52 Novels

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Tomorrow is Day One of my second novel workshop and I’m thrilled this time because I’ll be learning from Mario Acevedo.

I don’t mean to be unkind to my previous workshop and its students. I had a blast, and there was so much talent in the room each week. I made some new friends… and learned a great deal about myself and writing and storytelling.

But this go round is a little bit different because Acevedo is a genre writer. For someone as shameless as I am for thrillers and noir and police procedurals—someone who loves genre fiction almost exclusively—this is a great opportunity.

That’s where the sucking up comes in.

You’ll note that what I’m currently reading is Acevedo’s debut novel, THE NYMPHOS OF ROCKY FLATS. I’m about a hundred pages in right now and I have to admit I’m pleasantly surprised.

It’s not that I thought it wouldn’t be any good. Quite the opposite: I almost always assume that something is worth the read going in.

It’s just that I’m not a fan of the vampire genre. I’ve tried Anne Rice to no avail. She’s a good writer, to be sure. But I always come back to, “You know, it’s about vampires. Like that could happen.”

That said, I’m really enjoying NYMPHOS. And what red-blooded man wouldn’t? (Ba dump bump. I’m here all week, folks. Be sure to tip the wait staff.)

But seriously, why shouldn’t I enjoy the book? It’s got all the things I love: a private investigator, a mystery, nymphomaniacs, hot nymphomaniac sex, and it’s set right here in Denver. (I may have mentioned before that I’ve always liked reading books and seeing movies about places where I’ve lived. If I haven’t mentioned it before, well, I am now.)

I’m a little too soon into this one to have a feeling for where it’s going. Our hero, Felix Gomez, a Gulf War II vet who’s turned into a vampire by an Iraqi, has been called in to investigate why the women who worked at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons manufacturing plant became, um, well, nymphos.

So far, Gomez has resistance from the nymphos themselves, the local vampire head honcho, and some as yet unidentified bad guy (presumably from the Department of Energy or some other black ops government agency).

I know… the premise just sounds so insanely goofy. But, so far, the read is super-fun and I’m having a ball with it. It’s fast and gritty… and it’s well written.

Well enough that I forget it’s about vampires.

Some final words

I realize I said last week that I had a few more things to do before this version of 52 Novels is complete. Mea culpa. My wife and I have had some projects we’ve been working on around the house, so the blogging part of my day is a little narrow.

And the things I mentioned a while back? Well, those are still in the works, too. I realize this thing has been about The Sunday Salon lately. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

It’s just that I think this place is better when it’s about more. No worries. I’m getting back to it.

Also, I’m e-mailing people today to get their names and mailing addresses so that I can let Steven Torres know which readers get a free copy of his latest, THE CONCRETE MAZE. Look for my e-mail sometime today. Tomorrow at the latest.

Friday afternoon I noticed that 52 Novels had fifty two subscribers. Not only was it the first time we’d cracked fifty, it just happened to land on the number 52. Mmmm. Spooky.

And speaking of subscribers… if you liked this post and you don’t yet subscribe to 52 Novels, please take a moment and sign up. If you’re already a subscriber, please recommend the site to others. Might as well. After all, it don’t cost nothin.

Tags: denver, Mario Acevedo, Mystery, nymphos, Rocky Flats