GoSpeed Racer On Her Published Novels

By Bixyl Shuftan

Many longtime residents know GoSpeed Racer (GoSpeed Rasere) as a DJ for many of Bay City's events and the owner of the KONA Internat radio station, as well as for being "Cleverly Named" after a character in cartoons. But she's also a published writer. She has written three novels inspired by Second Life, under her real life name R. Jacques. The third was just recently published on Amazon. I recently went to interview her about them.

We met up at her place near KONA Stream Studios. "Welcome," she greeted, "It's three levels, an underground, the surface, and my private studio up in the sky." I noticed a statue on the grounds which looked like the one on her cover in the third book, and made a note to bring it up later. We walked inside and sat down.

"So to begin with," I asked, "what gave you the idea for the stories?" "Several things," GoSpeed answered, "I've always been a science fiction fan. In Second Life I've been exposed to so many other people's imagination. Especially potent was their roleplay experiences. Many roleplay groups have forums packed full of storylines generated in SL." When I asked which ones were her favorites, she responded, "Oh, I never participated. I don't have the time or motivation to get so deeply involved. Bedsides, being 'GoSpeed' is enough for me to begin with (smile). Like many of us, my SL avatar is a character of our own making which only partially represents our true selves."

I then asked when did she start writing her first book. As it turned out, she had earlier projects before her published works, "I did start a short story back in 2009, but I never finished. Fast-forward to 2015 and my favorite podcaster/author did a two-part podcast about writing novels. It was then I decided to take the plunge and begin writing. I wrote a 20,000 word short space opera novel. It's pretty rough, I must admit. But I plan to revise and release it one day.

Her attention turned to her first published novel, Raser's War, "My first released novel I began in 2016. It was an origin story of sorts about GoSpeed and how she and her fellow NPCs in a futuristic virtual world gained their independence, but in the process, lose their innocence. Some 500 years in the future, mankind is at peace. That also implies life can be a bit boring of course, so many people seek entertainment and fulfillment in virtual space. GoSpeed is a virtaul resident of one world, Simvie Loko. Her kind, the NPCs, serve human users. As you may know, Utopias are never perfect. And humans plan a rebellion against authority, a world-ruling artificial intelligence named Gaiana. Gaiana hates dissent, so he sends forces into Simvie Loko to root out the rebels. The rebels fight back, and GoSpeed is recruited to fight with the rebels."

On the cover of her second book, We Built This City, Bay City is prominently featured on the cover. "It is a continuation of GoSpeed's journey," she called it, "The new world she lives in has less meaning. Her life on the island is not what she wants, so she goes to Bay City to find a new life. The story is much darker as GoSpeed loses her way and gets involved in activities she'd never dream of doing in her past life: PTSD, Loss of a relationship, losing her place in society.

"We Built This City is the most Second Life relatable of the three stories. I included (with their permission) many residents of Bay City, (such as) Marianne McCann, Uccello Poultry, Pygar Bu, Thomas Hooker." I asked what the residents thought of their cameos. Racer answered, "Oh, they loved them! Oh, there is one caveat I used when writing about SL avatars. The basic premise behind 21st Century avatars in a 25th century simulation was that they were modeled after social media found in Internet archives. You may recall news stories about how it is possible to recreat personalities based on social media postings? Say you have hundreds or thousands of pictures, blog posts, etc... You could come up with a personality. Using that as a premise, the characters I wrote tended to deviate to a degree compared to how they act now." Some had comparable roles, such as Marianne's counterpart being the city's mayor and that of blogger Uccello being a TV journalist.

This time, the main antagonist is a criminal organization. "There is a neighboring city that was sourced from a late 1940s noire themed game (like L.A. Noire) run by the mafia," GoSpeed explained, "Angel City, a pseudo Los Angeles, actually." There's also more than just the mafia separating the two communities, "As you can imagine, there would be a clash of cultures and values between a mid 20th century people and a mid 21st century group." Among the characters are a couple whom had been cryogenicaly frozen in the 21st Century whose minds are uploaded into the virtual world to inhabit avatars.

Recently published this month was her third book, The Bounding Main. "The third novel wraps up a few storylines and opens up the world of Simvie Loko to new lands," GoSpeed explained, "The first novel was about a loss of innocence. The second was the fall from grace. The thrid ias about forgiveness and starting anew. To get into the meat of the story, a new civilization is detected in a region of Simvie Loko that was off-limits. GoSpeed joins a joint expedition between Angel City and the ordinary citizens. They venture south to contact these new countries, and of course, things wind up being more complicated than they imagined."

I brought to her attention the statue on the cover, which was like the one in her yard. "Yes, a Roman centurion," she told me, then smiled, "which is relevant to the storyline. There are 'Romans' in the story." But these weren't exactly what we usually think of, "NPCs (aka Citizens) are from the 25th century. 49ers, residents of Angel City, are 20th century relics. The new countries they discover are from different parts of history, and alternate history to be precise. Remember the Star Trek episode with the planet that had 20th century Romans? Kinda like that."

I then asked if she was planning another book in the series. "This particualr series is finished," GoSpeed answered, "but there are other contemporary stories in Simvie Loko I can write about. I plan to write an anthology of short stories about various characters and locales in the world, like, the founding of Bay City, the first days of Angel City's arrival and the chaos that followed. You can only put so much in a novel. I want to give a few characters their due. It's also a form of world building too."

"After my anthology I plan to write about some of the characters leaving the virtual world and inhabiting android bodies. Two of them, Abba and Ravishal were sent to Mars to finish the job Abba started decades before. Her origin is alluded to in the first novel." So some of the virtual characters do end up in the real world, "Space is very harsh to human bodies. So, why not send androids with human personalities? ... To quote Elton John, Mars is cold as hell. Plus the radiation is pretty harsh too."

GoSpeed hoped that her novels would inspire others in Second Life to start writing, "There is a VAST amount of creativity here and so many stories that can be told. If I can self publish, then anyone so inclined can." She mentioned Book Island, saying aspiring writers could head there and share excerpts, "You can read them aloud or have the hostess, Selina Greene read them in voice chat. I shared scenes here and there as I wrote them. It is nice and informative to hear your writing read."

GoSpeed's novels can be purchased through Amazon on her page there (link) and Smashwords (link). On Saturday March 30, there will be a discussion about The Bounding Main at Book Island at Noon SL time.

Bixyl Shuftan

Published Author Writes Novel of Crime and Mystery In a Virtual World

By Bixyl Shuftan

There was a book published in April this year, "Femme Fatale Online," written by Eugene Rodgers, that would be of interest to some in Second Life. The story takes place partly in a virtual world much like Second Life. A man named Rick goes by the name Issac in the world, and befriends a beautiful lady avatar named Joan. Joan arranges for Rick to get a job in real life with Molcom, a large corporation that's made breakthroughs that could potentially lead to practical nuclear fusion power. She lures Rick, who is married in real life, into a virtual romance. Then she blackmails him by threatening to mail recordings of the tryst, ordering him to commit industrial espionage. As time goes on, she threatens to harm he and his family as well. He realizes he has to find out who she is, and comes up with a list of suspects he has to narrow down before he's discovered.

Rodgers contacted me, and corresponding with him I found he had been going by the name Adolphe Menjou inworld years earlier.  He also had a couple alts, "my book's hero, Rick Collins," and "Joan d'Arc, the book's villain." But unfortunately, a problem came up, "when I returned to SL last year after a hiatus, Adolphe had become a white cloud and I couldn't revive him." So he got another account, Isaacasimov1 Resident, whom still has "off-the-shelf" looks, "I ... did nothing with it since all my inworld time was with Rick or Joan."

We met up at "Rick's Ranch," the place he called his inworld home. He apologized for some slow responses early on, "I'm a bit rusty on the controls, plus I'm a crappy typist." I brought up by the rezz date on his first account that he had been in Second Life for over ten years. "Technically, yes," he answered, "But I left dfor several years and came back last year. ... The place has sue changed. All my friends are gone." I asked why he left for a while. He responded, "Started writing the book! My first attempt at fiction, so it took a long, hard time." I asked him where he got the idea for the plot. He told me, "I started to write the book as nonfiction. I wanted to show what life was like in a huge corporation. But I decided fiction would have a greater impact. I was in Second Life and thought of the idea for the book. So besides corporate life, I could also show readers what a virtual world is like. Most people have no idea what corporate life is like or what a virtual world is."

Following up his comment about corporate life, I brought up, "I recall you saying, 'One character proposes what he calls the 3B’s of business success — backstabbing, butt kissing, and bull throwing.' Was he being a pessimist, or being accurate in your opinion?" Rodgers/Issac answered, "Accurate! The original nonfiction idea would have been mostly about the 3B's, 'The 3B Approach to Business Success,' my idea of a tongue in cheek title.But in the book I would have used a less delicate word than 'bullthrowing'." I asked if there were any references to "Dilbert," a daily comic strip by Scott Adams about an office cubicle worker dealing with a dimwitted boss and less than sympathetic coworkers. "No references," he answered, "but it's very much like Dilbert. I tried sending a message to Scott Adams, but couldn't get through. He once worked for a corporation."

I brought up Second Life once more, "How did you find your experience here?" "Loved it!" he told me enthusiastically, "Especially meeting people from all over the world. And the anonymity allows people to open up. I really got to know some friends well. One person I never got to know at all. And she was mean, but interesting. She became the villain, Joan, in my book." I asked if the characters from the business were based on anyone or completely made up. "Fictional," he responded, "but everything that happens in the book is a disguised version of what actually happened to colleagues or myself. The corporation, Molcom, is a composite of several huge corporations."

I asked if the fictional virtual world was almost like Second Life. He answered, "Yes, but technologically much more advanced. For example, I had to invent a way to make AVS perfect reproductions so the blackmail would work. So Rick's AV would look exactly likehim and the videos of his romancing Joan would seem real. ... the basic AV there is like AVs here. You can make them look like whatever you want. In my fictional world, you have to spend a lot of money to make a perfect AV.  I think I saw once where someone took photos you sent in and made a realistic AV from them." Of nonhuman avatars, Rodgers/Isaac told me he didn't come up how those came about or their use in his story.

Of the plot in the story in which Joan blackmails Rick and he has to try and figure out who she is to stop her, I asked how does he come up with a list of suspects. Rodgers/Isaac answered, "Various ways, careful observation and deduction. He realizes she must live in the Pittsburgh area and works for Molcom. He actively seeks some clues, interviewing a person in the virtual world, PP, who's a friend of Joan, eavesdropping on her meeting with friends on a beach." How Rick finds out, he wouldn't say, "You don't know until the last few pages that he succeeds. I tried to write a page turner. I also inject suspense by having a real-life sexy woman try to seduce him. You don't know until near the end whether she succeeds (either). Sex sells!"

Rodgers/Isaac felt virtual reality would soon skyrocket in use among the general public, " I'm going by news stories I've read. The investment community seems to expect virtual reality to take off soon. As you know, you can already buy limited versions. When that happens, goodbye SL! Unless Linden Labs gets into virtual reality." When I brought up Sansar and it's low numbers, he responded, " ... I don't think Linden Lab is very business savvy. Second Life isn't what it was years ago when I ws active. Some people think Facebook stole its thunder. Maybe it's the proliferation of social media.  I don't know. I know when I came back all my friends were gone and my old haunts were deserted or almost so." He wondered if the enthusiasm was gone, though seemed to feel more optimistic when I mentioned the Relay for Life, "If my book sells well, maybe more people will become interested in Second Life. ... If you're keeping busy, then I guess SL still has some excitement left."

Rodgers has published some books before, "'Beyond the Barrier: The Story of Byrd's First Expedition to Antarctica,' which is still in print after 27 years, and 'Flying High: The Story of Boeing and the Jetliner Industry.'" He told me the books sold well, "especially the Byrd book. ... On the basis of the Byrd book, I became a technical advisor to a woman who did a book that came out in January called 'The Stowaway' about a member of the Byrd expedition. I understand it's doing well." Transitioning from nonfiction to fiction, "I find fiction to be much different from nonfiction, a big surprise to me."

Besides having published three books, Rodgers is a retired public relations writer for several large corporations and managed public relations for the Westinghouse R&D Center. He was named Virginia author of the year in 1991 by the Virginia College Store’s Association for the first printing of "Beyond the Barrier." He is married with a grown son and daughter.

For more information on "Femme Fatale Online," check out it's Facebook page at : facebook.com/rodgersmystery .

Bixyl Shuftan

Interview with Fantasy Author Amehana Ishtari About "Castle and Wells Selkie Skins"

By Grease Coakes

On my seventh Second Life birthday I wasn't completely lazy I talked to a friend of mine Amehana Ishtari and asked to meet with her and ask her about her new book, "Castle and Wells Selkie Skins: Volume 1." The next day I met with Amehana the pony at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nisa/38/225/29. From what I saw the previous night it was an action packed pony party. I met her at a little before 8AM SLT, and here's what she had to say. Her new book involves a girl named Kristy who uses paste to change into a seal. She hasn't earned her seal quite yet however.

 Grease Coakes, "What you told me before that your character came about from roleplaying with Vadise, how did that work out?"

Amehana Ishtari, "The roleplay? That's still ongoing. We are working on wrapping up their last year of school and getting them set to begin further training for their future occupations. Or are you referring to Raikou and my RPs for Nisa?"

Grease Coakes, "I'm not sure. You have lots of Roleplays I just roleplayed with you the one time with my dragon Bubbles. So your roleplay with Vadise Reikaz is a continuation of what's going in the book with the various characters in a way?"

Amehana Ishtari, "Yes. The book actually resulted because of wanting to tell him the full story of how Kristy got her sealskin and full selkiehood. Her biggest part of that quest happened over the summer without David. That part of her quest is in the second book of the Selkies' series, which is the manuscript I'm working on now."

Grease Coakes, "It's kind of how characters write themselves and grow a life of their own, and they just aren't words on a page."

Amehana Ishtari, "Yes. The story was supposed to be one small book, but it grew."

Grease Coakes, "But it turned out to be something much larger? I guess so if a second book is in the works."

Amehana Ishtari, "After she earns her skin in this next book, the book after that I expect to cover David's contribution to solving her family's problems. I have had some comments about werewolves being over the top, but there is a reason that Mara is intrigued by Herne and his Hounds, a particular type of werewolf."

Grease Coakes, "Werewolves can never be over the top. They are tortured souls not able to live a normal life. They must not like full moons. When I’m reading the book, I get a feel of Harry Potter is that what you're intending? Not that it's a bad thing a world of magic is a popular genre to read for most people."

Amehana Ishtari, "It is a bit Harry Potter, and our RP is a lot more Potter than what I write for the book. I had wanted to do a story about magic schools before Rowling did hers, but I was working on Dragon Shaman. I'd intended that to tie into magic schools anyway. There is a third series that will also tie in with Dragon Shaman and Selkies' Skins, that I actually started work on in the 90's, that lead to both of these. But I'm not ready to show Flightesa and Angelina yet."

Grease Coakes, "That's right you did write a different books series what can tell the SL Newser's readers about your dragon shaman series? The first in the series is sitting on my desk, "Book One Taming the Blowing wind." That sounds enticing, mixing your Selkie skins characters in with Blowing wind and Ryu."

Amehana Ishtari, "I'm working on the third book in that series. My plan is to go between that and Selkies so that I'm not letting one stagnate. The next book in the Dragon Shaman series introduces Jewel O'Drake, BlowingWind's cousin, and Huetziatl, a South American dragon of the coatl persuasion. Jewel is an archaeologist, and like most O'Drakes avoided going to magical schooling."

Grease Coakes, "Oh? I would think a magic school would be fun to go to. Yeah going to a magic school,sounds better than being lost in pyramid. But characters don't always make good decisions."

Amehana Ishtari, "She might have benefited from going though considering getting lost in a pyramid ...

With shifting creatures!" (big grin)

Grease Coakes, "Shifting creatures? you mean like shapeshifters that turn into werewolves?"

Amehana Ishtari, "No. Jewel will be meeting snakes, the coatl, jaguars, bats... jungle creatures."

Grease Coakes, "Oooo snakes and jaguars, sounds dangerous."

Amehana Ishtari, "Much more Meso-American."

Grease Coakes, "Ahhh neat."

Amehana Arashi, "The O'Drakes started avoiding the schools way back in the past because of the disdain prevalent in the magically endowed community that cropped up so often. The O'Drakes are bound to Brigit in the way the Makay's are bound to Mara and the Lady."

Grease Coakes, "They are magically bound to serve their gods? Gotcha."

Amehana Ishtari, "They are, and Jewel will learn the reason that the 'young' river god destroyed his people and got sealed into his pyramid."

Grease Coakes, "Ohhh sounds interesting so she might awaken a Pandora’s box?"

Amehana Ishtari, *nods* "She might. The meeting between the two is being orchestrated by the family's curse, the same as BlowingWind and Ryu's was."

Grease Coakes, "Lots of curses. Sounds like quite a challenge, your characters don't have it easy, hahaha."

Amehana Ishtari, "Between the two sides the cruse might manage to be broken, or it might not. But there is also trouble that they aren't aware of that is pointed at in Kristy's tale. ... No, they don't. I have been beaten up a few times in meta writing. When I do that trying to figure out how to unblock myself when my characters get obstinate."

Grease Coakes, "Oooo, so the two curses are connected by what Kristy is going through in your newest book Castle and Wells Selkie Skins."

Amehana Ishtari, "There's only one curse, on the O'Drake line. Remember, Marie, the mother, was an O'Drake."

Grease Coakes, "And the O Drakes are from South America right? That's right. So the curse of the O Drakes goes to Kristy her daughter?"

Amehana Ishtari, "No. The O'Drakes are from Ireland, like Kristy. At one time before the clan moved to Draganpairc Brigid's forge was walking distance from the remains of the Makay village. Jewel is in South America because she became an archaeologist and was always fascinated by Meso-American cultures. Kristy has a different geas on her. Though I suppose that yes, maybe there are two curses if you count the one that the Lilitu family put on the Makays many generations before Kristy's birth."

Grease Coakes, "So Jewel is going on an Indiana Jones kind of adventure. Instead of going to a magic school."

Amehana Ishtari, "Well, there is magic involved in Jewel's adventure, so maybe a combination of Jones in some fashions with magic. She's not trained though. But, she is ripe for a coatl to take as a priestess, like what Ryu is doing with Wind. I don't expect Jewel to be too thrilled."

Grease Coakes, "But Wind is being very stubborn with Ryu. Even when Ryu cares deeply for Wind, she's not giving him any ground romantically. And he does go out of his way for her."

The Dragon Shaman series characters are Blowing Wind and Ryu. Blowing Wind is a spiritual woman and Ryu is the dragon who loves and cares for her.

Amehana Ishtari, *chuckles* "There will be reason for that to change. BlowingWind won't remain locked up and grieving inside forever."

Grease Coakes, "That's good. So is it true then for your newest book Selkie Skins that to have it published on Amazon, you had to have a kickstarter campaign? Why not tell me about that? The Veronica Mars movie was funded the same way."

For readers who may not know, kickstarter is a website for people to contribute to for something they greatly believe in.

Amehana Ishtari, "I still have to send out the larger rewards for that kickstarter. I intend to get those sent out later today in fact. I was introduced to using kickstarter when I saw M.C.A. Hogarth, who I greatly respect the work of, having success with it. A kickstarter is a lot of work though. You have to decide what rewards you can afford to give, set a goal that will cover your needs...then the hardest part is getting backers. I didn't get many backers, but I got enough pledges to cover the editing costs. Even enough to pay the cover artist, who is my niece."

Grease Coakes, "So it was a few large pledges to cover your editing and artwork costs. Your niece did a great job with the cover the artwork is very pretty."

Amehana Ishtari, "She will actually be releasing a comic/manga fairly soon."

Grease Coakes, "Oh? what will her comic Manga be about?"

Amehana Ishtari, "Pirates."

Grease Coakes, "That sounds fun."

Amehana Ishtari, "http://clockwork-labyrinth.deviantart.com/ This is her deviant art actually. She does a wide range. Not all her work is there though."

Looking at her deviant art page the artwork looks really good.

Amehana Ishtari, "Yes, a few large pledges to cover paying the editor. I may run another Kickstarter later to help with the other projects. It is a lot of advertising though to get the word out."

Grease Coakes, "I'm sure you can pull through and when the same people who kickstarted you before when they see your first Selkie Skins book complete they would want to kickstart you again and perhaps you can also gain new fans with your writing."

Amehana Ishtari, "I had a few setbacks while working on it, and shortly after publishing which has delayed getting things shipped out. Personal issues."

Grease Coakes, "Apparently those setbacks didn't hold you back as my copy of Selkie Skins Castle and Wells is on my bookcase. Is there anything else you want to add about Selkie Skins Castle and Wells? It seems like (a) Harry Potter kind of world and the main character is torn between many responsibilities, oh and she lost her voice. And she's also a shapeshifter who changes into a seal when she touches water."

Amehana corrected me and said, "Not when she touches water. She has to take a paste to make the change, until she earns her skin. Then she will have to wear her skin. Touching water is too easy and would reveal her far too quickly." (big grin)

Grease Coakes, "Gotcha so she hasn't earned it quite yet. Oh yeah if she took a shower or bath she'd instantly turn into a seal and someone walks in on her or swims with her."

Amehana Ishtari, "I do have to add that there are three genders of dieties in the book."

Grease Coakes, "Oh right I remember that the moon is a shi, so it's just not men and women dieties."

Amehana Ishtari, "Mara and the Lady for example are female and denoted with the usual labels. Herne is very very male. The Moon though... he/she gets shi and hir when written about. Yes. I've had a few people think that those were typos. They aren't. Morgan Freepony (AKA Illya Leonov) is also narrating the audiobook version. He just recently sent me chapter 29, so there isn't much more to go before he finishes. And he sounds AMAZING!"

Grease Coakes, "Ahhh so the audio book is in the works.You mentioned there might be a release party when the audio book comes out."

Amehana Ishtari, "I do want a party when it's released, yes (and a serving of plum sake or raspberry wine I think would be in order too). Illya only records in the mornings, and his work has been keeping him pretty busy, so I don't know when he'll be finished so that picking a date can be done. I can say though that when he finishes this book, he wants to voice the Dragon Shaman books."

Grease Coakes, "Oh that sounds pretty cool so he wants to keep doing voice work for you. ... rumors mention that Grease Coakes may be the DJ for that part- do you deny or confirm these rumors?" (big grin)

Amehana Ishtari, "Oh yes, I intend to have Grease DJ for the party, of course. He DJ'd for the Dragon Shaman release you know. That would be greatly appreciated, you know with how many balls I've got in the air sometimes I have a hard time communicating or remembering to say 'hey! Guess what?' You should go to the Trotsdale library and hear his stories. Generally they get played Thursdays at 7PM SLT, so long as someone can stream them. The LM to the trotsdale library is here," http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Trotsdale%20Heights/185/63/29 

Grease Coakes, "If someone wanted to buy a copy of your books Selkie Skins or the Dragon Shaman Books where would he or she go to order the books?"

Amehana Ishtari, "Amazon is where they can be ordered in all formats. Smashwords has them in several ebook formats. Or they can go to the publishing website and send an order request using the contact info there, www.thgstardragon.com ."

Grease Coakes: Btw you look more like a diva today, not pimped out.

Amehana Ishtari: Thank you (laughs out loud).

The previous day when I turned 7 I had mistakenly called Amehana pimped out.

If any readers have any questions Amehana's twitter account is @AmehanaArashi and they could also go to her facebook page as well.

Amehana Arashi, "Ah. 'A World of Verse" not poetry. I've not finished my first cup of coffee yet (laughing out loud)  https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/ASMSG Right here."

Grease Coakes,"Lawl ^-^ Haha I feel that way at work I get free coffee at work so I milk that instead of soda."

Amehana is a busy lady in Second Life and an even busier writer. Look for her books under her real life name Teresa Garcia. All her books are good as she's also an excellent poet as I have heard her audio book “Call of the Kami” As I won through one of her contests.

She also does Tarot readings as I mentioned in an earlier article:  http://slnewserextra.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-tarot-reader-in-second-life.html. Please keep in mind however that Amehana is a busy woman and that her readings are by appointment only. She does excellent readings though.

If you get the chance and if you're looking for something fresh to read check out one of her books.

http://www.amazon.com/Selkies-Skins-Castle-Well-Volume/dp/0615947743

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18281102-taming-the-blowing-wind

http://www.amazon.com/Call-Kami-Teresa-Garcia/dp/1480131814

Grease Coakes

Perri Prinz and her Spectral Shadows Story Series

By Grease Coakes

Perri Prinz a long time bunny in Second Life took some time to talk with me about her ongoing series Spectral Shadows. Her artwork which shows scenes in her series is at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/HV%20community/40/206/3001

In Perri’s own words, a genetic war on an earthlike planet called Cyngus melded human and animal DNA together to create a hybrid species of animal and human. Most people familiarize characters like that as furries. Her Spectral Shadows series in her words mirrors real life through her many stories. The furries in her stories walk around naked; however their sexual organs are hidden underneath their fur. They only show those parts when each character intends to use them.

On the planet of Cyngus there are many different towns that have their own religion based upon a certain theme. People in a gangster town have a short life span as everyone watches and worships gangster movies. Another town Perri mentioned was based upon the classic vintage movie the wizard of Oz. There’s four bad witches always in power as the good witches can’t wish accidents on the bad witches.

Perri Prinz, “Yes, short life expectancy is a staple of the religion of the gangster town. The Oz town has an extremely corrupt government that consists of 4 witches that are either good or bad. But because bad witches can arrange accidents for the good witches and good witches cannot do the same, there are almost always 4 bad witches ruling the town. “


I said in response, “Wow so sometimes being a good person can work against you. Playing by the rules doesn't always work. Like for example Dusty Coakes a fox who’s a cop shoots to kill when he confronts criminals. It might not be morally right, but as a cop he has zero tolerance towards lives being threatened. He picks the low road and shoots to kill to stop violent people.” I asked Perri does she have any fave characters or any characters readers should look out for.

Perri Prinz answered, "Well, Christine, our main protagonist fox girl is pretty popular. As are her companions, Vicki the Blue Vixen and Kacey the pink geek skunk. It's through Kacey that many aspect of Furry Fandom and GBLT situations are explored. Kacey is the only one of my characters to have attracted a seriously obsessed fan who collects anything I can give him of her.

Perri Prinz, "Actually, I have several fans who contact me from time to time, but this one fellow is seriously obsessed with the series, and in particular the Kacey character. Yes, it is very much a mixed blessing having fans and being so readily available to talk to them. On the one hand it's very encouraging and an incentive to keep going, in spite of my failing health, but on the other it puts me in mind of my responsibilities to keep things going, which can be a bit hard for me to deal with in some of my weaker moments."

I said it sounds like a good series and like aspects of her series it creates a religion of her own as she does have some fans along with the fan that obsesses over Kacey.

Dark Shadows, a gothic soap opera from the 60’s and 70’s, was about a gothic family that deals with werewolves and ghosts. The show was one of the influences of Perri’s story series.

Perri Prinz, "Dark Shadows introduced the concept of the sympathetic vampire. There would be none of the vampire series they have today without that alteration in the vampire concept."

Grease Coakes, "So no Buffy or Angel without that show or being human from the UK."

Perri Prinz, "Actually, it was more like they had to find ways of saving the ghosts, vampires and werewolves from themselves. Such things, even death itself, were like afflictions that could be overcome."

Perri said the Grease Coakes in her series would be unfairly treated as he is different as a griffin. As her version of me has a beak he is treated unfairly by other characters. As a writer for a newspaper he starts to report about this. It shows a theme that she wants to write about people being racist like in real life.

I commented flyers could get in trouble in my story if they abuse their ability to fly. Glenda Griffin pays to get into the zoo fair and square. Another flyer tries to fly in without paying, and is arrested by Daisy Shepard. Glenda is very happy she played by the rules.

Dark Shadows has 1,300 episodes. Perri said this in relation to her own series, "Yes, Dark Shadows, but that is the nature of soap operas. One continuing, ever developing story, containing many sub-plots that come and go, following the storyline of multiple characters at the same time, and airing 5 days a week over a number of years. The episodes add up to staggering numbers. And that's the format I'm working in with Spectral Shadows."

Read her series at http://spectralshadows.livejournal.com/ also go to her gallery in SL at http:// maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/HV%20community/40/206/3001 and see the amazing art work drawn by the punk hippie from Canada.

the.punk.hippie@gmail.com is the best way to contact the artist if you want to hire her to draw for you.

Perri Prinz’s series sounds deep and involved. It sounds like an amazing series that points out the flaws of our society in Perri’s own world of Cyngus. Give it a read!

Grease Coakes

Muertos Okawa and Her New Book

By Grease Coakes

Bixyl told me about a new author within the amazing realm of Second Life. Her name is Muertos Okawa (Muertos Ashbourne) and she just released her book on amazon.com. I took the time to meet with Muertos at the Ark the popular furry club http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quarabia/100/129/501

“What Dreams May Come, Kara’s Journey,” was interesting to read as I bought it for all of 99 cents and read it on Kindle reader on my computer. When I asked Muertos about her book she had this to say, ”It's been something that I have dreamed about since I was back in Jr. High, but for whatever reason, I never finished a story, or was unwilling to let anyone else see it. But finally my husband gave me the courage to let this one go and to let others see it.” Sorry guys Muertos is taken but you can still read her steamy book.

Muertos explained, "It is an erotica/romance depicting the journey of emotions that take place when the world of reality and fantasy collide."That’s certainly the case as I began reading the first few pages of her story. I won’t say anything. Kara is a lonely secretary who is looking for something more to fulfill her life. What she finds is more than she may be able to handle. Muertos said a second book a sequel to this will be written soon.

When I asked what is in this steamy book she said this, "Yes. It has Domination/Submission undertones throughout the adventure." Domination and submission undertones? Wow sounds like some heavy reading.

As writers we were talking to each other as characters take over and write their own dialogue and actions. I told her, "I've had characters that are growing on their own. Greg Griffin and Glenda Griffin might walk into their own stories. It seems as if the characters have a life of their own. And Ginny Griffin as the girl next door she certainly deserves more stories."

Muertos smiled, "Exactly. It's like I gave her life, but after that, I'm just the director, it's her life and she lives it like she wants to. Her fantasy becomes very much a part of her daily life, but to the exact extent, I cannot say. Not without giving away the ending."

For the people reading this article wondering whether or not to buy the book, I’d say it’s certainly a fun read. Muertos did say this was aimed at the lady audience. But when she mentioned it had adult themes I couldn’t resist. Her and I mentioned that sometimes we had to go back and fix the story.

Muertos told me, "Oh yeah. She took me in directions I hadn't planned, even in this first story. I found myself writing a paragraph and then having to redo it because it just didn't sound like Kara anymore." I had to do the same and rewrite the whole ending of my children’s book.

Muertos and I just talked for a while about our characters and writing in general. She did say this about Amazon, "That's one thing that I thank Amazon for with their Kindle format. I can write, and they don't have a million miles of red tape for me to go through to get my stuff out there."

I pretended like I didn’t know anything about writing and asked Muertos if she had any advice for anyone wanting to become an author. Here’s what she had to say, " Advice: Best thing I can say is just write what you enjoy. If you enjoyed writing it and it's something that you're proud of, then don't get too hung up on whether anyone else likes it. Some will, some won't. But either way, if you can enjoy the adventure of writing it and produce a piece that you're truly proud of, then that's the greatest reward in itself. As for the adult theme, don't take it too seriously. That's a broad spectrum and very vast audience, so someone out there will share your fetish, fantasy, whatever theme you write about."

Muertos certainly has good advice as reading her story was pretty fun. I won’t say what’s going on you the reader has to buy her amazon book and find out for yourself. I did ask her the burning question as a furry.

"If you're a neko would you ever think of writing a story involving furries?"

Muertos Okawa blushed, "Uhm actually...yes and it will be a later story in the What Dreams May Come series."

 “What Dreams May Come, Kara’s Journey” Is an excellent read. I look forward to Muertos’s sequels in her series as I read along her first book. The story can be found at the following link - http://www.amazon.com/What-DreamsMay-Come-ebook/dp/B00F1LSDXE/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1378600502&sr=1-3&keywords=Melissa+Kite

Grease Coakes

Grease Coakes to Have Second Children's Book Published

By Grey Lupindo

          SL Newser reporter Grease Coakes will soon have his second real-life book published.   “Ginny Griffin and Friends” is a sequel to his first children’s book, “Ginny Griffin’s First Day of School”, which was published last year by lulu.com.  I met with Grease at a local restaurant recently to chat about his newest book.   The following is an edited version of our discussion.

Grey Lupindo: What's the title of this one?

Grease Coakes:  “Ginny Griffin and Friends”...[It’s] the sequel to "Ginny Griffin's First Day of School" and is a direct tie to the first book.

Grey Lupindo:   It should be easy for readers to find it.

Grease Coakes:  It's a little longer than the previous book.  Someone who read the book compared it to Encyclopedia Brown, but I don't think of Ginny that way.

Grey Lupindo:  I'm afraid I haven't read the Brown series, although I've heard of it.

Grease Coakes:    Encyclopedia Brown is a detective, but that's not really Ginny's style.   She's more like the girl next door with a big heart.

Grey Lupindo:  Sounds like they might have meant it as a compliment.

Grease Coakes:   The person said it was a good book so it was a compliment.   Maybe she happened to read a bunch of Encyclopedia Brown as a kid.

Grey Lupindo: Probably so.  What happens in this book?

 Grease Coakes:  Well, without giving too much away... If you read the first book, Julie Unicorn was a mean girl.   So when Ginny sees her crying and running out of art class, she gets concerned that no one is giving Julie a second chance.  No one else is willing to forgive Julie because she did some really bad things.  There's a reason she turned to the dark side in the previous book, but I won't say what.

 Grey Lupindo:   Mysterious.....I like that.

Grease Coakes:   Ginny risks all by trying to be Julie’s friend.  As a result Ginny is alienated throughout a lot of the book.  Oh-- I can say there is a cool action scene, but I won't say where in the book.

Grey Lupindo:  Let's give readers a hint. Is it a chase?  A fight?

Grease Coakes:  A fight.  Most children see a school fight so I don't think this will be anything new.  But one of my co-workers called me a terrible person for having a fight in a children's book.

Grey Lupindo:  If they aren't armed, it will be tamer than real-life.

Grease Coakes (laughing):  No, they aren't armed, but I dunno if it's tame.

Grey Lupindo: Kids see a lot in real-life.   We adults don't like to admit that.

Grease Coakes: Yeah, kids are growing up faster now a days and are exposed to more.

Grey Lupindo: Books are a good way for kids to work through the scary RL stuff.

Grease Coakes: Oh sure, especially when the characters are children.  They relate to children more than adults.  They see adults as mean people who forgot what it's like to be a kid.

Grey Lupindo: Can you tell me a little about Ginny’s world?

Grease Coakes:  The world of Ginny Griffin is different than the world we have in real life.  After their World War 2 they decide to stop putting money into war.   In the 1960's solar power is invented and widespread.  I can say that this book shows more of that technology.  More money is being spent on science and education.

Grey Lupindo:  Very forward thinking of them.

Grease Coakes:  Politicians aren't corrupt.   They actually do their job.  Bad things still happen, but it's not as bad our world.

Grey Lupindo:  Where do we sign up to move there?

Grease Coakes laughs.:   You can read my book to travel there for a while.  

Grey Lupindo:(smile)

Grease Coakes:   But a neat part of the book is that I cross over another story into this children's book.

Grey Lupindo:  What do you mean by "cross over another story"?

Grease Coakes:   Well, Rio the Otter happened to buy my writing skills at a tail sale around the same time I started writing this sequel.    He said he wanted a summer beach story.

Grey Lupindo:  Were you able to combine both story lines?

Grease Coakes nods:   Rio shows up in the book, and he meets with Ginny and Phil, her father.  I won't say how or why they meet though.  But what Phil shows to Rio is pretty amazing as he works for a tech firm.

Grey Lupindo: Cool!  So how do readers find your book?

 Grease Coakes:   I just got the cover picture last night so it's not ready yet.   But when it's ready it will be on www.lulu.com. 

Grey Lupindo: Will it be out in time for Christmas sales?

Grease Coakes:  Oh yeah, it shouldn't be long. 

    

         Grease and I continued to chat for a few more minutes about writing and Second Life.   He gave me a short excerpt from the newest Ginny Griffin book.   Like his first book, this one is set in the colorful town of Spoonville.  He has created an imaginative world where the art teacher, Ms. Harriet Hotchkiss, is a cobalt blue peacock and the children, like Harry Hyena, are animals.   But  real-life children will soon realize that the fictional children face a lot of the same issues and obstacles that they do.  They should be able to relate to the characters as they are entertained by the imaginary world.   

        “Ginny Griffin and Friends” by real-life author John Krauss will be available soon in the children’s book section of lulu.com.    

Grey Lupindo

Interview with Netera Landar

By Grease Coakes

I heard about another book author in Second Life called Netera Landar. She was nice enough to interview me at her home in SL which was a beautiful sim. Her newest book Deadly Reservations is the third book she has written which involves angels. She also has been working for a newspaper in real life near Chicago, IL as a lifestyle editor. Right now she’s working on a fourth book a sequel to "Deadly Reservations." In real life her name is Denise Fleischer. She started with poetry in high school and moved on with bigger fish to fry in her adult life. In Second Life she also works for the Metaverse Tribune, a newspaper here.

Her wild imagination helped her cook up first book called the guardian. A crusader from the American Revolution is drawn into an intergalactic battle for the fate of Earth. Lea Netera the main character is drawn to a captain who needs her help to fight the Dark Lord of Intarius. Lea is drawn into a battle with the Holians with a talking dragon and more in Netera’s first book. You can take a look here at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=stripbooks&fieldkeywords=Deadly+Reservations.

The second book that Netera/Denise wrote is a sequel to the guardian where Lea wants to escape back to her original time period. The odds are against her as she travels back to the Olympia’s past and must fight the army of Intarius to save billions of lives.

The third book she has written is a whole new series with Zoe as the daughter of the archangel Michael is born as a human to investigate the demon Mathias who as a mayor in small towns uses American greed and money to get his way. Only Zoe and David an agent for the FBI know Mathias’s secret that he really is a fallen angel. Zoe has heavenly powers at her disposal including creating a cube which is a holy jail cell for any fallen angels or demons. She also has an AI on her wrist named Charles. Mathias uses deadly assassins to kill anyone who tries to stop him. The sequel is "The Sharp Edge of Truth" that Netera is working on now.

I asked Netera about her hobbies and she happened to like movies pets, reading, and jewelry. She said she really enjoyed the new star trek movie. In fact she mentioned she met actors form the TV series and movies. She met the actor who played Chekov and the actress who played Ohura. She also met John De Lanice who played Q and Brent Spiner who played data the android wanting to become human. She also reviews books on wordpress.com

I asked Netera does she have any advice for any hopeful writers? She said to simply keep writing and you can’t force it. That’s certainly good advice as I kept pushing and writing to publish my children’s book.

Later on in the interview she brought out a robot named uncle Irvin. It showed questions in green text and it gave you back scripted responses. The robot was created by Grey Kurka.

Grease Coakes: "Hi Irvin."

Uncle Irvin: "Hi there. Have you ever been to Europe?"

Netera Landar: "Have you?"

Grease Coakes: "No I haven't."

Uncle Irvin: "No I don't think I have. Would you like to go sometime? Do you think you will?"

Grease Coakes: "Maybe later who knows?"

Uncle Irvin: "Perhaps. Only the Shadow knows."

I had to laugh out loud at the last line.

Netera also created and published a magazine called Unforgettable magazine. She gave me the copies that I simply wore and it showed up on my SL screen like a HUD.

Netera seemed like a very busy woman writing her butt off for her own magazine a newspaper in real life, a Second Life publication like I do, and her own stories being published into real life books. Her books certainly seemed original as she encouraged me to stay original and not copy off others.  Well of course no one wants to read something that’s rehashed. If you’re looking for something new check our one of her books at Amazon.  And remember to watch out for angels, one may cube you if you have been misbehaving like Mathias the fallen angel from her book.

Grease Coakes

Interview with Gwen Mayo

Gwen Mayo started writing poetry before she took on the challenge of writing a novel. She won a fellowship for her poetry and went to college on an arts scholarship.

"I studied politics and history. I write historical and the politics and history are intimately entwined in what I write," said Mayo. "I wanted to write about historical Kentucky. In college I helped with a book about women who served in the state legislature. I also started writing short fiction in college."

She and Sarah Glenn wrote one short mystery together about retired nurses from WWI. Women who drove ambulances in France and were getting shot at.

"Sarah's great-great aunt served in WWI as a nurse. She was very independent and intrepid,” she said.

In Mayo's novel, "Circle of Dishonor," Nessa Donnelly, a former Pinkerton agent, poses as a Civil War nurse. Nessa was raised by the Sisters of Mercy, in Chicago. She's a single woman posing as a man and yes that does lead to a number of gender issues she has to work around.

Mayo was interested in focusing on that period of Kentucky's past called the “Decades of Discord, in which, she said, Kentucky was the most violent place in America.

"There were a lot of secret societies, outlaws, and feuds in the mountains. The book takes place during a few weeks in 1879," she said. "It's part of a series. I'm about 40,000 words into the next book, which deals with Klan activity in Central Kentucky. The book that will follow will take place in Eastern Kentucky during the Regulator Uprising in the fall of 1879. The fourth one will be on Indiana and will deal with the gambling going on in a resort area."

The core group of characters are Nessa, Doc Haydon, Tad, and Beulah. Mayo has an agreement for a contract with one publisher. She said The Pill Hill Press people are very supportive.

The book was published in print format and is available in Kindle and Nook.

As far as promotion, many of the things Sarah Glenn did, Gwen did first. The book was featured on Goodreads, reviewed by the Historical Fiction Society, and promoted both on line and in personal appearances.

When she is not writing fiction, Gwen reviews lesbian historical fiction for Bosom Friends at lesbianhistoricalfiction.blogspot.com.

"Book Island has had open mic sessions and micro fiction on Sundays in Second Life," she said. "We also opened Odd Women's Bookstore there. We started including our books and other women's, like Marian Allen's. We welcome instant messages to discuss them.”

Netera Landar

Interview with Sarah Glenn

Sometimes I’m able to convince authors to explore the creativity and opportunities of Second Life. Numerous efforts have led me to introduce the virtual world to authors Robert Dugoni, Karen Kay, Donna Fletcher Crow and two women that I met at my AuthorFest in IL, Sarah Glenn and Gwen Mayo.

This article will be devoted to Sarah, first. So we sit at my Italian table on my SL home’s patio on a Wednesday night. The three of us enjoy a quiet moment of no IMs. The first discussion is about Sarah's real life writing experiences.

Sarah began writing in her youth. She focused on stories about horses and drew them. Years later, she graduated to X-men and the horror genre, first writing fan fiction.

"I wanted to be a writer my entire life," she confesses in voice. "In my novel, 'All This and Family, Too,' extraordinary people are in very ordinary circumstances. Cynthia Leach is an astronomer who likes going out and using a telescope in the woods. She's extremely upright and heroic. Penelope was her sire."

At this point you should get the idea that we're discussing a paranormal and Sarah is writing about vampires. She tells me that Penelope has been destroyed and does not appear as an active character.

“She is a vampire, but not exactly a vamp. She has a family she wants to protect. They’re a little dysfunctional,” Sarah admits. “She tends to think of being a vampire as a disability. She can’t teach daytime classes, meet with various research bodies, go to conventions to present papers and she has an odd social life. She dates women because of her need for blood.”

Cynthia does have a mentor and friend. Dylan Duvoth was born into a wealthy family in Great Britain. He wanted to be a movie star, so he set out for California.

“He arrived in Laguna Beach, then a popular setting for the silent films and the new ‘talkies,” said Sarah. “It was there that he became a vampire. Sadly, he discovered that he no longer showed up on film and his career was over. Dylan resides in Laguna Beach now and owns the ‘Undertow’, a gay bar. He also coaches budding actors and singers. He has discovered that he shows up in the new digital filming, though, so hope springs eternal.”

Pill Hill Press in Nebraska published the book in May. Sarah’s currently working on a sequel to the book, possibly a family saga.

In terms of promotion, Sarah had a giveaway with goodreads.com and received a good response. There have been a few good reviews and appearances at various conventions. She and partner Gwen Mayo attended Golden Crown Literary Society Lesbian Fiction Convention in June and she’s going to be at FandomFest in Kentucky in November. In Second Life, she was featured in a mini interview on Book Island’s Newsletter and will be my guest for the Netera Landar chat on Aug. 27 at 11 a.m. SL Time

Netera Landar