I have much news to report from the writing world, and over the next couple of weeks some of the dedicated may learn about some really new and exciting markets opening up with serious people.
But first where was I? Oh my oh my. Writing, creating FaceBook Applications and more recently exploring the world of Second Life. Now for those of you who have no clue what Second Life is, and I am sure there are many, you should take a peek at the web-site Second Life.
Second Life is a graphic environmentally rich world, though not a social network like Facebook, put contains much power and some incredible things. For the techie in me it was hard to resist. So finally after being cajoled by a friend to finally in their words "would you at least try it!", I took the plunge into an avatar based system which certainly is at the cutting edge of 3D graphics on a computer screen.
Second Life can be anything you wish it to be. After all that is the purpose of a rich, animated (and I do mean animations!), graphic, colorful environment. It has gadzillions of SIMS (Simulated Worlds), it is based on real estate and you can shop, and buy and meet people and....and...and...
In other words, Second Life, in many ways mimics our real lives. It is fun and to the techie sometimes awesome.
But wait this is Cobwebs Of The Mind! Hits head! Smacks self. This is not a blog about graphics and technology. But as usual my dear readers, there is method to my total and complete madness (shush up those comments from the peanut gallery).
Second Life is replete with writers and authors. Lest you think we are only talking about the wannabes, forget it. Koontz made an appearance in Second Life. You can watch a Shakespere play in SL with voice. You can meet published and famous authors all the time in Second Life.
There are also various SIMS dedicated to writers, which I gravitated to. These SIMS have an ever growing amount of events for writers. Poetry, Novels and Short Stories are all represented. Readings, courses, workshops...it is really a growing and very interesting place for a writer to learn and to be.
Of course, as all over, the scammers are there as well, trying to take advantage of naïve writers. But we know this to be an evil we live with, and thus it should come as no surprise to any of us that some have invaded Second Life.
Well where are we going with all this? After meeting up with some published authors from all over the world, (and we will be doing some interviews with some of them, as their books are about to come out), it was fun to become an active part of the community. I teach three different workshops in Second Life, all well attended all fun, all with great people.
There are also some fairly interesting literary mags. available in Second Life. It of course is an extension of Internet/Ebook Publishing, though not in the same way. Protection in this closed environment is fairly good. And we will be doing an interview with an editor or two of these magazines to give you an idea of what they are looking for and how to submit.
They don't pay yet, this is a very expermental avenue, but a growing one, and most of the magazines have huge readerships, plus all have plans to move into the normative print medium. This is not something any writer looking for other avenues of publishing should ignore.
So, along with the normative posts we will be doing some on Second Life. Beware though, I have some really funny stories to tell.
By the way if you are already a Second Life member, come on over and visit me at Written Word in the SIM called Cookie. My Second Life identity is "Kitviel Silberberg" (shhhhh...don't tell anyone) and I am giving workshops on Blogging, Short Story Writing, and Ebook and Publishing Rights.
You will find the free Downloads of PDF summaries of all the Workshops by clicking here.
And if you are not then take a look at Second Life. Just don't get addicted!
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