My story, "Saying Goodbye to Miss Molly," will be part of a new anthology entitled, "The World Outside the Window."

Before I say any more, the release will be in January 2009, but it's available for pre-sale now. Here's the link for all of the information -

http://www.rjbuckleypublishing.com/amazonanthology.html

This is a boook that started with an idea from one Amazon Shorts writer, Lana M. Ho-Shing, who was joined by E. Don Harpe. Don ran with the ball so to speak and before you knew it, Lana and Don recruited seventeen other authors of Amazon Shorts to contribute a story. I was fortunate to be one of this great group of writers.

We were given several things that could be used in our stories, but we could write in any genere we wanted to as long as the guidelines were adhered to. The result - a unique collection of short stories ranging from sci fi to romance to mystery. You name it. There is even one where the window was in an office building in the Twin Towers on 911.

I thought I was going to write a mystery, but all of a sudden as I sat at the computer, Miss Molly popped into my head. I wrote and wrote as though she was dictating her story and the result was a sweet story about an old woman in her nineties recalling the love of her youth.

As of January The World Outside the Window will be available on Amazon and in many bookstores across the country. If they don't carry it, you'll be able to order it. For now, if you want to be one of the first to have a copy please visit the RJ Buckley Publishing site above.

Our publisher, Rebecca Buckley, took the book on its final journey from manuscript to publication. There is something for everyone in The World Outside The Window.

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

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

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 recently checked the customer review section on Amazon to see what, if anything people were saying about this inspirational short story. I am so thrilled to see several five star reviews. Please visit Amazon, search for this Amazon Short and scroll down to read the reviews.

Some were actually posted by current or former students or their parents who were helped by the fantastic couple, found the story and read it. If you are intrigued, please spend the 49 cents to read more about them and if you do, PLEASE POST A CUSTOMER REVIEW.

I am in the process of accumulating data that will be presented to a publisher who has expressed interest in perhaps doing a full length biography of Rick Hawthorne including dramatic vaulting pictures. Every positive review strengthens the possiblity of this happening.

I have known the Hawthornes for about twelve years now and I've been writing about them for almost as long. I must say that just knowing them has radically changed the way my husband and I look at life and people less fortunate than we are.


They are two of my favorite people and early on I set a mission for myself to make others around the country, and even around the world, aware of the wonderful work they do through writing about them. There will be more on the Hawthornes soon and when it is official I'll post the name of the books that will include more short stories about them.


Please tell your friends about "Miracles". It is such an uplifting story in a world filled with hate and war.


MORGAN

Have you had time to check out this Amazon Short? Coach Rick Hawthorne, the one armed athlete you see working with a fellow who has Cerebral Palsy, and his wife were my houseguests in Las Vegas this weekend. They never cease to amaze and inspire me.

Either go to Amazon and plug in the title, or visit www.silversistersmysteries.com and click on Morgan's page for the link to it on Amazon

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

I was thrilled to see my Amazon Short, "Miracles Happen on Horseback" on the Amazon website today. I think this is actually ahead of the curve since when I search Amazon Shorts it does not come up yet. However, a regular Amazon title search will bring up the page and it will also come up by searching my name.

If you are not familiar with Amazon Shorts, they are short stories only available as an electronic download. The cost is very modest...only 49 cents each. This is the true story of one of the most amazing couples I have ever met and only a few of the "miracles" they have caused to happen.

For a story that will touch your heart, visit Amazon and check it out.

I am currently working on a proposal for a full length book about the Hawthornes and some of the funny, inspirational and touching stories from a sampling of their students over the twenty seven years Valley View Vaulters has been in existance. You may also visit their website, www.valleyviewvaulters.com.

Miracles Happen on Horseback is like the Bad News Bears on Horseback.

MORGAN ST. JAMES
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
MIRACLES HAPPEN ON HORSEBACK
SHOPPING FOR DANCING SHOES (Chicken Soup for the Shoppers Soul)