Past Couple of Weeks

have been full of events. Feels like I haven’t been wheels-down since Denver Comic Con, about. Had three deadline stories to jam down along the way, and trying to finish a novel besides. But, of course: wouldn’t have it any other way.

Anyway, at Tattered Cover Lodo . . . last week, I think it was, I got to talk to Andy Davidson about his excellent Texas/serial killer/vampire novel In the Valley of the Sun:

Then, the very next morning, with help from the audio X-Files Cold Cases, it was off to Santa Fe, for some IAIA time:

Was all kinds of cool being there, as always, then getting to read with Santee Frazier and Ramona Ausubel on Saturday night:

And . . . this post is going to get way too long, unless I stuff the rest of the IAIA snaps into a handy-dandy gallery:

Thanks to all who posted those, so I could snab them.

Too, with the help of the last two eps of ShockWaves Podcast, was able to sneak over to my favorite place in Texas, that’s also in New Mexico:

And, to prove what a foodie I am, I’ll one-up the foodsters, and go past posting a pic of my actual food, straight to what people will need if they ever want to order this for me:

I’d meant to eat at the Whataburger in ABQ, but the one in Bernalillo was calling my name. Thank you, Rolanda, for getting that triple-meat just right. It’s all I’m going to have to remember until next time. And remember it I will.

And, once I made ABQ, and after two or three hours of research for this novel I’m writing (which swings through ABQ…), I laser-targeted this great place, got to hang with Lee Francis for a while and pick up some swag & books:

Very cool to be on their shelves.

And, if you’re playing t-shirt bingo, then so far in this post I’ve worn:

Rib cage
Die Hard
Galaga

And, no way you could know this, but after my reading—after re-re-reading a ghost story I had due (the second one due on this trip)—I watched this movie, which is easily now in my top 10 all-time slashers:

And, I say that NOW it’s in my top 10—I guess I’m one of those cool dudes always putting stuff in lists, yes—but I have to have seen it back-when, I suspect. So many of these scenes, I mean, I’ve used them in my books already. Like, the prologue for The Fast Red Road? It’s straight from this movie. And, every sequence, about, I recognize my novels in it. I’m just a thief. But an oblivious one, I guess.

Anyway, then it was mad dash back to Colorado—aided by the middle novella of Full Dark, No Stars—whereupon I remembered I had to write a third story (this one ramping out of Hemingway, landing in werewolves), which I did in record time, allowing me to make THIS event, last night—Tattered Cover Colfax—where I wore my Wonder Woman shirt and signed approximately ninety bajillion My Heroes and a few smuggled-in Mapping the Interiors :

photo by Brett Smith — [ Aaron Lovett, Angie Hodapp, Josh Viola, some guy + a Chipotle cup. snap by Bret Smith]

Great crowd, great questions, and lots of silver sharpies, which is what you need for black title pages. Here’s some more snaps (by Dean Wyant, Lisa Casper, Joshua Clark, Billy Stratton):