- Joined
- Aug 30, 2009
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I've only been to Las Vegas once, about 10 years ago. It was okay to do once, but not the sort of place I really connected with, so it was kind of a surprise when I realized I was concocting a story with a private detective who's based out of Las Vegas. And since the city is so important in that kind of story, I wanted my character to ring true when he talked about it/walked through it/observed it. I know it's changed tremendously since I went-- no more Liberace Museum, some hotels have been shuffled, and so on, but I can get those sorts of things from an up-to-date travel guide.
So--- what would be dead giveaways that a guy would be an import, and not a native? (ie, would he call it "Vegas" or "Las Vegas" or something totally different?)
What are things that would make a reader go, "Yeah! That's spot on!"
Mobile billboards and card-thwappers were ubiquitous (in the evenings) when I went, in 2008. Are they still at it? (And if so, what are they called?) Or have they been supplanted by something more modern/technological/something?
If I had someone important, like a super-duper VIP, who was there for an extended period of time (a year?), where would be a good place to believably stash them, and still be able to have the expected scene of "seeing the neon glow of the Strip spread out below", etc, etc, etc. Like what you see when you're eating dessert at the Stratosphere at night. (Which I'd totally pick, except the Stratosphere-as-a-hotel was about as impressive as a really tall Holiday Inn when I stayed there. Or maybe that's just my impression from when they downgraded me from the suite I'd reserved. And it's such a darn far walk from everything else on the Strip-- I seem to remember those hotels towards the north end of the Strip were each about a 10-minute walk apart, and making a mental note to pick somewhere more central if I ever went back a second time.)
What's the latest and greatest in scams/illegal activities that my detective might be aware of?
That sort of thing. Thank you in advance!
So--- what would be dead giveaways that a guy would be an import, and not a native? (ie, would he call it "Vegas" or "Las Vegas" or something totally different?)
What are things that would make a reader go, "Yeah! That's spot on!"
Mobile billboards and card-thwappers were ubiquitous (in the evenings) when I went, in 2008. Are they still at it? (And if so, what are they called?) Or have they been supplanted by something more modern/technological/something?
If I had someone important, like a super-duper VIP, who was there for an extended period of time (a year?), where would be a good place to believably stash them, and still be able to have the expected scene of "seeing the neon glow of the Strip spread out below", etc, etc, etc. Like what you see when you're eating dessert at the Stratosphere at night. (Which I'd totally pick, except the Stratosphere-as-a-hotel was about as impressive as a really tall Holiday Inn when I stayed there. Or maybe that's just my impression from when they downgraded me from the suite I'd reserved. And it's such a darn far walk from everything else on the Strip-- I seem to remember those hotels towards the north end of the Strip were each about a 10-minute walk apart, and making a mental note to pick somewhere more central if I ever went back a second time.)
What's the latest and greatest in scams/illegal activities that my detective might be aware of?
That sort of thing. Thank you in advance!
