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.

One of my favorites events, year after year, is the opening kick-off reception for the Las Vegas Writers Conference. It is just so much FUN to hang out with literary-minded folks — writers, editors, agents, publishers — who love their craft and encourage each other. Their creative spirits and determined optimism inspire me.

My Working Titlez readers know that I’ve always recommended would-be authors both join a critique or writers group and also attend a writers conference or two. You’ll learn so much. You can find out more about the LVWC here.

But wait, there’s more! All interested writers are welcome to attend the reception, even if you can’t attend the conference this year. This is a super event for getting together with other writers and networking in the publishing biz. Add it to your calendar and come on over!

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.

Local colleges, community centers, and writers’ groups offer advice and support, and often classes … but they can be costly as well as difficult to schedule.

Now through iTunes, writers can access a veritable plethora of courses, both general and genre-specific, for free! Check out the list below, courtesy of MediaBistro.com:

New Mexico State’s Mythology Course

Open University’s Creative Writing Course

Washington College’s The Tolkien Professor Course

Oxford University’s Approaching Shakespeare Course

Liberty University’s Composition & Rhetoric Course

Open University’s Start Writing Fiction Course

Oxford University’s Tolkien at Oxford Course

Stanford University’s Literature of Crisis Course

Missouri State University’s Knights & Maidens Literature Course

University of Alabama’s Zombies! The Living Dead in Literature Course

Winter Break Internship: Fun!

By Brooke Mikkelsen

When I came in my first day of being an intern at Stephens Press, I thought it would just be a good way for me to get out of the house over Winter break.

Upon arrival, I was given a notebook and told to start taking notes. Then Carolyn launched into all the things I would need to know and do, never repeating herself without my asking, but explaining things that needed explaining.

The scariest part to me was answering the phone. I’ve always been good at communicating with people, but somehow, when that phone starts ringing, I start to doubt myself. This internship really forced me to turn that fear into a skill that I shall probably use for the rest of my life.

The best part was how trusted I was. I got to be the face of Stephens Press for a few weeks, writing letters, returning calls, and even talking to the press!

At the end of every day, when I was about to leave, Carolyn asked me if I had had fun that day. Every day, I answered in the affirmative. Even though my tasks had been to help me grow as an intern, they were also exciting.

I’d like to thank Carolyn Uber for not only giving me this internship, but letting me become a part of Stephens Press. I hope that my positive impact lasts longer than the few short weeks that I have interned!

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:

This Sunday night from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Coast to Coast AM radio (100.5 AM and 840 AM, Las Vegas), Emmy award-winning journalist and radio host George Knapp will be sharing the microphone with Vegas Rag Doll co-authors Wendy Mazaros and Joe Schoenmann. They’ll reminisce about days gone by, the Las Vegas mob, and Wendy’s former life as the wife of a hitman.

It promises to be a (late) night to remember: a prize-winning interviewer, an accomplished writer, and a woman with a story that’s difficult to imagine come together to burn up the airwaves with humor as well as drama. If you’re not a nightowl, or won’t be in Las Vegas for this holiday weekend, you don’t have to miss the entertainment; check out the radio’s website here for archived shows and station call numbers across the country.

The book is the signature project of the 2011 Vegas Valley Book Festival and features ten of the finest Las Vegas writers exploring decay.

10 of the best books set in Las Vegas