When I first approached Marianne Mancusi about being a guest author here at Book Binge, we discussed various options for her visit. A quick blog post on the topic of her choosing, a drawn out interview, a week long visit w/ various topics and a Q&A, etc. Eventually I suckered her into she agreed to visit for a week, doing several blog posts and a Q&A. About a week ago I sent her the Q’s for her Q&A and felt pretty good about it. But Marianne surprised me. She decided to do a video interview instead of a written one. How great is that?
The video is embedded below. If for some reason you can’t view it, you can watch it on the Vimeo site here.
Marianne Mancusi talks to Book Binge from Marianne Mancusi on Vimeo.
Because Marianne is really long winded we realize some of you may not want to watch the entire video, below is a list of the questions we asked and the time stamp on the video of her answer, so you can fast forward if you want.
- You write in a variety of genres. Can you share with us some of the differences of writing between them? Do you find it hard to separate them? – 00:10
- What is your favorite genre to write? – 00:54
- A lot of authors that write in 1st person have said that the story wouldn’t have been the same in 3rd person. Why do you write in 1st person? – 02:05
- Have you always been a fiction writer? – 03:05
- I know your background is in television producing, which seems to be a very outgoing, people oriented job. But a lot of authors say writing is very solitary. Do you have problems with one or the other? – 03:58
- Can you tell our readers a bit about the Shomi line? A lot of people I’ve talked to have expressed hesitancy in reading it, because it seems kind of out there. What would you say to convince them to give it a try? – 04:36
- Can you tell us a little bit about your first book sale? – 06:28
- Why the Rebels of Romance? 08:05
- What is your writing schedule like? – 10:26
- Do you research when you’re writing a book? What’s involved with that? – 11:28
- What advice would you give to aspiring authors? – 12:24
- What’s next on your writing agenda? – 14:00
- Who is your favorite romance author? – 15:00
The following are random questions we asked Marianne just for fun. You can see them on the video after 15:53.
- What is your favorite romance novel to re-read?
- Pepsi or Coke?
- What’s your biggest weakness (shoes, books, clothes, chocolate, etc)?
- Chocolate or Vanilla?
- Coffee or Tea?
- Favorite T.V. Show?
- Favorite color?
- Mexico or Hawaii?
Wasn’t that fun? Thanks for such a great interview, Marianne!
You can visit Marianne on the web at her blog and her website.
Check out her books here.
Marianne, that was an amazing interview! thank you for sharing all of that wonderful information about your writing process. I would like to know how you stay so disciplined and focused with the schedule that you keep.
i was going to comment on how you’ve really embraced multimedia promotion, but then i remembered that tv is your home. so this is like a best of both worlds thing for you.
i’ve been reading disparate opinions about RTcon and some of the entertainment/promotion there. any thoughts?
@ Margay
Everyone always asks me that. I think it’s partially due to my job in television – we’re a very deadline oriented business. If you don’t make your slot, your story doesn’t make air – and then you’re in big trouble!!
Also, I try to think of things in a mathematical way. Like, if I do 1,000 words a day for three months, I have a 90,000 word book! Of course, it would still need to be edited etc. but at least you have something to work with! If I miss a day, I try to make it up the next day by writing 2,000 words. This way, I’m not writing for huge stretches of time, but I am writing consistantly.
Also, I feel when you take days off, you suffer cause you lose the thread of your story. The more regularly you write, the easier it is.
And lastly, my boyfriend is getting his MBA so I try to do a lot of writing on nights he’s in school. And on the weekends we’ll go out to the park or something and he’ll do homework and I’ll write.
Of course he’s graduating this summer and I don’t plan to give up on writing… 🙂
@m
I definitely have learned the importance of video through my day job. And I find it a fun way to promote.
As for RT – while I am a fan of creativity and costumes, I’m not a fan of authors (or cover models) behaving badly. Liz and I are “rebels” in our writing but I think you’d find us pretty tame if you were to hang out with us at a conference. At the end of the day, I feel I’m at a work function and should act appropriately. THAT, I think is more the kind of thing that will bring down the romance genre–not a costume.
My friends have been teasing me about something I said when I was frustrated at one point at RT this year:
“I’m a professional, dammit! Even if I am wearing a cat costume!”
I think that kind of sums it up! 🙂
Marianne
This is so cool, thanks so much for the interview, it’s so fun.
*sniffle*
Tried to view the video interview a couple of times but my internet access has been a bit shaky for a couple of days or so. Looking forward to watching it when everything is going well for me technology-wise. :/
Neat way to do an interview! I enjoyed hearing all your answers to the questions.
Great video interview! I love her books 🙂