Working Titlez

When it comes to audio books, the narrator can make or break the experience. So how to choose the right one? The author is always an ideal candidate – for who else knows the story or characters so intimately. When it comes to a memoir this rings even more true. But very few authors have the skill to narrate their own work. Author Betty Auchard is one of those rare few.
On a current trip to Las Vegas, Betty wasn’t in town to gamble or play, she was here to work. Putting in the hours at the Dog and Pony Studios recording the forthcoming audio edition of her book Dancing in My Nightgown: The Rhythms of Widowhood.
“It was very hard work,” recalls Auchard. “Recording required lots of concentration and breath-control, but I got the hang of it.” After three days, countless cups of hot tea and a dairy hiatus, the recording was complete.
Betty’s bright attitude, and the knowledgeable crew at Dog and Pony Studios, made all the hard work enjoyable. “They were such a wonderful crew – bright and funny, I truly enjoyed them.” said Auchard.
Betty summed up the week as “a terrific experience.” In fact, it went so well, she is contemplating a second career as a narrator!

Betty and crew

Reading Las Vegas to offer few frills but many thrills

By MAGGIE LILLIS
VIEW STAFF WRITER

Author Carolyn Schneider will be sharing memories of her Uncle Bing on April 28th.

 The month of April will make you laugh all the way to the library, if Reading Las Vegas: A Sure Bet organizers get their way.

The ninth annual adult reading incentive program will include authors known to spin a phrase while tickling the funny bone, program co-chairwoman Leah Ciminelli said.

The monthlong program also will include writing workshops, a murder mystery event and a book festival. Absent from this year’s festivities will be prizes, giveaways and the popular Reading Las Vegas tote bag due to budget cuts within the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.

Jennifer Schember, adult services coordinator, said this year’s theme, For the Love of Reading, emphasizes getting back to the basics of reading, without the frills of prizes and other incentives.

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By Stacey Fott

Stephens Press donates books to a variety of charities throughout the year. However our largest yearly donation in terms of books, advertising, and author involvement is Library Tree Lane which benefits the Friends of the Henderson Libraries. Stephens Press has been a partner since the event began in 2005. Held each December at the Paseo Verde Library, guests mix, mingle, bid on auction items and meet SP authors. Over the years, many authors from our own R-J family have participated, including Jorge Betancourt, Norm Clarke, Heidi Knapp Rinella, Geoff Schumacher, and Joan Whitley. We just learned that the 2009 event raised a total of $21,000. Funds will go towards the purchase of books for the early-reader collection of the Henderson Libraries. Thirty-five of the books purchased will have a special label recognizing Stephens Press, LLC. I have had the honor of working with the event committee for the past five years and it is really a wonderful event for a very worthwhile cause.

What reading device will my great-grandchildren be using in a hundred years? Will they still read books — you know, the ink on paper kind? Maybe a Kindle 23.5? Probably not. Whatever it will be hasn’t been invented yet.

But what of the documents, books, letters, family histories — to say nothing of photos — that exist solely in digital form on zip drives, thumb drives, hard drives. servers and such? Will those survive? Who will “move them forward” to each new generation of storage and viewing devices? How many of you have manuscripts, journals, stories and important documents saved to 5.25, and 3.5 inch “floppies” or residing on old computers that won’t boot up any more?

Last week, the Clark County commissioners presented their chosen memorabilia to be placed in a time capsule to be unearthed 100 years from now in 2109 –- the county’s bicentennial. The collection includes newspaper clippings, photos, DVDs, and books. I was honored that two of our Stephens Press titles have thus been preserved as future relics: Education in the Neon Shadow: The First 50 Years of the Clark County School District and Springs in the Desert: A Kid’s History of Las Vegas.

I was pleased, too, that this preservation for future generations is in book form. When the time capsule is opened, they’ll be able to immediately turn the pages and read the text. Meanwhile, the DVDs that were included may leave historians a bit befuddled as they figure out how to view them — maybe the descendents still starring on the reality TV show Pawn Stars will have a working DVD player somewhere in a back room.

For our books, we won’t be concerned. If time has proven anything it is that words on paper have endured for thousands of years. Reporters at the time capsule event were told that today’s news stories regarding the capsule would be included. As such LVRJ reporter, Scott Wyland, sent in his article this humorous message to future readers: “If it’s 2019 and you’re reading this, kudos if Lake Mead hasn’t dried up, the Strip is powered by the earth’s magnetic waves and you’ve found a way to travel between here and LA in 20 minutes. And oh, this is what a newspaper used to look like.”

In 2005, when we published Springs in the Desert, we invited the children of Clark County to predict the future. I’ll leave you with a few optimistic and perhaps telling predictions. And to Chris, Mitch, MacKenzie, Gaby, Serretta, Matteo, Mai Lyn, Kristen, Alyssa, Daniel, James, Michael, Trevor, Karina, Anthony, Samatha, Kenyada, Jose, Tara, Jesse, James, and Cass — your words, too, have been preserved for the future.

“Famous scientists will make a collar that can fit any animal. The collar has a big knob on it that you can spin, and then the animal can speak human languages.” — Jesse

“There will be no business in the future. Scientists will come up with gadgets that can give you everything you want, so there will be no need to spend all your time at work getting paid so little.”

– MacKenzie

“Las Vegas will become the capital of the United States, since it will be the center of attention for the world. The President will even want to move the White House to Las Vegas.”

– Jose

“To save more space and to attract more tourists, there will be hotels that float in the sky. There will also be a few lower hotels for people who are afraid of heights.”

– Alyssa

“Everyone will have a robot that goes to school for them while you stay home. Then, when school is over, it transports everything it learned into your brain.”

– Daniel

Note: Springs in the Desert (and the accompanying activities guide) can be found at www.kidshistoryoflasvegas.com and Education in the Neon Shadow is at www.educationintheneonshadow.com.

Authors have been collaborating for years. Close to home, seven local authors have been writing a serial novel as a signature project of the Vegas Valley Book Festival. RestlessCity chapters have been released one-by-one by CityLife in the past two months, with the final chapter to debut at the Festival in early November.

Now the immensely popular fantasy writer Neil Gaiman is taking the concept to the masses. Starting tomorrow, October 13, at Noon EST, Gaiman (known as @Neilhimself) will launch a special round-robin interactive storytelling experience. He’ll tweet the first line of the story and then the rest is up to the crowd.

You can read the opening line of the story tweeted by Neil (or catch up with it in progress by visiting BBC Audiobooks America. Follow instructions on the site if you want to make your own contribution to the story which must be 140 characters or less.

When roughly 1,000 contributions (Tweets) are logged, they will be edited and compiled into a script which will be recorded as an audiobook. The final audiobook will be downloadable free on the BBC site and also available as a digital download at iTunes and other audiobook retailers. There are no plans to release a print edition.

Michele Lee Cobb, marketing director for BBC Audiobooks America, said the project is “a fantastic way to get more people excited and actively engaging with audiobooks.” Cobb said BBC was inspired to initiate the project following Britain’s Royal Opera House successful creation of a fan-twittered opera last month. “There’s a misconception still that audiobooks are only for a small, elite niche of book lovers and we want to explode that myth and tap into the possibilities of digital storytelling in a whole new way,” Cobb said.

Neil Gaiman is the author of the novels The Graveyard Book (New York Times bestseller and winner of the 2008 Audie Award for Best Audiobook of the Year), Coraline, Neverwhere, Stardust, Anansi Boys, the Hugo-and Nebula-winning American Gods, the Sandman series of graphic novels, and several collections of short fiction. Visit his blog at www.neilgaiman.com.

The story marches on . . . and what has happened to our protagonist Brady in the Restless City since we last heard from him? Find out now, in Chapter Five, the latest posting for the serial novel, Restless City. Native Nevadan John L. Smith penned the newest chapter in the Vegasesque story written sequentially by seven local authors. A signature project of the Vegas Valley Book Festival, the chapters are posted online with the final chapter to debut at the festival in November. An e-book edition will be published by Stephens Press. If you’ve missed previous chapters, you can start with Chapter One. If you think writing is hard, taking your turn in a sequential story is MUCH harder (I’ve done it). Somehow you have to incorporate what’s happened in previous chapters, make your contribution make sense, and move the story forward for the next author. Enjoy.

Brady, our protagonist, is in a jam. Big Trouble. Chapter Four of Restless City has just been released with Leah Bailly in the driver’s seat. A signature project of the 2009 Vegas Valley Book Festival, Restless City is a serial novel, with seven Las Vegas authors each writing a sequential chapter. If you’ve been following along, you can read Leah’s chapter here. Or you can start at the beginning here.

My buddy Brian Rouff is next up with Chapter Three of the serial novel Restless City. Brian’s got a great knack for dialogue (not that simple to write) as his chapter demonstrates. The story moves forward, marching toward the final chapter to revealed at the 2009 Vegas Valley Book Festival. You can read Brian’s chapter here

Missed chapters one and two? Start at the begining here..

Tony Curtis and Norm Clarke chat before going on stage. Photo by Megan Edwards.

Megan Edwards of Living Las Vegas has written an awesome report on the Tony & Norm show last Sunday. If you’ve not visited Living Las Vegas, now is the time. A bevy of some really fine local writers offer up frequent stories on all sorts of topics of interest to locals. One of my favorites sites and highly recommended.

Carolyn Uber and Tony Curtis (Photo by Megan Edwards, Living Las Vegas)

Presented the long-planned Tony Curtis/Norm Clarke event today at the Flamingo branch of the Clark County Library. Started with a private reception for Tony and invited friends. Tony was so charming, taking the time to chat and give each guest undivided attention. Enjoyed chatting it up myself with many friends including Norm and Cara, Sal and Georgeanne, Mark and Megan, Denny and Pam and many others! Following the reception we adjourned to the theater where 400 Tony Curtis fans (and another 100 watching a live video feed in an adjacent room and the lobby). Oscar winner Curtis (The Defiant Ones)acted in over 100 films during Hollywood’s golden heyday. Norm interviewed Tony on stage, and Tony told each story with good humor and dramatic flair. From his very first film role (as a corpse) to auditioning on set to act opposite Yvonne DiCarlo, Tony shared his experiences with wit and joy. Advancing age keeps Tony in a wheelchair, but when telling the story of convincing the director he could rhumba with DiCarlo, Tony rose and strutted his moves to the delight of the crowd. Asked who, among the many leading ladies he’d kissed, was the “best kisser”, Tony grinned and answered “me”. Cary Grant was the actor he admired most, always a “classy gentlemen” while Marilyn Monroe was his favorite actress, a “real” down-to-earth and sweet person who could, nonetheless, be “as tough as Joe DiMaggio” when needed. Following a standing ovation, a book signing (Tony’s American Prince and Norm’s Sinsational Celebrity Tales) took place with over 200 folks waiting patiently. As always, Suzanne and Julie and the rest of the amazing library staff were here, there, and everywhere, and pulled off another successful event.