Tag Archives: Bite Me

the weekend in review

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Thursday: Received my final round of edits from awesome editor and in it, she included a lovely surprise that totally made my day. Read about it here at Ficitonistas. There’s even a picture. (Sorry to disappoint, it’s not porn.) Then I went out with my girlfriends and we celebrated

Friday: Do I remember Friday? Let me think. Oh yes. I got my hair did. The lovely Katie at Fringe Benefits rocked the color and cut as always. But then we had a bit of a snafu and she rallied the troops like the super hero that she is. So here’s what went down. We had my head covered in the lovely coppery red (WHAT? YOU THOUGHT IT WAS NATURAL? see how good she is?) I was rocking the plastic shower cap and texting some friends as I waited. (How did I ever survive getting my hair done without my crackberry?) It was time to rinse when suddenly, there was NO WATER IN THE SALON.

Yes, a water main had busted and I was going to have purple hair. Or no hair. it was not going to be pretty. Katie sprung into action and called some nearby salons but they, too, were affected by the water outage. I joked and said “Maybe we should use the bottled water. Or I could just run home and rinse.”

Next thing I know, one of the salon studs was holding a 5 gallon jug of water over my head as Katie rinsed and washed. Yes, I was rinsed by a $60 bottle of water. And my hair never felt softer.

Also, the color rocks; as does Katie.

After the hairmergency, I had a pretty low key day that ended with dinner with a girlfriend. Or so I thought it ended. It was 11 pm. I was burrowing into the bed when my cell phone rang. I figured it was a wrong number because really, nobody ever calls me that late.

But no. It was my friends K and K. I now call them the Devil’s Handmaidens. Here is the conversation that follows:

The Handmaidens: We’re going to Tunica and you’re coming with us.
Me: Nope. Can’t.
Handmaidens: Yes you can.
Me: Srsly, I can’t. I might could do a nightcap somewhere but no to Tunica.
Handmaidens: Fine, we’re coming to get you. We just wanna go somewhere.

Okay, so they came to get me. And we went out for a drink. And then we, um, took a detour that is a really funny story but one that cannot be told on this blog. Trust me when I say, it was VERY educational. And fun. And funny. Maybe I’ll tell you over a beer sometime.

Then we came back to my house where the Handmaidens stayed until 4 a.m. Not only that, but Handmaiden #1 went out to her car and brought in a box of Corn Pops. Who carries Corn Pops in their car? Just in case? So we snacked on Corn Pops and gossiped until I finally said, “Y’all are either spending the night or going home because this bitch is going to bed.”

I’m too old for late nights like that. (I say this every time I have a late night like that. My friends have way too much energy for me.)

Saturday I chilled in the morning watching Amanda Bynes movies (totally love her) and then went to Birdrunner’s house for the 4th celebration. The kids swam and I hung out with Stinkydog and Hopper and the rest of the fam but I was still so tired from my night out with the Handmaidens that I had to leave before fireworks. I’m not a big firework girl anyway. The only fireworks that really did anything for me was actually this past spring in Daytona when I could watch them from my balcony. That was kinda awesome.

Sunday: I wrestled with dog fur all day until I finally gave up. Yup, that’s about it. Dog fur 1; Mel 0

How was your holiday? Anything fun or exciting happen?

T-Minus 4 weeks

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BITE ME! will be on the shelves 4 weeks from tomorrow.

Can you freaking believe it? I can’t.

It’s been a long time coming. I sold the book to HarperCollins in 2.5million years ago– January 2007. One thing about this business, every publisher moves at a different pace, and to the author, it always feels slow.

Explaining that I sold the book but it’s not on the shelves yet has become second nature to me. Kinda like saying hello. I’ve had people ask, “Are you sure you’re published?” And I would say, “I’ve sold the book, it will be published and on the shelves summer 2009.”

I can’t wait to celebrate. We’re having a huge party Sunday August 2nd. If you’re in Little Rock or can make it here, you’re cordially invited. Email me: tellmel@melissafrancis.net if you’re interested in details. I can’t believe I’ll be signing books soon. My very own book. The one I wrote. The one with my name on the cover. Yup. That one.

4 weeks from tomorrow, little Melissa McKenzie (now Francis) from Bryant, Arkansas, is going to have her first book available for purchase. Who’d a thunk it?

it’s a monday

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I’m over at Fictionistas today talking about nicknames. I’ve had my share of them–have you?

While I’m working my butt off today finishing up the revisions for LOVE SUCKS! y’all can tell me what fun things you did over the weekend.

And you can also swing by HAVE YOU BEEN BITTEN and read an excerpt from BITE ME! just click the ‘read an excerpt’ link under the book.

hmmm. What else is going on? Nothing really. Just feeling a little overwhelmed and behind lately. Trying to get myself together. Not an easy thing to accomplish when you’re just this side of whacked-out.

Oh, here’s an odd little tidbit I noticed last week. Almost every time I started the car, this song was on the radio. It happened so much, it became a game.

one day THAT Melissa Francis will be confused for ME

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It happens here quite often. People google Melissa Francis and they expect to find CNBC’s host of The Call and former child star of Little House on the Prairie, Melissa “Missy” Francis.

She is not me. I am not her. We are not the same.

Yesterday, during my day-o-twittering, I got an @reply from @Shoq who thought I was the other Melissa Francis.

Original tweet

@contessabrewer Perhaps @MelissaFrancis could share more of her insipid sidebar remarks about taxes, teaparties, other right wing memes?

This tickled me on so many levels. I replied immediately:

original tweet

@Shoq @contessaBrewer I’m not that Melissa Francis. I’m also not insipid.

and before he read my reply, he re-tweeted (I prefer tweeted to twittered. sorry) @liberalchik and included me in the message:

original tweet

RT @liberalchik: RT @Shoq: Melissa something//shes irritating..kinda Fauxish //KINDA FOXISH? This bimbo @melissaFrancis is ALL FOXish.

To which I reply:

original tweet

@liberalchik I am a fox, but I am not *that* Melissa Francis.

Then I get:
original tweet

Sorry to @MelissaFRANCIS. Wrong one. I thought you were the MSNBC bimbo. Apologies

and I reply
original tweet

@Shoq nope. I’m the author. One day ppl will think she’s me. LOL

original tweet

RT @MelissaFrancis: I’m the author. One day ppl will think she’s me. LOL //Well, if you’re not insipid or a RW tool, WELCOME 🙂

original tweet

@Shoq def not insipid or a RW tool. I’m not a douche either. Actually, I’m kinda awesome.

@liberalchik then apologizes

RT @MelissaFrancis: @liberalchik I am a fox, but I am not *that* Melissa Francis.//sorry bout that.

and I end the conversation with:

@liberalchik no worries. it was bound to happen sooner or later! LOL

So to wrap this up. I am not @MelissaCNBC I am @MelissaFrancis the awesome, undouche-like, unt00l-like, un-RightWinged author*. My first book (BITE ME!) comes out in approximately 7 weeks, and you can pre-order it now. You can check out my book website at HAVEYOUBEENBITTEN.COM

*repeating the tweet. I have no knowledge of @MelissaCNBC‘s real personality. She may be the nicest person on the planet. I know that people think she has great legs because I see “melissa francis cnbc legs” in my stats all the time.

And Melissa, if you’re reading this, nice to meet you. I can’t wait for the day when someone comes up to you and asks, “Are you the author of that awesome book BITE ME!?”

miss me?

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Of course you did. I’m back, and I’m at Fictionistas blogging about my playlist for BITE ME! pop over and read about it, check the playlist out at my new site, and then enjoy the variety of the list with a few videos from the playlist below…

new stuff!

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Today is a special day. Lucienne Diver allowed AJ Ashe the star of BITE ME! to answer a few questions on her blog today. Stop by to see what makes my teen vamp a little different from Gina Covello, the center of attention in Lucienne’s book, VAMPED.

If you’re on Facebook, please join my author page:

Melissa Francis’s Facebook Page
Melissa Francis's Facebook Page
Promote Your Page Too

And please join my book group: Have You Been Bitten?

Also, today is my day to blog at Fictionistas, but basically it’s the same blog as here because I’m in total pimp mode….

And finally…today’s the big day. We’re launching my book website. It should be up and active around noonish central time. Stop by for fun downloads, a quiz, information on how the book came to be, and a maybe even a few pics of me from high school…bookmark it because very soon, we’re going to be hosting a contest that you will definitely want to participate in. Two very nice big prizes.

Trust me.

Have You Been Bitten? (http://www.haveyoubeenbitten.com)

Don’t worry, I’m not abandoning you here. This will still be my daily blog and author info site. But HaveYouBeenBitten is all about the books…

Happy Monday. Hope your weekend was fabulous!

the twitter winner & my daddy

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Congratulations MAD! you were my Random.org pick for my book! Contact me at tellmel@melissafrancis.net with mailing information and who you would like the book signed to!

Yesterday on a whim, I did a little twitter experiment. (Would that be a twitterment?)

I announced a Twitter only contest. If you leave a comment on yesterday’s blog, you’d be entered for a chance to win an ARC of BITE ME!

I did this for a couple of reasons. One, I wanted to test the power of twitter. Would my blog traffic increase? Would I get some new twitter-followers? Would I get some new commenters on my blog or gain new blog readers?

My blog traffic exploded. It was a slow morning, when I posted the tweet, I only had 64 hits to my blog. 15 minutes later, I had 124. That’s a pretty big increase! I gained new followers and new commenters and we’ll see if I gained some new blog readers. Not sure about that one yet.

Twitter is a pretty amazing social network. My contest was ‘Re-Tweeted’ and spread across the Twitterverse. Never deny the power of a tweet…

Thanks to everyone who stopped by. I hope you’ll continue to come back and play. There’s always something going on here in Melville. (Like Whoville, only better.)

Now onto today’s random thought about my daddy.

Last night was the first real severe weather of the season (usually by now, we’ve had two or three ugly storms come through, but this has been an unusual winter/spring here in Arkansas) Anyway, we were watching TV and good old Ed Buckner interrupts (which I’ll admit pisses me off. I know it shouldn’t but dammit, I’m in the middle of a really interesting show and you’re interrupting to tell me the storm has just crossed into Arkansas? I’m 250 miles away, dude. /rant) But Ed does say something that interested me. The storm was about an hour away from Mt. Ida.

Mt Ida is a tiny little community about 15 minutes from my parents place on Lake Ouachita (it’s pronounced Wash-i-tah not Oh-u-a-cheetah). My daddy pretty much stays up at the lake in the spring and summer. So I called to warn him b/c there really is no telling if he’s paying attention or not.

I forgot it was poker night, so he wasn’t up at the lake. This is a good thing.

Anyway, when I call, he answers the phone and I hear all the old man ruckus in the background. (Have you ever heard old man ruckus? It’s a hoot) There’s something about my daddy that cracks me up every time. (Besides the fact that every one of our phone calls is almost exactly the same no matter the topic. Seriously. We can discuss tornados, fishing, cancer, politics or watching the grass grow and they are all the same.) That’s not what cracks me up the most.

Nope.

My daddy can’t say ‘I.’ As in “I love you.” “I thank you.” “I smell what you’re stepping in.” “I know what you did last summer.”

Nope.

He says ‘we.’

Me: Daddy there’s a tornader headed to Mt. Ida, but I hear the Grumpy Men Brigade in the background, so you’re not at the lake are ya?

Daddy: Naw. It’s poker night. But we thanky (prounounced thankee) for callin’.

Me: No prob. Just didn’t want you to be swept off your feet and unprepared.

Daddy: Naw but we appreciatey. (this is appreciate you, btw)

Me: Have fun. Love ya, Daddy.

Daddy: Weloveytoo. (all one word. the quicker the better)

This conversation cracks me up. EVERY TIME. I have made it my goal in life to get an ‘I’ out of him just once. The man is 73 years old and so far, I’m failing at my mission.

But it will happen. You’ll see.

We thanky for readin’ today. Come back soon, ya hear?

the day has come…

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Almost every author I know has the same inner fear.

Rejection

What if someone reads my book and doesn’t like it? What if they hate it? or worse yet, what if their reaction is “Meh. It was okay.”

Shoot me now. There’s nothing worse in my mind than a ‘meh’ reaction. That means I didn’t do my job. I didn’t write a story that evoked any emotion at all. And boy, when you’re a hot mess like me, the last thing you wanna do is write a lukewarm story.

Getting my ARCs was a blessing and a curse. Sure I get to hold, molest, sniff, lick, and sleep with a copy of my book. That’s the blessing. The curse? People I don’t know are reading it. And they’re gonna comment on it. They’re going to tell the world how they feel about it. And me and my book are lying in bed, waiting. Waiting. WAITING.

The wait is over.

I got my first reaction from Elaina who was one of the limerick contest winners. She said something along the lines of “I love BITE ME! and want to have its babies.” (okay, I may have taken some liberties with that quote. but the meaning is the same. She had a very strong, a very positive reaction. and I had a happy.)

Then my 11 year old son read it. This to me was the most terrifying of all because A: he’s a big reader. He reads 3-4 books a week and when I say books, I mean BOOKS. He read TWILIGHT in a day. B: He has no filter. (Much like his momma) If he doesn’t like it, he’ll tell me. So when he finished the book and said “Mom, this was so funny. When can I read the next one?” I was so relieved. I was so thrilled! And then he started asking me questions about my research and my characters. And when he told me who his fave character was, my heart melted.

And now the big news. I just received my first official review from a review site called Teens Read, Too.

Bite Me! by Melissa Francis

Category: Paranormal
Age Recommendation: Grades 9+
Release Date: 7/28/09
Publisher: HarperTeen
Reviewed by: LadyJay
Rating: 5 Stars


AJ Ashe, a teenage Southern belle, is hiding a secret.

Her family is descended from a long line of vampires – yep, I just said vampires. AJ has fangs and occasionally craves blood, but she has also suppressed many of her vamp instincts to fit into “normal” society.

The part that’s not normal – AJ’s mom is marrying her boyfriend’s father.

AJ knows she can’t be with Ryan, especially now that they are step-siblings. The reality of the situation doesn’t make it hurt any less. AJ tries to push Ryan into the arms of another willing female, but they just can’t seem to avoid one another.

And then, of course, other weirdness starts going down. AJ discovers that her family is part of the Serpentine clan; a high school friend is killed, rises from the dead, and begins to stalk her; AND she gets suspended from school.

Just another day in the life of a teenage vampire!

Melissa Francis has successfully produced a fun and fresh vampire novel. The story itself is engaging, and you can’t help but love the characters. Many a teenage girl will empathize with AJ and her angst-ridden relationship with Ryan.

I enjoyed the fact that Francis has made her vampires very different from those in the TWILIGHT series. These vamps have their own set of rules to follow.

I am so glad that I got my hands on this book. The ending left me wanting more, so here’s hoping that many sequels will follow!

Now I know that BITE ME! isn’t going to be for everyone. I have prepared myself for some bad reviews. I’m waiting for the hammer to fall because it will inevitably. But right now, I’m floating on cloud nine. This is a great way to lead up to my release date!

ETA: Twitter contestants–Random winner will be announced tomorrow!

Another chance to win!

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If you want another chance to win an advanced copy of Bite Me!, pop over to my GoodReads contest page (I believe you have to be a member of the GoodReads community to enter.) I’ll be randomly choosing two lucky winners to receive an ARC. You have until April 7 at midnight!

CLICK HERE

THE MONTH OF MEL CONTINUES TO BE GREAT!

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It’s official. I’m a real author now. I have books. Real books. Sure, they’re uncorrected proofs of my book, but they’re still in book form. With a cover. And my name. And my pic on the back.
I AM AWESOME.

This is the best MONTH OF MEL! ever.

sorry for the mobile phone quality.

Things that may or may not have happened last night after I opened the box:

  1. I cried
  2. I laughed and squeal
  3. I smelled the book
  4. I immediately tweeted and posted to Facebook
  5. I had a celebratory Guinness at my fave restaurant.
  6. I slept with them. Naked.

You decide which of these may or may not be true.