About Mario

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Born and raised in Los Angeles, Mario Piumetti is a freelance writer of science fiction, horror, screenplays, and nonfiction. He has a bachelor's degree in English from California Lutheran University and an MFA in creative writing from Antioch University. An avid music lover, his work is heavily influenced by rock, punk, and metal. You can contact him at mario.piumetti.writer@gmail.com.

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Jacked Up and In

I think it's safe to say that I was looking for just about any excuse to procrastinate this week.

This week, and especially this weekend, I had to give my computer a real deep cleaning.  It hasn't been upgraded since I got it in 2009, and that lag cause email problems for me at work.  By the way, I'm really digging Mavericks.  I also looked up numerous ways to up my productivity, which isn't bad per se, but it can get to a point where you're focused more on how to do your job than actually doing your job.

One brilliant idea was trying to get rid of my junk-filled personal email address in favor of three - a personal one, a more professional one, and a writing-exclusive one - but an exec at work said I was giving myself more headaches than it was worth.  In the end, I ended up with a helpful tip to just archive everything, which clears up your mailbox without deleting your messages.  I also figured out how to use Mail on my Macbook to check all my email accounts at once.  So in that case, I will say it'll probably help me out in the long run.

I did get some writing done this week on a new article for Carpe Nocturne, and I'm still plugging away on the screenplay idea, but I'd really like to set aside some time to develop a new fiction piece.  I still feel a little bummed out about giving up my "one story a week" ambition, I also think it's taken a huge weight off my mind.

So I'm ready to take on the coming week.  Are you?

Sunday, October 19, 2014

The Implosion

On Monday, I woke with the energy of a Friday.  On Friday, I woke with the energy of slime mold.  Hell, it took me the entire day to read just one script!

I knew I was burning out.  I canceled development of a short story, and chucked another that I was behind on getting the first draft started.  Carpe Nocturne called.  My screenplay was neglected.  Computer problems at work and fights with my phone company weren't helping.

The times need a-changin'.  Hell, I've even taken to using iCal on my computer in earnest because my trusty desktop calendar book just doesn't have enough hours in the day for me to schedule.

One of my coworkers told me it's okay to say no every once in a while, and as we left the office, my boss said I shouldn't kill myself doing twenty things for twenty people.  I'm not kidding when I say I wish I had a dollar each time someone said I needed to go easy on myself.

So what am I doing about it?

Well, for starters, I dropped a volunteer readership with Sundance Institute.  That wasn't an easy choice to make.  It was the first time someone in entertainment reached out and cold-called me.  And it was a big opportunity, but the timing was such that I simply could not handle it.  My contact at Sundance understood my position and there were no hard feelings.

I'm also giving up my plan to start a new short story each week with the intent of finishing in a month.  Doing so meant taking on four times as many projects at once, and while revising is pretty swift, I'm a slow drafter.

And...something, something.  I dunno.  See how fried I am already?

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Publications - Carpe Nocturne (Fall 2014)

Hi, everyone.  There will be an update soon on why I've been so quiet, but in the mean time, the fall 2014 issue of Carpe Nocturne has been released.

My earlier review of Kate Maruyama's novel Harrowgate was reprinted.  I think that might have been a little slip-up as the magazine goes through a change of ownership and a new publisher.  I'm not complaining, although I did try resubmitting several previous reviews I was really proud of.  I think I might just retire those pieces, wipe the slate clean, and start fresh with the next issue.

So yeah...enough of my bitching, and enjoy the new issue.