Look for the second Silver Sisters comical crime caper, SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS, to be released in early September by L&L Dreamspell. It will be available in every format from paperback, Kindle and e-book to CD and MP3 from Books in Motion.

Here's something cool. The audio books are out already, so if you want to preview, you can go to Barnes & Nobel's website and search either A CORPSE IN THE SOUP or SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS. Then click on the audio clip link and listen to a bit of either book.

My sister Phyllice and I are about half-way through the first draft of VANISHING ACT IN VEGAS, and the whole quirky group...twins Goldie and Godiva and eighty-year-old Flossie and Sterling really get into trouble this time. We're having a barrel of fun writing it and I even got to go backstage at a major magic show on the Strip to research one scene. That is a definite advantage to living part time in Las Vegas.

Although, my air conditioning went out the other day, and with the temp at about 105, I would have been a lot more comfortable at my other residence in California...five blocks from Venice Beach!

Still, I love Las Vegas, and if I had to choose between the two, Las Vegas would take it hands down.

Now all I need is for the air conditioning repair service to send someone who knows what they're doing. I've already had three ill-fated service calls.

Hot under the collar...

MORGAN
www.silversistersmysteries.com

At the beginning of the week, we received our author copies of the newly re-issued A CORPSE IN THE SOUP from our new publishers, L&L DREAMSPELL. It isn't up on Amazon yet, but can be purchased directly from the publisher. It will be on Amazon as soon as they load it.

http://www.lldreamspell.com/ACorpseintheSoup.htm


Then at the end of the week, our new SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS audio book was released by Books in Motion, Inc. A comical new Silver Sisters crime caper. Same thing as A CORPSE IN THE SOUP. It isn't up on Amazon yet, but can be purchased from the publisher directly. It will be on Amazon soon.

http://www.booksinmotion.com/SEVEN_DEADLY_SAMOVARS_By_ST_JAMES_AND_BRADNER_p/-978-1-60548-290-3.htm



Phyllice and I are still walking on air!

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com

Everything has been moving at a whirlwind pace, but it's time to take a deep breath, smell the coffee and do a little catch-up.

I'm always balancing so many balls in the air, I know one day one of them will probably hit me on the head! The wonderful Amazon Shorts Authors anthology, THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE WINDOW, was released last month and is doing very well. If you haven't already gotten your copy, you should. I was privileged to be one of nineteen authors whose stories were chosen for this eclectic collection of short stories. Everyone sees the same thing, but when the author's imagination steps in, the result is nineteen unique stories and a multitude of places, times and genres.

On March 14, our new publisher L&L Dreamspell will be releasing the new edition of our award-winning Silver Sisters adventure, A CORPSE IN THE SOUP, this time with a cover that says, "FUNNY BOOK!" It will also feature an excerpt from the second Silver Sisters comical crime caper, SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS, due for release this summer in all formats including paperback, audio and electronic. Work is progressing on the third book in the series, VANISHING ACT IN VEGAS.

As always, I'm also working on three other books, two with collaborators and one on my own.

Here was the high point of my day yesterday. I received a call in the morning from a woman who was the organizer of a party I'd attended. Their organization is going to sponsor a launch party of SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS after it is released. She was speaking to the restaurant manager about the possibility of having it there, when apparently our waitress overheard the conversation. According to the woman who called me to tell me the story, it went something like this: "Morgan St. James? You mean, the author Morgan St. James was here? I've read her Chicken Soup for the Soul stories and they really touched me. Helped me though some rough times. I wish I'd known she was here." Of course, the woman got her phone number, and I left her a nice message.

It is so gratifying to know that your stories mean something when that very something might be what gets them through the day. I always get comments on how the Silver Sisters mysteries make people laugh, and how much they love the characters. A few people have told me they feel like they'd love to sit down and visit with Goldie and Godiva, our twin protagonists who are as different as Goodwill and Gucci, or with Flossie and Sterling, their eighty-year-old mother and uncle who are former vaudeville magicians.

But then there are the people who tell me, for example, that "Shopping for Dancing Shoes," in Chicken Soup for the Shopper's Soul made them cry because it could have been their parent, or the inspiration they received from "Measuring Miracles by Leaps and Bounds," in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating People Who Make a Difference. Those are the comments that inspire me to write more stories that are true in addition to the fiction I enjoy so much.

For a true, VERY FUNNY STORY that couldn't have been filled with any more laughs if it was fiction, check out my Amazon Short, THE SECOND TIME AROUND. There are lots of books with that title (should have checked before I chose it) so you'll have to search for mine. I've included the cover to make it easire to find.
Keep checking back. You can always send me comments on write2morgan@aol.com.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjame-author.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
Best Mystery Audio Book 2007-USA Book News

It's always exciting to me when I know that the release of a new book isn't far off. So I'm doubly excited right now. First of all, I got the word that the second Silver Sisters Mystery, SEVEN DEADY SAMOVARS, is now with the narrator, so the audio book should be released in the first quarter of 2009 as planned. If you read A CORPSE IN THE SOUP, you know all about our zany Silver Sisters and their equally zany mom and uncle. If not, rather than elaborating here, I invite you to visit either of my websites. www.silversistersmysteries.com or www.morganstjames-author.com. Our books are stand-alone although they're a series, but it would be fun to read A CORPSE IN THE SOUP before SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS is released. You can also check your library. Several across the US have the book in their collection - generally the MP3, but also paperbacks and CDs. If you want to see if they'll order it, use the ISBN numbers on the Silver Sisters site.

Hey, live dangerously. Visit both websites! They are packed with information about our books and my real life sister and co-author Phyllice Bradner, and of course, lots about me and what I'm doing. On the Silver Sisters site, you'll find a PDF of Chapter 1 of A Corpse in the Soup, an interview with the twins' 80 year old mother, an audio clip from the award winning audio book, reviews and lots more. So, drop by.

A very sweet short story I wrote, entitled SAYING GOODBYE TO MISS MOLLY, will be part of a wonderful anthology of short stories in all genres that have common threads. THE WORLD OUTSIDE THE WINDOW. This unique collection was written by 19 authors who are part of the Amazon Shorts books. We all have at least one story on Amazon Shorts. This book was the dream of one of the authors, more picked up the ball, a publisher hopped on board and when it comes out, it will represent authors all over the country who didn't know each other and pulled together a fantastic book. Again, the link is on our website.

Last but not least, we are clicking along writing the third Silver Sisters book, VANISHING ACT IN VEGAS, and I love being back in the swing of writing with Phylllice again. We have so much fun as sisters when we create the adventures and characters that our phone conversations go on for hours. After all, I live in L.A. and Las Vegas and she lives in Oregon.

Cheers. Think about giving someone who loves funny mysteries A CORPSE IN THE SOUP for Christmas. If you have a friend or relative who is sight impaired, the audio book is perfect.

As Thanksgiving draws closer, I realize that for the very first time none of my children (adults now) will be at the dinner. In fact, this year we will have the smallest dinner we've ever had -- only eight to ten people.

I was extremely fortunate to grow up in a large loving extended family, and even when we only seemed to get together on holidays, there was always a rollicking good time. Some of those memories have inspired scenes in the Silver Sisters Mysteries that I write with my sister Phyllice Bradner.

Years ago, a typical holiday dinner was at least twenty-five people, often more. As a child in Chicago, where the majority of my mother's large family lived, the numbers could hit forty or fifty. Imagine that.

This year, my youngest son has moved to New Jersey with his new wife, my oldest son has moved to Australia with his wife and my daughter, her husband and two grandchildren live in England. Only my grandaughter lives in accessible distance now, and I don't see her as often as I would like to.

Our Thanksgiving dinner this year will consist of two cousins and their spouses as well as two of their offspring. There is a possibility of a second cousin and her son which would bring the number to ten. That doesn't dampen the spirit of the day, and I certainly want to take this space to do exactly that: GIVE THANKS.

I am grateful to have a loving family and a husband who understands me and encourages me every step of the way. I am grateful for three beautiful grandchildren, three wonderful children and their spouses. I've had an amazing life, with more ups than downs and terrific life experiences to draw upon in my writing. I've traveled nationally and internationally, met people of all faiths, ethnicities and been fortunate to experience their lifestyles in some instances.

For example, about ten years ago my husband and I traveled to Morocco. Our guide invited us to his home for a Moroccan-style meal and to meet his family. We had a wonderful time, ate with our fingers and stayed in touch with the family for years. The point is that because my husband and I are the type of people who want to learn about others, we share our customs and beliefs when asked, but don't expect everyone to be just like us. I am grateful that we have never stopped learning.

I am grateful for the bond that has grown between my sister Phyllice and me. We were sisters who barely knew each other because she moved to Alaska when she was only twenty and remained there most of her adult life. Our dear mother was our conduit. (She lived to be almost ninety-seven, and is the subject of "Shopping for Dancing Shoes," my story in "Chicken Soup for the Shopper's Soul") Phyllice and I rarely actually spoke to each other.

So, I am grateful that we found our common bond when we started writing together. We've developed a very fun series of mysteries in the Silver Sisters, were fortunate enough to have A CORPSE IN THE SOUP named Best Mystery Audio Book of 2007 by USA Book News, look forward to the release of SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS next year and are busy at work on VANISHING ACT IN VEGAS. But what does this series really mean to us?

It means that we are reliving so many pleasant childhood memories in the characters that we pluck from family events, recreate attributes of friends and people we've met along the way in other characters, share some of our multitude of life experiences in situations we create and through all of this have become the closest set of sisters you could want to find. We've discovered that we love each other very much, and now that Mom has left us and is no longer our conduit, we are so grateful to have each other and a way that we can laugh together, share so much and treasure each other even though we live in different states.

This is a long post and I haven't even scratched the surface of the things I remember as Thanksgiving approaches. I know that life is not as good as mine is for so many people, and that said, I am also grateful that late in my life I learned to listen, reach out and try to make things better for many. That was due to meeting Rick and Virginia Hawthorne, the wonderful couple about twelve years ago who became the subjects of my Amazon Short, "Miracles Happen on Horseback," and "Measuring Miracles By Leaps and Bounds," in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating People Who Make a Difference.

Prior to meeting this couple, whose love for everyone radiates like a brilliant beam of sunshine and touches whoever they meet, I might not have written some of the things I just have. I was far more self-centered and more about me --- sort of like the Godiva character in the Silver Sisters, but not quite that selfish. (That's why I know what she thinks and how she'll act.) I quickly discovered that Rick and Virgina exist to help others, to give handicapped children and young adults a better quality of life and never think of what they need themselves.

So as a final line, I am grateful to have met and written about Rick and Virginia Hawthorne. Read "Miracles Happen on Horseback," and check out their website, www.valleyviewvaulters.com

I realize today that I could probably write a short book about everything that has happened to me in my life, good and bad, and why I'm grateful it all turned out like it did. Fortunately as I said, my good experiences have outweighed the bad and the disasterous (and there were some real humdingers in that department.) I've always considered myself to be like those blow up clowns with the weighted bottoms. Knock them down and they only pop back stronger.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Give thanks for what you do have, don't dwell on what you don't have or current problems if that's possible, and I know from experience, sometimes it isn't possible. Sometimes it seems like you've been dealt a really dirty blow, and you have, but for at least one day try to enjoy what's positive in your life.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
www.morganstjames-author.com
SILVER SISTERS MYSTERIES
Available on Amazon or click links on our website

Here we are at November 5 already with a new President-Elect who will live in the pages of history way beyond the term of his presidency. Congratulations to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

I confess. I was an ardent Obama supporter and my husband and I even became part of an amazing on-line photographic gallery by fantastic Photographer Maarten De Boer entitled "I Am Obama." We are currently number 60, 61 and 62 of 500 black and white photographs of the diverse demographic that composed the Obama voter base.

http://www.maartendeboerphotography.com/iamobama

During the campaign I became a political junkie, addicted to watching MSNBC, CNN and posting on blogs all over the web. Everywhere, it seems now, but on Live Journal. So, now I'm back to my Live Journal and have found, because of all of the posts I did on other sites during the campaign, that I really love doing somewhat irreverent commentary on a variety of subjects. Who knows, maybe someday I'll pitch doing a column along with writing fiction. Anyway, that's the new face for my Live Journal page. Sharing commentary on anything that pops into my head.

I finally finished my manuscript for DANCING WITH FATE, a touching story of perserverence, survival and retribution when seventeen-year-old Sandra Barton is kidnapped, raped and left for dead. I'm currently am looking for an agent and publisher for it.

SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS, the second Silver Sisters Mysteries book is in production and we look forward to release in first quarter 2009, I've gone back to working on my government fiasco Nine-to-Five meets The First Wives Club style comedic novel with my co-author. Both of us lived through a government scam/fiasco that was just too good to pass up. It was the inspiration for WELCOME TO PARADISE. By the way, in the book Paradise will be a Federal Prison. Hah. Not quite Paradise I would say.

Anyway, keep coming back to check this out because I promise my blog will be filled with fun stuff. As for me today, I'm just gonna kick back and recover from overdosing on politics.

Remember you can read or listen to A CORPSE IN THE SOUP, the award-winning first Silver Sisters book co-authored with my sister, Phyllice Bradner. Or you can read my stories in Chicken Soup for the Shopper's Soul, Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrating People Who Make a Difference, and Writers Bloc II. For a quick fix, try an Amazon Short for only 49 cents. You can choose from The Second Time Around, Miracles Happen on Horseback, What Happened to Mandy Blake or Eight Surefire Ways to Tell a Jewish Mother. All available on Amazon.

See you 'round the corner.

MORGAN

Okay, there's lots of hype about Alaska right now. Some of the references to small town and unusual attitudes is right on. My sister and co-author of the Silver Sisters Mysteries, Phyllice Bradner was a resident of Alaska (both Anchorage and Juneau) for over thirty years, married into a political family and was a political print specialist who worked on campaigns of governors, senators and state financial reports. She has received four Alaska Press Club awards. So she knows a little something about Alaska.

For those of you not familiar with the Silver Sisters Mysteries, they are a comedic crime series featuring identical Baby Boomer twins Goldie and Godiva. Goldie is an aging hippie who owns an antique shop in Juneau and Godiva is a spoiled Beverly Hills widow who writes a syndicated advice column. These wisecracking twins have help from feisty elder-sleuths Flossie and Sterling Silver, their eighty-year-old mother and uncle who are former vaudeville magicians.

Although A CORPSE IN THE SOUP touches on some scenes in Alaska, most of the action taking place in California. The twins and their sidekicks lead the reader on a zany chase from Hollywood to South Bay in search of the real killer. The audio book was named Best Mystery Audio Book 2007 by USA Book News.

The next book, SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS, currently in production, takes place largely in Juneau, Alaska, with lots of authentic-style local color provided by Phyllice. Characters like Taku Ted and Ollie Oliver are reminiscent of people Phyllice knew while she lived there. Look for colorful descriptions of local attractions and customs as well, when Goldie receives the wrong shipment of samovars from Vladivostok (yes, from Russia in close proximity to Alaska) and a spree of murder and mayhem finds the sisters tracking bumbling but vicious Russian thugs.

Visit our website www.silversistersmysteries.com to find out more and for links to purchase A Corpse in the Soup. Seven Deadly Samovars will be out late this year or early next year. Watch for it.

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

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

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

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

I love writing the Silver Sisters Mysteries with my sister, Phyllice Bradner, and I'm delighted to say we are finally back on track and past the half way mark in the first draft manuscript for the new one, SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS.

We are shooting for a finished (first draft at least) by the end of the year and plan for it to be published in both paperback and audio. Most likely e-book as well. This time the sisters will take you on a merry chase from Juneau, Alaska to Seattle where their 80 year old mother and uncle perform their magic act at the Icons of Illusion banquet and awards show. Leaving a few bodies along the way, then it's on to L.A.


However, as Phyllice says, I'm the A-type and she's the C-type so I usually get way ahead of her and that's what has happened now. I write the initial chapters, Phyllis edits and she adds more pizzazz and then I review her edits and we review it again together. We will meet in Oregon for a week long editing session toward the end of September if all goes well.


In between, I've been writing short stories that have been published by Amazon Shorts. I love writing short stories, because being the A-type personality that I am, they go very fast for me and offer instant gratification as opposed to spending a year or more writing and tuning a novel.


Currently published are Miracles Happen on Horseback, the true story about an amazing couple I know who have helped over two thousand disabled children and young adults to have a better quality of life.


One of the new ones, What Happened to Mandy Blake? is a short story about a woman's diabolical plot for revenge when she is betrayed in the worst way by her lover.


The other new one, The Second Time Around, is the true story of what happened when Lillian decided to look up her first husband thirty-six years after their divorce and the hilarious events that followed. It sounds like fiction, but quite frankly, I don't think I could have dreamed up some of the things that actually happened. It's all true and a very fun read. A different version of this story won recognition in the Writer's Digest Short Story Contest a few years back.


I submitted another story to Amazon this week, and when it comes out I'll do a post about it. Till then, it's under wraps.


I also wrote the first story in Chicken Soup for the Shopper's Soul and will find out soon whether they've taken another story I wrote about Rick and Virginia Hawthorne, the people in Miracles Happen on Horseback, for a new Chicken Soup book.


As if that's not enough, I'm also working on a book with a friend who lives in the Seattle area. We like to describe it as First Wives Club meets Nine to Five. The working title is Welcome to Paradise. Not what you think. Paradise is a fictional federal prison.

Unfortunately, the tension filled novel I've been working on for nine years now, Deadly Dance, is on the back burner again. It is a very emotional story based upon some true events, and I can only write so much of it at a time. I'll pick it up again in a few months. For now, I'm working on the funny ones.


And, last but not least, I've resurrected an illustrated children's book that I wrote when my kids were little. Can you believe it? LA RUE THE LLAMA HELPS HIS MAMA. I'm almost done revising it thanks to the wonder of computers. I can't believe that I did all of the drawings. I'll post the cover soon.


I hope to have enough short stories published some day to put together a full anthology. I guess that's an ambition that comes from having started out writing magazine articles.


Whew! I wore myself out just relaying what I'm doing. Remember, A Corpse in the Soup will keep you guessing who the real killer is right till the end. With five formats to choose from, I hope you check it out. The paperback and audio cd's are available on Amazon. You can also order e-books from www.wingse-press.com and the cassette or MP3 download from www.booksinmotion.com.


MORGAN
www.silversistersmysteries.com

I've been in my house in Las Vegas for the last week. That is where I write, go to meetings of Henderson Writer's Group and am able to work without interruption. Believe it or not, Las Vegas is a real city beyond the strip. I live in a very quite community in the southwest part of town about twenty minutes drive from the strip. It is a wonderfully creative place to be and best of all I don't have to deal with traffic if I choose not to. Very different from L.A.


I've been working on several things, but mostly moving forward on SEVEN DEADLY SAMOVARS, the second book in the Silver Sisters series. For those of you who haven't read about how Phyllice and I write together, being in two different states, this past week we had some marathon telephone creative/editing sessions and e-mails continued to fly back and forth. We are making good progress and this one promises to be just as much fun as A Corpse in the Soup. If you don't know what a samovar is, it's a Russian tea server. Just Google samovar on the web and you'll get more information about samovars than you ever wanted to know.


We are also finishing up the information for a new interview for A Voice in the Dark newsletter (on line). It will include one fun thing...an interview with former vaudeville magician, eighty-year-old Flossie Silver...the twins mother. It will most likely post in July. More updates later.


I've also been working on DEADLY DANCE, the first novel I ever tried to write about nine years ago. As I transitioned from only writing magazine articles to short stories and novels, this manuscript sat on the shelf, unpublished. Last year I realized what had to be done and started a major edit. Some of the opening chapters have been posted on urbis.com.


I get very emotionally attached to it now because one of the changes was to take it from third person to first person real time from the point of view of the main characters. As I write, in my mind I become each of the characters so I know what they are thinking and how they feel.


The story is about Sandra Barton, and starts when she is only seventeen. Sandra was destined to be a prima ballerina, but destiny gets derailed and her world comes crashing down around her. Sandra nearly loses her life and her struggle back is a series of triumphs and tragedies. While it is a work of fiction, it was inspired by true incidents that happened in the mid 1950's. I call it a woman-in-jeopardy/ romance/murder novel and I'm a little more than half way through it.


I've also written some new short stories that I've submitted to Amazon Shorts. My story, "Miracles Happen on Horseback" was released as an Amazon Short on April 13, 2007.


Well back to the computer keys on this Memorial Day. May our wishes bring the brave members of the military back to us.


MORGAN

One of the greatest feelings is when you have given a workshop and afterwards people go up to the conference coordinator and tell him how much they enjoyed it and how much they learned. We presented "From Novice to Novelist...Good Critiques Can Be Valuable"

When Phyllice and I speak as a team, "enjoy" is automatic. It is what we want people to do, and we've been told we'd be a great comedy team. That's what comes of growing up in a zany family and inheriting the family sense of humor.

So the really great part is that we were able and help and inspire people and they made it a point to tell others that we did that. I love it. I also love being able to do the tag team thing with Phyllice because it is so rare that we are in the same town. I look forward to more of this.

We also had the pleasure of being mystery panel mates with Tom Sawyer, the writer for Murder She Wrote in the afternoon. He's a great guy so we all had a ball and so did the attendees.

Well, I'm pooped. Its been a long day, so I'm signing off now.

MORGAN ST JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
Available in paperback, e-book, CD and cassette

AUDIO BOOK IS NOW RELEASED.

Yesterday I received a shipment of advance promotional copies of the audio book version of A CORPSE IN THE SOUP from the publisher, Books in Motion. What a rush! It was exciting when we received the first shipment of paperbacks in September, but getting copies of the new audio book was wonderful.

I know its hard to see this but you can see a larger version on our website, www.silversistersmysteries.com.

I have not figured out why it always takes longer for shipments from our publishers to arrive in Las Vegas than in the small town of McMinnville Oregon where my sister and co-author Phyllice Bradner lives, but it has happened every time! She got hers on Friday and called me with more excitement in her voice than I have heard since her husband died unexpectedly in November. She even tried to play disc one for me over the phone, but it was impossible to hear it.

So yesterday when the big box of audio books arrived, I couldn't wait to pop the first disc into the CD player in my car. I'm thrilled at the great job the reader, Stephanie Brush, did. Everyone has now come to life in the best way. Even Waldo the Wonder Dog who helps the Silver Sisters eighty year old mother and uncle, former vaudeville magicians, when they perform their magic act at the Home for Hollywood Has Beens.

You see, Waldo was based upon Puck, a great dog who owned Phyllice for many of the years she lived in Alaska. I know it sounds goofy, but Puck did talk and we have a Christmas video tape as proof. You can clearly understand it when he whines, "Helllooo", "Wheere weeree youuuu?" and "I loooove youuu." So we decided to have Waldo talk...sort of. Stephanie has done a wonderful job with Waldo and all of our other zany characters. Even though I co-authored this madcap mystery, I found myself laughing along.

I'm an A-type fast track person so I don't have the same patience Phyllice does with tiny details. Phyllice is the consumate editor and that is why we make a great writing team. I frame out each of the chapters as we write, and e-mail them to Phyllice. The minute she gets one, she feels compelled to edit and put those small flourishes in that make it so special. The stories and books I write by myself are a little different style than the Silver Sisters Mysteries. I am told I have a wonderful sense of humor and it comes through in my writing, but Phyllice tops me by a mile.

We grew up in a very fun loving family, so zany humor is a requirement in our lives. Many of our characters are based on family members or people we have known through the years. Through writing the Silver Sisters Mystery Series together we have transitioned from being sisters to being best friends. Our mother and aunt were best friends all of their lives. We were late bloomers in that department, but now say we are in the process of becoming Rosetta and Edna. And believe me, that is a very good thing.

MORGAN ST. JAMES

www.silversistersmysteries.com

By the way, those introductory promotional copies Books in Motion sent us are available on our website at a special price of $17.95 instead of the normal $23.99 for as long as they last. Look for the Pay Pal button for audio book on our home page.

Today I was on a writer's panel at the Clark County Library in Las Vegas. I presented a mini-version of the workshop Phyllice and I will be giving at the Las Vegas Writer's Conference, "From Novice to Novelist...Good Critiques are Valuable."

About fifty people attended and the entire audience was very engrossed in the talks given by the three panelists. In addition to mine, Jo Wilkins talked about the importance of belonging to writer's groups and Gregory Kompes discussed how to get the most out of attending conferences.

As I was speaking, I realized that a good portion of my advice not only applies to writing but many life experiences in general. For example, I urged people to check their defenses at the door when receiving critiques. Open up and listen to what people are actually telling you. Then analyze what was said and decide which advice is valid and which you choose not to follow.

Does that only have to do with writing? No. If you stop trying to defend what you have done, created, said, etc. and listen to the opinions being offered you might gain some valuable insight. Think about American Idol and the contestants who receive and apply the valid critiques of the judges, and those who stand there qualifying what they have done rather than trying to figure out if this advice will be helpful in their careers. Multiply that by the things you do, say and hear every day and you will see how powerful this is to your life experiences.

Smart people listen. You can never learn enough.

Anyway, after the presentation a man and his young daughter came up to me. The daughter, a young teen, is interested in writing and told her father she hoped I would take the time to talk to her. I was delighted to do so and we spent about ten minutes talking about writing and other things. She was excited, and I loved seeing the light in her eyes. I gave her some advice as well as sharing some of my experiences along the road to becoming a writer and a novelist. She made my day!

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www. silversistersmysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
A zany romp through the world of TV chefs in search of a killer.

Check our website. The audio book is out now and we have a limited number available at a very special price only on our website. $17.95 instead of the normal $23.95.

DEADLY DANCE is a book that I started so many years ago we didn't even have e-mail. I think it's been at least nine years since it was first conceived as Dance with the Devil. The biggest problem with the first, second and third version was that at that time I didn't know how to write fiction. Wow, have I learned a lot.

I was a magazine article writer who thought that in order to have a good novel it had to be long. I also thought that a writer is a writer is a writer... That first manuscript was 750 manuscript pages. My goal now is to cut it to about 400 or 450 pages maximum. 350 would be even better, but I'm not sure I can do that without sacrificing anything relative to the story. My sister Phyllice Bradner and I learned so much writing the Silver Sisters Mysteries, that we are giving a workshop called "From Novice to Novelist" at the Las Vegas Writer's Conference in April.

For the Silver Sisters, we created Goldie Olivia DuBois, an advice columnist from Beverly Hills and Goldie Silver, an antique dealer from Juneau Alaska, identical twins with a nose for sleuthing. They are helped by their 80 year old mother and uncle, former vaudeville magicians, who love to dress in costumes and go undercover. After four rewrites, we had A CORPSE IN THE SOUP, now available in paperback and e-book, and it will be released as an audio book in April by Books in Motion.

I realized that I was ready to rewrite Deadly Dance yet another time because now I know all about things like point-of-view, tightening my writing and adding tension. Back then I didn't have a clue.

I feel myself sucked into working with "Dance" instead of other projects. I really want to finish it this time. I changed from using a third person narrative and telling the story in "what happened before" to first person telling it in real time. It really makes a difference and the story has gotten very powerful. There are still various characters who tell bits of the story from their point of view, but as I'm writing, I am each of those people. I guess that's why I'm so hooked. While writing one scene featuring the main character, Sandra Barton, a young ballerina who is kidnapped, raped, beaten and left for dead, I actually found myself crying as I wrote. I have been having chapters critiqued as I write and so far I have gotten lots of good suggestions, no negative comments yet and lots of praise from other writers. People say they want to keep reading more to find out what happens to her and that the scenes are very believable.

This book was inspired by some real incidents that happened back in the late 1950's. Parts of it may not have been 100% accurate because I learned about these incidents from letters to my mother written by the mother of the girl these things happened to, and she did tend to get facts mixed up sometimes. But I know for sure enough of it happened. I wanted to write this story for years and finally started it in the 90's. Her horrible experiences made a great starting point to create a story of mystery and romance.

This IS NOT A TRUE STORY. It is definitely fiction with some incidents based on what really did happen but the rest is pure fiction. I have posted parts of it on www.urbis.com, but I'm not taking reviews through urbis at this time. If you do read any of it and want to comment, please e-mail me at silversistersmysteries@yahoo.com.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
A zany romp through the glitzy world of TV Chefs
in search of a killer. Some of them will do anything
to win the Greatest Gourmet Gladiator medal...maybe even MURDER!