WHICH ONE DO I USE? ITS OR IT'S?

There are many quirks in the English language, and these two little words can confound the best of us. 

Spell Check often runs its squiggly line under the word its.  When that happens, most people face the dilemma of figuring out which one to use—it’s or its—and that leaves them wide open to error. Read the rest of the article.

Spotlight: The GSA fiasco vs. writers spending their own money for a conference

GSA didn't watch the $ for their own conference

Las Vegas is one of the most economical convention venues in the country. A wide choice of facilities are available in every price range from economical to lavish.

 As a Las Vegas author myself, with a background in the travel industry as well as having worked for a government contractor that was under the thumb of GSA, this blatant self-indulgence with taxpayer's money literally "set my hair on fire,"--enough, in fact, that I was compelled to write this article. The M Resort is a lovely hotel not too far from my home. If you're paying for attending a conference with your own money, what a wonderful place to have it. If a corporation decides to treat their employees to a hotel like this, that's fine too. Perks go a long way as incentives. However, when you are a government agency, supposedly the watchdog over government spending, need I say more? This was not fine! They could have easily come to Las Vegas and stayed at a property within government per diem allowances and not indulged themselves with multiple luxuries while on the taxpayer's dime. Here's how writers do it:
Take for instance two upcoming writers' conferences. Public Safety Writers Association Conference which will take place from July 12-15 at the Orleans Hotel and Casino. The conference rates for the rooms are $35 for weeknights and $80 for weekend nights.
Las Vegas Writers Conference, April 19-21 at Sam's Town Hotel and Gambling Hall. Room rates for the conference are $26.99 for Thursday night and $64.99 for Friday and Saturday.

Function rooms are excellent and meals included in the registration fee are far from what is often described as “rubber chicken conference lunches or banquet dinners.” There is no charge for parking at most hotels in Las Vegas and Henderson. Food purchased on your own is reasonable.  Flights from most cities are competitively priced since Las Vegas is a major airport. In other words, these are very reasonable convention packages and there is no way they would break the bank of any organization, corporation or government agency. Writers and others in the publishing industry who attend these conferences spend their own money, so naturally their eye is on the pocketbook.

Continue reading on Examiner.com

Life With McDuff - a column worth revisiting

 My friend Judy McFadden's name came up the other day, and I thought about one of my early articles for examiner.com, back in 2009. Judy's book about her beloved therapy dog McDuff is definitely worth revisiting. That's one of the nice things about a blog. You can make the rules about what to publish, and today I choose to revisit McDuff. Enjoy!

 

Arts & Entertainment | October 15, 2009

 

Life with McDuff

Many fine authors live in the greater Las Vegas/Henderson area.

Local author Judy McFadden, a volunteer at St. Rose Hospital for over eight years, is now a published writer. Her book, Life With McDuff—Lessons Learned From a Therapy Dog, introduces you to her noble, hilarious Scottish Terrier therapy dog. McDuff miraculously touched her life and that of many others— even after death
Because of his astounding work with individuals with severe physical and mental disabilities in Opportunity Village’s “Project Pride, she was asked to appear with McDuff on KVBC-TV Channel 3 News. Also, the Henderson Anthem View newspaper profiled them in an article on the front page.McFadden says, “During our nine year journey together, McDuff taught me valuable life lessons.” READ FULL ARTICLE

Book signing etiquette gone wrong

This photo is NOT from the incident related below. As you can see, I was happy in this photo.

Examiner.com - Las Vegas edition
Writers tricks of the trade | March 8, 2012

Writers' tricks of the trade: Etiquette at book signing events

Authors in communities all over the U.S. find this can sometimes be a sticky point. Every author is enthusiastic about their own books and unfortunately sometimes they don't realize they have allowed etiquette to fly out the window. Particularly at presentations at a conference or for a writer’s group, one of the biggest etiquette violations could be the scene that follows. The audience is filled with writers, many with books of their own. If you are an author who has had (or created) this type of problem, voice your opinion in the comments section.
This column was inspired by something that observed at a Las Vegas book signing.
The setting
The featured author or authors are sitting at the signing table. Copies of the books are being sold and the author takes the time to chat with people who are interested in their books. All of a sudden, someone carrying two or three books of their own approaches the table.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Writers' tricks of the trade: Etiquette at book signing events - Las Vegas Writing | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/writing-in-las-vegas/writers-tricks-of-the-trade-etiquette-at-book-signing-events#ixzz1obON2tjB

Guest blogging at Writers of Southern Nevada Today

Avoid the four pitfalls in the Writers of Southern Nevada article

The Writers of Southern Nevada is a relatively new entity and I'm honored that they have asked me to contribute an article every month. What could be more appropriate for the first one than discussing four things that can really trip writers up, whether aspiring or published. One of my rules of thumb is never think you're beyond making mistakes and as the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar says, "You can't hit a target if you can't see it." I loved the example he gave one time when I saw him live.

Ziglar said, "I've never shot a bow and arrow, but I can do just as well as the top archer in competition." Of course there were lots of groans from the audience. Then Ziglar qualified it. "The thing is, he or she has to be blindfolded with one hands tied behind their back!" Ahh. Therein lies the adage above. Knowing some of the pitfalls to watch out for prepares you to avoid them. READ THE ARTICLE. It would be great if you could leave some comments, too.

Remember, I am starting to give my series of webinars for savvyauthors.com on March 6 and there is still time to register. The first one will be a real world look at effectively working with Point of View.

FINDING THE RIGHT NICHE

 Writers' Tricks of the Trade: Finding your niche

Morgan St. James

Las Vegas Writing Examiner

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There is nothing sweeter to a writer than when “the great idea” hits.
The problem is, sometimes the great idea is a hard one to convert to a complete novel because it’s too limited or difficult to rein in. Maybe there is too much to include for a single novel.
Have you ever heard someone describe their work in progress as being a romantic, sci-fi mystery with historical roots, humor, steamy sex and—oh yes, they’ve thought about introducing some vampires, need to figure out how to still use the sex but qualify it for the young adult market as well as appealing to the adult market and last, but not least, they’re toying with the idea of bringing in a psychic and a few rock stars. Wow. All of that in one novel? This might sound exaggerated, but I’ve heard descriptions strangely like that.
And, of course, this author knows it will be a best seller because it is bound to hit readers in just about every genre, isn’t it? READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE

Writers' Tricks of the Trade, the book, named to New Book Review top books for writers

I’m so excited. Carolyn Howard-Johnson, that wonderful author of the How to Do it Frugally series, has named my book, Writers’ Tricks of the Trade: 39 Things You Need to Know About theABCs of Writing Fiction to the New Book Review list of Best Books for Writers to Read in 2012. Since there are 8 books on her list, I’m particularly honored that my book was included as one of them. Check it out for yourself and mega thanks to Carolyn for this recognition. The book is available in paperback and eBook on most online booksellers or can be ordered from your favorite local bookstore.

 http://thenewbookreview.blogspot.com/2012/01/best-books-for-writers-to-read-in-2012.html

Spotlight: Emerging author, former CSI Steve Scarborough - Part I

Morgan St. James, Las Vegas Writing Examiner January 10, 2012 

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 During a lunch at a local Mimi’s, Steve said, “One of the things I really pride myself about is creating a work that is multi-layered. Scrafitto touches on photography, art, ex-pats in a foreign country, women’s rights, the environment, macho attitudes in a Latin country and even anger management. And of course, police procedure and crime scene investigation. I wanted the reader to learn about these issues.

I am currently reading his book, Scrafitto, and must agree when he says his work is multi-layered. As I read, it is also evident that he understands his way around a camera.

Steve, you worked for the FBI and as a CSI. How did that come about?
Well, I grew up in Long Beach, California and my first job was renting beach umbrellas on Seal Beach. My protagonist in Scrafitto is an ex-Seal Beach cop. While I was going to Cal State Los Angeles where, by the way, the LASD crime lab now exists, I worked for the FBI. I became fascinated with the science of fingerprints and so when a job opened up with the Las Vegas Police Department (LVMPD), I jumped at the chance.  I spent 30 years working with latent prints and have lectured around the world on the infallibility of fingerprints as a forensic tool. READ FULL STORY...

Writers' Tricks of the Trade: Research before you get too starry eyed

Hi folks,

With all of the hype about the self-pubbed authors who are making zillions with self-published Ebooks and Kindle books, I felt I had to write this column yesterday. Sure, there are definitely people who have cracked the code for one reason or another, but they are the minority. No matter how you look at it, unless the average author is extraordinarily lucky, it is still lots of hard work and money to get your work out there, and even then it is lots of hard work and money. I didn't get comments directly on the column but I did receive emails from those who have been there, done that. They thanked me for writing about the reality and they agree. Read on...

 Las Vegas Writing Examiner

January 5, 2012 - Like this? Subscribe to get instant updates.

 Before you get sucked into all of the hype about the big money being made by authors who took the leap into self-publishing Kindles and eBooks and now have tons of money and offers rolling in from all over the world, a word of caution.
In many cases this is true. There are authors who have done amazingly well and others who manage to squeak by. Unfortunately, the “squeakers” are the majority. It is definitely not as easy as it sounds.
E-publishing millionaire Amanda Hocking summed it up: --READ FULL ARTICLE