Get Lost at a Celebration of Found, a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Anthology

Grab a cocktail or a cup of coffee, and settle into a seat in Union Station’s 100-year-old Great Hall on Wednesday, October 5, for a presentation by the authors of Found, the 2016 anthology from the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers. 

“Some things are better off lost,” explains Denver-based writer and artist Mario Acevedo, who edited the anthology, which was released last month and is available at the Tattered Cover (which is also presenting the event), Broadway Book Mall and online through Amazon or Instagram.

Acevedo writes the Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. “I tend to write more satirical work with vampires and mystery,” he says. Found, though, contains all genres of popular fiction, from romance to horror, by Colorado authors old and new.

When lost things are found, everything changes — as evidenced by fifteen illuminating tales of short fiction that reveal the consequences of finding something once lost or better off forgotten.

“It’s a broad theme that we felt would give enough direction to writers,” says Acevedo. Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers members were called on to submit 3,000- to 15,000-word short stories that fit within the theme; Acevedo and his team of readers narrowed down their selection from nearly a hundred submissions.

“We got some pretty good ones,” Acevedo says, pointing to author J.A. Kazimer, who writes the F***ed-Up Fairytale series. “Her short story is about Peter Pan, and an employee of his who finds his true identity.”

Another story, “Telling Bones,” by Diana Holguin-Balogh, chronicles the tale of a woman living in New Mexico who discovers a small casket. Josh Viola — seventeen-time award-winning author of The Bane of Yoto — contributes a story about a man who befriends a stray dog. “I don’t want to give away too much,” Acevedo says, “but if you know Josh, then you know it definitely has an evil twist to it.”

The anthology also features stories by Mark Stevens, Dean Wyant, Terry Kroenung and Natasha Watts. The reading and book signing runs from 7 to 9 p.m. October 5 at Union Station; for more information, visit the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers website.