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{"id":1426,"date":"2019-01-06T19:16:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-06T19:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2019-01-20T03:46:34","modified_gmt":"2019-01-20T03:46:34","slug":"mari-mancusi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonestar.a1professionals.net\/?p=1426&lang=ar","title":{"rendered":"Mari Mancusi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gamer, cosplayer, and author Mari Mancusi<\/p>\n

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Gamer, cosplayer, and author Mari Mancusi\u2019s latest novel is The Camelot Code<\/strong>, book one of The Once and Future Geek series for kids. The book follows the adventures of young Arthur of Camelot as he accidentally time-travels to the twenty-first century. Lone Star Lit caught up with Mari via email to chat.<\/em><\/p>\n

LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE: Let\u2019s jump to the here and now because it’s been quite a journey to get here \u2014 and because you are a self-proclaimed Disney Ninja. How does it feel to be publishing your latest book, The Camelot Code through Disney Hyperion? Tell us your Cinderella story (allusion intended!)<\/strong><\/p>\n

MARI MANCUSI:<\/strong> I\u2019ve always been a huge Disney nerd. I used to work at the Disney Store in college, and after college I moved to Orlando to be close to the parks. My friends and I had annual passes, so we\u2019d visit every weekend and run around and have fun. (Mostly because we had no money for anything else!) It became like a second home to me. And to be writing for the Mouse \u2014 it\u2019s definitely been a Disney dream come true. Especially since the Camelot Code publication journey was a fourteen-year nightmare.<\/p>\n

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A nightmare story sounds like it could be another Disney wordplay, but your personal tale wasn\u2019t fantasy. What happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The book had sold twice before \u2014 once at auction \u2014 yet in both instances, the imprints either closed or changed direction, dumping my book before publication. In that time, the young adult landscape, for which the book was originally written, started to change. They wanted older, crossover titles that would appeal to an adult audience, which started making up a good portion of readership. And \u201ctween\u201d titles with younger, fourteen-year-old protagonists, were being sent to the rejection bin. I totaled up about twenty-one publisher rejections for a book that once sold at auction, most of publishers claiming that since it was \u201cwasn\u2019t quite middle grade and wasn\u2019t quite young adult\u201d they weren\u2019t able to properly position it. One publisher had a solution \u2014 turn it into a solid middle grade. They gave me months\u2019 worth of revisions to work on, which I did, only to have them reject it in the end anyway.<\/p>\n

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To make matters worse, I\u2019d just become a new mom. I had a colicky baby and was going through all sorts of postpartum anxiety and depression. Each rejection made me feel more and more worthless as a writer. And it seemed this book of my heart was never going to find a home.<\/p>\n

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This sounds like a great time for a Fairy Godmother to appear. Did one?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Better than a Fairy Godmother, it was then my husband took me aside. He dried my tears and reminded me that there was more to this story than its not-so-happy ending. The original advance money I\u2019d gotten from selling it afforded me a chance to move to New York City, a lifetime dream of mine. In New York, I met my husband and when the book got dumped, we moved in together to save money. We eventually got married and had our daughter. Just think \u2014 an entire human on the face of this earth because of a book deal gone south. I\u2019d already gotten my happily ever after\u2014 just not in the way I imagined it!<\/p>\n

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At this point, it sounds like you had a healthy glass-half-full perspective, but the book was still without a home. We know how this story ends, but how did you get there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then came my own third act. Disney put a call out for submissions to a new imprint called the Rick Riordan Presents line. I asked my agent if perhaps Camelot Code would be something that would fit. She didn\u2019t think it was quite what they were looking for, but suggested we send it anyway, just in case. Maybe they\u2019d want it for their regular middle grade line \u2014 you never knew! And hey, it was just sitting there. Why not?<\/p>\n

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I knew it was a total longshot and sincerely didn\u2019t expect anything but another rejection to add to the pile. But to my surprise instead came an email from the publisher, Stephanie Lurie, who told us she loved it \u201cas much as I did the first time around.\u201d
\nShe loved it as much as she did the first time?<\/p>\n

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At first, I had no idea what she was talking about! If she\u2019d read it before and loved it \u2014 why hadn\u2019t she bought it? Well, it turned out, she had! Unbeknownst to me, she was the president and publisher of the second imprint I sold the book to \u2014 the one who bought it at auction. When she left, that was when the book got dumped. And years and years later, she not only remembered it, but she bought it again and gave me the most amazing editor, Kieran Viola, to champion it and give this book its happily ever after at last.<\/p>\n

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How serendipitous! Have you ever thought, \u201cWhat if?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are certain books you just can\u2019t give up on. Even if takes a fourteen-year journey. I truly believe persistence is the only true secret to publication and now my book \u2014 the one everyone told me I should just walk away from \u2014 is at bookstores, Target, in libraries \u2014 and most importantly \u2014 in kids\u2019 hands. It was a rough journey and I don\u2019t wish it on anyone. But it was worth it. And it couldn\u2019t have turned out better in the end.<\/p>\n

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The next book in the series, Geeks and the Holy Grail, is coming fall 2019. I love these titles and the nod to classic tales.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been a huge Arthurian buff \u2014 in fact my daughter\u2019s name is Avalon! \u2014 and so being able to cherry-pick my favorite Arthurian legends and make them my own in a big time-travel mashup has been really fun. You\u2019ll find lots of Easter eggs in the text, too. For example. Stuart Mallory, the modern-day boy in the book is named after two Arthurian authors: Mary Stewart, who wrote the Merlin series beginning with The Crystal Cave and, of course, Sir Thomas Malory, who wrote Le Morte D\u2019Arthur in the fifteenth century. Le Morte is a text that begat many of our most well-known Arthurian tales, including some of my favorites like The Once and Future King by T. H. White and The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.
\nI\u2019ve had such a great time writing this series, and I hope it\u2019ll serve as a gateway to a new generation of King Arthur fans.<\/p>\n

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You grew up in New England, but you made your way to Texas, and we\u2019re proud to call you a Texas author. How has Texas influenced your writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been in Texas nine years now (married a Dallas guy) and absolutely love it here. We\u2019d met in NYC, where I had to work a full-time job in lifestyle television and write on the side. Moving to Austin allowed me to write full-time, which has been a wonderful opportunity.
\nI found an instant community with the other writers here, too. Austin writers are so supportive and talented \u2014 I feel lucky to be counted amongst their ranks. Also, we have the most awesome librarians in Texas who really go above and beyond for their kids and are so supportive to authors. And our indie bookstore, BookPeople? It\u2019s one of the best in the country and so awesome to work with. We are privileged to have it as our local bookstore.<\/p>\n

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Anyone who follows you on social media sees you are constantly on the go with author visits to schools, book festivals and signings, room mom-ing, travel \u2014 how do you balance writing and marketing and family and\u2026gaming!?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I hate being bored. I love doing things, going places, seeing the world. As an author, I find that a lot of my day (not shown on social media) is sitting at home, by myself, working. Which can get kind of isolating. So, I make it a point to set up events or school visits to interact in person with my target audience. I don\u2019t think you can effectively write for kids if you aren\u2019t around kids! They are different creatures in real life from those you see on TV or in the movies, ha ha!<\/p>\n

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And I love to travel. I made a personal goal for myself to visit a new country every year. I think going to different places, seeing different cultures, and meeting different people is not only interesting and fun, but it makes you a better human.<\/p>\n

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I also make sure to make time for family. Since I have an only child and a flexible work schedule, that makes it a little easier to be room mom or cart her around to her five billion dance classes. Also, dance classes are great opportunities to get some extra word count in while you\u2019re waiting! (Though sometimes, to be honest, I just binge-watch Netflix shows!)<\/p>\n

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You are an Emmy Award\u2013winning TV producer, so naturally, I have to know which of your more than two dozen books you\u2019d like to see translated to screen.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am working on a book now called Dragon Ops, which will be published by Disney Books in spring of 2020. It\u2019s about a couple of kids who end up trapped in the world\u2019s first augmented reality video game theme park when a rogue AI dragon takes over the game. Think Jurassic Park meets Jumanji with a World of Warcraft twist. It\u2019s action-packed and a lot of fun\u2014I think it could translate well as a live-action or animated movie or a limited series on Netflix. Definitely would be a next-level dream come true!<\/p>\n

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And now for the lightning round\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Favorite book?<\/strong>
\nThe Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley<\/p>\n

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Favorite game? (high score to brag about?)<\/strong>
\nWorld of Warcraft. Level 120 horde fury warrior.<\/p>\n

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Strange habit or writing ritual?<\/strong>
\nI read everything out loud as I write. Which makes it difficult to write in public spaces like Starbucks\u2026<\/p>\n

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Something unique that few people know about you?<\/strong>
\nI collect lucky golden owls, sold at Disney\u2019s Japan pavilion at EPCOT. Each one has brought me a very specific piece of writing luck. They sit on my desk right under my monitor and watch me write.<\/p>\n

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Team Oxford comma?<\/strong>
\n#oxfordcommaforever<\/p>\n

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MARI MANCUSI <\/strong>always wanted a dragon as a pet. Unfortunately, the fire insurance premiums proved a bit too large and her house a bit too small, so she chose to write about them instead. Today she works as an award-winning young adult author and freelance television producer, for which she has won two Emmys. When not writing about fanciful creatures of myth and legend, Mari enjoys traveling, cosplay, snowboarding, watching cheesy (and scary) horror movies, and her favorite guilty pleasure \u2014 playing videogames. A graduate of Boston University, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Jacob, daughter, Avalon, and their two dogs. Visit her at marimancusi.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"