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THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA is Amazon's #1 New Release in Children's Short Story Collections

THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA — Chills on the Yellow Couch

July 10, 2024/in A Writer Writes, In The News, Media / TV / Radio, Personal, Presenting the Prose, Uncategorized /by Silvia

Release day for THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA was absolutely wonderful. I’m truly grateful for a sublime day.

The book-birthday celebrations started by chatting about the book with the lovely ladies of The Morning Blend TV talk show on WTMJ, Milwaukee’s NBC affiliate. Hosts Molly Fay and Tiffany Ogle expertly talk through any topic. Here’s how we looked on the yellow couch:

And here’s how the segment turned out! Click below and enjoy.

Next I went to my local, independent bookstore, Boswell Book Company, to sign their book stock. Then–and I have to pinch myself here–by midday, Amazon had splashed a pretty little orange banner on the book’s page! Writers know a banner means the book achieved some sort of bestseller ranking, and yes, it had! THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA rocketed up the rankings to become (drumroll, please) the #1 New Release in Children’s Short Story Collections! Whoo HOO!

The love and support of friends across social media and in my inbox were absolutely heartwarming as well. Thank you to all of you who’ve cheered me on and supported me and the other 51 authors of this spooky anthology. Its publication was a journey, and we appreciate your high-fives.

If you’re wondering what all the excitement is about, please click on THIS LINK to check out the book and consider picking up a copy for a little chill-inducing fun. Thanks!

Promotional image of the cover of the book THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA, a collaboration between SCBWI and Macmillan, with 52 authors, including Silvia Acevedo.

Spooky Season arrives tomorrow!

July 8, 2024/in A Writer Writes, In The News, News, Presenting the Prose, Uncategorized /by Silvia

Wow wow woweee wow!

THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA releases tomorrow, July 9, 2024! That means Spooky Season officially starts tomorrow and you can pick up this title for all the shiver-loving readers in your life! Whoo HOOO!

I love Spooky Season. Halloween. Terror Time. Whatever you like to call it, when autumn’s cold creeps in, when the world is a little grayer and grimmer, when people’s thoughts turn to the dead–and dread–of October. Bwaaahahaa.

I am sooo excited about the release of THE HAUNTED STATES OF AMERICA. It’s the culmination of the long-held dream for 52 authors from around the U.S. and D.C. and Puerto Rico. I’m proud to represent Wisconsin and my hometown’s beautiful but supposedly haunted Seven Bridges. This collection of spooky stories from around the country is already getting great reviews, like this one from Kirkus. I know it will be a favorite for readers like me, who, as a child, would have absolutely EATEN THIS UP.

The promo copy tells you to “strap in for this spooky cross country tour.” I really hope geography teachers will offer this book to readers who like a little spine-tingling (but not too scary) thrill. And it’s great for emergent or reluctant readers, as each bite-size story spans only four to six pages.

So, my lovely reader, PLEASE ORDER THE BOOK HERE, right away, even if you think you or your young person won’t get to it just yet. First-week sales greatly affect a book’s trajectory. If you want to support your local library, please ask them to carry it! Many libraries have a link where you can request titles.

A million thanks go to the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and Godwin Books/Macmillan for spearheading this project. And just as many thanks to go you, dear reader, as you dig in to these shadowy tales. I hope they bring a trickle of fear for the dark, stormy nights ahead…

What I’ve read and what I’m reading

June 17, 2024/in A Writer Writes, Personal /by Silvia

A few blog posts back, I told y’all I was joining a book club put on by my local independent bookstore, Boswell Book Company. They run a handful of clubs, each focusing on a different genre. Tonight was their last one for my group, which focused on general book club fiction and held at a local pub/restaurant, as the bookseller who led it is moving away. A few of the participants are carrying on.

So how my experience? I really enjoyed it, actually. It encouraged me to read books I might not have otherwise and see how others view and rate books, the organizer typically asking people around the table to informally rate the book 1-5 stars. I’ve discovered a rate books higher than most, as I tend to rate it on whether it delivered on its promise, whereas most others tended to rate it on whether they enjoyed it.

What have I read lately?

THE GOLEM OF BROOKLYN by Adam Mansbach, which I enjoyed. It was funny, very New York, and brought up some serious questions about anti-Semitism and white supremacy.

THE HACIENDA by Isabel Cañas, which wasn’t as scary as I’d hoped, but I loved the setting of post-colonial Mexico. Her ability to “put us there” was top notch.

ASSISTANT TO THE VILLAIN by Hannah Nicole Maehrer, which was hysterical. I’m looking forward to its sequel, APPRENTICE TO THE VILLAIN.

The above three were part of the book club. Here are some personal reads:

THE RUNNER by Kristin Oakley, which I beta-read and is part of THE DEVIL PARTICLE series. Fascinating concept to this series, and well executed.

DEAR COMMITTEE MEMBERS by Julie Schumacher, book 1 of the trilogy of the same name, and which I’d read before. This book won a bunch of awards for humorous writing, and they were all well deserved. I’m looking forward to meeting Ms. Schumacher at the upcoming Washington Island Literary Festival in September.

I’m currently reading STILL TRUE by Maggie Ginsberg, who’ll also be speaking at that festival and is a force within Wisconsin authorship. Her writing is lyrical and rich.

In between all those books, I’ve also been writing, submitting my work, and enjoying the start of summer.

Hope you’re enjoying it too! 🙂

The beauty of the wooden clog

June 16, 2024/in Images, Personal, Uncategorized /by Silvia

I spotted this gorgeous carved wood clog at Café Benelux in Milwaukee’s artsy Third Ward. It’s a nice restaurant and where my husband and I hosted the Faculty Dinner during our illustration workshop. <–If you don’t know about Fantasy Art Workshop’s Illustration Intensive, please do click on the link to learn more about it–or search my website for past posts about it. It’s our big event, our heartfelt endeavor, that we’re thrilled to present every year.–>

Back to the clog, isn’t it a beaut?

I think when I was younger, I may not have appreciated it as much as I do now. I had a couple of pairs of (regular, not wooden) clogs in my youth and wore them to the point of disintegration, haha. But, in my youth, I might have thought too literally about the utility and comfort of wooden clogs to see any artistry to them. I could be remembering myself wrong, as adults are sometimes apt to do years removed from childhood, but I suspect not.

But now I see its beauty. Now I appreciate it. Now I marvel at it. Today, as I’ve just finished seeing scores of artists work on incredible pieces for a whole week, I’m pleased to see beautiful, artistic things displayed just for the sake of it. Truthfully, I don’t know if this piece was mass produced–but even if it was, it’s still nice to see pretty things around us. We need that.

There’s no grande message behind this post other than LOOK. Look at this gorgeous thing. It’s truly lovely.

Sometimes you just gotta reward yourself

May 24, 2024/in Personal, Presenting the Prose, Uncategorized /by Silvia

I had to share these pictures of high tea–because it was fancy and extravagant and COMPLETELY DESERVED for the two of us, thanks to being put through the wringer the few months previous.

My friend, critique partner, and cheerleader Valerie Biel and I enjoyed afternoon tea at Milwaukee’s famed Pfister Hotel after months of polishing and querying our current manuscripts. It’s a lot of work to get a query package ready and send it out into the world for publication. Plus, the whole endeavor requires fortitude and confidence in the face of the uphill climb. I started the effort a few moths before her, but we’ve been on the journey together since then– and that’s really the best way to do it, IMHO, with a friend, as we helped ready each others’ submissions and kept our spirits high. All this to say, we deserved the pampering.

The tea and dainties were excellent. The whole experience is highly recommended. 🙂

The historic tea kettles at the Pfister

These dainties were DELICIOUS and actually very filling. We started at 2pm and didn’t need to eat again until late evening!

Savories at the bottom, sweets up top.

Soooo good.

Can you believe this detail? Fabulous.

The yummiest of yummies.

Me

Val

An odd find

April 6, 2024/in A Writer Writes, Images /by Silvia

Sometimes people ask me, as a writer, if I discover weird things while researching for a book.

Um, YES. Yes, oh yes. So much yes.

Writers often joke that if “the authorities” were to look at our browser history, they’d put us on a watch list. But really, how can a murder-mystery writer not read up on the many ways to murder a spouse? How can a writer of speculative fiction, like me, not look up otherworldly stuff? How dare you think we’re just a bit off?! (*inserts nervous laughter here*)

Okay, so what did I find? My current work-in-progress required I find an animal that growls, and of course I didn’t want to go with the obvious, like a dog. So a Google search finds this: a fish that growls. Say what? Yes. It’s called a red gurnard, as no doubt some of you will know, but I don’t fish, okay?!, so how would I know this? Gentlefolk, I present the big-headed fish that growls. It’s red and large and kinda turns my stomach, but it works for my story, so huzzah!

Talking to college students about artists’ collaboration

March 16, 2024/in Presenting the Prose, Uncategorized /by Silvia

Taking to students is such an amazing honor, and it’s especially awesome to do it in the classroom of a friend. I met Professor Kristin Gjerdset (bottom left in first photo) when she signed up for my speedskating class. When I learned she taught art at Wisconsin Lutheran College, a gem of a school, I told her about my illustrator husband, Jeff. She soon asked him to speak her students. He had the best time.

This year, Kristin invited both of us to speak to her class, specifically about creative collaborations. Jeff and I have collaborated on so much, even more than I realized before preparing for this talk. We support each another in our respective fields in a ton of ways, like brainstorming projects, reference modeling, critiquing, story ideation, copyediting each others’ writing, publishing together, and, our biggest collaboration by far, creating Fantasy Art Workshop, our week-long illustration retreat.

The students seemed to enjoy seeing how much our creative endeavors have intertwined, and we loved their enthusiasm and their superb conversation. These are special kids with clear talent. We were lucky to get to meet them. 🙂

Image shows book cover -- a cat from the shoulders up, it wearing a business suit, against a black background, the book title in yellow typeface.

What I’m Reading – The Cat Who Saved Books and Starter Villain

February 1, 2024/in Personal, Uncategorized /by Silvia

Here are a couple of recent reads with cats on the cover. Just coincidentally.

THE CAT WHO SAVED BOOKS by Sosuke Natsukawa, translated by Louise Heal Kawai. This was an interesting story about a young boy who inherits his grandfather’s bookstore and the magical cat who takes him on otherworldly adventures to save books in other realms. Each adventure speaks to how certain characters value or devalue books, how they judge their worth, and inward reflection on one’s self. This book was marketed to young adults in Japan, yet marketed to adults in the U.S. It’s a short, light read well tailored to lovers of cats and books.

STARTER VILLAIN by John Scalzi. Inheriting his uncle’s supervillain business was more complicated than our protagonist expected, particularly after discovering who’s running the place. There are longtime, traitorous flunkies, sentient cats, foul-mouthed dolphins, a mountainous evil lair, and a cohort of rival supervillains out to snatch thrones, er, inheritances. Our poor every-man is in over his head. I woke my husband laughing so hard at one point. Very highly recommended.

(The above links are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning I make a few pennies off the sale of each book, at no cost to you.)

Image shows the cover of the book "KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE." Cream-colored background, the title words in red, a red hand holding a black knife.

What I’m Reading – Killers of a Certain Age, Grave Reservations, Flight Risk, and more

January 2, 2024/in Personal, Uncategorized /by Silvia

I’m reading of assassins and murders. Fiction, of course.

As a caveat, I generally don’t read true crime stories because, as a former journalist, I saw too much pain and horror from true crime. But fictional crime, especially cozy mysteries, I can find entertaining. That’s just me. (Cozy has a lot of different meanings to different people, but I categorize it as having amateur sleuths and off-the-page crime. So we hear of the crime, maybe even see some of it, but we’re not subjected to traumatizing horrors.) So what have I read and enjoyed?

KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE by Deanna Raybourn, in which four female former assassins find themselves as marks of their former organization. To save themselves from an untimely demise and be able to enjoy their well-earned retirement, they rely on their tried-and-true, low-tech skills to survive the day. Honestly, I loved this book. It was such a fun ride, featuring older women who weren’t portrayed as superheroes. They actually have to keep up with their yoga routine to be limber, haha. And I adore stories about female friendships as opposed to mean-girl dynamics. I was rooting for these ladies. Recommended.

GRAVE RESERVATIONS (Book #1 of the Booking Agents series) by Cherie Priest. This was a fun mystery with smart, capable characters. The lead is a clairvoyant and travel agent who saves a police detective from an ill-fated flight. Recognizing her unusual skill, he enlists her help to jumpstart a lagging case. Intrigue and deceptions come from all sides, yet our protagonist’s powers come through. For some reason, perhaps conditioning (?), I sort of hoped the protagonists would become a romantic couple, but then perhaps the story would fall into romance, which it doesn’t. I found myself questioning why I expected that, but it’s obvious because they do seem like they’ll make a great couple. Maybe that’ll blossom throughout the series. At any rate, this author has an easy, contemporary voice, and the novel features super karaoke. Recommended.

FLIGHT RISK (Book #2 of the Booking Agents series) by Cherie Priest. I won this book from my book club leader after giving its predecessor the highest rating. I didn’t know my favorable rating would lead to a prize, so that’s nice. This sequel brings another mystery, with wholly different motivations, to our trusty characters. It was another enjoyable mystery.

And I’ve also had the pleasure of reading several as-yet-unpublished manuscripts to provide back-jacket blurbs. those recommendations you’ll find on the back jacket of the books once they come out. I’ll let you know when.

Until then, keep reading, folks!

(The above links are Amazon Affiliate links, meaning I make a few pennies off the sale of each book, at no cost to you.)

Tallying the year

December 31, 2023/in Personal, Uncategorized /by Silvia

I genuinely love end-of-year lists.

Best of. Worst of. Most this or that. The year 2023 at a glance. I like being reminded of all that’s transpired in the past 365 days. I forget a lot of it and like revisiting with the benefit of hindsight.

One of the lists I always see is “How many books I read this year.” I keep track too, but I don’t feel any strong need to share it. I made the list for myself, not to later share in the hopes to impress or shame. Plus, I like to see how many books I read and actually enjoyed. See, those are the only books that make my list. My tally would be much, muuuuch higher if I included all the books I started but didn’t finish.

That’s the point of this post. If you need permission, I’m hereby granting it. You do not need to finish books you aren’t enjoying. The book police won’t come get you. The creators involved won’t be any the wiser. No one will know what you did or did not finish unless you tell them. There are too many books in the world to read them all, and you have too little life force to expend on entertainments that don’t feed you.

So, keep a tally, if you feel so inclined. Or don’t. Finish that book. Or don’t. But of course I’d always advise you try another. A year without books would be a tragedy indeed.

Here’s hoping your new year is bountiful with spectacular reads.