Interview: Mario Acevedo
Denver's funniest author of scary stuff takes over
James Glader
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In a vampire genre full of sparkly, swoony, sexy undead, Felix Gomez stands out as just another ordinary Joe trying to get by—and occasionally laid. Gomez, a private detective who returns from Iraq as a vampire, is the hero of a series of novels by Denver author Mario Acevedo. The bloodsucking gumshoe’s adventures include defending Earth’s women from lustful alien gangsters, investigating disappearing porn stars, and tracking down the whereabouts of the vampiric version of the Kama Sutra. Full of quirky humor and erotic action, Acevedo’s series reads like a mashup of The World Weekly News, Penthouse Letters, and Don Pendleton’s pulpy Mack Bolan: The Executioner books. His new and fourth installment of Felix Gomez series, Jailbait Zombie, pits monster against monster as Gomez tries to save a troubled teenage psychic. In advance of Acevedo’s book signing at Tattered Cover’s Colfax location tonight, the author spoke with Decider.
Decider: You take vampires in a different direction than many contemporary horror writers do, going towards men’s adventure rather than paranormal romance. Was that a deliberate strategy or just something that happened along the way?
Mario Acevedo: I tried for many years to get a more serious novel published. That didn’t work out, so I decided was going to write the most ridiculous story I could think of, which was a vampire detective investigating an outbreak of nymphomania at Rocky Flats. And that became the first book [The Nymphos Of Rocky Flats]. When I pitched that to an agent, it was different enough. He said, “If you write one, could you write more?” I said sure, and that was that. So that started me off, and I continued with that premise.
D: What were your serious novels about?
MA: They were political potboilers. They sort of morphed into action thrillers after I’d started with a more literary intent. The book before the first Felix book… Well, you know how they say write what you know? My main character was a smartass because I know how to be a smartass. I guess that’s my strength.
D: Every paranormal writer seems to come up with his or her own version of vampire mythology. For example, your vampires can go out in the daylight through the use of cosmetics and sunblock. How did you go about developing your vampire mythos and deciding what your vampires could and couldn’t do?
MA: As far as the daylight thing goes, I found that kind of limiting. I had a hard time grasping the idea of a vampire in this sort of modern-day setting, where they can’t go out during the day. You know, if they existed in the real world, they’d need things like jobs and credit and all of that. I tried to put it all together in the first book, put my own spin on it.
D: Are there other paranormal authors you like to read, or do you stay away from others in the genre?
MA: There’s a lot! Jeannie Stein is one. Her books are close to mine, because she’s writing about a bounty hunter in San Diego. Jeannie is actually in my critique group. We both sort of slid into writing about vampires because circumstances forced us in that direction.
D: You have what may be the cutest horror-book video trailer, one that uses Legos. How did that come about?
MA: My son Emiliano does Lego animation. We tossed the idea around and thought it was something that stood out and was different. It also lent itself to the wacky humor of the books.
D: Like your main character, you served in Desert Storm, but as a combat artist. What does a combat artist do?
MA: There are soldier artists, and that’s their primary job. There’s something they call the Army Art Activity, which is run by the U.S. Army. They have artwork that predates the Revolutionary War. Of course, in the old days, they didn’t have cameras, so they had artists. The Navy and the Air Force have similar programs. They have journalists and photographers go with the troops, and they have some combat artists as well. They’re there to document what’s going on.
D: You and your protagonist share a Hispanic heritage and military experience. How much of Mario Acevedo is there in Felix Gomez?
MA: Felix would resent that question. He’s taller than I am, he’s got more hair, and he’s got a lot better luck with the ladies than I do. He would definitely resent that question.
Mario Acevedo: I tried for many years to get a more serious novel published. That didn’t work out, so I decided was going to write the most ridiculous story I could think of, which was a vampire detective investigating an outbreak of nymphomania at Rocky Flats. And that became the first book [The Nymphos Of Rocky Flats]. When I pitched that to an agent, it was different enough. He said, “If you write one, could you write more?” I said sure, and that was that. So that started me off, and I continued with that premise.
D: What were your serious novels about?
MA: They were political potboilers. They sort of morphed into action thrillers after I’d started with a more literary intent. The book before the first Felix book… Well, you know how they say write what you know? My main character was a smartass because I know how to be a smartass. I guess that’s my strength.
D: Every paranormal writer seems to come up with his or her own version of vampire mythology. For example, your vampires can go out in the daylight through the use of cosmetics and sunblock. How did you go about developing your vampire mythos and deciding what your vampires could and couldn’t do?
MA: As far as the daylight thing goes, I found that kind of limiting. I had a hard time grasping the idea of a vampire in this sort of modern-day setting, where they can’t go out during the day. You know, if they existed in the real world, they’d need things like jobs and credit and all of that. I tried to put it all together in the first book, put my own spin on it.
D: Are there other paranormal authors you like to read, or do you stay away from others in the genre?
MA: There’s a lot! Jeannie Stein is one. Her books are close to mine, because she’s writing about a bounty hunter in San Diego. Jeannie is actually in my critique group. We both sort of slid into writing about vampires because circumstances forced us in that direction.
D: You have what may be the cutest horror-book video trailer, one that uses Legos. How did that come about?
MA: My son Emiliano does Lego animation. We tossed the idea around and thought it was something that stood out and was different. It also lent itself to the wacky humor of the books.
D: Like your main character, you served in Desert Storm, but as a combat artist. What does a combat artist do?
MA: There are soldier artists, and that’s their primary job. There’s something they call the Army Art Activity, which is run by the U.S. Army. They have artwork that predates the Revolutionary War. Of course, in the old days, they didn’t have cameras, so they had artists. The Navy and the Air Force have similar programs. They have journalists and photographers go with the troops, and they have some combat artists as well. They’re there to document what’s going on.
D: You and your protagonist share a Hispanic heritage and military experience. How much of Mario Acevedo is there in Felix Gomez?
MA: Felix would resent that question. He’s taller than I am, he’s got more hair, and he’s got a lot better luck with the ladies than I do. He would definitely resent that question.
