Kevin Janison has got to be one of our happiest authors. He loves getting kids excited about reading and writing and they love his zany Deputy Dorkface, star character of his trilogy of children’s books. Presenting 100+ school assemblies a year, from the left coast to the Atlantic, he teaches the kids the process of writing, illustrating, and producing a book. Each DD book focuses on something the kids like — and the parents, too! After “deputizing” his audience, they head back to their classrooms or home, and armed with their new knowledge and enthusiasm, and begin writing their own fantastical stories. Kevin’s day job (well, technically, it is a night job) is predicting the weather. He’s a meteorologist for Channel 3 News here in Las Vegas. You might think Las Vegas weather would just be reporting hot, hotter, and blazing hot, but we really do have “weather” here. Sometimes it even snows! Check out the Deputy at here. If you’d like to request Kevin make a presentation to your child’s school, just get in touch at info@stephenspress.com.

Jane Friedman knows of what she speaks when it comes to anything book/writing/publishing related. Her excellent blog recently featured the best explanation of “author’s platform” I’ve seen.

Platform is more about putting in consistent, focused effort over the course of a career, and making incremental improvements in extending your network. It’s about making waves that attract other people to you—not about begging others to pay attention.

Her list of what a platform ISN’T should be required reading for all now and future authors.

Read the whole post here.

Nobody knows that better – or has done that better than Marta Becket.

For over 45 years, Marta Becket has told stories through dance, art, and theatre, captivating audiences, young and old, at the Amargosa Opera House in the otherwise unforgiving landscape of Death Valley in the California desert. And for those unable to have seen her in person, her story is memorialized in her autobiography, To Dance on Sands.

And now, Marta’s closed another chapter, giving her last performance on stage before an adoring crowd. One of her most devoted fans, Las Vegas Review-Journal journalist John L. Smith, dedicates a column to the creative artist that is Marta.

Marta’s last performance certainly not an end to her artistry

On Valentine’s Day, I have a blushing confession: I’m in love with a ballerina. Have been for years.

I know I am not alone in this regard. In fact, it’s safe to say I am just one of thousands of Stage Door Johnnys to visit the Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction and make moon eyes over the amazing Marta Becket.

For the past 45 years, Marta has been a one-woman wellspring of creativity in a most unlikely oasis in the California desert less than two hours from Las Vegas.

On Sunday before a capacity crowd at the opera house, Marta officially had her final performance. A series of injuries have prevented her from dancing, and her friends say she decided to put an end to any speculation that she might have one more comeback in her. I would say the remarkable woman has more than earned her bouquets and ovations. She is, after all, 87.

As a boy on desert prospecting trips with my father and grandfather, we passed through Death Valley Junction not long after Marta began her incredible run. She was no more than an oddity then. Some desert rats thought it strange that a trained ballet dancer would inhabit the cobwebbed Corkhill Hall in what was then essentially a ghost town. But that’s one of the great things about the desert: There’s room for every eccentricity.

Marta didn’t just sweep out the Pacific Borax Co. recreation center. She transformed it by painting murals of as eclectic an audience as was ever assembled in the Old Globe. Within a few years, she gained an international celebrity and coverage in major magazines, National Geographic among many.

Decades later, I brought my daughter, Amelia, to meet the great woman. They exchanged books and talked about art. Marta was still mending from injuries suffered in a fall but was generous with her time and energy. As always, she was the gracious hostess.

Although she no longer will perform, Amargosa Opera House Director of Operations Rich Regnell tells me she will continue her artwork and greet visitors. While many of those are curious tourists, a fair number are artists themselves who have learned of Marta’s devotion to her own artistic quest.

“She’s a legend,” Regnell says. “She’s an icon in the business, but she’s also an inspiration. She’s Marta. People are inspired by her. She has inspired people to do what they love. She would say, ‘Do what you want to do and don’t worry. The money will come.’ She’s inspired dancers, writers, choreographers, memoirists, playrights, moviemakers, people who teach art to kids. It’s amazing the amount of people who have been impressed to move forward and do their own art thanks to Marta.”

When word went out that Marta would be ending her long, long run in Death Valley Junction, Regnell’s phone rang constantly. The opera house quickly sold out with a 10-page waiting list to spare.

“The calls varied all the way from ‘Oh my gosh, what do you mean I can’t get tickets,’ to crying on the phone because they’ve been so inspired by her,” he says. “I keep asking Marta if she wants to retire again next weekend.

“This is a new beginning. It’s not the end. Marta will focus on what she wants to do with her art. She’ll continue to meet with visitors.”

There’s even a plan to develop “Dinner and a Movie with Marta” nights at the opera house. No doubt they’ll be a draw.

After all, she is beloved.

Ray Bradbury had it right many years ago. After watching her perform, Bradbury wrote, “Tears came to my eyes. Marta represented to be the spirit of the individual. The spirit of the theater. The spirit of creativity.”

That lovely spirit endures at the Amargosa Opera House in Death Valley Junction.

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Email him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith.

BRIAN HAYNES, LAWRENCE MOWER, REVIEW-JOURNAL REPORTERS; ALAN MAIMON, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The conduct of those we empower to protect us should be a matter of constant concern and vigilance on the part of citizens. But there have been enough officer-involved fatal shootings in Las Vegas, and the seemingly routine clearing of those officers by a controversial coroner’s inquest system, that you couldn’t be blamed for becoming inured to the whole grim spectacle. Which is what made “Deadly Force,” the Review-Journal’s comprehensive examination of police shootings, so important and resonant: It pried our eyes open again. (Disclosure: CityLife is owned by the company that publishes the R-J.) It’s the sort of long-term (the reporters spent a year on it), resource-intensive (the paper spent thousands acquiring records), wide-ranging, public-service journalism that big metro dailies were born to undertake.

“I suppose what surprised me the most,” Lawrence Mower tells CityLife, “was that for years — forever, really — we’ve been hearing that shootings were justifed because the person had a knife, or a gun, or a car. That is likely true in the legal sense. But what we discovered was that just because the shooting was justified didn’t mean that it had to happen in the first place. That some other departments held officers accountable for tactics leading up to a shooting was a huge surprise and allowed us to look at all 378 incidents in a new light.”

While the series certainly has local cops feeling the heat of renewed scrutiny, it’s also prompting an internal dialogue in the department about its policies and behavior, and that can only be good. Kudos, guys. ~SCOTT DICKENSHEETS

Experience with antiquarian books is not crucial, but a strong liberal arts background is required. A minimum of a bachelor’s degree is necessary. Excellent verbal and social skills are essential in this position to communicate effectively by phone, in writing, and in person. Applicants must be comfortable selling in a results-driven, luxury retail environment.

Booksellers are also responsible for mastering a great deal of historical, bibliographic, and market information in a short span. Applicants must be available to work weekends and nights.

As a dynamic, highly motivated team of booksellers, we provide our clientele of largely private collectors with exceptional customer service and expertise in our field. Learn more about our company and the type of material we offer on our website: www.baumanrarebooks.com.

To apply, please forward your resume/CV and a brief cover letter detailing your interest in antiquarian books and relevant experience to this posting. Any phone or in-person inquiries will be asked to do the same. Qualified candidates will receive our application.

Bauman Rare Books sells rare books, fine bindings and autographs in all fields, dating from the 15th through the 21st centuries. The company has three locations: offices in Philadelphia, a gallery on Madison Avenue in New York, and a gallery at the Palazzo in Las Vegas.

It comes as no surprise to writers (and readers, for that matter) that the setting is an important part of a story – whether novel or non-fiction – and often, can become a character in itself. The surprise is in finding a literary work that creates an identifiable backdrop – or captures the essence of a city’s character.

Las Vegas is certainly a character – and as a setting – quite popular. Unfortunately, Sin City is also an enigma, as book reviewer Patrick Coolican of the Las Vegas Sun remarks,  and few writers have been able to harness its pulse and put into words. Cynical by profession, Coolican readily admits that tackling the city that never sleeps is a challenge best left alone.

But then came Crit, Andrew Kiraly’s fast-paced vividly descriptive debut novel that isn’t about Las Vegas and until the end, doesn’t even take place in Las Vegas, but still, manages to impress Coolican with its “on-the-money” portrayal of the 24-hour desert town.  Kiraly’s talent gives hope to Coolican that the great Las Vegas novel is within reach. For the full article, read here: