Mario Acevedo's Blog, page 27

April 13, 2011

Books, books and more books

Hi friends-- back from RT...sleep deprived but in one piece. Mario is disappointed.

Lots of book tidbits today. This one in particular caught my eye:



It's always amazing to me when a treasure shows up in someone's attic or basement. Why can't it happen to me? I have an attic and a basement.

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And speaking of "found" items:

FOUND: Gene Roddenberry's original 1964 pitch for Star Trek!

From: blastr

A pop culture blog called Between the Pages has a link up to an online copy of Roddenberry's initial outline for the series, dated March 11, 1964. The show itself premiered on Sept. 8, 1966, and in the intervening two years, a whole lot changed. For instance:

♦ Roddenberry's original captain was not James Kirk or Christopher Pike, but Robert April;
♦ The ship was first called the U.S.S. Yorktown;
♦ The navigator was not a young Russian hotshot named Pavel Chekov, but a young South American hotshot named Jose Ortegas;
♦ Spock was the "first lieutenant" and described as having a reddish complexion and, of course, pointed ears, and was probably "half Martian."

Roddenberry's 16-page outline also contains his now-famous description of the show as a sort of sci-fi Wagon Train, and does not mention anything like a transporter beam; the crew would land on planets via small recon vehicles. Early ideas for communicators, universal translators and phaser weapons can also be found within.

Most fascinating, however, are the story ideas that Roddenberry includes—many of which formed the basis for or at least planted the seed for classic episodes like "Charlie X," "Shore Leave," "A Piece of the Action," "The Return of the Archons," "The Savage Curtain," "Mirror, Mirror" and what eventually became the show's first pilot, "The Cage." Some of his dicier ideas—like a planet where slavery is the norm, except that whites are the slaves—never made it to the show at all (probably just as well).

So if you thought you knew everything about Star Trek, this document might hold some surprises for you. Either way, it's an essential read—after all, these 16 pages are where a legendary science fiction franchise began!

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From Shelf Awareness and the New York Times :



The estate of James Jones has made an agreement with Open Road Integrated Media to issue 10 titles by the author in e-book form, including an edition of the classic From Here to Eternity that restores "explicit mentions of gay sex and a number of four-letter words" that were deleted by his publisher, Scribner, when the book was originally published in 1951, according to the New York Times. James had fought the censorship, arguing to his editor that "the things we change in this book for proprietary's sake will in five years, or ten years, come in someone else's book anyway."

It only took fifty years.

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Okay, this goes out to my author friends who have children. How perfect is this? A book you can sleep in! From Flavorwire :



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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2



Love this poster. It's sad and exciting all at the same time to think we've come to the end of the journey. Remember the Harry from The Sorcerer's Stone?


Wow!

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One more bit of crazy before I get to some personal news. Here are 20 Insanely Creative Bookshelves from Buzzfeed



And you'll see right away why I like this one so much:


Do you recognize the little character? It's Mario...yes, a Mario shelf!!!!

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Now for some BSP--
First off, Sunday is the Englewood Library's Meet the Faces Behind the Books gig. Over 60 fiction, nonfiction, YA, Children's authors and illustrators will be in attendance. Including moi.Here are the details:


Readers young and old are invited to the Library's 12th Annual Colorado Author Open House on Sunday, April 17, 2011. 1 - 3 pm. Books will be available for purchase.

1000 Englewood Parkway
First Floor • Englewood Civic Center
Englewood, CO 80110
303-762-2560


A reminder about Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers May event including a chance to get a critique by me on two pages of your own writing.

Saturday, May 21 8:00a to 4:00p
at Renaissance Hotel, Denver, CO
Price: $70 early registration; $85 after April; $95 at the door
Phone: (970) 497-6452
Age Suitability: None Specified

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers is sponsoring a one-day workshop featuring Kirt Hickman, author of Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the Madness. The workshop will be held at the Renaissance Hotel on May 21st. Colorado authors Carol Berg, Jeanne Stein and Betsy Dornbusch will be on-hand to answer writing-related questions or critique the first two pages of your manuscript. For more information please see Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' website at rmfw.org or contact Vicki Law at (970) 497-6452.

More details here



On the book front-got an email from pal Toni Kelner who said in the next issue of RT Book Review Magazine Hexed was reviewed. Not only got 4 1/2 stars but was a top pick!!! Anthologies don't often get that nod so I'm thrilled.

And a gentle reminder that Crossroads is available for preorder from Amazon your favorite Indie , and/or Barnes and Noble










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Published on April 13, 2011 16:34

April 10, 2011

Vitajex made me go sproing!

Mario here:

My spy sent this photo of Jeanne sandwiched between Richelle Mead and Nicole Peeler at RT2011. Jeanne tries to look sober though you should notice the open bottle in front of her. Busted!




Here in Denver, Beth Groundwater dazzled the crowd at her Broadway Book Mall signing.





The evening progressed to an art show at Vain Salon, uptown home to the hippest hairstylists in the city. Jamie modeled make-up and hair while handling out Jello shots (there's always room for Jello!)


I love the details behind great stories. Director Elia Kazan and screenwriter Bud Schulberg became pariahs in Hollywood for testifying to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) where they admitted to having been Communists and giving up names. Kazan and Schulberg had joined the Communist Party because they saw communism as a force for progressive social change, a theme in their movies. The two became disillusioned when they recognized communism as a legitimate threat to the United States and that many of their writer friends in the Soviet Union had disappeared (i.e., murdered by Stalin). Kazan's earlier work such as Gentleman's Agreement (a 1947 movie exposing bigotry and anti-Semitism) were straightfoward stories about clear-cut moral choices. His experience before HUAC changed his outlook on life, and his story-telling turned noirish with deeply ambiguous moral dilemmas.

Kazan and Schulberg followed their Marlon Brando classic On The Waterfront (1954) with A Face In the Crowd (1957), an amazingly prescient satire of how media and marketing shape our politics. For many of us used to seeing Andy Griffith as the honest, folksy hero in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock, you'll be astonished by his screen debut as Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, the kinetic scheming bum who brays his way to fame and fortune. The man burns with the raunchy, incandescent energy of a punk rocker strung out on speed. Urban myth has us believe that 1950s America was all Harriet Nelson, but the infamous Vitajex commercial holds its own with anything you'll ever see on cable. Gratuitous camel-toe and pills that restore your manly ardor.



Compare the details with Mad Men. The two-faced executives. The decorative, over-coiffed women. The quaint hand-lettered show cards instead of PowerPoint. The skirt chasing that would make any modern HR staffer cringe at inevitable sexual-harassment lawsuits.

We see Lonesome Rhodes revel in his power, cynical and creepy as a mad scientist.



What is the background behind your favorite stories?
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Published on April 10, 2011 14:07

April 6, 2011

RT Bound

It's Wednesday afternoon and I want to get this off before I'm off to RT Booklovers Convention in Los Angeles tomorrow. Since that's the home of Wolfram & Hart, I'll be on my best behavior.

Did any of you get caught in an April Fools joke? This one really had me going for a while:


From Fearnet.com

Given the non-stop deluge of attention she's received in the past several years, the obsessive fans, and the privacy-invading paparazzi, it was natural to assume that Kristen Stewart would be done with the vampire genre altogether once shooting on The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 had wrapped. But apparently Stewart's still up for more fun and hijinks with the undead if the script (or paycheck) is good enough. Because the mumbly twenty-one-year-old has just signed a three-picture contract to star as the title heroine in Fox's Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot movie series...

Looks like Anna Kendrick is up for the role of Buffy's best pal and right-hand witch Willow, Jackson Rathbone could essay everyman Xander, Ashley Greene may portray the vain Cordelia, Taylor Lautner will likely get hairy once more as teen wolf Oz, Michael Sheen is very close to signing on as Buffy's "Watcher" Giles, and Dakota Fanning's in the running to play Buffy's kid sister Dawn. Meanwhile several pundits have linked Robert Pattinson to the role of Angel. (We've reached out to the actor's publicist, but are still awaiting reply.) One thing that's certain is the film's writer-director team – none other than Stephenie Meyer (making her screenwriting debut) and Catherine Hardwicke, fresh off her instant masterpiece of adolescent angst Red Riding Hood.

Yikes! What a nightmare!!!

Now, this may be another joke, and I have a feeling I've heard about this before, but this was from CNews World Watch



The FBI has asked for help to decipher a note found in the pocket of Ricky McCormick, discovered slain in a St. Louis field 12 years ago.

Investigators have tried to decode the two-page note since the body of 41-year-old McCormick was found. But it's still not known what it says, and experts say it could help solve the case.

So, put on your thinking caps and give it a go.

# # # #

Terry Wright, who is a critique partner of Mario and me, has an offer for all you readers out there.



Get Hooked on Justin Graves for FREE
 
New Line Press announced today for a limited time, the ebook, "The Gates of Hell" by bestselling horror and sci fi author Terry Wright, will be available during the month of April, 2011 for free. 
"The Gates of Hell" which reached bestseller status at OmniLit.com is book 1 in the popular Justin Graves Horror Series by prolific author Terry Wright. The short story ebook is available during the month of April for free at New Line Press and Smashwords.com .


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There are a couple of upcoming local events you may find interesting:



Good news! We have gathered together some wonderfully generous folks who are providing a limited number of RomCon® 2011 scholarships for active duty service men and women and their families, as well as veterans and their families--they are our American Heroes! If you know any American Heroes who deserve a scholarship, please have them write to us for more information!

And more good news! On April 14th, we will be giving away 2 Kindles to 2 people drawn from RomCon® 2011 general admission registrations completed by April 13th, 2011! If you're planning on attending RomCon but haven't registered yet, do so by April 13th so that you can be in the drawing!



Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers - Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the Madness, a one-day workshop

Saturday, May 21 8:00a to 4:00p
at Renaissance Hotel, Denver, CO
Price: $70 early registration; $85 after April; $95 at the door
Phone: (970) 497-6452

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers is sponsoring a one-day workshop featuring Kirt Hickman, author of Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the Madness. The workshop will be held at the Renaissance Hotel on May 21st.

Colorado authors Carol Berg, Jeanne Stein and Betsy Dornbusch will be on-hand to answer writing-related questions or critique the first two pages of your manuscript. For more information please see Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' website at rmfw.org or contact Vicki Law at (970) 497-6452.

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So, I think that's it for now. I'm looking forward to RT--seeing friends, meeting new readers, eating food I shouldn't, getting room service...the good life!!! If by chance you'll be there, too, look me up!
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Published on April 06, 2011 14:38

April 3, 2011

There's no room in Heaven for me!

Mario here,

Shout Out to Biting-Edge pal, Jeanne, for her terrific interview in RT's All Things Urban Fantasy, where Para is normal! She'll be at RT 2011 next week and promises to behave herself. Ha! If you see her in the hotel (stumbling, no doubt), snark her for me.


This last Saturday, Jeanne and I were panelists at the Pikes Peak Library District, 5th Annual Mountain of Authors. Say what you will about Colorado Springs, they sure know how to turn 'em out for a literary event. It was SRO throughout the day.




Another Shout Out, this time to our hosts from the Pikes Peak Library, Becca and Krista.


Since we were on her home turf, Beth Groundwater was there, sans paddle.









One of the treats at these events is the opportunity to meet some wonderful fellow authors, in this case, Teresa Funke. She presented on the Publishing panel and shared her rather circuitous route to publication. Funke's interests are those unknown stories of World War Two which she documented in: Remember Wake, Dancing in Combat Boots, and her Home-Front Heroes series. Two literary agents loved her work, and editors remarked that they loved her work...only they didn't think there was an audience for those stories. Since Funke was concerned that WW2 veterans are dying off, rather than wait until the publishing world comes around her way, she decided to self-publish so that the veterans and their families can see themselves properly acknowledged. Funke admitted the life of a writer can be an exercise in self-torture and despair, and she quits writing twice a year...then gets up the next morning and starts banging on the keyboard. And it's paid off as she's managed to carve a successful niche for herself as a writer and publisher.


The headliner was Jerry B. Jenkins, author of the wildly successful Left Behind series with over 70 million copies of his books in print. (Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar!) Not surprisingly, considering Left Behind is based on End Times prophesy from the New Testament's book of Revelations (and we were in the Springs), one woman couldn't help but approach our tables to proselytize the message to prepare ourselves for the Rapture. I noted that she skipped me. Guess I'm a lost cause.









I wonder if even the most devoted of Evangelicals believe that fervently in End Times prophecy. The next time someone preaches to me about the Rapture, I'm going to ask him or her about their IRA and 401 (k).









Hey guys, free show up her skirt.
Hope she's going commando!

Jenkins was scheduled to speak for an hour, and I was concerned how anyone could gas on for sixty minutes without driving the audience to yawns and relentless clock watching. Well, I could've listened to Jenkins for another hour, he was so charming with his wit and self-effacing humor. He related a story of eating Big Macs with Steven King in a drive-thru. A professional writer all of his adult life, and most of it as a sports writer, Jenkins is a man enchanted with the beauty and power of the well-crafted word. He said good writing inspires him, but really good writing humbles him to the point that he thinks he has no business writing at all. I feel like that too often.[image error]
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Published on April 03, 2011 11:59

March 30, 2011

Anna' s World


Before we take off on our tour of Anna's world, Mario wanted me to remind you that we'll be presenting at the Pikes Peak Mountain of Authors this weekend.

The free program will be held on Saturday, April 2 from 12:30 - 6 p.m. at East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd. Colorado Springs No registration is required.

Doors open at noon

Panel 1: Paranormal Fiction – 12:30 - 1:30 p.m

* Mario Acevedo, author
* Parker Blue (Pam McCutcheon), author
* Jeanne Stein, author

Author Showcase Spotlight and Golden Quill Award – 1:30 - 2 p.m.

Break – 2 - 2:30 p.m.

Panel 2: Publishing – 2:30 - 3:30 p.m.

* Doris Baker, Filter Press
* Teresa Funke, Teresa Funke & Company
* Nancy Mills, CIPA President

Break – 3:30 - 4 p.m.

Keynote Speaker: Jerry B. Jenkins – 4 - 5 p.m.

Book Signing and Reception – 5 - 6 p.m.

You can get more information here or by calling 719-531-6333

It would be great to see you!

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Now, a few weeks ago, I was contacted by a reader, Nicole Gillison who was planning a birthday surprise for her wife, LaRay. Nicole planned a tour of some of the locations featured in the series. She asked me for some details and then went to work on the tour. I'm going to let you see and hear what they found!

LaRay wrote:

Wow what an adventure we had! :)

We took a lot of pictures; sadly we dropped the good camera and ended up taking a lot of pictures with our cell phone. So not sure if you can use or would want to use any of them but I'm happy to share all these pictures with you.

Nikki did such a great job at walking me through the books. She did this whole tour guide with stories of who, where, and what. It was really nice.

We found a real biker bar in El Cajon, the closest one to a biker bar here in town is Hi Cera and well that is a dive but not a biker bar. Dego is a true Hells Angels Biker bar so we went over there took a picture, wow it was a rush too just picturing Anna, and David doing a bounty in there.




We went to Sea Port Village- (Could this be the view from Anna's office?)



Her Cottage (tried to pick which one we thought),






















The view from Avery's house a top Mt. Soledad:







Balboa Park. Can you spot the secret doorway?































There is a house in Hillcrest, we always said reminds us of the Witch's house. So we drove over there took a picture. :)



Driving near the Coronado Bridge flashed the memories of Anna being in Coronado and searching for Burke.

We wanted to go to the Sea Cliffs but didn't get a chance to go, there happened to be a big surprise waiting for me at the end of the day and we had a time crunch so had to cut it off by 6pm so Avery's was our last stop. :)

This was an amazing birthday, with your help all your books we had a wonderful day.
So amazing! :)


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There are more pictures and I plan to post all of them on my website in the next few weeks. LaRay and Nicole-- you two are the greatest. I can't think of a nicer complement than the one you've paid me.



















Nicole (the tour guide) LaRay (the birthday girl)




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Published on March 30, 2011 14:50

March 27, 2011

Are we not men...or cavemen?

Mario here:

We'll start with the pimpage. Shout out to Colette Duke, who gives us sensual science fiction romance. Here's her giveaway to celebrate Emerald 3 hitting #1 Science Fiction Romance Short Story:

"Emerald 3 is my entree into the science fiction romance world. A short story, just to get my feet wet in the genre. I was tickled enough when it was #1 in an incredibly obscure category of Amazon's bestseller lists. March 23 the category wasn't so obscure. Emerald 3 hit the #1 spot for 'science fiction romance short story' on Amazon. Holy moly.


To celebrate, I'm giving away a free copy of the full story (yep, including the nocturnal goings-on of Fioran and Alohxi) to the first five people who leave a comment on this post and send me their contact information via my Contact page. You'll need to specify which format you prefer. I can send HTML, EPUB, and PDF.

Thank you for celebrating with me, and I hope you enjoy meeting Fioran, Alohxi, and the tree people of Emerald 3."


And now...


To be a novelist you must be a student of human nature. Makes sense. We write stories about people and to be credible, our characters must act like real people. But our stories have to be interesting so we put the emotional screws to our characters and watch them react. So how should they react?

What fascinates me is that while we like to pretend that we're open-minded, rational, and sophisticated, the truth is that we're pretty identical to our caveman ancestors. In fact, for most of the 200,000 years that homo sapiens have been around, people much like us wandered naked in the wilderness, hunting and gathering, building fires, and no doubt trying to scramble up the food chain. Coping behavior was encoded into that inherited part of human consciousness responsible for survival--aka, the lizard brain. It could be little things. We like bling because shiny baubles remind us of water, a necessity for survival. We eat sweets because in nature, sweet foods gave us nutrients missing in woolly mammoth meat. Outsiders were rivals and today, we're wary of anyone who doesn't look or act like us. Sex? Think about it, our ancestors had to get their freak on regardless of plague or ruin, otherwise that would've been the end of us as a species. They even had prehistoric sex toys and porn. Considering that soap wasn't invented until Roman times (or maybe it was the Babylonians), our boinking caveman forebears must've been some rank motherfuckers.



Having said that, we're not animals, meaning we understand in the abstract the consequences of what we do. Success as a writer may be ingrained in our desire for greater esteem within our tribe, but the discipline of writing requires that we muffle our lizard brain, sit our ass down at the keyboard and work. The caveman inside us can never be used as an excuse for our individual failings.







Andddddd...more pimpage...



Our blessed Kat Richardson shares a gooey enchilada with her thoughts on the ongoing e-publishing ruckus. Trust me, she is as brainy as she is easy on the eyes.







And BFF to the Biting-Edge, J.A. Kazimer continues her contest. It's free swag, people![image error]
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Published on March 27, 2011 13:39

March 23, 2011

RIP


Elizabeth Taylor
February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011

Until I heard the news about Liz Taylor's passing, I was going to start on a cheery note. An "I love spring" kind of thing --the longer days. The warmer days. I still love spring. But I'm sad that another icon is gone. Elizabeth Taylor was beautiful in her youth, tireless in her battle for gay rights and support of AIDS research, ferocious in her love life, fiercely loyal to her friends and arguably one of the best actresses of my generation. She was Cleopatra and she was the harridan in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf--two sides of the same coin. We haven't seen her much lately, but we knew she was around.





It's depressing to know she's not around anymore.














I have lots of goodies for you this week, but before I get started, a wee commercial reminder:



I'd love to see you.

**And for the writers in our audience, it's time for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers annual Colorado Gold Conference.




28th Annual Colorado Gold Writing Contest 2011

For unpublished writers of COMMERCIAL novel-length fiction.

Here's your chance to get your novel in the hands of an acquiring agent or
editor.

Submit the first twenty pages of your manuscript and an eight-page synopsis.
Two judges from RMFW will evaluate and score each entry. The FIVE
highest-scoring submissions above 130 points in each category will make the
finals, and then be judged by an agent or editor who is attending the
Colorado Gold Conference. One winner will be picked in each category.
Winners receive $100.00 and a certificate. The remaining finalists will
receive $30.00 and a certificate. Winners will be announced at the Colorado
Gold Writers Conference, September 9-11, 2011 at the Renaissance Hotel in
Denver, Colorado.


CONTEST CATEGORIES:

· NEW FOR 2011 Young Adult (YA) - All YA, Coming of Age

· Romance - Traditional, Long, Short, Single Title, Suspense, Paranormal,
Historical, Regency, Time Travel, Futuristic, Fantasy

· Speculative Fiction - Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, New Age,
Supernatural, Alternative History, Tie-in

· Mystery - Amateur Detective, Suspense, Cozy, Private Eye, Historical,
Police Procedural

· Mainstream - Women's Fiction, Chick Lit, Western, Historical Action,
Historical Character

· Action/Thriller - Action/Adventure, All Thrillers

The 2011 Colorado Gold Writing Contest

Opens: April 1, 2011 - Do not enter before then

Deadline: June 1, 2011 - Don't be late

Entry Fee: $30

Critique Fee: $25

Electronic submissions only: Read the Official Rules and Entry Instructions here


**One more piece of business-- thanks to all who bid on the Ebay critiques. We raised $600 for the Red Cross earmarked for Japanese relief efforts. Good job.

# # # #

Something for writers who like guns and use them in their stories. This is a cool video sent to our attention by Beth Groundwater.



I know Mario enjoyed it.

And another From Jackson Pearce —funny in a perverse way because it's what many people think a writer's day is all about.



She has a whole bunch of clever videos on all sorts of things. Nice media presence.

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Now for the purely fun stuff--not that the above wasn't fun.

First: From Buzzfeed - Amazing things done with books. Here's a sample:



Also from Buzzfeed 20 Awesome Literary Tattoos


From ink to Hollywood. Another of my favorite sources Flavorwire give us 10 Famous Authors Who Went Hollywood and another bit of interesting but useless information Books That Inspired Fashion Designers.

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What's new in the movie biz? Glad you asked.



From Deadline.com :Salma Hayek and her Ventanarosa Productions have joined Clark Peterson and Ron Senkowski to produce an animated feature based on the Kahlil Gibran book The Prophet…

The Prophet is one of the best-selling books of all time, having sold over 100 million copies since its original publication in 1923. Gibran, a Lebanese-American, is the third-most-read poet in history after Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu, and has been translated into more than 40 languages…

Animated feature? Don't know about this one.



From the Hollywood Reporter : BEIJING – Neil Gaiman, the award-winning writer of The Sandman comics and the novella Coraline, has signed on to pen English scripts for a big-budget series of 3D feature films based on Journey to the West, China's classic novel about the adventures of the Monkey King.

Gaiman, who grew up in England reading the 16th century epic fantasy in translation and watching a Japanese version of it on the BBC, joins one of China's most prominent television producers, Zhang Jizhong, for his long-planned big-screen trilogy, replacing an earlier screenwriter, the two men said on Thursday.

I'm kind of ambivalent about this one.



From The Wrap via Shelf Awareness:

Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone) will play the role of Katniss in The Hunger Games, based on the bestselling novels by Suzanne Collins, the Wrap reported. Lionsgate "plans the franchise as a trilogy which will include The Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. Gary Ross (Seabiscuit) is directing the film, which will debut on March 23, 2012."



Several actors are rumored to be under consideration for the role of Peeta Mellark, including Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four), Josh Hutcherson (The Kids Are All Right, Bridge to Terabithia) and Hunter Parrish (Weeds), the Wrap wrote


This I'm looking forward to...



From Deadline.com via Shelf Awareness

Matthew Fox (Lost) will play an assassin in I, Alex Cross, "the reboot of the James Patterson franchise character that's being put together by QED with Tyler Perry starring and Rob Cohen directing," Deadline.com reported. Ed Burns has been cast as Tommy Kane, Cross's partner.


Not waiting with bated breath for this one either but I know there are lots of Patterson fans out there...not to mention Matt Fox fans...

# # # #

Anybody out there in the Albuquerque area? Want to be in the new Avenger movie? Here's your chance.

Open Extras Casting Call: The Avengers
Posted: 03-07-2011 Url: no data available Info:

When: Friday, March 25: noon-4pm
And Saturday, March 26: 10am-3pm

Where Hotel Albuquerque
(Weavers Room)
800 Rio Grande Blvd. NW
Albuquerque

This is the official extras casting call for "The Avengers" feature film held by Marvel Studios Extras Casting Director Maryellen Aviano.

Scheduled to film Albuquerque area late April-late July.

We'd love to hire as many NM residents as possible so please come well groomed & dressed in your business executive best!

Pictures will be taken at no charge.

Over 18 only, will accept current non-returnable pics of kids that can obtain work permits if necessary.

Bring a pen & NO PHONE CALLS please!

That's it for now-- next week a little tour of Anna's world brought to you by two wonderful readers who went in search of the real Anna Strong and shared what they found!

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Published on March 23, 2011 16:18

March 20, 2011

Your pretty words aren't enough

Mario here:
There's a saying in baseball: When you hit the ball, don't forget the follow through.

When you get published, one of the big eye-openers is how much self-promotion you must do--the follow through. It's not enough that you've written a brilliant book: now you have to hawk the damn thing. Years ago, a website was cutting edge, especially if you had a newsletter. Then came blogging. You not only slapped together content for your own blogsite, but were expected to do a lot of guest blogging and virtual book tours on others' blogs. Soon afterwords we had social media. MySpace splashed big then sank, torpedoed by the much handier and more intuitive Facebook. Now we have Twitter-mania.

All this noodling online is piled on top of the time you must spend arranging signings, book club and library talks, radio and television appearances, coming up with pitches for conference programs. Basically, scrambling for any opportunity to stump your stuff (while writing your next book on the side).

We authors try some old-fashioned swag to help you remember us like...

refrigerator magnets,


buttons and pens,








bookmarks, business cards, and postcards.











While it's hard to calculate exactly how much good these bits of blatant self-promotion may actually do, it is gratifying to attend a far-flung conference and see your button hanging off a fan's badge lanyard. Yes!

What prompted today's blog was running into this parked outside the Illegal Grounds Coffee House in uptown Denver.


















An SUV done up as a rolling press release. Not only was the truck covered in snazzy advertising film but also carried a loud speaker for God knows what audio promotion?

So who was the author, Cathie Beck? I went inside the coffee shop and found her with a friend ordering coffee. Beck was a friendly blonde oozing charisma, her voice spiced with a darling New Orleans accent. She explained that she had gotten the film in trade for marketing work she had done for a graphics company. Though seemingly cheesy and garish, Beck told me it was a surprisingly effective promotional gimmick, having snagged her interviews and book club appearances. And the loud speaker? She plays music to imbibe by.

There's a saying in the publishing business. Never say never. There is always an exception. For example, our own Jeanne was told that a book published by a small press would never get picked up by a major NY house. And we know what happened.

Cathie Beck shared her exceptional story. Her manuscript had been rejected by 68 editors during two rounds through the NY publishers. Frustrated though not beaten, she decided to self-publish using Amazon's print-on-demand. We authors have heard the sermon many times: Self-publish and you might as well tie cement bricks to your career. Offering your book as print-on-demand is literary euthanasia. But Beck had faith in her book. She leveraged her skills as a marketing pro in a relentless marketing campaign that made Cheap Cabernet an Amazon Number One bestseller. Then came juicy vindication when ten of the editors who had previously rejected the book contacted her with offers. She sold the rights at auction to Hyperion.

Beck explained the publishing business using an appropriate Southern metaphor: if your dog goes off into the woods and dies, don't expect to get anymore book deals.


Considering the title of her book, Beck has cleverly branded herself as the Denver Wine Wench. And we at the Biting-Edge are all in favor of wine...and wenches!

But she's gone far beyond pushing her book or tempting the world with the pleasures of the fermented grape. Check out her events page. Clearly, Cathie Beck is a woman who knows the value of the follow through.[image error]
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Published on March 20, 2011 17:02

March 16, 2011

Happy St. Pat's




Image courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

If you're in the Denver area, look for Mario at a pub near you...

However, did you know that there was another March holiday that I suspect explains a lot about Mario?



March 20, coinciding with the first day of spring, is Extraterrestrial Abduction Day. Last year there was a festival in Toronto and websites like this one offer tips on how to avoid being abducted.

Too late for Mario. He always get a little wonky around this time of year. I thought it was spring allergies. Now I know the real reason.





On to some personal stuff. I just got the new cover for Crossroads. Here it is:



You who know my history with covers, know I pretty much hate them all at first sight. No reflection on the artist, who is great, it's just that I have such a definite image of Anna in my head. HOWEVER, this one is the exception. I really like it. How about you?



The second thing is that Whedonistas, the anthology dedicated to Joss Whedon by women writers who are fans (read:fanatics), is now available. The reviews have been good and sales are brisk. I am lucky enough to have a piece in it and I want to take this opportunity to thank my good friend, Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy. She recommended me to the editors who issued the invitation. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, click the above link and they'll fix you up. Tell them Jeanne sent you.



Also coming is Vampires: The Recent Undead. Release date of March 22 (moved back from an earlier date). I know I've mentioned it before but it has some terrific vampire writers in it. Just check out the list on the cover. I'm definitely the small fish in this pond.

And one last bit of BSP-- Here's the HEXED cover flat:



This one debuts June 11.

# # # #




On a serious note, what's going on in Japan is a disaster of proportions unfathomable to most of us. The League of Reluctant Adults want to help in some small way so here's what we're doing. We are holding an auction (actually two) on Ebay.

What are we selling?

Get a helpful critique from a group of authors from the League of Reluctant Adults! (Team Claw)

Highest bidder (100% of proceeds go to the Red Cross to help Japan) gets to submit a synopsis and first batch of pages (up to 6000 words between the two - you decide how that works) of any fiction project for "expert analysis" by Team Claw, a group of authors from the League of Reluctant Adults! (We're a group of published authors of urban fantasy, young adult, and paranormal romance; see our blog here

Team Claw members: Sonya Bateman, Michele Bardsley, Carolyn Crane, Kevin Hearne, Jackie Kessler, Diana Rowland, Jeanne Stein

What you get: We'll each commit to taking at least an hour to read your stuff and let you know what we think is working great, and what we think isn't working, and give ideas for improvement. Some members may concentrate more on the synopsis, some on the pages, but we'll all be giving our best constructive advice.

Be ready to get a spectrum of opinions, and possibly disagreement between league members, either noted on the document itself or on separate documents. It'll be like we're all sitting in a room, discussing your story and early pages. You will have six months to submit your document (Microsoft Word ideal), we'll have a month to look it over and comment. (note, this is for craft/story feedback only, and not in any way a guarantee of representation or publication). At the end, we'll email your word doc back, full of all of our comments, either on the document, or on separate documents.

100 % of the final sale price will go to the American Red Cross. Bidding closes on March 22. If you'd like to enter the auction, here's the
So if you've wondered what you could do to help, consider this. It might be of benefit to you, too.

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Published on March 16, 2011 16:18

March 13, 2011

Sometin' out of nuttin'

Mario here:

Where do you get your ideas? It's a question commonly put to what our society calls the creative types: artists, writers, and musicians. I'm always stumped by the desire to give an answer that's snarky or dumb. Where don't I get my ideas?

I think that question comes from people who are intimidated by the blank page or canvas. Everyone taps into their creative side. Lawyers always look for the legal angle. Civil bureaucrats for ways to screw us with taxes. For them, no blank canvas stares back as there is already a network of requirements and processes, and it's easy to quantify what works and what doesn't.

The difference for the creative types is that we are expected to come up with something both original and catchy. We're expected to tread over boundaries and act as if we make something from nothing.



For most of my writer and artist friends, the issue is not a dearth of ideas but a lack of time to work them all out. That damn Muse is such a task master. Always a bitch!

When God give you a talent, he also hands you a whip. Truman Capote




It's not that I consider myself especially talented, but I do work hard. As a writer and student of the crazy, stupid, and obscene, I turn to true crime stories for inspiration. Certainly I can come up with plenty of my own tales, however life always trumps art. The news gives me details and motives that flesh out a good story. A sadistic serial killer who gets trapped by the police when he feels he's not getting due credit for his gruesome deeds. A mild-mannered geek murders his wife because she gets on his case for doing cocaine, which he consumes to cope with her growing weight. An astronaut dons a diaper and treks nonstop from Texas to Florida to confront her sexual rival. How can you make this up?

Other times, I overhear a morsel of gossip, and my mind races to complete the story.


As for my art, I'm a representational artist, meaning I paint a person, it looks like a certain person, I paint a landscape, it looks like a landscape. But as in writing, it's all about interpretation. What are the details I focus on? What is my style? How do other artists combine subjects to produce something that is both representational and expressive as does Rene Farkass. How do I stretch my abilities without compromising my style or copying? How do I keep from going stale?




I can understand the frustration of musicians. They write a hit song and are told, make another one, only different and better. It's not easy tapping into the universe and understanding what the Muse is trying to tell us. What works for you?[image error]
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Published on March 13, 2011 13:43

Mario Acevedo's Blog

Mario Acevedo
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