Silvia Acevedo's Blog, page 2

The beauty of the wooden clog

I spotted this gorgeous carved wood clog at Café Benelux in Milwaukee’s artsy Third Ward. It’s a nice restaurant and where my husband and I hosted the Faculty Dinner during our illustration workshop. Fantasy Art Workshop’s Illustration Intensive, please do click on the link to learn more about it–or search my website for past posts about it. It’s our big event, our heartfelt endeavor, that we’re thrilled to present every year.–>

Back to the clog, isn’t it a beaut?

I think when I was younger, I m...

Sometimes you just gotta reward yourself

I had to share these pictures of high tea–because it was fancy and extravagant and COMPLETELY DESERVED for the two of us, thanks to being put through the wringer the few months previous.

My friend, critique partner, and cheerleader Valerie Biel and I enjoyed afternoon tea at Milwaukee’s famed Pfister Hotel after months of polishing and querying our current manuscripts. It’s a lot of work to get a query package ready and send it out into the world for publication. Plus, the whole endeavor require...

An odd find

Sometimes people ask me, as a writer, if I discover weird things while researching for a book.

Um, YES. Yes, oh yes. So much yes.

Writers often joke that if “the authorities” were to look at our browser history, they’d put us on a watch list. But really, how can a murder-mystery writer not read up on the many ways to murder a spouse? How can a writer of speculative fiction, like me, not look up otherworldly stuff? How dare you think we’re just a bit off?! (*inserts nervous laughter here*)

Okay, ...

Talking to college students about artists’ collaboration

Taking to students is such an amazing honor, and it’s especially awesome to do it in the classroom of a friend. I met Professor Kristin Gjerdset (bottom left in first photo) when she signed up for my speedskating class. When I learned she taught art at Wisconsin Lutheran College,  a gem of a school, I told her about my illustrator husband, Jeff. She soon asked him to speak her students. He had the best time.

This year, Kristin invited both of us to speak to her class, specifically about creativ...

What I’m Reading – The Cat Who Saved Books and Starter Villain

Here are a couple of recent reads with cats on the cover. Just coincidentally.

THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai. This was an interesting story about a young boy who inherits his grandfather’s bookstore and the magical cat who takes him on otherworldly adventures to save books in other realms. Each adventure speaks to how certain characters value or devalue books, how they judge their worth, and inward reflection on one’s self. This book was marketed to...

What I’m Reading – Killers of a Certain Age, Grave Reservations, Flight Risk, and more

I’m reading of assassins and murders. Fiction, of course.

As a caveat, I generally don’t read true crime stories because, as a former journalist, I saw too much pain and horror from true crime. But fictional crime, especially cozy mysteries, I can find entertaining. That’s just me. (Cozy has a lot of different meanings to different people, but I categorize it as having amateur sleuths and off-the-page crime. So we hear of the crime, maybe even see some of it, but we’re not subjected to traumatiz...

Tallying the year

I genuinely love end-of-year lists.

Best of. Worst of. Most this or that. The year 2023 at a glance. I like being reminded of all that’s transpired in the past 365 days. I forget a lot of it and like revisiting with the benefit of hindsight.

One of the lists I always see is “How many books I read this year.” I keep track too, but I don’t feel any strong need to share it. I made the list for myself, not to later share in the hopes to impress or shame. Plus, I like to see how many books I read and...

I’ve joined a book club–and I love it!

I know, I know. It’s shouldn’t be big news if an author is part of a book club. But can I confess something here? **looks around sheepishly** I’ve never taken part in a regular book club.

As a kid, I read the books suggested by my school or library, but I didn’t join group discussions about them. I guess I didn’t want to hear people potentially criticize a book I enjoyed. What can I say? I was fragile. Then, as I got older and talked endlessly about books, I joined short-term clubs led by publis...

NaNoWriMo #2

The more you do something, the more you learn, right? And what I learned this November is that I need to be on solid footing with my story before NaNoWriMo if I expect the month to work for me.

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month. I explained the idea and methods for it in last year’s post, found here, so I won’t repeat myself. But let me just say, NaNoWriMo 2022 was a success for me because I knew where I was going with the story before the start. This year? Oof, no.

See, I plot my storie...

THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA is available for PREORDER!

In February, I told you I’m representing Wisconsin in the upcoming spooky anthology THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA. I’m thrilled to tell you that the book is now AVAILABLE FOR PREORDER! Here’s a look at the cover, illustrated by by Solomon Hughes.

Releasing from Macmillan Publishers on July 9, 2024
ISBN 9781250819413

Friends, there is simply no better way to support an author and their work than to preorder their books. Even if you think you won’t read the book for months or years, preorders count...