hope you will come join the discussion over at BOOK DRAGONS!

Isn't this a cool font? I found this crazy cool text generator online that I use all the time for cheesy/crazy fonts.

Just click on the link above and join the group and go ahead and introduce yourself! We can talk about the Scorched series, my Blood Coven Vampire series, about writing and publishing (I give tips and answer questions!), cosplay and more. I also offer sneak peeks exclusive giveaways, and other member only benefits. 

If you were once a member of the Blood Coven, this is sort of the next generation of that. So come by and join us!! We don't bite...much. :) 

MARI

DragonCon wrap-up

Hey all,

It's my most favorite time of the year! DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia over Labor Day weekend. Where 70,000 geeks and nerds and fan boys and girls gather together to hang out and party and, of course, costume!

As an author, DragonCon is my biggest publicity event of the year by far. But it's also something I'd attend even if I wasn't in the industry. I just love the vibe, the excitement, the amazing cosplay. So many people coming together and just sharing and having fun.

This year I spoke on panels for the YA Track, the Writing Track, the Urban Fantasy Track and the Horror Track. The track leaders do such an amazing job every year - I'm always blown away by how seamless everything is and how many people attend the panels. Even Friday morning at 10am when my first YA panel started, there was barely a seat in the house. (That's major credit to Bev Kodak who runs the panel. She works tirelessly and it shows!!)

At the YA Horror panel with James Ray Tuck, Madeline Roux, Ted Naifeh, and Peter Solomon 

Me and the amazing Bev Kodak after my panel! I only got to do one YA panel this year, but it was a good one!

One of the coolest panel moments was during the iZombie fan panel. A woman in the audience decided to tweet Rahul Kohli who plays Ravi on the show to let him know we were talking to him and low and behold, by the power of social media, he skyped in and talked to the audience at the end, answering questions, etc. Just goes to show you never know what might happen at DragonCon. Also major kudos to Carol Malcolm, our fearless track leader. I love doing this track every year.

The power of social media! 

By the way, if you want to listen to the complete panel, it was put up as part of the iZombie podcast here.

Perhaps my favorite panel of all, however, was one I wasn't even supposed to be on. Derek Tatum, the fearless leader of the Horror Track put together a last minute panel on the legacy of Wes Craven, who had died earlier in the week. I hadn't meant to be ON the panel, just attend it, but when I arrived Derek asked me if I wanted to take part and how could I say no? It was so much fun talking about Wes and his legacy and the mark he made on modern horror. He was an artist with a vision, not just some schlock director out to make a buck and it showed in his work.

In any case, it's inspired Jacob and I to go back and watch some of his stuff we haven't seen for a while. Like what Derek considers an underrated classic: Shocker!

Did you realize the guy in the electric chair is Skinner from the X-Files? Who knew!

I also worked at the Tairen Lair booth, which is made up of a group of authors who get together to sell and autograph books at the show. We can move a LOT of books at a Con like DragonCon. Which is pretty amazing, if you think about it, considering just how much cool stuff is available to purchase. But these are our people and our people love books! And just getting to be there, talking about books to readers - that was fun in and of itself.

My little spot at the Tairen's Lair booth!

A new reader and his homemade dragon Iris!

I also got to fan girl a little myself. I was on a panel with Todd McCaffrey, author and son of Anne McCaffrey who wrote the Dragonriders of Pern series, which was a great influence on me and my dragon love growing up! I was a total dork and actually gave Todd a signed copy of Scorched and told him how much his mother's writing meant to me. He was thankfully very gracious when I asked if his name had two "T's" in it when I meant two "D's". Yeahhhh. I'm so cool. I don't know if he'll ever read the book, but I like knowing he has it now!

I also got to meet fantasy artist and author Larry Dixon who was super cool and bought a signed copy of the entire Scorched series (!!) for himself and his wife, the amazing Mercedes Lackey. (OMG. OMG. So. Not. Worthy.) The idea that the two of them now have MY books in their collection? My pre-published self would have pretty much keeled over and died. Also, Larry gave me a signed copy of one of his griffin drawings!

And, of course, as always -  I cosplayed! Most of my cosplay costumes were a bit over the top this year - meaning it wasn't always easy to get from place to place. But it was a lot of fun all the same and I must have had my photo taken a thousand times over the week. I felt a little like a weary celebrity at the end, haha. Like, wanting to run up to my room and wear something normal so I could walk the halls incognito.

Here is my cosplay line-up:

FRIDAY: Princess Celestia from My Little Pony

This costume is one I basically built myself. I am going to post another day how I put it all together. 

FRIDAY NIGHT: Queen Elsa and Sub Zero from Frozen and Mortal Kombat.

This one got a LOT of laughs and a lot of "OMG that is SO WRONG." Haha. My husband Jacob is the one playing Sub Zero and it was his idea to decapitate Olaf in typical Sub Zero finishing moves!

SATURDAY NIGHT: Tate and Violet from American Horror Story: Murder House (The first season)

This costume is mostly all about Jacob. I just wore typical "Violet" clothes, which aren't that different than my regular everyday clothes, along with a long brown wig. Jacob's took a lot more work, painting his face. We didn't get recognized AS much since it's a bit more eclectic than, say, Queen Elsa, but when we did, people were excited!

And last but not least... SUNDAY!

Sunday was my most exciting costume. I didn't make this dress - I had it commissioned by an amazing lady named Lane from Wicked and Wonder. And it got a TON of attention. The best part was when little girls would come up, their faces full of awe, wanting photos of me. I had little "princess prizes" to hand out to them, too. It was like being a real life Disney Princess for a day! I am already trying to decide what princess to do next year!

With the Brotherhood of Steel from Fallout 3/Vegas. 

With K9 from Doctor Who

With Jason Voorhees. But a DARMA Initiative (from LOST) mash-up.

Did I mention it was a REALLY big dress? 

But, of course, I'm not the only one in costume at DragonCon. And I had a blast taking  photos of other creative cosplayers, too. Here are a few of my favorite finds:

My Little Pony goes to the Dark Side!

Star Wars meets Beauty and the Beast

Gender-flipped Imorten Joe from Mad Max: Fury Road

I'll let you think about this one for a moment...
Yes, it's a limo driver, at the airport, waiting for Godot. :)

Gender-flipped Jareth. That baby was not hers, but another couple's who wanted to give their baby to the Goblin King.

These two were amazing! Jack and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas, all done up in Marie Antoinette style!

All in all it was a great time. I got to see old fiends and meet new ones. Sign books and speak to readers. Dress up like a Disney princess and a ghost and a pony and just have a blast the whole weekend. I'm already trying to decide what I want to do next year!!

MARI

Fields of Fantasy in Scorched!!

Hey all,

So I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but have been so busy with the launch of Scorched and my following book tour that I have fallen very behind. 

So someone from Tumblr recently wrote to me saying: 

You mentioned Fields of Fantasy in Scorched! You have no idea how much I love little Easter eggs like that!

And yes, it's true! Fields of Fantasy, a video game I originally created for Gamer Girl, plays a part in Scorched as well. It's our heroine Trinity's favorite game and the book begins with her being excited about getting the expansion pack for Christmas. Of course before she can even open a single present, she finds herself on the run with the world's last dragon egg. 

But that's not the end of the Fields of Fantasy references in the book. In fact, an entire scene plays out within the game later on. But I won't give away any spoilers. :)

To this day, I think my number one search term for people finding this blog is the Fields of Fantasy game. I know a lot of people wish it were real. I kind of wish it were, too! Maybe someday a video game developer will stumble on the book and make it happen! :) But in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to revisit the game in a new series. Long live FIELDS OF FANTASY!!!

Gamer Girl fan art stolen from Deviant Art. One of my all-time faves. By Karut.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know!! 

xo
MARI

YAB Fest this Saturday!

If you're in the Round Rock/Austin area, I hope you will come see me this Saturday at YAB Fest, the YA Teen Book Festival being held at Round Rock High School.

Where: 301 Deepwood Drive, Building 1100, Round Rock, TX

When: Saturday, May 11 from 9am to 5pm

Who: Awesome authors from all over the country! Including the current #1 NYT Bestselling YA author, Kiera Cass, who I had the chance to hang out with last week at RT. (She's a blast. You will love her.) They've also got David Levithan and Andrea Cremer as the keynote speakers and many, many other awesome authors (as listed below.)

I will be heading up a panel on Monster Boyfriends and why we love them!

So come see us speak! And get some signed books! I promise it'll be a good time, had by all!
MARI

David Levithan (keynote)	Andrea Cremer (keynote)
E. Kristin Anderson	Jessica Lee Anderson
Sharon Bayliss	Kiera Cass
Ernest Cline	Krissi Dallas
Jordan Dane	Tracy Deebs
Beth Fehlbaum	Rachel Harris
PJ Hoover	C.C. Hunter
Greg Leitich Smith	Mary Lindsey
Mari Mancusi	Emily McKay
Cory Putman Oakes	Lindsey Scheibe
Victoria Scott	Amy Tintera

First "official" review of Scorched...from Kirkus reviews

Confession: we author types get increasingly nervous the nearer we get to release day. Will readers like the book? Will we get slammed or lauded by reviewers? Will anyone buy a copy? I've been especially anxious about Scorched since it's a brand new series. (After eight books of Blood Coven I'd kind of heard it all and knew what to expect, lol.) So I was extremely psyched to get this review from the tough-as-nails Kirkus Reviews!  It's the first "official" review (from a major review publication) and it's really good! Full review below:

Kirkus Reviews

Which came first? The dragon, the egg or the fiery destruction of life as we know it? Sixteen-year-old Trinity Foxx adores her kooky grandfather, and after the tragic death of her mother, he's the only family she has. This makes it all the more difficult to reprimand him for foolishly spending all of their limited cash on a supposed dragon egg. Before she can determine how to rescue both their home and the once-reputable West Texas museum they run from foreclosure, twin brothers with a long-standing Cain-and-Abel rivalry appear from the future. Both brothers are there to collect Trinity. Both want possession of the egg. Both want to save the world from an apocalyptic future via starkly different but equally menacing means. Whom can Trinity trust?

Though the story is told in third person primarily from Trinity's perspective, there are insightful passes of the baton to each of the dueling brothers and even a dragon. Refreshingly, there is no shying away from warranted violence and gore, and Trinity's mentions of booze and boy-crazy flirtations only make her more likable and grounded in increasingly bizarre surroundings. In a book full of hits, the main misses are a dastardly villain whose creepiness could stand more page space and an ending so loose it practically forces readers to get the next book for closure. A smoking triptych of time traveling, dubious double-crossing and enough dragons to sate the hungriest of gamers and fantasy fiends. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

I love that they used the word "warranted" when describing the violence and gore. No gratuitous gore here, people! It's all necessary to the plot! Yeah! :) And as far as the loose ending, well anyone who's familiar with my work knows that's my specialty! Cliffhangers for the win!!

All in all an AWESOME review. Thanks for letting me share!

MARI

Blood Forever Excerpt

For those of you who are part of the official Blood Coven Facebook page, you know I promised an excerpt once we reached over 3,000 "Likes". Well, you did it! And now it's time to fulfill that promise!

So, without further ado, here's a passage taken from Blood Forever, the eighth and final book of the Blood Coven series! The book alternates point of views - from Sunshine to Rayne. This particular passage is from Rayne.

WARNING: If you haven't read Soul Bound, stop now! There are major spoilers ahead. 

BLOOD FOREVER - BLOOD COVEN #8 - RAYNE McDONALD

I scan the crowd, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. It feels weird to have a beating heart at all, never mind one so active. I'd kind of forgotten what it was like to be human, after spending so many months undead. To feel so frail and weak. Even when I was a gimped vampire, due to the blood virus in my veins, I still felt a lot more, well, immortal, then I do now. At the moment I feel like a light wind could blow me over and a vampire could take me down with his little pinkie. It's a good thing I'm only here to flirt, not slay.

Speaking of flirting... My gaze falls upon a solitary figure in the center of the dance floor, illuminated by a single spotlight. My breath catches in my throat. Could it be?

Yes, I realize as I trace his silhouette with eager eyes. Without a shadow of a doubt.

It's Jareth.

He looks even more beautiful then I remembered him. So elegant, dressed in black leather pants, black boots, and billowing white shirt. His cheekbones are like cut glass and in the dim club lights his beautiful eyes seem to glow in the dark. I stare in awe and delight, taking in his smooth, fluid movements on the dance floor, as graceful as the most graceful of cats. If he were a contestant on Dancing with the Vamps, he'd be a first place winner for sure.

As I watch, it's all I can do to hang back. To stop myself from running up to him and accosting him with wild abandon, wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him tight as tears roll down my cheeks. But I check myself instead. If I want this to work--if I really want a second chance--I have to play it cool. To him, we'll be strangers, meeting for the first time. If I go all Stage 5 Clinger on him right away, he'll go screaming off into the night and I'll lose my chance forever. Sure, it may take some time for him to warm up to me again, but I know, if I do this right, it'll happen. After all, we're destined to be together. To become blood mates for all eternity. If I screwed that up, well, I'm not sure how I'd be able to live with myself--by myself--forever.

My feet feel like lead as I force them to take steps onto the dance floor, dodging other dancers until I somehow manage to reach the center of the room. I'm two feet from him now and suddenly frozen into place. What do I say? What's my opening line? My tongue ties into knots and my brain refuses to work and I realize I should have come up with a better plan before I made my move. Or, you know, any plan at all.

I start to step backward, to retreat, but at that moment the DJ mixes into a rousing VNV Nation tune. The crowd roars in approval and an albino girl beside me, dressed from head to toe in Victorian steampunk, leaps in excitement, inadvertently shoving me straight into Jareth himself.  

Well, that's one way to make an entrance. In fact, maybe this is just the opening I need. I'll fall into his strong arms, he'll reach out to catch me. He won't be able to help but feel the electric spark from our touch. And as he helps me gently back to my feet, he'll wonder why he has the strangest feeling that he knows me from somewhere. Somewhere deep in the recesses of time. Shocked, he'll grip me tighter, searching deep into my eyes, and he'll say---

"Do you mind removing your clod hopping boot from my foot?"