The Muse and music Mario here:

How many of you demand absolute peace and quiet to write? Not me. I need sounds to distract the chattering in my head and let my brain concentrate on dredging words out of the mental sludge. Apparently so did Ernest Hemingway (good company, no?) as he couldn't work surrounded by quiet. He needed white noise to filter his thoughts and release the literary ones on the page. In his Key West home, Hemingway set up his writing desk where he could hear his servants and outside traffic go about the chores of the day.

Everybody has different tastes. A writing friend cranks up the heavy metal. Others like familiar golden-oldies. Me? After a foray into electronic and ambient (a.k.a. wallpaper music), I've gravitated to jazz. All the stations at the top of my list come from public radio, such as Jazz24-KPLU from Oylmpia, WA. Besides a deep playlist, I appreciate the self-deprecating jabs at their genre. (You want me to play a tune? I thought this was jazz. And...wherever jazz is, I is.)

Closer to home, in fact, two blocks away is the local station, KUVO, with some of the coolest voices to DJ their turntables--Erik Troe, Rodney Franks, Doug Crane, plus the syndicated programs Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland, and late night, Jazz with Bob Parlocha.

Then up Interstate 25, there is KUNC, in Greeley-which hooks me with their laid-back vibe, what I remember FM radio was back in the day. A show I discovered through them is Jazz After Hours, hosted by Jim Wilke. The cat oozes mellowness and cool. I enjoy when he announces shows at various venues about the country. The Blue Note. Bohemian Caverns. Snug Harbor. Dazzle. Yoshi's. Makes me feel so cosmopolitan just listening.

I also have Pandora bookmarked. I'm sure you all have built your own stations using their music genome.

Interestingly, at home, the spoken word like talk radio or the news distracts me. But at a coffee shop or diner, I find the random chatter and assorted noises--the gush of the espresso machine, the rattle of china--rather soothing. For that reason I don't write in a library. All that damn silence is so damn loud! If I can fade in and out, like when painting or doing paperwork, I do listen to spoken word. My favorites include iWine radio, hosted by the Wine Fairy, Lynn Kreilow Chamberlain, who interviews vintners, oenophiles, restaurateurs, epicures, and in general, wealthy lushes, for the lowdown on the fermented grape industry. Rich professional drunks--what I aspire to.

If I need a laugh, then there is the NPR program, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, infamous for their snark and wonky satire of the week's news.



Speaking of things to listen to, try those cool Canadian cats behind the Paul The Book Guy website. Listen to your favorite authors or find new ones on Paul Alves' iTunes podcasts.




And then, the call for help goes out and who comes charging to the rescue? Who else but the League of Reluctant Adults? Fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss asked for donations in support of World Builders and we answered the call. His favorite charity with them is Heifer International, which promotes education, sustainable agriculture, and local industry. They give away sheep and goats. Ba...a...a!

Labels: drunks, Ernest Hemingway, Patrick Rothfuss, wine

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 3:06 PM  10 comments

  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,










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.

Labels: Cathie Beck, self-promotion, wench, wine

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 5:02 PM  7 comments

  Mile Hi Con behind us, up ahead...Halloween with wine!
Mario here,observation and replied with an enthusiastic affirmative.  

Labels: AV Club, Giancola, Halloween, The Onion, wine

  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 4:50 PM  6 comments