Phyllice and I were excited to see a review of our award-winning Silver Sisters mystery, A Corpse in the Soup, featured on The New Book Review. To read it, and reviews of other books featured on Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s informative new site, GO TO

www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com

Carolyn also previewed our new Silver Sisters adventure, Seven Deadly Samovars, currently in production by Books in Motion, Inc. and due out late this year. This is what she had to say:

“The Silver Sisters are at it again. This time they place their mystery in Alaska and they do it with verve and humor. When you finish reading Seven Deadly Samovars you'll not only have been entertained, you'll be more familiar with a part of the US seldom featured in fiction these days. ~ Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of This Is the Place”

We are now working on the third Silver Sisters book, Vanishing Act in Vegas, where the twins and the eldersleuths will get into a heap of trouble in Sin City.

Please visit our website for more information and photos.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A Corpse in the Soup
Best Mystery Audio Book 2007 – USA Book News

I was doing a presentation and signing books last Saturday, at Cheesecake and Crime in Henderson NV. Afterwards, I got to wondering if I would be people-oriented and comfortable in the spotlight if I hadn't been raised in the type of family I was lucky to be a part of. And if I hadn't found myself in a situation I where I had to literally "sink or swim."

Both sides of my family were friendly, outgoing people. I think my Dad was a little more of an extrovert than his siblings, but my Grandma (see earlier post) was definitely out there. As far as my Mom's folks, they were akin to a family circus. (check out some of the family posts on this blog.)

I wasn't always an extrovert. In fact, people are amazed to learn that I was a very shy person until I was married to my second husband. He was so outgoing it was impossible not to follow suit. So that part of me matured. But I still wasn't a speaker.

Back in the mid 80's I took a job representing a state-of-the-art product and went through a week of intensive product training, sequestered with all of the new reps in New Hope, PA. At the end of the training, we were informed that we could now go out and do our seminars.

Seminars? No one ever told me that. I thought it was one-on-one sales. WRONG. Part of my job was to make presentations to architectual firms, engineering firms, development companies, and corporate clients like (gulp) Xerox and Hughes. With heart pounding and palms sweating, I managed to get through the first one. The second was easier and by the end of the first month, I could speak to groups of up to fifty and sixty people and manage to keep my lunch down.

Without being thrown into that situation, I never would have been able to ad lib, speak off the cuff and feel comfortable as I do now. So, I'm fully convinced that sometimes an unanticipated situation will bring out hidden abilities. I know it sure did for me...thank goodness.

More in my next post about how I believe family environment affects the person we eventually become.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.morganstjames-author
www.silversistersmysteries.com

This is just a short one. One of these days, I'll gather all of the incidents into the family memoir I want to write..."Can We Come In and Laugh With You?"

Uncle Sam, one of the oldest of Mom's seven brothers, wanted to be an artist. He was quite talented, and in his eighties and nineties finally was able to use his talent as the "elder artist" in his group. He did some other neat things too, which inspired a scene with Flossie and Uncle Sterling in our award-winning mystery, "A Corpse in the Soup," but that's another story.

He got a job as a furniture finisher and had to experiment with finishes. He had a talent for it and his boss kept expecting new things. So he used all of the furniture in the apartment to test out finishes. Mom said that they never knew what the apartment would look like when they came home. One day a table would be white, another it might be blue, and the following day it might be stripped down to the bare wood. She said sometimes she wondered whether she was in the right house, but eventually got used to the changing environment. Grandma and Grandpa said, "Let the boy develop his talent."

Several year later, he used his talent to develop finishes for bowling games and pinball machines. Some of the family members were in the gaming business.

That's all for today.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com

Attending Book Expo America and the Writers' Digest Conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center was a real experience. It was HUGE. I was fortunate to attend many very informative panel discussions and seminars, meet authors, agents and publishers one-on-one and get a peek at what's new in the industry.

Everything was capped off by a signing in the USA Book News Booth of our award-winning book one in the series I write with my sister Phyllice Bradner,"A Corpse in the Soup."

One of the most important things I learned was that it wasn't immediately obvious to many people that the Silver Sisters mysteries are funny, tongue-in-cheek mysteries with schemes that backfire, zany characters and twists and turns leading up to discovering whodunit.

It is a common thing. Think about all of the things you know and assume others know as well. Then think about all of the times that turned out to be wrong. As a result of this epihany, Phyllice and I asked the cover artist for our new book in the series, "Seven Deadly Samovars," to make sure something on the cover says: "Hey, I'm a funny mystery."

The audio book is due out from Books in Motion before the end of the year and I'm so glad that this became apparent in time to do something about it.

It isn't always easy to look at something through another's eyes, particularly when you are very close to the "something," which can be a situation, a thing or a person. Keep your eyes open and you might be surprised at what you see.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com

I will be signing copies of the audio version of A CORPSE IN THE SOUP in the USA Book News booth on Saturday, May 31 from 2:00-2:30.

                
For you funny mystery lovers out there who haven't discovered the Silver Sisters Mysteries yet, check out A CORPSE IN THE SOUP, the first book in the series. You can find it on Amazon in both audio and paperback. When a competing TV Chef is murdered during the "Greatest Gourmet Gladiators Tournament," Goldie and Godiva take the reader on a zany romp through Hollywood in search of the real killer and get some unwanted help from their eighty-year-old mother and uncle, former vaudeville magicians. Some of their plans backfire and they almost wind up in that soup pot in the sky.

And hold on to your hats. The second book, "Seven Deadly Samovars" is now in production for the audio book at Books in Motion. Goldie finally receives a missing shipment of samovars from Vladivostok and awful things begin to happen. This adventure takes twins Goldie and Godiva from Juneau, Alaska to Seattle and on to Los Angeles as they try to figure out why bumbling Russian thugs, the Dumkovsky brothers, have left a trail of murder and mayhem behind them. Look for release in late 2008.

That's all for today. I've been working on editing my recently finished stand-alone manuscript, "Death Takes a Curtain Call," a woman-in-jeopardy novel. Guess I'm tapped out and my eyes are crossing.

More about our family memories next time. As the old commedian said, "I've got a million of them."...stories, that is.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com 

Okay, so today I'm back to talking about my zany family. You see, it didn't stop with my mother's family. Phyllice and I were fortunate to have people with a wonderful sense of humor and charisma on both sides.

My paternal grandmother was a "whiz-bang" too. She was what would now be called a liberated woman. Picture an older woman in the 1950's traveling all over the country by herself, running a man's business and consorting with people of questionable political allegiances. Everyone in the family called her "the gyspy" and were sure she kept a packed suitcase by her front dooor. If you said "go," she was ready. Now add the element of a very fractured grasp of the English language.

She and my grandfather emigrated from Minsk, Russia somewhere slight after the turn of the century. She immediately taught herself English, but it was peppered with what we called Tobyisms.

Here's an example. My dad was driving along a country road in Indiana (they lived on a farm in Crawfordsville at the time) and all of a sudden she tugged at his sleeve and said they were coming to a new town and she wanted to stop. He looked around and didn't see anything that would support what she said.

"Ma, I don't see a sign for a new town. What are you talking about?"

She pointed to the sign directly in front of them, and in an exasperated tone said,"Are you blind, Al? Right there...Bridge Out."

Anyway, that was just the tip of the iceberg for Grandma Toby. I admired her spunk and wish I'd known her better. The last time I saw her I was nineteen and she came to my wedding. That was 1959 when traveling by air was still special. In fact people usually got all dressed up when they took a flight.

Unfortuantely there was an airline strike. She lived in Florida and I lived in California. She was pushing eighty at the time. Well, I was the first grandchild whose wedding she was able to attend, so she traveled crosscountry on the train by herself. When she arrived in California, totally exhausted,her comment was something like, "There wasn't a plane flying in the sky, so what's the big deal about taking the train. It only took a few days."

That's all for today.

This is just a short entry today. I was thinking that I've always known it's never too late to change direction. I've done it so many times in my life...recreated myself with new careers, self taught skills or any laundry list of things. When I looked at this photo from the author's panel I was on yesterday, it was yet another bit of proof that it's a valid philosophy.

About nine years ago (and, just so you know, I was definitely over fifty at the time) I decided to try my hand at writing fiction. I had written lots of magazine articles and non-fiction pieces, but never really tried fiction. Well, as they say, it ain't easy. The more I wrote, the more I realized that I had to learn this new type of writing. Look at the photo and you will see four books and one audio book. That doesn't count the Amazon Shorts I've written and other published stories.

I'm working on two novels on my own, a new Silver Sisters book, my sister and I just signed a contract for the audio book for the next Silver Sisters mystery, SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS.

Not bad, if I say so myself. So this is the message. Never tell yourself you can't do something until you are 100% certain that you can't. That doesn't mean make a stab at it and say, "Okay, I tried...can't do it." It means that if there is something you want, go for it and tell yourself that it is within your reach.

I never want to stop learning, and it doesn't matter how old I get. I'll always be looking for and trying the next thing.

Have a great day.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com

Today I appeared along with three other authors on a "What Makes a Chicken Soup Moment" panel in Las Vegas. All of us have at least one story in (or planned for) a book in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Along with three other authors, Darlien Breeze, Tena Thompson and Linda Lou, we talked about our stories and what the publishers call the "Chicken Soup Moment," happy to share our experiences with a wonderful audience.

If you read my post the other day, I said I was going to start telling stories about my mother's family. Maybe as I tell these stories, it will give you a sense of the type of family my sister Phyllice Bradner and I grew up in.

Well, back to the Chicken Soup panel. After the presentation, everyone had lunch, starting with chicken soup.

I got to thinking about my grandfather. (That's him in the picture at the top of this post along with my grandmother.) He died before I was born, but I am told that one of his greatest pleasures in life was a good bowl of soup. The problem was, the bowls weren't big enough for him. By the time my grandmother finished serving all of the ten children, his was gone and he was ready for a refill. "Oh," he used to say, "what I would give for a wonderful big soup bowl."

Back in the early twenties he loved to go shopping in an area of Chicago called Maxwell Street. It was almost the equivalent of some of our swap meets or flea markets. Pushcarts with every type of wares lined both sides of the street and items were always offered at great prices. He would grab a few of his children, hop on the streetcar and search out bargains.

Mom said one day when she was lucky enough to be one of the kids tagging along for the grand adventure, Grandpa spotted a bowl that he decided would be perfect for his soup. It was large enough to hold a double or triple portion, and thick enough to keep the heat in for a while. The entire inside of the bowl was decorated with beautiful handpainted flowers. He haggled the price, as people did on that street of bargains, and walked away with his prize.

"Matilda," he called out. I have the perfect bowl for my soup tonight. She filled it and he gobbled it down to the last drop. Mom said when he finished, he looked down at the bowl perplexed. He turned it and stared at it, set it down and called to my grandmother in Yiddish, "Matilda, where have the flowers gone?"

Truth of the matter was, they were just painted on the surface and the hot soup washed them away. He still loved his bowl, but now it was plain and boring. Beware of bargains!

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A Corpse in the Soup
Best Mystery Audio Book 2007 - USA Book News
Coming Soon in audio: Seven Deadly Samovars

In between all of the things I'm writing...all of those the balls in the air that I hope don't hit me on the head...is one called "Remembering Rosetta." I've decided I want to turn my mother's hand-written short memoir into a little book. Mom lived to be almost ninety-seven years old and she was what old timers would call a "lalapalooza." A really special lady. I've decided I want to share some of her stories here on Live Journal.

Fortunately my sister and I inherited her family's gene for looking younger than the chronological age. The photo we've used on our site, www.silversistersmysteries.com, (click the Oldsters tab) for Goldie and Godiva's mother Flossie is Mom when she was eighty-five. Check out the "family smile." Through the magic of Photoshop, we were able to use a photo of our grandfather(her father) for Uncle Sterling. He was in his sixties in that picture.

Born in 1909, Mom was the youngest of ten children in a fun-loving depression era family; seven boys and three girls. Many of the zany things that happen in our Silver Sisters Mysteries are inspired by that family. For those of you who read "A Corpse in the Soup" here's a little tidbit about our Uncle Sol. He's the reason we have such fun with the silly names. Mom talks about Sol in her hand written notes.

Uncle Sol was that little bit of sunshine every family hopes to be blessed with. He was the perennial teenager until he passed away close to his eightieth birthday. Sol always believed that there are names a family gives their children, and then there are the names anyone should be able use for them. Names inspired by something they like, something that strikes the name-giver funny, a food they like...anything but their given name. And of course this philosophy applied to his names for Mom, all of the family members, Uncle Sol's friends, kids, multiple wives and girlfriends. He was such a delight, they all went along with it.

Here's a little sample: As a child, Mom loved tapioca pudding and Uncle Sol decided that she loved it so much, it should be part of her name. He dubbed her "Tappy-Delia" and called her that as long as he lived. My Dad was renowned throughout the City of Chicago, as a genius when it came to fixing pinball machines and bowling games. In fact when we moved to California, he would get long distance calls describing problems and asking for solutions. Uncle Sol decided my Dad had no business being called Al. His name should be "The Professor."

When he was in his fifties, after divorcing his third wife, Sol started dating a woman who worked in a bakery where she sold huge quantities of bagles. That poor woman became "The Bagel Queen." Lord knows what made him call my Aunt Jean "Sister McGissle" but that was the name he liked for her.

Decades ago when I started playing around with my children's book, LaRue the Llama Helps His Mama, Uncle Sol chided me for using real words and real names. He said that wasn't what kids liked and urged me to make up my own words and names. Well, I didn't and LaRue never got published. Who knows, maybe Theodore Giesel (creator of Dr. Seuss) shared Uncle Sol's fondness for original words. Okay Uncle Sol, you were right. Phyllice and I have a ball cooking up crazy names for some of the people in our books.

That's it for today. Check back in a few days for another story from Rosetta's Rememberances.

Morgan St.James
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
Best Audio Book 2007 - USA Book News
Available in e-book, paperback, CD, cassette and MP3
SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS - Coming Late 2008 OR Early 2009 from
Books in Motion, Inc.

Take out my contact lenses. If I don't I can hardly open my eyes the next morning. I also love to read a few chapters of whatever book I'm reading. When my eyes won't stay open, and I've read the same thing over and over but don't remember a word, I know it's time to close up and go to sleep.

PHYLLICE AND I WILL BE ON DENNY GRIFFIN'S PODCAST ON TUESDAY, APRIL 29. IT IS LIVE AND THERE IS A CALL IN SEGMENT. HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dennisngriffin



We will be discussing "From Novice to Novelist," which is the workshop we presented at the 2007 Las Vegas Writers Conference. We will answer lots of the challenges that a new writer faces as well as ones that seasoned, published writers deal with.

We made plenty of faux pas until we were published and we will share some of the things that backfired and also the ones that worked.

Denny writes about the mob in Las Vegas and is very entertaining and a good moderator.

See you there.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com

Now that the manuscript for our new Silver Sisters mystery, SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS is finished it was time to update the trailer for A CORPSE IN THE SOUP. If it doesn't play the first time, CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON AGAIN!

I just received this information and wanted to share it.

We're having a great week at the Virtual Book Tour website and I'd like to extend an invitation to each person to visit us. We have three great authors touring this month and they have posted a wealth of information about their books. You will find book summaries, excerpts, information about how current events tie into their books, why they decided to write that particular book and much more.

For people who haven't heard of the Virtual Book Tour website - let me share a few details. Each month a variety of authors are featured on the site and they share all sorts of information about their books. The website is www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion. Each touring author has their own tour page and all information about their tour can be accessed from that page. This is the page for February - http://inspiredauthor.com/promotion/february-authors-2008.

Feature Authors for February 2008 -- Click for tour details

Earl Ofari Hutchinson - The Ethnic Presidency
www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Earl+Hutchinson+-+Feb+2008
Steven Clark Bradley - Nimrod Rising
www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/steven-clark-bradley-author-nimrod-rising
Virginia Vassallo - How The Stars and Stripes Began
www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/Virginia+Vassallo

We invite you to visit each author to learn more about their books.

The Ethnic Presidency by Earl Ofari Hutchinson - Who hasn't heard about the presidential primaries this week? In many of the news programs, one of the topics of conversation is the part that voters' race and gender will play in their vote. This is the topic of The Ethnic Presidency. Take a look at the part race plays for each and every candidate in 2008 and he provides many examples throughout the last century to show how race affects the elections. On Thursday February 7th, Mr Hutchinson is making a guest appearance on several different sites. You can visit him at any of these links -
http://philipharris.blogspot.com/2008/02/ethnic-presidency-how-race-decides-race.html, www.americanchronicle.com/articles/51521 and http://community.myfoxmaine.com/blogs/PhilipHarris

Nimrod Rising by Steven Clark Bradley - Nimrod Rising is a book about the history of life itself and the origin of evil. The story and the geographical and historical background, centered around current events, will cause readers to pose such profound questions as, Who are we? Where did we come from? What was here before us? Where are we going? Are there answers to the question of why the world faces its current condition today? Nimrod Rising offers "possible" answers to those questions. It will awake the imagination and the cause self perception as they read. I am convinced it will hold your attention to the very end.

How The Stars and Stripes Began by Virginia Vassallo - Have you heard of the military newspaper, the Stars and Stripes? Have you ever wondered how it was started and who was the driving force behind its birth? If so, you must visit with Virginia. Her grandfather, Guy T. Viskniskki, the dynamic first officer-in-charge and editor-in-chief of The Stars and Stripes newspaper. This book is partially based on his autobiographical notes, family history and military records.

Any questions, feel free to contact nikki_leigh22939@yahoo.com . You can also visit the website to learn more about book promotion. There are over 100 promotional articles and interviews posted at http://www.inspiredauthor.com/promotion/node/46.
Nikki Leigh
www.nikkileigh.com/promo.htm

Well, I finally got around to updating the trailer for A Corpse in the Soup...here it is. I figured now that we are finished with the manuscript for the second book, Seven Deadly Samovars, we really should have a current trailer for Corpse.

Spent lots of time yesterday reserching antique Russian samovars to come up with photos of seven outstanding ones for the pre publication trailer I'll be doing for Seven Deadly Samovars.

That said, here is the new Corpse trailer. You might have to click the PLAY ARROW TWICE.


Find more videos like this on BOOK PLACE

Last night I joined fellow Sisters in Crime member authors for a very lively panel discussing "How to Get Published" at the Redondo Beach Library in Southern California. We all had a very good time while sharing our experience with the audience.

Most of the people were interested in learning about agents, rejection and, of course, what it takes to get published.

Members participating in the panel were Sue Ann Jaffarian, Michael Mallory and Christa Faust. Our wonderful moderator was A. H. Ream. Many thanks to Kimberly Bishop of the Redondo Beach Library for organizing this event.

I love doing the panels on various subjects and look forward to doing many more. For anyone in the Las Vegas area, I'll be signing at Barnes and Nobel at Sunset and Stephanie in Henderson on February 23 from 10:00am-12:00pm. It is a Henderson Writers Group event featuring multiple authors all day long, so if you do drop in please mention the Henderson Writers Group.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com
A Corpse in the Soup
Best Audio Mystery Book - 2007 - USA Book News

As many of you know by now, I live in Las Vegas part time. I was listening to the news when I saw the video of the flames pouring out of the top floors of the Monte Carlo Hotel. Somehow, you never think of things like this really happening.

Oh sure, you see it in the movies and on TV all the time, and I've even been close to being evacuated for wild fires in California twice, and I was evacuated for a fire in Malibu once, and believe it or not we lived on the sand just steps from the ocean. Those were residential areas. A fire causing evacuation of all of the guests of a hotel like the Monte Carlo somehow seemed surreal.

Freeways and streets were closed and the locals simply used the alternate routes that we know. As a local, I find most of us avoid driving on the Strip if we don't have to. So, we know all of the "back routes."

But I think the most sobering thing was driving on the 15 Freeway the following day and realizing that the exterior damage was so clearly visible from the freeway and that it covered quite a wide span of the top of the hotel.

Whether it is made by man or nature, nothing is safe when fire starts to spread. Fortunately in this case it was contained quickly and from all reports the majority of the damage is exterior and will be fixed as quickly as the MGM people can.

In the case of a wild fire, like the Malibu fires, it takes a long time for the blackened trees and ground to sprout little shoots of green. While writing my Amazon Short "What Happened to Mandy Blake?", I conceived the idea for Justin to drive through Malibu Canyon as a form of relaxation, because I loved to do that. However, I couldn't help but think about how devastated that same canyon looked when I drove it after a fire. Still, everything seems to regenerate...vegetation comes back and people rebuild their homes. Life goes on.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistermysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP by Morgan st. James and Phyllice Bradner
Best Audio Mystery Book-2007 - USA Book News

PARTICIPATING IN THE NEVADA CAUCUS

Being a resident of Nevada, yesterday I was able to take part in the caucus. It was an interesting experience and neat to know it was the first time in history for Nevada, but with that said, I had very mixed emotions and so did a lot of the people at the regional location I attended.

TIME CONSUMING AND PROBABLY LIMITED WHO COULD VOTE

Between registration and the various procedures of the caucus, being a participant took over three hours on a Saturday. In my case, I make my own hours as an author, but if I was working on a regular job like I used to, those Saturdays are very precious. That didn't include any travel time to and from the site. Compared to voting in a primary, it was far more time consuming and probably excluded people who work on Saturday and couldn't take that much time off work.

In Las Vegas, since the prime industry is tourism, it meant many possible voters had to work. That is just part of it.

SECRET BALLOT vs STRUTTIN' YOUR STUFF

The second comment I have is that there is a big difference between a secret ballot and an open expression in the flesh. All of the "various camps" cluster under the sign of the candidate they support. In the case of just seeing which candidate people in the neighborhood support, that is one thing. But what about people who work with each other every day? There are a whole variety of opinions and some people get more involved and/or vindictive than others. The thought occurred to me that seeing who and how adamantly a co-worker supports an opposing candidate could affect how they interact in the future.

Okay so in my opinion those are two very important points to consider. That leads me to what actually happened and if it made any more difference than voting in a primary.

WHAT MAKES IT EFFECTIVE,OR IS IT?

HERE'S HOW IT WENT: First it took quite a long time to register; in my case about forty five minutes. Once registered, the participants were gathered in rooms by precinct. In my case there were too many for a single room, or even two rooms, so we were herded into the atrium of the school where we stood the whole time rather than sitting. No problem for me, but it was for some. Several people commented that it was a good thing it wasn't the day before, when it was very cold.

A POSITIVE POINT: Since you had to be a registered voter to participate, they were signing up several voters prior to them being able to participate. From a party aspect, you also had to be registered in that party.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: After everyone separated into the "camps" for the various candidates there was a count off. Everyone raised their hands and put them down as counted. A candidate needs a minimum of 29 votes to be viable and then it is figured in groups of 29. Again, by the time each camp counted off, a reasonable amount of time was consumed and there was a margin for error. Several people, including me, asked it it wouldn't have been more efficient to just have the people count off, instead of tabulating hands. Sort of a "sound off" 1..2..3... You get the picture. We were very close in the split for Obama and Hillary, with the undecided votes and other candidates very much in the minority. A few at best.

AFTER THE FIRST HAND COUNT: After that you have fifteen minutes for people in the various groups to mingle with each other and try to win voters over to their camp. In theory that sounds reasonable, but here's what really happened. Just about everyone stayed in their own groups chatting. The clock ticked. At the end of fifteen minutes, a few of the undecideds moved under a different sign while others stood where they were.

A MINOR DISPUTE: Three voters moved from Hillary to Obama, which set off an indignant response from one of the spokesmen for the Hillary group.

She said maybe the count was incorrect as there were more before. The chairman got insulted and felt he was being accused of biasing the vote and voiced that opinion. When that all finally settled down, three people admitted that they had changed candidates.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN MORE EFFECTIVE IN MY OPINION: Each group picking a few articulate people to represent each group and as they used to say in old Western movies, "speachify" to the other groups in an effort to change their minds. The way it went, people only talked to those of the same mind for the most part!

THE PAPER VOTE AND WHAT HAPPENED NEXT: Then we did the paper vote and that was tabulated. People who weren't with the candidates who prevailed...Obama and Hillary were the only "viable" ones with 29 votes or more...could either change to ones of those candidates or go home. One more count and it was over.

DID THIS MAKE SENSE?
Not to me. Maybe if we were still back in the days where no information was available other than by pony express or letters that took a very long time, or a bit later when people clustered around a radio, hoping they got the latest news, it might have been effective. But in this day and age with more media than most people would ever need or absorb...well, read the above and make your own decision. I think I would opt for the old fashioned primary.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com
A Corpse in the Soup
by, Morgan St. James and Phyllice Bradner
Best Audio Mystery Book -2007: USA BOOK NEWS

As you probably know by now, when my sister Phyllice Bradner and I created the Silver Sisters, we based their personalities somewhat upon our own. Therefore, Goldie is sort of like Phyllice who really did move to Alaska back in the days of hippies. At one point in her career she did own an antique shop in Juneau. Whereas I am what she calls a “fashionista”, Phyllice often dressed in layers of vintage clothes.

Fast forward. Phyllice moved from Alaska to Yamhill County in Oregon’s wine country a few years ago. This year she moved into a house right off the main business street in McMinnville. I arrived in Oregon yesterday and we are working on finishing the manuscript for SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS, the second book in our Silver Sisters series. So why do I say she has become Goldie?

Well if you’ve read A CORPSE IN THE SOUP, you know all about Goldie’s personality and that she keeps handwritten ledgers for her antique shop. Her office is in the back of the store, behind a curtain.

Phyllice has now opened the Katz and Dawgs Boutique in McMinnville at 605 NE 1st Street. One thing I saw when I arrived at her new shop, was that her office in the back was complete with handwritten ledgers. As I watched her sitting at her desk I thought of two differences between Phyllice and Goldie: For one thing, Phyllice and I are blondes, not silver-haired like Goldie and Godiva. The other thing is that Phyllice’s shop is filled with wonderful animal artifacts and accessories of all kinds instead of antiques. However, as she pointed out, there are some antiques, too. Phyllice has exhibited her whimsical cat and dog etchings in two art galleries for several years. Now you can also see some of her pieces by visiting the boutique. Outside of that, I swear my sister has become Goldie.

By the way, if you are anywhere near McMinnville, stop in and browse. You will probably find something just wonderful for yourself, your pet or for a unique gift. She is open Wednesday-Saturday. And, of course, she carries our paperback and audio books. She is happy to autograph your copy.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
Best Mystery Audio Book 2007 – USA BOOK NEWS

Okay, okay, I'm starting to calm down. Today I was cleaning out my e-mails (over 250 of them)and decided it would be easier if they were alphabetized.

Some months ago the audio version of 'A CORPSE IN THE SOUP' was entered in the USA Book News competition. I didn't hear anything by snail mail and assumed we just hadn't made it. FOLKS, CHECK YOU E-MAILS.

I saw one from USA Book News and figured either it was an advertisement or it was a courtesy e-mail to the authors who didn't make the cut. WRONG!!!

The first thing I saw was "Congratulations. You're a Winner." Upon following the link to their site, I discovered that we weren't a runner up or anything like that. A CORPSE IN THE SOUP was judged the Best Mystery Audio Book - 2007.

After I stopped jumping up and down, I immediately called my sister and co-author, Phyllice Bradner, with the good news. We knew that Stephanie Brush is a great reader, but WOW --- USA BOOK NEWS' 2007 MYSTERY AUDIO BOOK WINNER.

Guess we'll have to hurry up and finish the final chapters of our new Silver Sisters Mystery, SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS. We are in the final stretch, and I'll be in Oregon for a week in December so we can do an edit. Visit www.silversistersmysteries.com to read the first three chapters.

MORGAN

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted. I've been so busy with projects that I keep saying I'll post in the evening and never seem to get to it.

I have stories in upcoming anthologies in 2008: Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating People Making a Difference in the Lives of Others (Measuring Miracles in Leaps and Bounds); There is Life Over Fifty (If You Believe You Can Achieve); Writer's Bloc (Miracles Happen on Horseback); and a few that can't be mentioned yet.

The thing that's on my mind today is critiques. And, that doesn't necessarily apply only to writing. By the way, that's my British grandson Tex crying and he isn't even old enough to get a critique yet, unless it's about his ability to hit "high C". He just turned one year old last month.

Anyway, unless you're told that what you've done is the greatest thing since sliced bread, critiques can be helpful,upsetting,and sometimes cruel. Two factors apply...the person offering it and your attitude. We have a rule in my writer's group, Henderson Writer's Group - Las Vegas area - that is simple...NO BLOOD ON THE FLOOR! That means to be constructive but not mean when offering criticism of someone else's work. The object is to help improve it, not slam it.

I learned a long time ago to keep an open mind. If you don't want to know what's wrong, don't ask. Sometimes the other person's opinion is way off base, but once offered it'a yours to accept or deny.

In a former life, I was an interior designer specializing in model home projects. When I first chose that specialty, my partner and I would walk through the work of other designers and believe me, very often we were brutal. "Ugh. Look at that. Where did she get her degree...in a crap game?" or "Whatever possessed that designer to use something like that?" Of course, those designers never heard what we had to say. They were busy spending the design fee they earned for the homes, and we were just breaking into the field.

Then we learned the BIG LESSON. We learned to quit knocking it down before we did a little analysis. Sure something might not have been our particular taste, but why did the designer choose it? Why did the developer give it a stamp of approval? Why did the new homebuyer love it enough to buy the home? Once we opened up, we learned instead of trying to always be right instead of taking time to analyze what we were looking at.

When someone critiques your work, that's what you have to do...stay open. If it doesn't ring well, ask yourself if and why the person is qualified to offer the opinion. If the answer is positive, think about why they said that. And, if it isn't, you might also think about why they said it.

I think that is the best advice that I give new writers...and when I was designing, new designers. OPEN UP AND LISTEN. Then exercise your choice to accept or not accept. If you don't accept, make sure the reason wasn't because it hurt your feelings, or you wanted to be right. Life isn't always the way you want it to be, but in certain areas, you do have choices. You definitely need to recognize bad advice. One agent told us our Silver Sisters were too silly and over the top. That is just sort of summing up the actual laundry list of things the agent suggested we change.

The qualifer there was that the agent took a long time to answer us and A CORPSE IN THE SOUP was already in print by the time we received the letter and had garnered many favorable reviews. Every review pointed to exactly the things the agent pointed out. Comments from readers were also about those things. The difference was, everyone commented because they loved the wisecracking sisters, the over the top names and the backfiring schemes that unfolded until the killer was discovered.

Enough pontificating for today. I'll be back blogging in between writing several short stories, working on a new novel I'm writing with a former colleague, finishing the second Silver Sister's novel (SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS)and editing my mother's memoirs. The good news is that Phyllice and I are almost through with the first draft of SAMOVARS. We are targeting having it ready for publication in early 2008. Oh yeah. i'm also still editing a book that I wrote nine years ago. Not to worry. That edit's been going for for over a year now. Maybe some day I'll finish it.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com
(this is the new website I'm building. Check it out. Besides writing, I collect pigs and I'm slowly but surely posting a gallery of my "piggery". I have over 200 pigs with personality, from ceramic to stuffed, to wood, silver, onyx, etc., and the collection keeps growing.