Mari Mancusi

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I don’t remember ever NOT writing. In fact, my mother tells me before I could even pick up a pen, I would dictate stories for her to transcribe, while I drew the pictures. I always had a huge imagination and was always a storyteller. When I was in fifth grade, my teacher noticed my interest and put me in an independent study program where I would create little pop-up books about unicorns and pegasus. I also created my own magazine for my neighborhood and would deliver it by hand to all the mailboxes each month. 

I think a lot of people assume writers all live in either a large city like New York or in a remote cabin on the side of a lake. That’s where they always seem to be in the movies anyway! But I grew up in a mid-size town in Massachusetts called Haverhill. I moved out to go to college in Boston (Boston University) and got a job there at the NBC TV station afterward. Over the years I’ve moved around a lot (pretty common for TV news people!) and lived in Orlando, San Diego, and New York City. In NYC, I met my husband, who is from Texas and we ended up moving to Austin, Texas when we got married. I’ve been in Texas for fifteen years now and truly love it! 

I’m half a plotter, half a “pantser” (aka writing from the seat of my pants.) I like to come up with an overall concept of a book – an elevator pitch – and then start whittling it down into an actual story. Since I have to turn in an outline to my editor before they buy the book, I usually come up with some kind of ending, but often the actual ending ends up being very different when I get to it. 

I’m a huge fan of horror! Scary, creepy, even funny and cheesy – I love it all! I also love science fiction shows and movies. And anything about dragon! 

I enjoy traveling, watching movies, snowboarding, playing video games, designing costumes, reading, hanging out with friends, and more. One thing I hate? Sitting home bored! I want to constantly be doing something! 

So far I’ve visited Japan, Costa Rica, England, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Canada, Columbia, The Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. This summer I am visiting Spain and Portugal. 

Not yet! We had a close call with my book GAMER GIRL. It was optioned by Universal and they were very excited to work on the project. But at that time they also acquired Dreamworks Pictures and decided to concentrate on animated projects only. So Gamer Girl was dumped. ☹ Hopefully someday one of my books will hit the big (or small) screen. It would be a dream come true!

Yes! Gamer Girl was a very autobiographical book, based on something that happened to me in seventh grade. I had gone to a new school and was constantly being bullied by a group of kids. Of course since Gamer Girl is fiction, I was able to give my character her happily ever after. Which was cool, since after the book was published, I got a lot of letters from readers saying they related to the main character themselves and the book gave them courage to stand up to their own haters. That made me feel very good! 

Yes! Gamer Girl was a very autobiographical book, based on something that happened to me in seventh grade. I had gone to a new school and was constantly being bullied by a group of kids. Of course since Gamer Girl is fiction, I was able to give my character her happily ever after. Which was cool, since after the book was published, I got a lot of letters from readers saying they related to the main character themselves and the book gave them courage to stand up to their own haters. That made me feel very good! 

A prequel for New Dragon City! It’s called “Dawn of the Dragons” and comes out September 2nd. The story will take place five years before New Dragon City just as the dragons are arriving in the United States. I'm so excited to share the story with readers!