Mario Acevedo's Blog, page 42

NaNoWriMo

Have to apologize to you, my friends. I'm doing the National Write a Novel in a Month thing and have not spent the time I usually do looking for interesting tidbits to share. Instead I've actually been (gasp) writing! Now the goal is to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I'll be happy if I write 20,000 (I just went over the 10,000 word mark.) I'm working on the seventh Anna book, untitled at present. That's odd in itself since I usually have a title picked before I start the book. I...

Writers mano a mano!

Mario here:

Ever wonder what happens when authors don't make nice at a signing? It can look like this:

Ain't pretty. And there's more. See Jaye Wells and Nicole Peters trade cheap shots in Shreveport, LA.


But not all signings turn into bloodlettings.  Jennie Shortridge's recent signing at the Tattered Cover LoDo was not only well attended but also violence free.  Jennie was here from Seattle to promote her newest book, When She Flew, an awesome novel about a Portland police officer torn...

Blog-o-rama

This week-- things that caught my eye in the paper.

Anniversaries:

Marines 234 Years

Sesame Street 40 years

Destruction of the Berlin Wall 20 years

Release of Mario's fav movie: Fight Club 10 years
(More on the last one later.)



First though, I want to say thank you to all our vets (including Mario, btw), past and present. No matter your politics, it's because of their sacrifices that we're able to argue, condemn, extol or pontificate to our heart's desire.

Next up—Publisher's Weekly chose ...

Lost and Found Weekend plus a contest

Mario here:
Thanks to Jeanne for covering for me last week. (She did a great job despite her whining about the extra work.)  I'd gone to L.A. to attend a tribute to director  Jesús Treviño by the DGA Latino Committee of the Directors Guild of America. Treviño has an extensive résumé of hit shows to include: Resurrection Blvd., NYPD Blue, ER, The Practice, Star Trek: Voyager, Babylon Five, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  He's also received numerous awards such as the DGA's Outstanding Directorial...

Pimp First, Play Later

Three of our writer pals have new books (or new to mmp) out this last week.

In no particular order:

Nicole Peeler's Tempest Rising



From Amazon: In the tiny village of Rockabill, Maine, Jane True—26-year-old bookstore clerk and secret night swimmer—has no idea that her absent mother's legacy is entry into a world populated by the origins of human myths and legends. It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: vampires are not quite what we think; dogs sometimes surprise us; and whatever...

Day of the Dead

Sounds appropriate for a Mario post. If any of you know where in Colorado this wonderfully ghoulish exhibit is displayed, let me know. The picture was taken by Denver Post state circulation manager Rick Charbonneau.

Mario is posting over at PenFatales. Juliet Blackwell is running an article he did for her called Bloody Badassery. You can link to it here

But to show you how much of a badass Mario really is, take a look at this pic from MileHiCon….


Just sayin'

Okay, Mario, I did what I promised. ...

F*&%ing Snow

Just came in from shoveling a foot of snow out of the driveway….they don't tell you about things like this when they're talking up how wonderful it is to live in Colorado… And since this is the second snow storm we've had this year, I decided to post some pictures for comparison.




























































































You can tell the "today" pics are taken from inside. Snow was too deep to venture out! Also note, the street has disappeared. No snow plows in our neighborhood!


Mario, bless his soul, is missing all the fun. He's gone ...

Costumes, a crazy man, and a timely dose of pharmaceuticals

Mario here:
Well, it's over.  Another MileHiCon has come and gone.  It was a lot of fun meeting old friends, making new ones, and hobnobbing with the fans. Of course, we can't forget the awesome costumes and attitude.









Among the highlights, the panel Must Action/Adventure = Dumb/Mindness with the bemused Betsy Dornbusch and the expressive (and Locus Award winning) Paolo Bacigalupi.  (He's from southwest Colorado where people normally act like this.) 



Paolo had much to celebrate.  He's next...

Detour Ahead..

We've got lots of ground to cover but first—there's something I'd like you to do—actually, two things. First, over at Bitten by Books they're running a poll—favorite paranormal author for 2009. Believe it or not, I've been nominated. Here's where I need your help. Click through on this link and vote. You have two votes, hopefully one will be for me. This is the last round and the deadline is Sunday. Here are the winners of the first three rounds:

Week 1: Kim Harrison and Charlaine Harris
Week 2...

The Prez, the Shamus, Marines, and a funny pet costume

Mario here:
Lots of great news to share. 
First of all, Tony Garcia, the Artistic Director for El Centro Su Teatro, was a special guest at the White House for "In Performance at the White House" a concert of Latino superstars hosted by the President and the First Lady.  Other guests included Sheila E, Marc Anthony, Gloria Estefan, George Lopez, and Los Lobos.  Here's Tony with Millie Duran in the Red Room of the White House.





Next up.  Lori Armstrong won a Shamus for her mystery thriller, Snow...