Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3 Volume 9 | Page 6

M ORGAN ’ S C ORNER
M ORGAN S T . J AMES , E DITOR
Ah, fall is so welcome after a long, hot Las Vegas summer. That is one wonderful thing about
living in Las Vegas—the month of October is generally glorious. The weather is all anyone could
ask for and, of course, we have the fun of Halloween, followed by Thanksgiving in November and
Christmas in December. Let the holiday fun begin.
B
efore talking about writing and every-
thing else that’s going on, let’s take a mo-
ment to reflect upon how many people in
the world have been affected by natural and
man-made disasters this year.
Our hearts go out to them for their losses,
including the loss of many innocent lives. I
write mysteries and true crime, but the
knowledge that wanton mass shootings have
been on the rise is devastating. The characters
in a book, movie or TV show are just that. Fic-
tional characters. Actors live on to create other
roles—the authors pen new books, but the real
lives lost are gone forever. Precious posses-
sions lost because of hurricanes, floods, torna-
dos or rampant weather can never be replaced.
U PDATE
You may notice a new type of cover design
for this issue. Book marketing and promotion
guru, our own Carolyn Howard-Johnson, sug-
gested that the covers should feature me rather
F ALL 2019
than the previous type of design. Well, I’m a
ham at heart and she is an expert in marketing
and branding, so from now on I will be gracing
the cover of Writers Tricks of the Trade. How-
ever, the covers would not be complete without
my Associate Editor, Dylan the Dog.
S PEAKING OF D YLAN THE D OG
As many of you might know, Dylan was di-
agnosed with diabetes last year, and I almost
lost him when he went into ketoacidosis before
the diagnosis. My little Associate Editor takes
his place under my desk when I work on each
issue, as well as when I’m writing books or arti-
cles. Sometimes just a look from him or the ges-
ture of giving him a little pat on the head is
what it takes to keep fueling my creativity.
A quick moment for a word to pet owners:
If you don’t have pet insurance, consider look-
ing into it. Dylan is probably alive today be-
cause his insurance covers 90% all of the sur-
geries he’s had, his periodic glucose curves, and
P AGE 1
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE