Mario Acevedo's Blog

Mario here:

What I'm reading: Koontown Killing Kaper by Bill Campbell.











We writers obsess about story-telling and are ready to nitpick any plot that come our way: books; TV shows; movies. So it's a treat when someone does it right. Like in the new Star Trek movie.

I'm definitely old school when it comes to Star Trek and resent the retooling of the mythos. I prefer my Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, and Scotty shrink wrapped in nostalgia. My verdict then, of Into Darkness?

Simply: photon torpedoes and phaser banks locked on target and Fire! It was that awesome.


The story clipped along at Warp speed. Hollywood thrillers tend to clobber us with the lynch pins of plot development--the inciting incident, the lock in, the reversal, the main culmination, the third act twist--and we tend to process the unfolding story like a stale joke. This Star Trek movie wove the plot with seamless precision that advanced the story at full throttle. Although the screenplay reworked the Star Trek universe, it managed to snag enough of the necessary tropes (like Scotty's snark and the Vampire pinch!) to keep both veterans and recruits satisfied.

Moving forward: The best free entertainment in Denver. Ever!

The second Denver Noir@Bar. Miss it, and we'll come calling with brass knuckles and lead pipes.
8PM. Thursday, May 23. Juanita's Eat. 32 S Broadway, Denver.



We're hoping for another evening worthy of low life excursions from previous Noir@Bars: NYC, LA, St. Louis.

Using this week to catch up on a lot of media stuff I've collected over the last few weeks.  In no particular order:

From Shelf Awareness:

Sue Grafton's forthcoming Kinsey Millhone mystery, her 23rd, will be titled W IS FOR WASTED, which will be published by Putnam on September 10. Grafton made the announcement after inviting readers to guess the title, which she explained to USATODAY: "they enjoy trying to outwit me, so I thought, let's just give them a chance to participate."
#  #  #  #
Will Wheaton on Why it's Awesome to be a Nerd-- something I think even Sheldon would approve of:   <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></b></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H_BtmV4J..." width="640"></iframe></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>#  #  #  # </b> </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal">From <a href="http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/04/16/hem..." target="_blank">EW</a>:</div><div class="MsoNormal">Netflix’s new horror series <i>Hemlock Grove. </i>The show’s new trailer positively glories in the lack of content restrictions. “The following trailer is restricted to Mature Audiences only by Netflix Inc,” reads the opening card, “for Mild Fornication, Fellatio, Heavy Cocaine Use, Lesbian Necrophilia, and Violent Hemorrhaging.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GvlFJmh6..." width="640"></iframe></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><br /><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>#  #  #  # </b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">The latest brouhaha seems to be over the "genderizing" of covers.  <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05..." target="_blank">Huffington Post's</a> Maureen Johnson gives some examples of "coverflip".  </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><script src="http://pshared.5min.com/Scripts/Playe..." type="text/javascript"></script><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /><br /><b>#   #  #   #</b><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></div></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pBFFZ9CS..." width="640"></iframe><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of my favorite (imho, best) of the police television dramas may not be back next year. <i><b><a href="http://www.tntdrama.com/series/southl..." target="_blank">Southland</a> </b></i>consistently presented police work in an honest, factual, unflinching way that reminded me of The Shield. If you missed it, find it on Netflix or Hulu or whatever and hope, the way I do, that the powers-that-be bring it back.  <br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b>#  #  #  #</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6s-WeydBWto..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6s-WeydBWto..." width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Cooper to the right, back row</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">  </div><div style="text-align: left;">When I was growing up, my mother loved her "stories." She got me hooked on The Young and the Restless and no matter how many episodes I missed because of school or work or any of a dozen different reasons, I could turn it on and be caught up with the residents of Genoa City in a matter of minutes.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Jeanne Cooper played Katherine Chancellor for forty years. When she passed away last week, I felt as if I'd lost a friend. I'm sure my mom would have felt the same, though I have a feeling if there is any kind of after life, she and Jeanne are probably discussing story lines right now!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-40x2yrFo5i4..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-40x2yrFo5i4..." width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>

Mario here:

What I'm reading: Hell Is Empty by Craig Johnson.











For those of you not hip to the Biting-Edge jive, Jeanne and I belong to the League of Reluctant Adults, a cabal of literary delinquents so secretive and powerful that we make the Illuminati look like impotent hermits. Our tendrils span the globe but mostly where ink-stained wretches tend to gather, such bars and pie shops (especially if there's free WiFi.)

And to further our dominance of the world, the League unleashes a double whammy of awesomeness not seen since the explosion of Mount Krakatoa (our doing, by the way).

Plant your feet, take a deep breath, and gird your loins. Check out Jaye Wells' newest urban fantasy, Dirty Magic . Trust me. No one does this kind of dirty like Wells.










Unless we're taking about Nicole Peeler. Her latest Jane True novel, Tempest Reborn (book 6 in the series), is also worth girding your loins for.










When you've caught your breath and ungirded your loins, don't forget to mark your calendar for the next Denver Noir@Bar. Thursday, May 23, 8PM, Juanita's Eat, 32 S. Broadway, Denver. Wear a raincoat for the blood spatter.

Romantic Times BookLovers Convention is one of three big cons that I attend each year. The reasons are many: interaction with fans, lots of good panels, a hopping "bar con" and the chance to visit with other authors I see only at events like this.

This year RT was held in Kansas City. It seems I left Denver in snow and brought the storm with me.
The view from my hotel room.
But since one rarely ventures out of the hotel, and we found the KC has this wonderful "link" system between hotels and various points of interest in the city, it hardly mattered what was going on outside.
I know Mario and I have mentioned the League of Reluctant Adults often in our blogs. We were well represented! These pictures were taken at Pierpont, a restaurant in the old Union Station.
From L-R: Molly Harper and her mom; Liliana Hart, Jaye Wells
From L-R: Jaye (again), Nicole Peeler, RT reviewer Jill Smith, Diana Rowland
As you can see, there is a lot of talent in those two snapshots!
Jaye and I hamming it up (there is a fair amount of alcohol consumption at these things.)
Two more of my favorite author friends: Kat Richardson and Lynda Hilburn   Angie Stanton, successful Indie author who sat next to me at the signing and shared some words of wisdom about indie pubbing.

Display that I set up pimping both the Anna book and upcoming new series. Gave away about 500 cards.

Wonder what authors talk about when they get together like this? No matter the degree of success, the topics are always the same: Will I get another contract? Should I try self-pubbing?  Why doesn't my publisher do more for me? How can I better market myself? We exchange ideas, sympathize with career obstacles, celebrate career successes. Just being in the company of so much talent revives the spirit.
Now I'm back home and the galleys of Blood Bond arrived so that's my project for today. I want to thank the 1200 of you who downloaded Cloud City last week!!! I hope you'll let me know what you thought of the novella. So now,  to work. There are more books to write!

Mario here:

What I'm reading: Money Shot by Christa Faust.











Jeanne is away at RT 2013 doing something scandalous. Not sure what except that it involves the, you know, wink, wink.

When I'm around other writers and the conversation turns toward our favorite and most influential authors, I get a little embarrassed in that I'm often not familiar with many of the names mentioned. Since I've been published in Urban Fantasy, i.e., speculative fiction, people tend to assume I'm well read in horror, fantasy, and science fiction. But apparently I'm not. Sure I recognize Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and Issac Asimov. Starship Troopers remains one of my favorite books. And I loved Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series. I deliberately stayed clear of horror so I never developed an appreciation for Stephen King. When I wanted to read about people doing nasty things to one another, I turned to history, especially the Nazis.

I credit my dad for enlightening me to books beyond what I'd get from the library or the local used bookstore. His hand-me-down pulpy, thrillers included James Clavell, Leon Uris, Frederick Forsyth, Michael Crichton. But there was another author whose books I devoured. John D. MacDonald. My best friend Ron Zapien and I traded copies back and forth from wherever we could lift them. Travis McGee became my hero and I dreamed of an invitation to a gin-and-tonic blowout on his houseboat, the Busted Flush. The titles alone take me back to lazy afternoons sprawled on the sofa. A Tan and Sandy Silence. The Quick Red Fox. One Fearful Yellow Eye.

Besides my fiction homework for the week, it's with added pleasure that I'm going through The Red Hot Type Writer: The Life and Times of John D. MacDonald by Hugh Merrill. MacDonald's reputation looms huge over the mystery genre with seventy novels and over five hundred short stories published in his career (on a typewriter! He's the Paul Bunyan of scribes!) To more ardent MacDonald aficionados, this biography is a rehash of what they already know. But to me, most of what's on the pages is new. One telling shortcoming is the absence of photographs. I would've appreciated seeing MacDonald with his wife, his days as an insurance salesman pounding out queries and receiving rejection letters, as an Army officer in India during WWII, drinking parties with his fellow hacks, of the novelist MacKinlay Kantor who goaded MacDonald into penning his breakout book The Executioners (later adapted into the movie Cape Fear).


A big lesson and inspiration was MacDonald's discipline to both writing and the development of his craft. He would write almost daily from 8am to noon, a lunch break, and hit the keys again 1-5pm. Then relax, usually with a drink. Years later he reflected, "It wasn't until my habits were firmly embedded that I discovered that writers tended to work a couple of hours and then brooded about it for the rest of the day."

So crack that whip. It's time to work, you slackers.

Hi all-- I'm in Kansas City after leaving Denver in a snow storm which appears to have followed me because I awoke to rain. Hopefully, that's all we'll have.


Last night had dinner with some fellow authors at a great place called Piedmont (or Piermont?) in an old train station building that was beautiful! 
Above (l-r) Molly Harper and her mom. Liliana Hart and Jaye Wells

(l-r)Jaye Wells, Nicole Peeler, Jill Smith, Diana Rowland 

Hamming it up with Jaye Wells
Today is the first full day for me--a panel at 10 (Vampires we Love to Hate) and an ebook signing from 2-6. Tomorrow, panel at 10 (Anything Goes in Urban Fantasy) and a Vampire Meet and Greet at 3:45 - 4:45. Saturday is the Book Fair.  Fun and games for all.
A huge thank you to all who have downloaded Cloud City on Amazon. Free days are today thru Sunday, so it's not too late to get in on the fun.  Check it out   here  .
See you next week!

Mario here:

What I'm reading: The Quick Red Fox by John D. MacDonald.
Thanks everybody for the outpouring of condolences regarding the passing of our good friend, Cort McMeel. He's already greatly missed and the mystery writing community has lost a valuable champion. Cort introduced me to many other inspiring writers, including Jon Bassoff, the editor at New Pulp Press. Bassoff has a novel of his own forthcoming this fall, Corrosion.



A huge grito to Rudy Ch. Garcia on being named a finalist in the Best Novel--Fantasy/Sci-Fi category of the 2013 International Latino Book Award for his novel, The Closet of Discarded Dreams. We'll raid the petty cash jar to grease the appropriate palms in his favor.






 


 Lighthouse Writers Workshop presents its eighth annual Lit Fest & Book Fair, June 7-22, 2013. It's your chance to mingle with a fabulous bunch of booze hounds community of writers addicted to novels, poems, short fiction, memoirs, and screenplays. I'm teaching three craft seminars--You Had Me At Hello; The Longest Distance: Putting Your Ideas on the Pages; and Start with the Diamond: The Promise of a Great Novel. Plus I'm on a salon, Yes You Can: Writing in a Subjective World. Check out the catalog. See you there. I'll pour your first glass of wine.

Mario's sadness over the death of his friend made me realize nothing I planned to write about today seemed very relevant. Cort McMeel's death touched him deeply. Mario's history had a lot to do with that. But more, Mario likes to play the clown. He's always ready with a joke (usually at my expense). I can take it. Last weekend, the jokester was gone. From the moment he got the news at Horrorfest, Warren Hammond and I saw the light dim.  There are always questions with a suicide, especially when one as exuberant and enthusiastic about life as Cort takes his own life. I could tell from Mario's reaction that with the confusion, there was the specter that maybe he missed something when he saw Cort just a week before.  Maybe there was a sign that he should have seen, a hint he misinterpreted. That's the dreadfulness of suicide. The questions that remain with those left behind.

So all I can do for you, my friend, is be here. Just as you were for Cort.

And to remind you, it's not your fault.

So, go ahead...hit me with your best shot!

Mario here:


In a week brimming with bad tidings, we were still sucker punched by the news that Cort McMeel took his life.

We all know people who seem to teeter on self-destruction, and if they happen to do themselves in, we're not surprised.

But Cort was a different story.

You couldn't help but notice him. He was loud, boisterous, and earthy--a roman candle of mirth and optimism. Highly educated and exceptionally well-read, he wasn't shy about sharing his opinions, especially when it came to literature and writing. And he was just as gracious and friendly. Already a physically imposing character, his ebullient personality filled a room like exploding fireworks. Yet you never felt diminished by him, in fact we all shined brighter the closer we stood beside him.


 Me and Cort at a Lighthouse gathering.
His reputation truly preceded him as I learned about Cort through his Murdaland anthology months before actually I met him. And when we did meet, he instantly acknowledged that he knew of me through my books and that he had looked forward to the introduction. And he was as effusive with other writers. When he recently became acquainted with our own Jeanne, Cort gushed that he enjoyed her Doc Holliday story.






Above all, Cort loved hard-boiled noir. He'd summon a few of us fellow mystery writers like Benjamin Whitmer and Jon Bassoff to his favorite watering hole, The Thin Man in the Park Hill neighborhood, where we discussed books, teaching, and our writing projects. It was through Cort that I learned about Charles Bukowski, Graham Greene, and Daniel Woodrell. He was eager to receive our comments on his almost completed cage fighter novel, and he was equally excited to read my next work-in-progress. But foremost, Cort cranked the levers of those projects promoting his beloved mystery genre. Having already demonstrated his chops as an editor and publisher with Murdaland, Noir Nation, and Bare Knuckles Press, he was ready to move forward with an ebook publishing venture. He was the force behind Denver's Noir@Bar and saw that venue as the foundation for an ambitious mystery writing program.


 Dan Manzanares (l) and Cort at Lighthouse.
Cort led writing seminars at the Lighthouse Writers Workshop where he was fondly regarded as an exceptional and popular instructor. To appreciate his infectious radiance, check out these photos of the book launch party for his debut novel, Short.

It wasn't as if Cort didn't face challenges. He had recently lost his job as a day trader but assured me that he had enough money set aside and had several writing projects to help with the family cash flow. 



Writer, author, boxer, rugby player, hunter, Cort swung at opportunity with two-fisted bravado. He tackled life with Hemingway-esque drama, and ironically, died the same way.


Demons tormented Cort. Not mischievous imps or the devil's henchmen that we find in urban fantasy, but real demons--those destructive impulses that torment a person to madness.

I knew Cort as a raucous, happy drunk. Even with his reputation as a hard-drinking Irishman, around me he'd cut himself off at two drinks (more or less), claiming that he had to behave himself. The one time we did plan a late night of boozing, I was done at eleven but Cort still knocked the drinks down, slapping backs and making new friends around the bar. He dismissed my concerns about him getting home safe, and I let it go at that. After all, I wasn't his nanny. The next morning he texted that he had slept the night in his car and then driven straight to work. Two weeks ago at our Mystery Writers meeting, I bought him beers for his dinner. But the truth was, Cort struggled against the bottle. Concerned about the affect his alcoholism was having on his wife and children, Cort tried AA. And quit. And continued his lonely battle.

He kept his other demon well hidden. Behind his smiles and good-natured swagger, Cort habored a corrosive bleakness about the futility of life. Despite his accomplishments and plans and people in his corner, he somehow talked himself into believing that he had run out of hope.

Last Friday, Jon and I waited at The Thin Man to plan for the next Noir@Bar. Cort never showed up and I texted him, asking if he was okay. He never answered.

Many years ago, my father committed suicide (as well as other heinous acts), and it took decades for the wounds to heal. So while my grief for Cort is biblical in its pain, I cannot pretend that my anguish is close to what his family suffers.

I can't claim that I knew Cort as well as other writers, especially Les Edgerton. Even so, I deeply admired Cort and will miss him dearly.

This has been an interesting week. Cover went up for Blood Bond:





For the first book my new series, The Fallen Siren Series, Cursed:

(In case you're wondering, S.J.Harper is the pseudonym co-author Samantha Sommersby and I are publishing under)
And I received copies of a new German edition of the first three books in the Anna Strong Chronicles:

Hardcovers-- very nice!!
#  #  #  #
Now for book news that's NOT about me... From Shelf Awareness and the Independent: <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><i><b>William Boyd</b>'s new authorized <b>James Bond</b> novel, publishing this fall, will be titled SOLO. The author said at the London Book Fair it features Bond on a "self-appointed mission of his own, unannounced and without any authorization," traveling three continents, "with the main focus honing in on Africa." Boyd said, "It's what happens to Bond in Africa that generates his urge to 'go solo' and take matters into his own hands in the USA." In further Bond trivia, a 60th anniversary release of an early version of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-ent..." target="_blank">shows</a>  that the spy was originally named "Secretan… James Secretan."</i></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ao_ILBWqEug..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ao_ILBWqEug..." width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"Secretan...James Secretan." Just doesn't have the same ring, does it?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">#  #  #  #</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> <style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:"Times New Roman"; panose-1:0 2 2 6 3 5 4 5 2 3; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:50331648 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-parent:""; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><b><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-04BS2tV..." width="640"></iframe></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b> </b>This is for Tamra Monahan...I know she can identify!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">#  #  #  # </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Something new in the local scene:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3XfDy3_y9BY..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3XfDy3_y9BY..." width="200" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://news.bookweb.org/news/bookbar-..." target="_blank">BookBar</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">— “A book shop for wine lovers. A wine bar for book shoppers”— is set to open its doors this month in the arts district of Denver, Colorado, at 4280 Tennyson Street. The store will feature a menu of wine, beer, tea, coffee, hors d’oeuvres, and desserts to be served alongside an inventory of thousands of handpicked titles.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">#  #  #  # </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">All this late spring snow has murdered my tulips. They looked like this after the last storm:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WXuEF67jDGc..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WXuEF67jDGc..." width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div class="MsoNormal">That was bad enough...but  now they look like this:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E2mvZCdejg8..." imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E2mvZCdejg8..." width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And they were so beautiful!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">#  #  #  # </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">One final word. The three musketeers: Mario, Warren Hammond and I will be appearing at Horrorfest this weekend. Check the schedule <a href="https://starland.com/wp/starfest/" target="_blank"> here</a> . </div></div></div>