The Dog Days

Mario here:

It's July, the middle of summer, and it's been hot.  Denver hot, anyway.  No humidity like Atlanta or nuclear heat like Phoenix.  But hot enough.  Meanwhile, Jeanne is off in San Diego cutting loose at Comic Con.

For those who haven't heard, the Denver Book Mall is closing down.  Ron and Nina Else, proprietors of Who Else! Books and big time supporters of local authors, are moving their wares down the street to the start up Broadway Book Mall.  


Today, I attended their inaugural book signing, featuring James Van Pelt (left) and Alastair Mayer who have stories in the anthology, Footsteps.  The premise: long after humans have disappeared, aliens are fascinated by what we left behind on the moon (the only remaining evidence of our civilization).

At the signing, I met our favorite werewolf author,

Carrie Vaughn, who has a YA dragon book out in 2010.

Here's the awesome cover.

Read Carrie discuss the book on her blog.

We're not in August yet but that shouldn't keep you from enjoying a great summer read, August Moon, by Jess Lourey.  (Check out her book trailer) 

If you can't get to Minnesota, reading this book is the next best thing.  

You can almost taste the Nut Goodie bars (and feel the mosquitoes).  Lourey's an expert in delivering the quirky humor and oddball mayhem.

My mystery writer pals and realtime PIs, Colleen and Shaun, keep a blog Gams, Gumshoes, and Guns, and this week you can read about hacking some one's cell phone. 

USA Today has a couple of Biting-Edge relevant articles about the book biz.  Two genres that get put down by the snobs are romance and anything remotely associated with Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.  Yet, while other book categories are taking a beating in sales, romance and Meyer are growing (meaning the snobs aren't buying that many books).  Since I know many romance writers, I found this article a bit patronizing, as it implies that romance wasn't a serious genre until academic writers delved into it.  Conversely, read how Harlequin is launching a YA supernatural series aimed at the Meyer crowd.  Any thoughts you Twilight readers?

Remember the contest: What was I thinking?  We have room for more entries.

Head over to the ultra-cool blog, Pop Syndicate.  I posted my take if the Honorable Sonia Sotomayor was not only the first Latina but also the first witch to be nominated to the US Supreme Court.

Stay cool.