Angels of Anarchy 7419 Ebbert Drive Southeast Port Orchard Washington 98367 editor@angelsofanarchy.com 360.550.2071 phone/text
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lesbian Erotica Comes to the Kindle & iOS Mariel Cove is a queer drama released in weekly installments
Port Orchard, Washington April 2013
Set in a fictional Pacific Northwest seaside town, Mariel Cove follows the erotic and everyday lives of fourteen women – lives fueled by scandals and secrets, a central mystery and steamy sex all over the spectrum.
Written by a three-generation, multicultural team of six women writers, Mariel Cove’s cast of characters is incredibly diverse – racially, economically, and sexually. From the Puerto Rican “lesbian Anderson Cooper” Arianna Trenton, to the deaf Native American marina owner Tal Ryan, the cast is anything but whitewashed.
Though the series began as a 300-page serial novel released in 25-page weekly installments, it was compared to television shows like The L Word. But there’s very little lipstick worn in Mariel Cove and no one is living a privileged LA life – not Roisin, the cafe owner living with Huntington’s or her barista/bartender daughter, Aidan, who works in the city part-time with her trans* best friend.
Mariel Cove was created by lesbian author Jennifer DiMarco. Dubbed a literary wunderkind in the gay press twenty years ago, DiMarco has grown beyond the action-adventure romps that put her on the Seattle Times Bestseller List but she still knows how to craft a compelling story. With a hand-picked team of writers – each of whom “control” one or more characters – DiMarco plots the series and functions as editor.
Writers on the team include Katie Fairchild, Kimbar Halvorsen, Noel Meredith, Skye Montague, Rowan Reynir and Neale Taylor. All twelve episodes (weekly installments) in Season One have been written and went on sale on April 1, 2013.
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Find more information at http://MarielCove.AngelsofAnarchy.com
Angels of Anarchy 7419 Ebbert Drive Southeast Port Orchard Washington 98367 editor@angelsofanarchy.com 360.550.2071 phone/text
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Come Visit Mariel Cove A 500-word article by Noel Meredith
Port Orchard, Washington April 2013
If you take six dykes – twenty-four to fifty-two – and tell them to write interconnected stories about lesbians like them living in an isolated almost-all-woman town, don’t expect them to get along. And never, ever tell them to “keep the drama on the page.” It’s impossible. We’re women, after all, and the queer community has changed as much as cell phones in the last three generations. Just because we’re queer, doesn’t mean we have anything else in common.
Apparently, that makes for a damn good story.
When Jennifer DiMarco (Escape to the Wind, Seasons of Fire, et al) asked me to write the central character in her serialized lesbian erotic drama called Mariel Cove, I immediately answered, “What?” Jennifer envisioned Mariel Cove as a television show in novel format. There would be a “season” of twelve weekly “episodes” and a team of writers would each control one to five characters. If characters shared a scene, we’d write together. The idea was remarkable but the mythology of the Cove was even better and Jennifer had it all charted out.
Puerto Rican and Sicilian, renowned investigative journalist Arianna Trenton would arrive in isolated Mariel Cove under false pretenses and a twenty-year-old mystery would start to unravel. Along with this character, Jennifer asked me to write Celeste, a Black transplant from New York, a twenty-something ex-bicycle messenger trying to raise her deaf, autistic brother on her own and running from… something. I shared key elements in common with these two characters and I’d rarely seen them represented in queer literature – let alone any literature. I could not pass up this job.
Every season, the characters would stay the same, but the focus and the mystery would shift, so I knew that Arianna wouldn’t always been front and center. The writing team was expected to be fluid and adjust to these changes. Not always writing the “star” didn’t bother me, but the idea of co-writing gave me a headache. Isn’t writing, after all, the perfect career for introverted, control freaks like me? Plus, what if Celeste had a scene with some white grrl who didn’t know what a fixed gear was? I dreaded signing into the private writers’ forum for days. I shouldn’t have.
Over the course of twelve weeks, the six of us — Katie Fairchild, Kimbar Halvorsen, Skye Montague, Rowan Reynir, Neale Taylor and myself – developed and wrote about characters who were often blackmailing each other, keeping secrets, falling in and out of love, butting heads and butting into one another’s business, all under Jennifer’s guidance to keep us cohesive and on-schedule. We praised each other after each episode was done, offered honest criticism and saw our preconceptions – be they about race, kink, outing, or age – fall aside while we strove to create the most entertaining scenes possible.
No, we didn’t always get along. But we never left the project. In some ways, we were just like the women of Mariel Cove. We existed in an isolated world of our own. Sure, in one episode, Celeste rode her motorcycle up the coast to blow off steam, but she came back. We always came back. Because Mariel Cove is worth visiting, worth losing yourself in, and just maybe, worth staying for.
We can’t wait to welcome readers to our little world.
Find more information at http://MarielCove.AngelsofAnarchy.com
Angels of Anarchy 7419 Ebbert Drive Southeast Port Orchard Washington 98367 editor@angelsofanarchy.com 360.550.2071 phone/text
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An Interview with the Mariel Cove Creator Creator and editor Jennifer DiMarco answers questions about the series
Port Orchard, Washington April 2013
What is Mariel Cove?
Mariel Cove is a 300-page erotic drama written for queer women by queer women. The writing team used a television-like writing style and we’re releasing the book in weekly installments called “episodes.” Twelve episodes make up the first season. The series definitely has mystery elements as well – interconnected mysteries that unfold over the course of the season. Some are resolved by Episode 12, and some aren’t.
Where did you get the idea?
Two years ago, I took a break from the publishing industry to explore independent film. Mariel Cove is a marriage of the two mediums in many ways. A piece of fiction written by a group in a visual, fast-paced style. I started hearing a lot about serials being written for the Kindle and iOS but I couldn’t find any written by and for queer women. I thought we deserved that.
Why did you choose six new authors?
Over my fifteen-year career as a publisher, I’ve worked with both brand new and established authors. For Mariel Cove, I wanted six unique voices. Not one voice that everyone would look up to and emulate. I also needed egos checked at the door. Everyone on a level playing field; there was no “head writer.” There was just the writing team and me, the big bad editor. I looked for writers who were passionate about telling dramatic stories and writing hot sex scenes. I needed writers unafraid to create characters that push envelopes politically, sexually, and emotionally. Plus, I wish someone had given me a job like Mariel Cove twenty years ago.
How does group writing work?
The central plot for Season One was already written when the team was hired. It was like a tree with a trunk and some larger branches. The writers were hired to be in charge of specific characters. They each proposed some plot twists for their characters and added lots of back story and fine details. Once I approved all these new “facts,” I sat down with my associate editor, Brianne DiMarco, and we charted out every episode, scene by scene. Scene assignments would look like this:
Episode 1: Scene 1: Noel/Arianna. Arianna arrives on Conch Island by ferry and starts long drive to Mariel Cove. Reveal her appearance, job, general attitude. Her parents call. Reveal history of the Cove regarding Mariel Ridgeway.
There is a private online forum for the writers. I would post the assignments and the writers would write. Every scene is told in third person from one character’s POV. If you control that character, you write that scene. If another writer’s character is in your scene – a fight scene, a sex scene, any group scene – you write together in an online chat room or you write the scene alone and then run it by the other writer so they can tweak their character’s habits, outfit or dialogue. Each writer became an expert on her characters.
The cast is very diverse. Was that a conscious decision? The cast is very diverse. I didn’t grow up wealthy or in a white neighborhood, so I had no interest in a white-washed, upper class series. However, most of the fine details – the sexual variety, race, economics, diverse personalities and politics – were influenced by the writing team. Though I could generalize and say all our writing team is “queer,” for instance, where they place themselves on that spectrum is vast and varied. We also have a thirty-eight year age range among the team!
What’s planned for Mariel Cove: Season Two? We hope fans of the series will help us decide who should be the central character in Season Two. I do know that Season Two will take place a month after Season One closes and that a murder will occur during a massive super storm. The entirety of Season Two will take place over one week. I welcome fans to log into the fan forum or Facebook and let me know who they’d like to see more of.
Find more information at http://MarielCove.AngelsofAnarchy.com
Angels of Anarchy 7419 Ebbert Drive Southeast Port Orchard Washington 98367 editor@angelsofanarchy.com 360.550.2071 phone/text
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Series Trailer & Community Resources Robust community sites and a dynamic trailer invite fans to interact with the writers
Port Orchard, Washington April 2013
Watch the Mariel Cove series trailer and an interview with the creator and editor, Jennifer DiMarco, at http://www.MarielCove.AngelsofAnarchy.com then join the Mariel Cove fan community at:
Twitter https://twitter.com/MarielCove
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MarielCove
Fan Forum http://marielcove.proboards.com
Blogger http://marielcove.blogspot.com/
Tumblr http://marielcove.tumblr.com/
Google Plus https://plus.google.com/110679777051131313984/posts
Email List Send a message to editor@angelsofanarchy.com to be added.
Text List Send a text to 360-550-2071 to be added.
Sex. Scandal. Secrets.
A Weekly Erotic Drama for Queer Women.
Conch Island is the last island before the open sea, as far west as America allows. Mariel Ridgeway is a renowned painter and curator, a senator’s widow, and a legend in her time. When Mariel purchased a remote cove on the secluded island, she founded a cottage town of women living on the edge of the world.
But she had no idea how the raw forces of nature would fuel a town populated with passionate secrets.
“An erotic hybrid of ‘The L Word’ and ‘Pretty Little Liars,’
this is erotica by and for women. A smart, sexy, diverse and edgy drama filled with twists and mystery.”
–Jennifer DiMarco, Series Creator & Editor
Following the lives of fourteen fiery women, Mariel Cove is an erotic drama of interconnected mysteries, scandal and secrets. Styled like a television show, the series is written by a team of writers — each in charge of her own characters —
with twelve episodes in the first season.
Download a free excerpt, then get Episode 1 for just 99¢. Additional episodes are released every Monday for $1.99 or get the entire first season ebook now.
Book groups can order Mariel Cove in trade paperback in sets of ten.
Mariel Cove
erotica for women, by women
Season 1 is Available Now at
http://www.MarielCove.AngelsofAnarchy.com
for Kindle, PC and iOS
Attention writers:
Now hiring for new serials and the brand new season of Mariel Cove. Seeking diverse, sexy new voices that can commit to a schedule and are willing to work with a team. Contact Jennifer DiMarco and find out more information at:
Find more information at http://MarielCove.AngelsofAnarchy.com
Angels of Anarchy 7419 Ebbert Drive Southeast Port Orchard Washington 98367 editor@angelsofanarchy.com 360.550.2071 phone/text.
Lesfic and Lipstick 