The folks that brought you New Mexico Books and More—a temporary Cottonwood Mall coop that sold local books during last year's holiday season—are planning a giant book fair at the mall on Saturday, May 7. The event will occur from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the day before Mother's Day, traditionally a packed shopping day at the mall.

A Trio of Alternative Valentine's Day Celebrations

Dreading the yearly barrage of weenie Hallmark sentiments? Concerned about the pit of romantic loathing welling up in your intestines? Feeling like your skin is covered in a mucous-like layer of treacle? Have no fear, dear Alibi readers. Innovative romantics around Albuquerque have devised several clever alternatives to the clichéd red roses and chocolate Valentine tradition of yesteryear.

Juli Etheridge stars in Rot at the Tricklock Performance Space.

Tricklock Performance Space

Juli Etheridge's outrageous one-woman monster comedy, Rot, opens this weekend at the Tricklock Performance Space. Directed by fellow Tricklockers Byron Laurie and Elsa Menendez, Etheridge plays 10 different characters in a theatrical story that combines love, horror and plenty of pee-in-your-pants giggling. The show opens with a catered gala this Friday, Feb. 11, and runs through Feb. 27. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. Sundays at 6 p.m. $12 general, $9 students/seniors. 254-8393.

Vic Browder (gagged) and Dean Eldon Squibb star in A Lie of the Mind .

Cell Theatre

The Fusion Theatre Company opens its 2005 season with a new production of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind at the Cell Theatre (700 First Street NW). Directed by Jacqueline Reed, this alcohol-drenched tale about two intertwined families stars some fine local talent and should be well worth the price of admission. Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at 2 p.m. $22 general, $17 students/seniors. The Feb. 10 opening features a reception beginning at 7 p.m. with curtain at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays (excluding opening) feature a $10 student rush and a $15 actor rush. Runs through March 6. 766-9412.

An interview with Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Carlos Ruiz Zafón's novel The Shadow of the Wind (Penguin, paper, $15) will feel hauntingly familiar to anyone who's ever fallen in love with a book. Published in Spain in 2001, Zafón's novel has sold two million copies and been translated into almost 40 languages. In the process, the author—a former screenwriter born and raised in Barcelona, Spain—has unwittingly developed an almost cult-like following. It isn't hard to see why. The Shadow of the Wind is the kind of book its followers carry around with them wherever they go, giving away copies to strangers in the street in the same way aspiring preachers might give away copies of the New Testament.