Salon guest author Mari Mancusi reports on what it’s like to read at Lady Jane’s…

I have many talents, but reading out loud is not one of them. I think mostly this is because I talk too fast and therefore end up tripping up over my words. Not a pretty picture.

So when Lady Jane Salon co-founder Leanna Hieber asked me if I’d come to Madame X’s in October to take part in their monthly reading series, I was more than a little nervous. I have no problem going up on stage, mind you, or talking to a big crowd. I just hate reading out loud.

But how could I turn up the opportunity to share my book, Boys that Bite (which is about to be re-released by Berkley along with my other Blood Coven Vampire books) with such a great group of people? I had to say yes.

The night came and I arrived at Madame X, greeting my friends and others who had turned out for the event. It was a packed house. Then Leanna came up and told me the other author who was supposed to read had been forced to cancel. She was going to be reading from Kathryn Smith’s book instead.

Oh great, I thought. So now I’m following a reading done by a professional actress! I’m doomed! I sat there, listening to Leanna’s lyrical voice and her proper English accents, wishing at the very least they’d have let me go first.

Soon enough, Leanna had finished and I was up. Gathering my nerve, I mentally reminded myself to speak slowly and headed up on stage. After a lovely intro by Ron Hogan I started reading.

And turns out – it wasn’t so bad. I stumbled a bit and decided against giving my British vampire an accent (I could never top Leanna’s after all!) but overall I felt pretty good up there. The audience was receptive – laughing in all the right places and eventually I got through my passage unscathed. I walked off the stage feeling good about myself and my book.

So thank you everyone who came out to hear me read! I appreciate your laughter and attention – definitely helped me get through it! And I hope to see some of you up on stage in months to come!