Hooray! My bookshop is named and open for business in the Mystic sim of Second Life. Today is the official opening!

For those of you who don't know, a few months back I decided to explore this new "game" called Second Life and see what kind of promotional opportunities might be there. I'd heard a piece about it on NPR and the announcer mentioned Ford and Toyota had places there...I thought...well, if they can, why can't I?

The learning curve is incredibly steep...it took me two months just to get a clue how to create objects, what prims were to begin with...how to make Linden dollars so I could buy all the gorgeous dresses! But this week, the climb up will bear fruit as I open Passionate Books, Diana Hunter, Prop.

To celebrate the opening, I'm offering the first two episodes of my new serial...AS THE SL WORLD TURNS...a set of stories set in Second Life whose storyline is directed, not only by my own experiences thus far, but by those of the readers as well. To get your copies, stop by Passionate Books...and read a few hot excerpts while you're there!

This is a new form of storytelling for me, but it is not a static story with a set plot already formed in my head. Come tell your own SL stories! I will take pieces of your adventures and weave and interweave the wonderful threads into a tapestry filled with the color and passion of Second Life. Let Rosie’s story be truly interactive…come post your thoughts about each episode and help direct the next one!

Play safe!
Diana

This blog is taking on a second life. Or maybe I should captialize that? Let me explain...

I started this blog initally as a place to do some thinking out loud about characters and stories. Thought readers might be interested in the "behind the scenes" look at the writing process. Well, to put it bluntly, they weren't. I don't know how many people subscribe to this blog, heck, I can't even find the darn RSS button it supposedly has on it somewhere. Few people leave comments, even when I post on bigger topics. Over the past several months, I've been posting less and less frequently as a result.

Those of you who DO read, know that my past few posts have mentioned Second Life, the Linden company's virtual world that mirrors everyday life...and yet has its own, unique reality. I've established a presence there, with a new reading room/coffeeshop/bookstore-type place to showcase my books. Click on a book cover and read an excerpt...follow the links to Ellora's Cave Publishing and voila! Purchase my books! Clever, huh?

Except I don't want it to end there. Second Life has far too many stories of its own to leave them untold. So, sitting with Ravishal Bentham one day (owner of East End Radio), we got to chatting about how to tell those stories. He told me of another story-teller who publishes on the web, adding a chapter on a regular basis, whose readers comment on his stories and gives him direction for the storyline.

Well, that got me to thinkin'....What about a story set both in RL (real life) and SL (Second Life)? A story that not only took some of my own adventures and viewed them through the eyes of a fictitious character, but that allowed readers to post their own stories as well? A story that could be directed by the readers as new worlds are created and new events occur? In other words, not a static, already-plotted out story...but a new, dynamic storytelling where the reader could interact with the characters and the storyline!

But of course, I need a way for readers to talk back to me. Find me in-world (I'm Diana Allandale, in-world), or add your stories here for the world to read. Let's give this blog its own Second Life!

Play safe,
Diana