That Woody Mario here:

Got my revision letter for book four. It's madness here at rewrite city.

Old Man Winter may be in retreat but doesn't mean that Mother Nature won't have her way with us. My sister sent this picture of the aftermath of an Austin, TX, storm. Her poor Prius. All the car wanted to do was reduce its carbon footprint and look what happened.


Here in Denver, my time at the keyboard was interrupted by a loud drumming in the ductwork. It would start in the morning and occur at odd times during the day. Figured out it was a crazy woodpecker banging on a pipe sticking out from the roof. My son and I chased it away with a volley of high-tech rocks.

Meanwhile, my books keep popping up all over. (Thanks, everybody) Tez Miller, a most beloved Australian book lover, posted this pic of my books in the Melbourne Central Borders.


I've got my meager fortune hanging on making this writing-novels-for-a-living gig work. But as a fallback, I had this incredible job offer come to me:

Brify Design Compnay©: Introduces the position of offshore financial
manager, you being our offshore manager your Responsible is to
processing payments from customers and clients, you did not did not need to
travel to meet our client or   Customer all payment will be delivered to
you at home.

The requirements for the candidates are:

-Being energetic, responsible, honest and industrious
-Being under 18-90 years old
-Having a few (1-2 hrs a day) to check your email
-Having a phone, (home and mobile)
-Having an email

And I get to keep 10% of the money that is processed through my bank account. What a windfall. I like that the company isn't at all uptight about punctuation or spelling.  ¶ posted by Mario @ 8:00 PM  5 comments links to this post

  Last week I sent the fifth book in the Anna Strong chronicles off to the publisher.
I’m now experiencing what I call postpartum depression. It happens every time I finish a book. So I have a ritual—clean house, organize my desk, catch up expense reports, get back to the gym, etc etc.

Only this time nothing is working. I’m still depressed. I pretend that I’m not. I’m sure no one I met last night at Janet Lane’s signing for her new Five Star release, Emerald Silk, had a clue. I’m very good at hiding my feelings. Have been since I was a kid.

Now I know next to earthquakes in China and cyclones in Myanmar, my angst is a pimple on a gnat’s ass. I shouldn’t even be mentioning it. But hey, we’re friends, here, aren’t we?

So, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s get on with some fun stuff.





Besides the aforementioned Emerald Silk, Jeri Smith-Ready’s Wicked Game was released this week. Check it out, too.

The newest author authorized (no pun intended) by the estate of Ian Fleming to continue the James Bond saga is Sebastian Faulks. His novel, Devil May Care, will be released the end of this month to mark the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth.

Buffy in Skin Games: Follow the link to choose your favorite of 21 Examples of Gratuitous Sex in TV—of course, any love scene between Buffy and Spike is listed… but what’s gratuitous about sex between Buffy and Spike? In fact, the hope that there would be MORE sex scenes between Buffy and Spike kept me coming (no pun intended) back.

One last note—Mario and I have both been nominated for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' Writer of the Year. Here’s your assignment—come up with ways for me to make Mario NOT appear to be the good guy he really is so people will vote for me… The best suggestion wins a devil duck… Beat you to it, Mario… heh-heh-heh

Wow-- being evil makes me feel better.  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 6:55 AM  6 comments links to this post

  In Memoriam Mario writes:


You may not recognize his name or face but you know his artwork.

John Berkey, one of America's greatest illustrators, passed away on April 29, 2008. He was born in 1932. An extraordinary and popular artist, Berkey was named to the Society of Illustrators Hall of Fame which includes titans of American art such as Norman Rockwell, N.C. Wyeth, Frederick Remington, and John James Audubon. I bought many sci-fi paperbacks simply because I loved Berkey's magnificent cover art. Even though he was known for his spaceships, his poster for the Dino De Laurentiis King Kong remake (1976) may be Berkey's most famous artwork.

But Berkey was most regarded for his haunting and amazing impressionistic paintings of spaceships such as these:








Berkey lived a full and accomplished life but it's sad that he's passed on. There will be no more fantastic John Berkey spaceships to amaze us.

On a personal and more cheery note, the audio rights were sold for my first three books.

Don't forget the signing that Jeanne and I will be doing this Thursday, May 15, noon to 2PM at the Barnes & Noble at 555 East Arapahoe Road, Greenwood Village, CO, 80112.  ¶ posted by Mario @ 7:36 PM  0 comments links to this post

 

One of the best things about Romantic Times (besides having Adrian Paul’s arm around me) was meeting librarians and booksellers. Some of the booksellers were: Kathy Ross of Half Price Books in Springfield, MO, Blanche Nixon of Daniels Read-A-Lot Books in Asheboro, NC, Darlene Krogol and Lori Zyren of Another Look Books in Taylor, MI, and Sara Loftus of the Bookworm’s Attic in Huntington, WV. Sara is running a contest and one of the prizes is a book bag she had signed by a ton of attending RT authors. Hop on over to her website and enter today!!! Support your local indies—

Don’t have much to say today. It’s raining this morning, even had some lightening and thunder—odd for CO—thunderstorms usually roll in in the afternoon. It’s a good thing, though, because I’m working on edits and nothing like a stormy day to make you want to hunker down and write.

Last night we welcomed a new member to the critique group. Mario brought him in—Warren Hammond author of a futuristic techno/thriller sci/fi series. Check him out.

Next Thursday Mario and I are taking our dog and pony show on the road—signing together at Barnes & Noble at 555 East Arapahoe Road, Greenwood Village, CO, 80112. It’s an impromptu thing, we’ll be there on Thursday, May 15 from about noon to 2. Stop by if you’re in the area.

If you’re interested, follow this link to a fangs/fur/fey preview of snippets from works in progress. Lot’s of names you’ll recognize there--  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 6:59 AM  2 comments links to this post

  A week of words and laughs Mario here:

NEWS FLASH! Check out my thoughts about the future on the Eos HarperCollins blog.

This week I've been settling back into my routine, which meant lots of writing, writing, and writing. And reading.



Finished Elaine Viets hysterical mystery, Shop till You Drop. Helen Hawthrone takes a dead-end job in an upscale boutique where she endures one indignity after another until murder and mayhem come to the store. Viets slices and dices our materialistic society with satiric observations:

On the screen was a photo of a luscious-lipped blonde in a tight black dress with a zipper up the front. In the next shot, Desiree was in a loose-fitting black body bag with a zipper up the front. Desiree's enormous breasts created a mountain in the body bag.

I'm working on Night Life by Caitlin Kittredge. She is May's featured author in the Barnes & Noble Paranormal and Urban Fantasy Bookclub. Drop in and say hello.


Jackie Kessler (left) chats it up with Caitlin on Richelle Mead's comfy red sofa.


Last Saturday I attended Lighthouse Writers Workshop's Inside the Writer's Studio, with novelist (and 5280 editor) Eli Gottlieb interviewing poet Mark Strand (take a deep breath--former Poet Laureate of the United States and Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets, plus three National Endowment of the Arts grants, fellowships from the MacAuthur Foundation and the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and much, much more). Here's Strand waxing poetically when he's actually about to knock back that martini. (Photo lifted from flickr)



After an afternoon of such high culture, that night I took the low road with a show by the Queen of Raunch, Margaret Cho. Nothing, nothing, was taboo or so funny.

  ¶ posted by Mario @ 6:20 PM  0 comments links to this post

  Am writing this with a brain that feels like it’s wrapped in cotton. Been battling what I thought was hay fever since I got back from RT only to find that it turned into a full blown cold. Egads—the second bout of this crap I’ve had in the last two months and always after a plane trip. I never used to get caught by these damn bugs.

Anyway, here are some photos from RT-- First two view out of my hotel window (just in case anybody was curious about what Pittsburgh looked like)












Not very good pic of a former Mr. Romance who landed at our table during the charity dinner. He was handsome, personable and very, very nice. The pic was taken by table buddy Marcia Collette.



Look close—that’s Fabio in the center. He really is nicer looking in person and has a quiet rather than flamboyant personality.



This is well known author Angela Knight and two of the cover models.



And ta-da here’s Angela and me and Adrian Paul. My deer in headlight expression says it all.








For a fantabulous RT round-up click on over to Jackie Kessler’s blog. And then onto Urban Fantasyland for the COMPLETE lowdown and more pics than you can shake a cover model at, including Mark Henry’s glamour shots.

Now on to some book news:

New York state has decided it needs money so badly it’s passed a law to collect sales tax on Internet sales. It’s expected to be challenged (duh).

And it looks like Cassie Edwards and publisher Signet have parted ways over those plagiarism claims. Signet says all rights have reverted to the author.

For fans of the Whedonverse (in honor of Dollhouse in production NOW--can we all say YEA!!!)

An interview with Anthony Stewart Head— (nothing to do with Dollhouse, but appropriate)

Joss Whedon’s ten shinest moments composed by Ben Lankester at Den of Geek (a site I love). Want to add your own?

Some then and now Buffy shots (again, not much to do with Dollhouse, just thought it was cool). Part Deux here.

And some Buffy action figures that are a bit strange. For instance:



Who knew Willow had boobs?

Last but not least, lots of new books out that you UF buffs might be interested in. Here's a link to check out the latest from the Fangs/Fur/Fey crowd.

Also, a new one from C.E. Murphy for your consideration.


So what’s happening in your world? I feel like I've been out of touch for a long time.  ¶ posted by Jeanne Stein @ 4:27 AM  2 comments links to this post

  Circling back home Mario here:

I'm finally home from my book promotion swing: Tucson->Phoenix->L.A. I expected to post a lot of pictures but my camera started to have fits. (Didn't help that my water bottle leaked all over the camera.)

The tour started in beautiful Tucson. Here are my gracious hosts at Clues Unlimited, Chris and Marcelino. Sophie, their cute pot-bellied pig, was a no-show as she had to call it an early night. (Either that or she wouldn't stoop to having her picture taken with me.)

If you go to Tucson, check out at the 4th Avenue business district. It's full of funky shops and eateries such as this:

Translated literally from Spanish, the awning reads: Martins Fucking Good Food. Another local store is Hippie Gypsy, a throw-back poster head shop. While I was there (purely for research), I overheard a trio of Junior Leaguers (tourists, judging by their deep Southern accents) comment to the clerk that they couldn't buy glass pipes back home in Georgia.

Tuesday I spoke at the Mesquite Public Library in Phoenix. Here's Patrick King (with halo) who set up the signing.
That evening I spoke at Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale.

Wednesday I drove to L.A. (I stopped for gas in Blythe, where for the first time ever, I paid over $4/gal.) That afternoon, I met with Christina of Media Boulevard where we shared coffee at a Koreatown Starbucks.


Thursday I put on my tweeds and "lectured" at Cal State L.A. about how to write the genre novel.

Friday I appeared with Harry Shannon at the gruesome and entertaining Dark Delicacies in Burbank.

Saturday was the big day. I signed with Mysterious Galaxy at the L.A. Times Festival of Books. Met a huge number of fans and fellow writers. It was HOT! I almost melted.

I arrived late last night. Right now I'm surrounded by laundry, receipts, and lots of books. And that's stuff from my last two trips. Wait until I empty the luggage.  ¶ posted by Mario @ 9:24 AM  0 comments links to this post