Working Titlez

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.

The "Rock Star" of Writing, author Neil Gaiman (photo by Andrew Taylor)

The annual Vegas Valley Book Festival just concluded. Held for the first time at the Historic Fifth Street School, the new venue helped contribute to the “best yet” festival. What a whirlwind of activities devoted to the celebration of reading and writing! There was something for everyone from the Target Children’s Book Fest to a plethora of programming for aficionados of graphic novels and comic books. The craft of writing was furthered with workshops on everything from character development and point of view to authenticating crime stories. Over eighty individual authors had sales tables and poets performed in the courtyard. Stephens Press was well represented with our own sales area and several of our authors gave presentations in the auditorium. Las Vegas Review-Journal entertainment columnist Mike Weatherford interviewed celebrity columnist Norm Clarke, whose newest book, Vegas Confidential: Sinsational Celebrity Tales debuted at the festival, and Norm didn’t disappoint, shaing some “scoops” with the audience that hadn’t hit the media yet. Next up, author and editor Geoff Schumacher (Howard Hughes: Politics, Paranoia & Palace Intrigue) interviewed Laraine Russo Harper, author of Legal Tender: True Tales of a Brothel Madam. Laraine shared her experiences running a legal brothel with plenty of wit and funny stories. Damn the Rejections, Full Speed Ahead: The Bumpy Road to Getting Published author Maralys Wills took the stage along with yours truly. The audience asked many questions following the tips presented for improving manuscripts and seeking publication. The festival was “bookended” by a pair of star authors. The opening keynote, Neil Gaiman drew a capacity crowd of fans for his body of work (Mirrormask, Stardust, American Gods, and more). The Brit-born author gave a long and rambling talk about modern culture, authors who’ve influenced him and his writing, and read from The Graveyard, his newest title. Pulizer Prize winner (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union) Michael Chabon gave the closing keynote address. His essay-like talk covered a lot of territory from Legos to the uber-insulated life our children live today. Interestingly, both Gaiman and Chabon talked about the “crap” their children read — or that they read as children — and observed that while it may not have been literature, it added to their perceptions and body of knowledge. Or, as Neil put it, “great stuff can be grown in crap”. Key sponsors incude the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the City of Las Vegas, the Clark County Library, and Nevada Humanities. It takes a lot of people and a lot of support to pull off such a successful event. I’m heartened and encouraged to see this annual event really come into its own.