UNDER THE MANGO TREE--Tamsin Barzane

For (ahem) years now I've talked about having a writer's group in SL, but something always interfered. The time is ripe! Writing the brief bios for the Middle Passage Experience set me to ruminating about how more books, movies and tv shows should feature Africa--while the writer's group needn't focus on Africa, these thoughts provided the impetus to start something.

As some of you know, I'm a professor in real life, which means I write all the time--publish or perish is our watchword. But while I can compose academese with the best of them, I really like fiction or non-academic non-fictional prose. I've written one and a half novels and have a real NYC agent--though no publisher yet, and have published some pieces in popular magazines. But I don't have much of a sense of community. Aside from a few mystery writing conventions (oh, I do have fun at Bouchercon), I don't get to discuss writing or play with other authors. I'd join a RL group in a minute, but I'm a non-driver and they're never anywhere nearby.

Surely I'm not alone? Let's enjoy ourselves! Depending on how many are intrigued, and what directions they'd like to pursue, we could mix it up or have more than one group. As "This Week in Saminaka" states below, I'd like to hold an organizational meeting this week, on Wednesday, July 8 at 9pm SLT at the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint. There we can see if the lure is novels, academic writing, travel pieces, journalism (c'mon, the Saminaka Compass is waiting for you!), poetry (yikes! I'd hand that off to somebody else--not in my skill set), or a genre exploration (sci-fi? mysteries? romaaaaaaaance? horror?). We can see if there are too many of us for one effective group, and discuss how we want things to work. I am a great proponent of Robert J. Ray's how-to book "The Weekend Novelist," full of practical exercises and scheduling. We could participate in the "Write a novel over Labor Day weekend" Internet contest or NaNoRiMo in November!

Or we could just hone our skills and have fun. Within July I'm going to build a bookshop/library on Saminaka, full of more free African book links (like those presently in the free bookstore), some great Amazon title links, and inworld books from my slide shows--why not add things you write to the collection? There will even be a reciting lectern for the poetic.

In addition, if we really get rolling, I have a small (very small!) on-demand publishing house, as well as a working knowledge of InDesign. You want to try something in the Real World? Perhaps we can do it together, marketing it in and out of SL. Let's see!

"Egbe Akowe" means "Writer's Group" in Yoruba, one of Nigeria's major languages (thank you, Tunde!). Be part of the family and let's encourage each other's talents.

P.S. Let me take this opportunity to offer my real life services, based on excellent proofreading skills, sky-high grammatical College Board scores, 32 years of university grading, and substantial grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Foundation, and the state of Ohio--if you want a proofreader, suggestions on content presentation, or grantwriting advice, you can hire me. Rates available on request for dissertations, articles, books, and grants. Contact Tamsin Barzane.