Manuscripts Run Amok!

While the adage “April showers bring May flowers” may apply in many areas, it will be raining manuscripts in Las Vegas!

For the ninth consecutive year, the Las Vegas Writers Conference brings together fledgling writers, veteran authors, literary agents, editors, and publishers for a wonderful weekend of words …

And Las Vegas – surprisingly – is the perfect backdrop. Lots of energy, lots of excitement, a veritable plethora of characters! The 24-hour town provides writing “prompts” not found anywhere else.

If you’ve ever contemplated writing – or been curious about the writing community, here’s your opportunity to check it out. Even if you can’t spend the whole weekend running amok, please join us at the Stephens Press sponsored author “meet and greet” from 7-9 p.m. Thursday, April 18th. Who knows? You may end up staying all weekend!

Social Media: Can’t live without it but …

… not much “living” with it!

The pressure’s on to promote ourselves on Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, MySpace,  Twitter, and YouTube; to creat a blog for our musings and meanderings; to notify everyone where the party is (and we are) on Foursquare; to share our photos on Flickr and our interests on Pinterest.

It’s a full-time job.

So when do we really have time to do our real jobs? When do we have time to get out and live if we’re so busy posting the events of our lives?

I’ve decided to make networking and social media work for me now, rather than the other way ’round. Since one of my real jobs is posting/updating information on social networks for a publisher, and since I don’t seem to have time to keep my own blog updated, I’m taking this opportunity to shamelessly use this site to merge my daily business tasks with my redpengirl ruminations. (I’m sure this is not a new concept to many of you, though quite an aha! moment for me!)

First up, a book about a pioneer woman with a modern spirit, a book that I had the pleasure of editing for Stephens Press. Helen J. Stewart, First Lady of Las Vegas chronicles the life of this amazing woman whose legacy can still be seen and felt in Las Vegas today.

I can only imagine how many “friends” she would have made!