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Reposted by John Picacio

Mary Robinette Kowal @maryrobinettekowal.com · 1d

My hot take is that none of these are structure. These are all recipes that describe structure.

Structure is the Salt, Fat, Acid Heat of writing.

3-Act/Hero's Journey etc are recipes.

You can make great meals without using a recipe if you understand the principles of structure.

Mx. D. D. Ward (they/them) @ddwardiswriting.bsky.social · 2d

So #WritingCommunity how do we feel about structure?

Do you use the 3 act structure? The 5 act?

Hero's Journey? Save the Cat? Super Structure Method? Story Genius Method?

Something else?

What have you got?

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 8h

#FestWeek is the week of Oct. 26th-Nov. 1st, leading up to #DíaDeMuertos. I’m celebrating this year in the #BayArea, #Tucson & #SanAntonio w/ in-store book signings for THE INVISIBLE PARADE + more to come.

I love Halloween, but it’s Día de Muertos that makes this season my favorite. #DayOfTheDead

John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 22h

Día de Muertos is coming soon. ‘Tis the season of THE INVISIBLE PARADE. Throughout the last week of October, I’ll be commemorating #FestWeek, including in-store appearances at Book Passage, Stacks Book Club & @thetwigbookshop.bsky.social! Tickets are limited — get ‘em NOW. 1/2 linktr.ee/johnpicacio

John Picacio will be signing THE INVISIBLE PARADE in Corte Madera, CA; Tucson, AZ; and San Antonio, TX, during the last week of October.

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Reposted by John Picacio

Jabberwick ⭐🎪👁️ @jabberwick.com · 10h

Do you have an illustrated kids book you think about often?

I feel like i think about these two illustrations from Rabbits (by Shaun Tan) on a daily basis

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 22h

Very excited to share the stage in Corte Madera with the legend herself — @kortizart.bsky.social! Gonna be so much fun. I wanna see you there, Bay Area artists & art fans. I’ve heard a lot of terrific things about Stacks. 👀 And the Twig is gonna be 🔥🔥🔥 on #DiaDeMuertos! #TheInvisibleParade 2/2

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 22h

Día de Muertos is coming soon. ‘Tis the season of THE INVISIBLE PARADE. Throughout the last week of October, I’ll be commemorating #FestWeek, including in-store appearances at Book Passage, Stacks Book Club & @thetwigbookshop.bsky.social! Tickets are limited — get ‘em NOW. 1/2 linktr.ee/johnpicacio

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Reposted by John Picacio

Neil Ottenstein @nottenst.bsky.social · 1d

Just finished listening to @scottedelman.bsky.social 's interview with @johnpicacio.bsky.social in Seattle. It is another fascinating interview with loads of new insights especially about the creation of The Invisible Parade.
www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...

Tackle Texas BBQ with John Picacio on Episode 265 of Eating the Fantastic ‹ Scott Edelman

www.scottedelman.com

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 1d

Appreciate you so much.
Thank you. 🙏🏽

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Reposted by John Picacio

furblescout.bsky.social @furblescout.bsky.social · 1d

@johnpicacio.bsky.social & Leigh Bardugo's THE INVISIBLE PARADE is stunningly gorgeous and made me cry. The emotions portrayed in the details, colors, and expressions in both words and pictures are a perfect story of meeting and coming to understand grief. Highly recommended!

Book cover of Leigh Bardugo and John Picacio's picture book THE INVISIBLE PARADE, showing a sad girl with a dark red scarf behind a faceless rider wearing a cloak of black crow feathers on a pale white horse, rising through a starry sunset sky accompanied by bats

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 2d

Always hustling. Respect.

Reposted by John Picacio

Scott Edelman @scottedelman.bsky.social · 3d

ICYMI — an episode of Eating the Fantastic went live this week with guest @johnpicacio.bsky.social! Join us for lunch and learn why he initially turned down what ended up being his first science fiction book cover (and what made him change his mind) — plus more. www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...

Tackle Texas BBQ with John Picacio on Episode 265 of Eating the Fantastic ‹ Scott Edelman

www.scottedelman.com

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Reposted by John Picacio

Martha Wells @marthawells.com · 4d

Tonight, Friday October 10, with @chuckwendig.bsky.social !

Martha Wells @marthawells.com · 9d

Oct 10 Let's Play Books, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, 4/11

theendbooks.co/event/2025-1...

Martha Wells, in Conversation with Chuck Wendig

Welcome to our new website! We're excited to see you. *** RETURNING USERS WILL NEED TO RESET THEIR PASSWORD FOR THIS NEW SITE. CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD.***

theendbooks.co

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 5d

I’m all about #DíaDeMuertos right now because it’s Spooky Season, but @adamrex.bsky.social is already shopping for Christmas trees. He’s a fantastic picture book author, always evolving.

Adam Rex @adamrex.bsky.social · Sep 9

What if someone sent you three chickens? What if they actually sent you 30 chickens, because they did it ten days in a row?
Anyway, this is a book about the guy they wrote that song about.
bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

HO HO HO! My new book publishes today! It's called The 13th Day of Christmas and on the cover a bewildered guy is holding a chicken and goose and colly bird and dove and a pear tree with a partridge in it and he's flanked by a drummer and dancer and swan.

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 5d

You deserve a cut when your visuals are telling a visual story. ✊🏽

John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 5d

Might take me a day or two, but lemme see what’s possible. I’ll try to check back with you.

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 5d

BLACK PHONE 2 has more Lotería Karma than any film ever. Word on the streets is my Lotería Grande Card artworks are featured in the film, opening Oct. 17th. 😮

If you want any of my remaining card singles, get ‘em now. johnpicacio.com/product-cate...

Bonus Karma to @crobertcargill.bsky.social. ✊🏽

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Reposted by John Picacio

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman (Horrifying) @josie.zone · 9d

It is morally wrong to want a computer to be sentient. If you owned a sentient thing, you would be a slaver. If you want sentient computers to exist, you just want to create a new kind of slavery. The ethics are as simple as that. Sorry if this offends

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Reposted by John Picacio

C. Robert Cargill @crobertcargill.bsky.social · 5d

There’s an interview going around about AI, so before there are any questions, let me state unequivocally that BLACK PHONE 2 is 100% organic. AI was not used at any stage of the filmmaking from idea generation, research, look books, writing, onscreen images - anything. We’re old school and love it.

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 5d

Andy — The backs of my cards have the pencil drawings reproduced on the back. Want me to sign on that side in gold? Or on the color side? Or leave ‘em unsigned?

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 5d

Snatched up my seats this morning for BLACK PHONE 2 Opening Weekend. Love the buzz I’m hearing! 🔥 Cannot wait. 👀✊🏽

And yup, like the man said — here’s where to score my Lotería Grande Cards, while supplies last. johnpicacio.com/product-cate...

Loteria Grande Cards – John Picacio

johnpicacio.com

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 6d

Great talk. Great BBQ. This was fun. I had to restrain myself from asking Scott questions about his days in the Marvel bullpen. We covered a lot of ground from cover art to visual storytelling, and more. An honor to be part of your series, Scott! 🚀

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Reposted by John Picacio

Scott Edelman @scottedelman.bsky.social · 6d

Episode 265 of Eating the Fantastic is live with guest @johnpicacio.bsky.social! Eavesdrop on our lunch and learn why he thinks of a book as a person he needs to introduce at a party, how as a creator he'd rather be a marathon runner than a sprinter — and more. www.scottedelman.com/wordpress/20...

John across the table from me seen over his brisket, ribs, chili, and corn.

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Reposted by John Picacio

Tilly🦋was successfully manipulated by a wizard @tillywizard.bsky.social · 15d

📚💙📚🪐

This book is beautiful

The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo, illustrated by John Picacio

Everyone in the neighborhood was getting ready for the party. Everyone knew somebody on the guest list. . . . This was the day the dead returned.
There’s a party tonight, but Cala doesn’t want to go. While her family prepares for the celebration, Cala grieves her grandfather and tries to pretend she’s not afraid.

But when she is separated from her family at the cemetery, Cala encounters four mysterious riders who will show her she is actually quite brave after all.

Brimming with magic and humor, The Invisible Parade is the first picture-book collaboration between award-winner John Picacio and New York Times bestselling Leigh Bardugo. Set on the night of Día de Muertos, Cala’s story is one of love, loss, and the courage that can be found in unexpected places.

Up, up onto the horse of pale moonlight went Cala, and though she was afraid, she held tight to the rider’s crow-feather cloak

“Come,” she said to her friend Death. “It’s time to join the party.”

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 8d

Congrats, all! @galendara.bsky.social @zaraalfonso.bsky.social

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Reposted by John Picacio

Uncanny Magazine @uncannymagazine.bsky.social · 8d

Congratulations to Zara Alfonso, Galen Dara, and John Picacio! Their 2024 Uncanny Magazine covers are all finalists for 2025 Frank R. Paul Best Magazine Cover Art Awards! buff.ly/qvJxWdL

cover of issue 58, titled "Stasis" by Zara Alfonso depicts a brown gray background and a femme-presenting person with long dark hair staring up into space. Her eyes are glazed over white and her lips (and overall complexion) is a gray-blue-white. Moths of a pale-gray-blue-white rest on her face and shoulder

The cover for Uncanny Magazine Issue 56, “Resurrecting Venus" by Galen Dara: In the background, two planets overlap. A large red one is eclipsed by a blue one, the surface is decorated with waves. At the forefront, a woman's face is split in three pieces that are slowly coming together. Spread throughout the motif of sea waves are present in shades of light blue, dark blue, and purple. The outline of koi are spread throughout too, accompanying the woman.

cover for Issue 60, La Musica by John Picacio. A femme person with eyeliner and red lipstick smiles directly at the reader. On her head is a swirling headpiece made of brass instruments, the sides of her face framed by two halves of a cello, earrings of brass instrument parts. Her shoulder pads are made of the black, white, and shaded brown keys of a piano and the body of the dress the curling row of piano keys. Behind her are circular swirls of color

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Reposted by John Picacio

Scott Edelman @scottedelman.bsky.social · 8d

For those who like knowing how Eating the Fantastic's podcast sausage is made: editing the raw audio for my chat with @johnpicacio.bsky.social to make it more pleasing for your ears took 735 snips, removing 9 minutes, 39 seconds of irrelevancies. Please eavesdrop later this week! pod.link/1083737796

A screen grab of the sound waves of our voices in GarageBand, reflecting all those snips and a time stamp of 01:18:10.033.

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