No turkeys for us
Mario here:


 What I'm reading: After The Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn.










Trust that everyone had a great Thanksgiving, from the T-day dinner through the weekend festivities. I had family from out of town. We dragged our turkey-stuffed behinds to the Pompeii exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. An awesome and thoughtful hour-by-hour telling of the volcanic destruction of a thriving Roman city. The Apocalypse is a popular subject in modern literature, and after viewing this exhibit, end-of-the-world stories don't come close to capturing the pathos and horror of reality. No zombies in this cataclysm but plenty of plaster casts of the dead caught in the final throes of life. Many died comforting one another. Truly poignant and disturbing.

Afterwards, we watched Argo--the best movie I've seen all year. Exciting, spine-tingling suspense, terrific dialog, some good humor, and plenty of great story-telling. The movie does an excellent job explaining the background to the Iranian revolution that led to the American hostage crisis. Plenty of theatrical touches that put you back in 1979-1980. The hair (porn staches), the clothes (the men wore plaid blazers--not a black suit or power tie in sight), the clunky electronics, teletypes (with that super-cool rapid-fire printing that told you something dramatic is about to happen!). There wasn't a weak character in the cast though John Goodman and Alan Arkin practically stole the show. Ben Affleck played an appropriately cool and understated hero, the real-life Tony Mendez. Bryan Cranston chewed the carpet (this guy is everywhere).

Labels: Argo, Carrie Vaughn, Pompeii

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:53 PM  4 comments

  Two Lessons Mario here:

I'm just back from Bubonicon 44, another winning con. It's my favorite of the smaller cons as you get to rub shoulders with some of the biggies in today's sci-fi/fantasy literary fields like George RR Martin.

Every con has a certain vibe to it and if I had to choose one for this con, it had to be humility.

Lesson One: Delivered by none other than the ever-witty Connie Willis. She knocked 'em dead as moderator at our presentation, "Worst Panel Ever" which included staged examples of bad panelist behavior. I did my best to be the snarkiest panelist, which was difficult to do, considering Willis' rapid-fire bon mots.

Lesson Two: Warren Hammond and I sat next to each other in the Author Signing room and we renamed our tables Humility Row because we sat beside the long line formed for George RR Martin and the Guest of Honor Author, Brandon Sanderson. It can be dispiriting to see fans carrying milk crates stacked with books for Martin or Sanderson while the rest of us sell onesies and twosies.

Brandon Sanderson took over the Wheel of Times series from the late Robert Jordan and has continued to keep up the momentum for the series' success. He was a great GOH and extraordinarily generous with what he's learned as a professional writer.







Besides the above lessons, I didn't leave the con empty-handed. Some back story needed here. I constantly run into wanna-be writers who talk about their work and most of the time I nod agreeably and walk on. Two years ago I heard how the locals spoke highly of Ian Tregillis so I attended his reading of a work-in-progress and was blown away. I said to myself, "Damn, this Ian can write." So this time around I bought copy of his book, The Coldest War. Check out his ultra-cool website: Ian Tregillis.

Another book I've been waiting to get my mitts on is After The Golden Age by Carrie Vaughn. She has a wonderful way of twisting conventions and creating immensely satisfying characters. This is her take on super heroes and their families. Ever wonder what it must be like to be Lois Lane and suffer the attentions of evil super-geniuses? This book should provide an insight.

Labels: Brandon Sanderson, Bubonicon 44, Carrie Vaughn, Connie Willis, George RR Martin, Ian Tregillis

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 8:11 PM  3 comments

  The future, the past, and some naked flesh Mario here:





Spent the weekend at Starfest 2011.
Besides the usual costume zaniness and excuse to watch a lotta skin...






I put in time with my new pals at Comicfest...




and at Horrorfest presented alongside werewolf/YA/dragon author Carrie Vaughn...




and "I Love Horror" Stephen Graham Jones.









This year I noticed a dearth of pirate and Klingon costumes and an explosion of Steampunk. Three years ago at another con, several authors groaned about this thing called Steampunk and couldn't wait for it to die.
No one was sure what to make of Steampunk other than it gave costumers a chance to wear goggles and tiny hats and sew brass gears to their clothes. Here we are in 2011 and Steampunk keeps getting more omnipresent with ever more fanciful gadgets:



As an opportunity for a fantasy S&M twist:














And yet another occasion for a femme fatale, in this case Aimee Matheny of the Colorado Chrononauts, to lure the too-willing man to the shoals of self destruction. *guilty*


Catch Aimee in this 9News clip.


Steampunk has evolved into two sects, as it were: the English Victorian and the American Western, each embellished with tropes of the genre: corsets, electro-guns, robots, absinthe, and of course, airships:






While everyone seems to be in agreement about the aesthetics of Steampunk, the literature not so much. Most of the Steampunkers I talked with expressed disappointment in the state of steampunk prose--lots of gimmicks and bling but not enough substance. A few names topped our discussions as the exceptional writers in the genre: Cherie Priest, Scott Westergard, and China Mieville.

Labels: Carrie Vaughn, Starfest, Steampunk, Stephen Graham Jones

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 3:39 PM  6 comments