Mari Mancusi Brings the Bad Blood

Interview by Kirsten Scott

Hey Banditas and Bandita Buddies! Grab your crosses and a little holy water, because the deceptively sweet-looking Mari Mancusi is visiting today, and she's bringing her Blood Coven vampires with her...

Hi Mari, welcome to the Romance Bandits' Lair! You're lucky you've got some experience dealing with vampires and werewolves -- sometimes things get a little crazy around here. Though, now that I think about it, it's really just cabana boys getting a little too liberal with the vino, if you know what I mean...Ahem...Now, let's talk about YOU! Can you tell us about your latest release, Bad Blood?

Hey, nothing wrong with a drunk cabana boy…Oh wait, you meant—hm. Never mind.

ANYWAY - Bad Blood is the fourth book in the Blood Coven Vampires series. It continues the adventures of two twins—Sunshine and Rayne—who are identical on the outside, but exact opposites inside. In the first book, Boys that Bite, Goth loving Rayne wants to be a vampire more than anything. She’s networked, been on waiting lists, taken a certification test—the works. Unfortunately on the night she was supposed to be bitten and transformed, the vampire who was sent to do the biting accidentally bites her twin sister instead. Now Sunny—who up until now had no idea vampires even existed--has only a week to figure out a way to reverse the transformation, or she will become a vampire forever.

The Blood Coven Vampire series has a pretty amazing story -- can you tell us how your persistence and hard work (not to mention the adoration of your fans) helped give this series a new life (and very cool new covers!)?

It’s quite a long story, but basically I was told the series was over by my publisher after three books. Mainly because they’d decided not to continue with their YA program. But through a “Save the Blood Coven” social media campaign I launched with volunteer readers, a really enthusiastic German publisher who wanted to continue the series even if the US didn’t, and the persistence of my awesome agent, we were eventually not only able to get Book #4 published a few years later, but the US publisher decided to re-release the first three books as well--with beautiful new covers.

I thank God, my agent, the country of Germany and Stephanie Meyer for that miracle! If you’d like to read the longer version, you can do so here: http://pubrants.blogspot.com/2009/11/never-give-upnever-surrender-guest.html

I think it’s a good story to read when the publishing world hits you over the head and knocks you around. There really can be happy endings in this business, I swear!

I must say I was in awe when I read that story on the PubRants blog (that's Agent Kristin Nelson's blog -- one of the best for writers of all kinds). It's easy to feel helpless in the big, bad world of publishing. It's wonderful to think an author can actually make a difference! But back to the Blood Coven. This is a young adult series -- have you found a lot of adults reading it as well?

Oh yes, definitely. Especially Buffy fans as the books sort of have that same kind of humor. I also throw in some 80s pop culture stuff as well to keep the adults entertained. For example, in Stake That, the second book in the series, there’s this whole Lost Boys part to it and I’ve gotten a ton of props from adults readers for including that. I think the best YA books transcend age barriers. The characters may be in high school, but the plots are ones everyone can appreciate.

I definitely agree! I love your snappy dialogue and humor; these books are definitely not just for kids. Now, you've got a story in a newly released adult romance anthology as well -- what can you tell us about My Zombie Valentine (beside the very cool name!)?

My editor at Dorchester knows I’m a huge horror movie fan—my fiancé and I have “Cheesy Horror Movie Nights” on a regular basis and we go see the latest Saw installment every year—release night usually falls on our anniversary. So I guess it made sense to invite me to take part in the My Zombie Valentine anthology. But while the other stories have zombie heroes, my zombies are the bad guys. The story takes place on the set of a b-movie (z-movie?) zombie film set. And the actors playing the zombies are getting a little too convincing in their roles. It’s up to Scarlett, the makeup artist, and Mason Marks, the leading man, to save the day.

I must admit, I'm not sure I could read this before bed, no matter how much romance you throw in there! Now we know being a writer isn't all bon-bons and working in your jammies -- but it's still a pretty awesome job. Can you tell us a little bit about life as a writer?

Well, in addition to writing I have a full time job as a television producer for the women’s lifestyle show BETTER TV. It’s a fun job—don’t get me wrong! I get to cook with famous chefs, interview celebs on the red carpet, go to Fashion Week in NYC, etc. etc. For example, today I interviewed Lauren Conrad from The Hills, then went to a screening of Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Tomorrow I interview Pierce Brosnan and other stars from the film. (Which was awesome, by the way!) Getting paid to chat with James Bond is not a bad way to make a living.

But while all this probably sounds pretty fun, it’s a lot of work, too. So fitting in the time to write takes effort. What I normally do is wake up around 6am and write for two hours before work. If I have to go into work early, I’ll wake up at 5am. So that’s definitely one of the hard things about being a writer and a producer at the same time. Still, I’m lucky I love both my jobs.

As for what I love best? It has to be reader feedback. Teens and tweens are so enthusiastic about the books and I love that! They send me emails, draw pictures, make videos, etc. It’s so much fun to see the worlds I’ve created come alive in their minds. I’ve even started a Blood Coven Vampire in Training program where readers can join and get free schwag in the mail and log in to special, top secret member boards to talk to each other and the vampires. Anyway, this kind of thing, for me, makes it all worth it!

Hey, we're sure glad you do it all, Mari, because then we get to read your fabulous books! Now here's to you, Bandita Buddies. With Valentine's Day fast approaching, what movies are you going to be watching with your sweetheart? Cheesy horror films? A sweet romantic comedy? A serious drama? Tell us all about your Valentine's Day movie picks, and one lucky commenter will win a prize pack of Bad Blood and My Zombie Valentine, straight from Mari!!