Wednesday, February 18, 2009

A Night (okay, actually a day) at the Opera

The phone rings at 11:30 AM. It's NPR.

"Do you have a cold?"
"No. I just woke up." (Note: I was up until 4 AM working. And also because I ate a box of Girl Scout Samoas at 11 PM.)
"We want you to do a piece about opera where you sing. For today's show."
"That's in, like, two hours."
"Call me back with something in half an hour."

Within two hours I was in the studio recording this piece, which I couldn't have done without the help of my friend Eve, another former opera singer turned writer, whose first novel comes out April 1st.

Have a listen because I did indeed sing. I should have been nervous singing excerpts from roles I would never be cast in for 12 million listeners, but I was moving too fast to notice.

If you like what I have to say (and sing), please click "recommend" or leave a comment. And e-mail it to your friends from the NPR website. (Otherwise known as "Job Security.")

Speaking of job security, the future of my next novel, THE JAZZ HANDS OF GOD, currently hangs in the balance because of all of the uncertainty in the publishing world. So if you’d like to continue reading the adventures of Edward Zanni and his merry crew of miscreants, now would be the time to send out an e-mail to all of your like-minded friends recommending HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE and ATTACK OF THE THEATER PEOPLE.

And, while you’re at it, clap your hands and say, “I do believe in fairies…”

8 comments:

therese patrick, author said...

“I do believe in fairies…”
I also posted this to my blog and linked you to my Facebook.

Keep up the good energy!

Marc Acito said...

Thank you Therese. Your place in heaven is assured.

cats in the window said...

just finished How I Paid for College...loved it. I LOL a lot. After my dismisal adventure in typing class the teacher suggested drama class..had a great time. I am sure there was an Edward and Paula in our class.

viejecita said...

Well, I recommended your NPR piece, clapped my hands, and now I am going to order a few volumes of "How I paid for College" and "Attack of the theater people" as gifts for friends, from Amazon.

Pity i probably will not find the hard back edition of H.I.P.F.C. any more, and that Attack came directly in paperback...

Hope after The Jazz Hands...and further adventures get published, they will make a lovely thick leather bound volume with a ribbon for marking the page, and bible paper, and put all the Edward Zanni stories together in one volume.
Like they have done with the Philip Roth novels, which are not half as much fun to read.

Keep your chin up. You are fantastic. Recession or no recession.

Three Js said...

I thought it was awesome. Loved the singing. Posted it to my Facebook profile because some of my good friends also love your books!

Chris 'Frog Queen' Davis said...

Loved it! So good to hear you on the radio from time to time. I will post this on my blog - for all 6 people that read it :) and I am sure I have a few friends left that do not have your books, so I am off to Amazon. I will bother you for signatures soon.

Oh, and I definitely believe in fairies :)

Fran said...

Just as a shameless plug (and Marc will delete this post if it's too much), Seattle Mystery Bookshop happens to have signed copies of "Attack of the Theatre People" available, and we ship.

LOVED the opera, Marc! When "Jazz Hands" is published -- and it WILL be -- we'd love to host a book signing/singing. Just sayin'!

the artist said...

I believe in fairies, butterflies, unicorns and you