May 2015 Archives

Highlights of the God Awful Loser Book Launch

May 10, 2015/0 Comments/in In The News, Presenting the Prose /by Silvia

Had a wonderful book launch for my young adult fantasy, God Awful Loser, held Friday night at the incomparable Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee. Thank you so much to all of my friends and family — and complete strangers (but soon to be friends) — who came out to hear me babble about my book. The reading was fun, as was the mingling afterward. I’m really blessed to have people support me.

I spy God Awful Loser on Boswell shelves

Doesn’t God Awful Loser look great there?

My husband, Jeff, and me behind the sumptuous treats

Petit fours to mimic ambrosia, the food of the gods

Reading a passage

With former colleague Erica and her daughter

Esther, bright and fascinating

With Rebecca and family

With Lynn, Wisconsin’s celebrity stylist!

Eileen, my mom Iris, me, and mother-in-law Regina

Eileen, my mom Iris, me, and my mother-in-law Regina

With my mom, Iris

With talented picture book author Janet Halfmann

Mingling with the faaaabulous people

Kathleen & Dano

The awesome athletes in my life

THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING!!! 🙂

Battering the Gods on The Blend

May 7, 2015/0 Comments/in A Writer Writes, Media / TV / Radio /by Silvia

We are just a day ahead of my book launch, and in advance of it I chatted it up on Milwaukee’s favorite talk show, The Morning Blend. Hosts Molly Fay, Tiffany Ogle, and I talked about the light-hearted fun mythology can offer readers, my transition from writing news to now writing fiction, and of course how the gods misbehave.

You can view the video here in case you missed the show and the live stream. And please come on down to my launch party! It’s tomorrow, Friday, May 8th, at 7 p.m. at Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee. Love to see you there!

The event info is also on Facebook where you can RSVP:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1636692243217301/

Wisconsin is a Wealth of Talent

May 2, 2015/0 Comments/in A Writer Writes, In The News /by Silvia

Wisconsin really should be one of the states you think of when asked to name a place with a deep pool of talent. The high number of acclaimed children’s book authors is truly impressive, and we should be proud.

Melanie Cecka Nolan

Lucky me, I got to spend an afternoon with some of those incredible talents at the spring luncheon of our state’s Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. We met for a delicious luncheon and interesting talk by Melanie Cecka Nolan, Associate Publishing Director at Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers. She covered some of the many changes in the book publishing industry in the past 13 years, including the digital revolution, which has changed the way some people read — and for others has taken away some reading time.

When I think of the digital revolution, though, the first thing that comes to my mind is the way reading has opened up. There are so many more titles in so many more genres. It’s a readers’ (and writers’) paradise, and digital formats reach new audiences which, for a host of reasons, find eBooks preferable to paper.

Yesterday was the official release date of my young adult novel God Awful Loser. It, of course, is available in paper (hardcover), yet I’m immensely pleased that its eBook format can now reach the world. We mustn’t take for granted that it wasn’t always so.

Now I look forward to my launch party this Friday, May 8th, 7 p.m., at Boswell Books. I hope you’ll come and join me on this fun ride. The wonderful ladies in this photo sure are supportive, and SCBWI is sure one great group.

Authors Diane Swanson, Julie Mata, Silvia Acevedo, Valerie Biel, and Wendy Alm Lombard.