Working Titlez

Sharon Galligar Chance, Las Vegas Review-Journal guest reviewer

Our colleagues at CityLife have named the trio of journalists Local Heroes in the December 22, 2011 issue. The comprehensive investigative report Deadly Force is available as an e-book here. All Stephens Press e-books can be viewed here. ~ CHU

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

As publishers, we long for reviews. They are harder and harder to come by with the domino-effect demise of so many book review venues, especially newspapers. Sadly, book review sections are rarely supported by advertising — publishers find their marketing dollars better spent buying “real estate” on the tables in the front of Borders and Barnes & Noble (yes, the space for those stacks of books have all been paid for). Thus newspapers, in belt-tightening times, found it necessary to end their book review sections. Today, most reviews that appear in mainstream print are wire stories that cover the top strata of commercial books.

So I was pleased that our own R-J started a Book Nook web-based review section — and further impressed that the reviews are done voluntarily by news staff, and occasionally, by guest reviewers. No money changes hands — it is for the love of books. Wanting to do my part, I’ve stepped up to provide an occasional review (no, I’ll never be reviewing our own books!) and Cleopatra is my first subject. You can read my review here: Las Vegas Review-Journal Book Nook Review

What did I learn? Reviewing is hard! To provide a thoughtful and meaningful review means you think much harder about the book you’ve just read. But I like it, because that’s exactly what I want books to do — make me think!

A postscript: In both books, Cicero presented an interesting character. He certainly had no love for Cleopatra and was often a thorn in her side with his oratory — oft repeated by Roman society. I recently read Imperium by Robert Harris about Cicero’s life. What I learned from all three books is that politics whether two thousand years ago — or today — has been fraught with greed, corruption, and complicated machinations. It takes a great strategist, then and now, to maneuver through the mine fields, and the populace never wins.

When is funny not-so-funny? When is a pun no fun? When does a play on words fizzle out? Blame it on Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The clever headline in a newspaper article gains you no points (or no hits) on blogs. Google, it seems, has no sense of humor — just doesn’t “get” it when it comes to delivering up search results that aren’t literal. As explained in this Atlantic article, it seems wise to switch out the catchy or thought-provoking headline in a print product for the keep-it-simple-but-use-all-the-key-words model for online.

‘Google Doesn’t Laugh’: Saving Witty Headlines in the Age of SEO

By David Wheeler

May 11 2011

If online searches are literal, what happens to headlines that involve word play? Copy editors fear they’re going the way of the classified ad.

To Matthew Crowley, funny headlines are serious business.

“Come on,” Crowley says, tapping his knuckle against the dry-erase board. “What else can we use from this story?”

It’s Saturday afternoon in Phoenix, and the American Copy Editors Society’s annual conference is drawing to a close. Crowley, a copy editor for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is conducting a headline-writing workshop inside a classroom at The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. The conference has drawn hundreds of copy editors from newspapers around the country.

Read More . . .

Wendy Mazaros, author of Vegas Rag Doll,shares details of her former life as the wife of a Mob hitman in an interview with KSNV – Las Vegas, Channel 3 News. Wendy, a one-time murder suspect herself,  shares her stories and recollections of the Mob world in the 1970s with Las Vegas Sun reporter Joe Schoenmann.

Former CityLife Editor and R-J staffer Geoff Schumacher recently posted a past interview with Vu Tran, one of our Restless City authors. Though Geoff and Vu have both since left Sin City for broader horizons and greater challenges, their conversation about writing, and the authors who have influenced Tran in his relatively young, but remarkable career, is well worth reading. It is obvious that we will be hearing much more about this Whiting Writers’ Award winner! For the complete interview, click here.

by Krissy Hawkins
Each year, the Vegas Valley Book Festival (VVBF) presents its Crystal Book Mark Award to an individual who has significantly advanced the cause of literature in the Vegas Valley. This year Jim Frey, chairperson of Nevada Humanities, presented popular columnist and author, John L. Smith, with the award in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the advancement of literature in the Vegas Valley.

Smith carries the distinction of being a fourth-generation Nevadan, an award-winning columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the author of a dozen nonfiction books, including Sharks in the Desert and Bluegrass Days, Neon Nights, as well as a contributing author to Restless City, the serial novel project of the book festival.

This event marked the second annual presentation of the Crystal Book Mark Award. The first went to Kris Darnall, one of the originators of the Vegas Valley Book Festival and a colleague at Nevada Humanities. The rules dictate that the award cannot go to anyone currently on the planning or literary committee of the VVBF and that the recipient must have made a major contribution to the encouragement of reading in the community through service or through a body of work that enriches, clarifies, or encourages reading and writing in and about the Vegas Valley.

This year’s presentation took place at the Clark County Library at a panel led by Smith entitled “Amelia’s Long Journey: The Challenge of Writing What You Know.” In Amelia’s Long Journey (Stephens Press) Smith tells of the joys of becoming a parent and raising a beautiful little girl, and the terror of almost losing her. With the skill of a journalist and the heart of a father, Smith lovingly chronicles Amelia’s life: her early carefree years, the diagnosis of a cancerous brain tumor, the surgeries, the treatments, the remissions, the relapse, the recovery, as well as the courage, humor, and optimism she showed throughout.

Amelia’s Long Journey is not only a story about a brave girl’s fight against cancer, but a story about a precious little girl’s love for life. Proceeds of the book benefit Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada, Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation, and St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

P Moss, well-known Las Vegas cultural figure, pens dynamic short story collection.

CityLife Books, the new imprint of Stephens Press, has signed its first author, P Moss, a fiction writer and owner of the famous Double Down Saloon. His short story collection, Blue Vegas, will be released this fall.

PHOTO BY BILL HUGHES P Moss in his office. Okay, it's actually the Double Down bathroom.

“Blue Vegas is the perfect book to launch the CityLife Books imprint,” says Geoff Schumacher, editor of CityLife Books and publisher of the Las Vegas CityLife newspaper. “Moss has produced an incredible collection exploring the dark, human stories lurking in the shadows of the neon sheen of Las Vegas.”

The stories, Schumacher says, represent the work of a writer who knows Las Vegas and is a keen observer of its diverse population.

“Moss’ stories are a visceral exploration of the clash between old and new Las Vegas,” Schumacher says. “They shine a light on the hard luck and lingering anguish faced by Las Vegans who’ve been trampled by this single-minded city.”

After working as a screenwriter in Los Angeles, Moss came to Las Vegas in 1992 and opened the Double Down Saloon on Paradise Road. Dubbed a “clubhouse
for the lunatic fringe,” the Double Down soon became internationally famous, drawing a lively mix of tourists and locals. A second Double Down opened in New York’s East Village in 2006, and Moss recently opened a new Las Vegas establishment, Frankie’s Tiki Room, on West Charleston Boulevard.

Despite his success in the bar business, Moss has always envisioned a second career as a writer. “No quality Las Vegas fiction has ever been written,” Moss says. “The soul of the city has never been captured on the printed page. This can be attributed in large part to the fact that writers try to sensationalize the obvious, rather than focusing on the raw human emotions unique to the people who live and work in this unique place. I believe I have done a good job of reversing this trend.”

CityLife Books plans to publish up to four titles per year in a trade paperback format. The books will be available directly to CityLife newspaper readers and at area bookstores and online retailers.

Stephens Press is a division of Stephens Media LLC, and a sister company to CityLife and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Established in 2003, the press publishes primarily regional nonfiction.

“The imprint provides a vehicle to publish quality Vegas-centric fiction with a unique CityLife vibe,” says Carolyn Hayes Uber, president of Stephens Press, “and we’re especially excited to have P Moss’ stories set a high bar for our fiction offerings.”

CityLife Books accepts nonfiction and fiction proposals and manuscripts that speak to regular readers of the alternative weekly newspaper. For submission guidelines and more information, check out the imprint’s website at www.lvcitylifebooks.com.

Our friends at the Vegas Valley Book Festival have launched a new signature event, “Las Vegas Writes,” a collaborative serial novel that is being written by seven local authors over the next five months. The first chapter was completed recently by Stephens Press author H. Lee Barnes. It was released for public reading today at www.lvcitylife.com.

“Some of the city’s best writers have committed to this project,” said local journalist and author Geoff Schumacher, who is coordinating the project for the book festival and serving as the novel’s editor. “The novel promises to be well written, fast paced and drenched in the sights and sounds of Las Vegas.”

Subsequent chapters, released every three weeks, will be written by John Irsfeld, Brian Rouff, Leah Bailly, John. L. Smith, Constance Ford and Vu Tran. The final chapter, written by Tran, will be released and read at the closing of the book festival on Sunday, November 8^th.

Lee Barnes is the author of five books and teaches creative writing at the College of Southern Nevada. His opening chapter sets the stage for a diverse cast of characters in a Las Vegas setting. He’s followed by an equally fine lineup of local writers.

I’ve been enjoying an “insider’s” opportunity to read these chaps as they are submitted, and I can say the entire concept is fascinating. The writers amongst us will marvel at the notion of picking up another’s characters and plot and moving the story along its arc — and be insanely curious at what subsequent authors will do. It has been a lot of fun speculating what each new chapter will reveal. Bookmark the CityLife website to follow along, and I’ll try to post reminders as each new chap is uploaded.

Now in its eighth year, the book festival is presented by the city of Las Vegas, Nevada Humanities, Las Vegas-Clark County Library District and the Las Vegas Review-Journal with the local chapter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts as the official branding sponsor.

My enthusiasm for the VVBF continues to grow. As the largest literature event in Las Vegas, the festival will present more than 100 authors in a full schedule of readings, panel discussions and book signings, with most sessions taking place at the Historic Fifth Street School downtown. Other special book festival programs include the Comics Festival at the Clark County Library, the Target Children’s Festival on Centennial Plaza, the Local Authors Fair in the Fountain Courtyard at the Historic Fifth Street School and Poetry Under the Stars on the Lewis Avenue Corridor. More info: 229-5431 or www.artslasvegas.org\vvbf.