RWA Workshop on YA continued...

(Thought y'all would like to see to whom you're addressing your questions. So behold Chicken!)

For those of you who attended my Thursday morning workshop in Atlanta on "How to Create Believable YA Characters" I say a big THANK YOU for being such a fabulous audience! My wonderfully talented daughter and co-author of our paranormal YA series for St. Martin's Press, THE HOUSE OF NIGHT, could not make the w/s in Atlanta (she's working ridiculous 12 hour shifts, as well as taking 6 hours of class this summer at NSU). So the deal is that we'll post questions for Kristin here on my blog, and she will blog in and answer them for you. Some of you wrote questions on notecards during the w/s. Okay. I had the notecards. I promise. Really. (KRISTIN - REALLY, MAMA HAD THE NOTECARDS!) I unpacked this morning and could NOT find them. Sigh.

BUT I read the questions and I do remember several of them. I'll post them below. Kristin will respond, and the rest of y'all please feel free to chime in with any question you'd like to ask Kristin (who is 19) about YA, teenagers, writing in general, etc.

Questions for Kristin:

1. Do you think it matters if you're living in one part of the country and writing about teenagers in another part of the country? Like I'm living in D.C. and I'm setting my book in L.A. Or should I worry about making my teenagers more generic, so they'll appeal to a wide audience? For instance, I know that some of the stuff you (and your mom) are writing about is specific to Oklahoma teens. Do you worry about the rest of the country not getting it? And if so, what do you do about that?

2. There's a big debate going on over how much sex to put in YA books. What's your opinion? And have you and your mom had any issues between the two of you about the sex level of your series?

3. Do all teens cuss? What if I have a futuristic or fantasy setting?

4. What is the most common mistake adult authors make when writing for teenagers?


Okay KRISTIN FRANCES CAST (KFC, or as we like to call her, Chicken - hee hee) answer away mama's precious!

Atlanta Bound!

Well, I'm leaving first thing in the morning to start the drive to Atlanta. I'm going through Nashville, where I'll spend the night, and then on to Hotlanta. I'm looking forward to seeing all my author friends, fans from around the country, and my Luna and Berkley editors. Not to mention the great parties and seeing if Brighid's Quest won the Bookseller's Best or the Daphne de Maurier!

Don't forget to check out the MYSTERIA signing at the Atlanta Buckhead Borders, Thursday the 27th from 7:00-9:00.

I'm teaching a workshop on Thursday, too, on how to create believable teenage characters (as if there is such a creature!). My fabulous daughter and co-author of our YA series for St. Martin's can't make it to Atlanta, so I'll be taking questions from w/s attendees, posting them here, and Kristin will be blogging responses. So stay tuned (and save up your YA questions for a real YA).

Later!

Check out Sue's new book!

I'm excited about my friend Sue Grant's new book! I haven't read it yet, but I'm going to grab a copy in Atlanta and have Sue sign it for me - then I'm going to stick my nose in it. I can tell you that I got sneak peeks whilst Sue was writing it, and loved what I read! Here are the details:

YOUR PLANET OR MINE by Susan Grant
(HQN Books, July 25, 2006)

Think the grocery store is a great place to meet men?

Hunky interstellar fugitive, aisle 5.

With outrageously false accusations piling up against her famous political family and an ex-fiancé in hot water determined to take her down with him, the last thing Jana Jasper needs is more trouble--especially man trouble. But when she heads to the grocery store for an ice cream fix, not only does the muscled hunk in the frozen foods section ranting about spaceships and invasions look crazy, he looks... familiar.

Cavin of Far Star has never forgotten the girl he met during his weeks spent on that quaint little world, planet Earth, the girl who didn't believe he was real. And now he'll risk his future to save her. All she has to do is take him to her leader. Simple enough plan--although Jana isn't so easily convinced. Hell-bent on charming his way past her defenses, he's determined to stay one step ahead of the galaxy's most feared assassin--and may just capture his favorite Earthling's heart in the process.



ABOUT SUSAN GRANT
One of the first women in history to attend the US Air Force Academy, a former Air Force instructor pilot, and currently a 747 jumbo jet pilot for United Airlines, New York Times best-seller and RITA winner Susan Grant loves writing about what she knows -- flying, adventure, and the delicious interaction between men and women.

REVIEWS
"...one of the best books of the year!" - Mary Janice Davidson, New York Times bestselling author
“...a cute, quirky otherworldly romance that’s totally delightful to read!” -- Tanzey Cutter
“Veers uncomfortably close to our actual plans to invade your pitiful little planet. Pull this book from the shelves immediately or I shall have it vaporized!” -- General Neppal, Supreme Commander of the Coalition fleet

For more info, go to Sue's website, http://www.susangrant.com

First Man Titty Cover AND First Hardback!

I am THRILLED that my July anthology, MYSTERIA (Berkley), is doing so well! We're making some lovely lists and getting excellent reviews. Even scary Publisher's Weekly liked us. Amazing. And it was exciting to find out that MYSTERIA is available in a hardback version for the Doubleday and Rhapsody book clubs. We're already hearing rumblings from Berkley about wanting a MYSTERIA II. Well done us!

Don't forget that next week, July 27th, at the Buckhead Borders in Atlanta, 7:00-9:00, all four of us, MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, Gena Showalter, and moi will be signing copies of Mysteria, giving away door prizes, and generally making merry! Please come by and see us if you're in the area

F'd up blog and sci-fi

Well, I totally messed up my blog and I'm clueless about how to fix it. Those of you who don't have a MAC know that the damn thing has been smooshed over to the left for like two weeks. It was driving me crazy. So I called in the servies of my Web Goddess, Shawn Wilson, who designs and maintains my fab website, and she couldn't find my mistake. Sigh. I was going to post a question to the blog help thingie, but I lost what little patience I have and decided to just choose another template and maybe that would fix it. It did. It also lost all of my links, etc. Shit. And I didn't like the new look. So I went back to this one and now I have to figure out how to add my links back in. I am truly the computer impaired. But I should be writing and it's excellent procrastination.

Anyway, last weekend the fabulous Gena Showalter and I were in Oklahoma City at SoonerCon (sci-fi/fantasy con). Now, God(dess) knows I wouldn't tell stories on a girlfriend, BUT GENA DRANK TOO MUCH. Okay, those of you who know me know that I, too, have a tendency to be "over served." But not when I'm dancing and in general out in public mixing with groups of people, etc. I change to soda water. Gena, God(dess) bless her, is young young young, so she hasn't learned the soda water trick yet. And the girl does NOT like to speak in public. I swung by her house and picked her up. She had cute little bottles (chilled) of a very attractive looking blue liquid. I can't remember what the damn thing was called, but she got it at a Harlequin party, which is a sure sign of trouble. So like naughty high school girls we're in the bathroom before our panel and Gena is slamming down this blue booze. Naturally I couldn't allow her to drink alone. I've been raised better. So I tried some. Okay, it is some VILE shit. Oh. My. God. It was awful. Truly wretched. Oh, wait! I think it's call Hypnotic. Hello. Barfnotic would be a better name. I won't go into details about our panels except to briefly mention that Gena-Gena actually mixed the Barfnotic with lemonade and was drinking it during the damn panels. Let's just say Gena-Gena was very entertaining. That evening her husband, who she calls Love Bunny, picked us up and we went down to Bricktown to a fun club for dancing. Hence, my cessation of drinking and Gena's nasty hangover the next day.

Speaking of the next day. Gena and I hung out with totally, ridiculously handsome Richard Cox. (He's engaged to a friend of mine, Fox News anchor Chera Kimiko, who is equally as gorgeous. I'm telling you - they're going to make some beautiful babies!) His current release is THE GOD PARTICLE. PW says it's a thriller (my dad grabbed it from me, so I haven't read it yet), and from what delicious Richard says it sounds kinda sci-fi-ish. So check it out if you have a taste for science thrillers. His website is http://www.richardcox.net. MORE IMPORTANTLY, Gena and I are trying to talk him into trying his hand at romance. Okay, this is a purely selfish attempt to lure him into our genre so that he'll be at our romance conventions, which are totally lacking in the Cute Male Author category. Updates to come...hee hee...

1920s Time Travel? Love it!

Check out Marianne's new book. I love the roaring 20s, so I can't wait to read this one!
WHAT, NO ROSES? by Marianne Mancusi
(Love Spell, July 4, 2006)


And you thought your Valentine's Day was bad?


AND ALL THAT JAZZ
Unless Dora Duncan can stop it, it's going to be another St. Valentine's Day Massacre. A year ago, her (now ex) boyfriend Nick stood her up at the worst possible moment. That was when she gave up important TV reporting for stories like "Too Stressed for Sex." And though such clips have a certain relevance, things have been a whole lot quieter. Too quiet. Until now.

Now she's gotta go back in time (don't ask!) and stop that very same Nick from messing up the time-space continuum. She has to travel back to a place where everybody speaks easy and cuts a rug-and this Chicago ain't no musical. Here, there are tommy guns and torpedoes, guys and dolls, gin joints, flappers, stoolies, rats and a whole lot more; and prohibition means anything but no.

It's the 1920s. Time for Dora to roar.


Excerpt
Cover

ABOUT MARIANNE MANCUSI

When not out exposing scams and righting wrongs, Emmy award–winning TV news producer Marianne Mancusi is probably writing.
Her first chick lit novel, "A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court" was called "a sparkling debut" by Publisher's Weekly. And Romantic Times magazine awarded four Stars to her upcoming 1920s time travel "What, No Roses?", pronouncing it "fast, funny and as bubbly as bathtub champagne."
In addition, Marianne has six other adult and teen books under contract, including a teen comedy vampire series from Berkley called "Boys that Bite."
She lives in Boston's historic North End.


REVIEWS

Mancusi’s witty, tongue-in-cheek remarks and sprightly dialogue make for a joy ride of a read with an ending that’s as surprising as it is original. 4 stars – Romantic Times

Ms. Mancusi’s sense of comedic and dramatic timing is dead on... She masterfully blends a time in our history with an idea from her incredible imagination. – Once Upon a Romance


Website: http://www.mariannemancusi.com