We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mario Acevedo a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Mario, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Everyone has crazy stuff happen to them, but often small business owners and creatives, artists and others who are doing something off the beaten path are often hit with things (positive or negative) that are so out there, so unpredictable and unexpected. Can you share a crazy story from your journey?
My journey as a writer began in college. I received a D in sophomore English and was told that I wouldn’t be allowed to graduate unless I passed another English course. Since I needed only one credit hour, I was offered either business writing or technical report writing. Being an engineering student, I chose the latter. The first day in class, the professor handed out pamphlets for us to critique to show that just because something was in print didn’t mean it was written well. He then said one of the most profound things I’ve heard in my life: “The purpose of writing is to communicate ideas as clearly and concisely as possible.” It was like a light went off in my head. Until then, I thought the point of writing was to sound smart. When I graduated I was commissioned in the US Army and there, sought every opportunity to write. Since every writer should be an avid reader, I spent hours in the library and one day had the most dangerous thought that could infect a wanna be writer. After reading a particular book, I thought, if this guy got published, so can I. Seventeen years and six trunk novels later, my debut novel was published so you can say that I’m a slow learner. Along the way, I found myself divorced and unemployed and to avoid being homeless, lived in the basement of an ex-girlfriend’s house where I wrote that novel. The idea for that novel arose after my previous manuscript failed so spectacularly at getting the attention of an agent or NY editor that my queries didn’t even receive rejection letters. I was so dejected that I decided to write the most ridiculous story that came to mind, of a detective-vampire investigating an outbreak of nymphomania at a nuclear weapons plant, which was published as The Nymphos of Rocky Flats (HarperCollins 2004).
Mario, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I try to write compelling stories. For several years I was a ghostwriter, helping clients turn their ideas into books. One of those books, Good Money Gone, authored with Richard Kilborn, won an International Latino Book Award for best novel. My clients all have wonderful ideas and unique takes on life that have enriched mine. The biggest challenge is developing the client’s ideas into a narrative with dramatic momentum. My favorite themes are those that reflect upon our place as humans in the cosmos and that all of us have a purpose and value in the universe. That there is a supernatural component to our existence and that what we do matters.
Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?
In the grand scheme of things, I got lucky. My debut novel got me a three-book deal with HarperCollins. Sales were good enough that I was offered another deal, for two more books in the series. Then, as they say in the book business, the publishing houses throw books against the wall to see what sticks. Mine didn’t and so I was orphaned. Let me be clear that I feel incredibly honored and appreciative to HarperCollins. They were wonderful people and I have nothing but good things to say about them. Letting me go was business. However, I became bitter. I felt I had given my best at cultivating my writing career and widening my reader base. After that fifth novel, I quit writing. Then, emails and letters from fans trickled into my inbox. Readers were asking about my characters and when would they see them again in new adventures. This interest was a cosmic kick in the ass for me to quit feeling sorry for myself and get back to work at the keyboard. In retrospect, who did I hurt by not writing and by not pursuing my life’s passion. Only me.
We’d love to hear the story of how you turned a side-hustle into a something much bigger.
Writing wasn’t a side hustle, rather a passion I pursued as a way to tell my stories. My side hustle was my art. From childhood I always liked to draw and paint but was something I was taught to consider as a hobby. After I got out of the Army I dedicated myself to make it professionally as a fine artist and as an illustrator. The first contest I entered, I won first prize, which included $500. At that point I thought I had the keys to the kingdom, but as Lily Tomlin once said, “The road to success is always under construction.” Some of my key milestones include being an Artist in Residence for Artes Americas in Fresno, California, and serving as a soldier-artist overseas for the US Army in Desert Storm. I’m often asked if I ever combine my writing and art in my work and I haven’t yet. My last artistic project was Cats in Quarantine: A Cartoon Memoir of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Hex Publishers). You can find examples of my artwork at Adelantearts.com
Contact Info:
- Website: marioacevedo.com
- Instagram: Real_Adelantearts
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/mario.acevedo.754703
- Twitter: @AdelanteArts
Image Credits
Mario Acevedo