MORGAN ’ S CORNER
MORGAN ST . JAMES , EDITOR
This is the page where I always comment on any new features and articles that are particularly timely or informative . I also use the space to update readers on what might be going on in my professional or personal life .
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o , that said , beginning with this issue there is a change in the Life Stories feature which was open to all writers for submission . Well , friends , it has become Life Stories by Keith Bettinger on Page 7 , so let ’ s extend a big welcome to him as a regular columnist . Keith has won awards for so many of his short stories and most of them touch on some aspect of memories , what makes us who we are , humor or pathos , that I asked him if he would consider sharing one in every issue . The good news is he said “ yes ” and the story this month is Why I Became a Cop . Trust me . The story is not what you think it will be .
Also , I have resurrected a feature that author Mike Dennis and I used to write called You Don ’ t Say , which you will find on Page 10 — a fun look at the foibles in our language . In this issue we talk about Oxymorons . Always good for a couple of laughs .
As always , Fred Rayworth offers us some sage writing advice about Dialogue Saturation , beginning on Page 3 . Dialogue is great for moving a plot along without an overload of narrative , but can you overload on dialogue ? See what he has to say .
As you can see , things are happening at Writers Tricks of the Trade , including a slightly different format on some of the pages . Invoking Will Roger ’ s wise words , “ Even if you are on the right track , you ’ ll get run over if you don ’ t keep moving .” That ’ s what we are doing — moving right along to bring you writing advice , interesting features industry news and a book review by Martha Cheves in every issue . Martha often takes the approach of reviewing books that have been out for a while , not just the latest releases . It is so easy to overlook a terrific read while searching for the “ latest greatest .”
Moving right along , what ’ s going on in the life of Morgan St . James ? For starters you may or may not know this online magazine is produced in Las Vegas . Like the title says , summertime already ? You bet , and along with summer comes our sizzling heat , sometimes hot enough to fry the proverbial egg on the sidewalk . This year we have also had more wind than normal , so sometimes it feels like walking into a convection oven . But we Las Vegas natives have it nailed . We go from our airconditioned homes to our air-conditioned cars to our air-conditioned destination . And , outside of summer we enjoy a won-
WRITERS ’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE
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SUMMER 2018