Creativity and Intrusion in Second Life--Tamsin Barzane

How can Second Life remain a source of creativity, friendship and development without making you flinch every time the IM bell rings? Because it can do both--otherwise there would be no "no drama zone" signs and some residents wouldn't feel the need to hide by unclicking their radio buttons. But I'm not really talking about the occasional pests who rant or insult--though they warrant an examination! I'm talking about obligations from people you like.

I don't want anyone to wince on my account. I started a writing group, Egbe Akowe, last summer, and we have thirty-plus members, though only ever had a core of five regular attendees for a weekly meeting. We were faithful and regular for a while, but rl would come up (or festival planning), and we've missed a few meetings. I'm not up to date myself! And when I find myself thinking, "Damn! It's Tuesday night and we're supposed to meet!" it's time to regroup!

It's not a matter of interest--I think we've all enjoyed the opportunity to nudge ourselves back into creating, and to share the results (surprisingly good!) with each other. The meetings have been lots of fun as well, building camaraderie, and providing useful suggestions.

The problem has been finding time and not feeling guilty if we haven't written. So I'm going to change the direction of our writing group so it remains fun and productive for all of us. It will now have more of a workshop feel--no prep at all, just drop in! We had a great round robin storytelling session once; we may do that again, but we are going to do timed exercises right then and there that we can share. Short things. I've dusted off my writer's group books and am ready!

So do join us--no guilt, plenty of fun and kickstarts to creativity. We will begin next Tuesday, Oct. 20, 6 pm slt at the library/bookstore, Slate, Stick & Scroll.

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 6 pm slt Egbe Akowe meets. Join Saminaka's writing club for stimulating prompts and weekly critiques of the resulting poetry and prose. Held at Saminaka's library. Slate, Scroll & Stick: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/167/183/29

Ongoing, until Oct. 15. Saminaka's great Cantaloupe Treasure Hunt allows you to wear a new calabash on your head, this time loading it with half cantaloupes as you search through the sim for 20 of the fruits. They're all hidden near Nigerian plants, and pile up in your calabash as you find them. All located? Go back to base and touch the giant cantaloupe for a grand prize. All prizes transfer. Any that are gender-specific include both a male and female version. All prizes unique to the hunt, comprising clothing, furniture, art and other goods with an African plant theme. The starting point can be reached from teleporter via Saminaka's infohub tent, or at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/93/66/30

Ongoing indefinitely. Saminaka has a new exhibit about Nigerian plants. This slideshow features information and images of over fifty trees, plants and flowers, native and naturalized. Some of the information is surprising (Nigeria is the third largest supplier of peanuts in the world--outranks U.S.!), some is interesting (Nigerian henna use does not involve elaborate patterning). Enjoy finding out a rubber tree doesn't look at all exotic, soak up some beauty, and get some hints for the treasure hunt above! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/96/65/30

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--Sept. 22-28, 2009

Tues, Sept. 22 at 6 pm SLT. Weekly meeting of Egbe Akowe Writers Group at the new Slates, Scrolls & Sticks, Saminaka's library cum bookstore. Join the group and receive its missives by hitting the Subscribe-o-Matic (it doesn't add to group count) at the meeting location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/174/194/30 or the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint on Tarkwa Beach.

This week we will each be taking individual directions with the prompt "Africa" Come join us!

Thursday, Sept. 24 at 1 pm slt. European decorate your canoe workshop (American workshop next week)! Saminaka's African Festival is coming up fast, and you'll want to be part of the regatta--and maybe win a prize! The regatta is a Nigerian-style festive event, whereby participants decorate a canoe with canopy, pennants, even revolving platforms! If you're a regular builder, all you need to do is look at a slideshow, and you'll be on your way--but if you don't build much, you need a feel for how it's done. We'll give you a free, modifiable canoe and some full-perm pennants with instructions to get you started!

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--Sept. 14 to 20

Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 6 pm SLT. Weekly meeting of Egbe Akowe Writers Group at the new Slates, Scrolls & Sticks, Saminaka's library cum bookstore. Join the group and receive its missives by hitting the Subscribe-o-Matic (it doesn't add to group count) at the meeting location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/174/194/30 or the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint on Tarkwa Beach.

This week we will each be taking individual directions with the group story we started on "Samantha." Come join us!



Sunday, Sept. 20 at 1 pm SLT. Avenue is hosting an Ebony fashion show, and cacao is participating! I don't yet know the SLURL, but will update here and in groups. Eight outfits will be on display!

This Week in Saminaka--September 7-13, 2009

Tues., Sept. 8, 6 pm SLT. Weekly meeting of Egbe Akowe Writers Group at the new Slates, Scrolls & Sticks, Saminaka's library cum bookstore. Join the group and receive its missives by hitting the Subscribe-o-Matic (it doesn't add to group count) at the meeting location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/174/194/30 or the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint on Tarkwa Beach.

This week we will each be taking individual directions with the group story we started on "Samantha." Come join us!

Thursday, Sept. 10, 6 p.m. slt. GRAND OPENING ADIRE EXTRAORDINAIRE! Adire, our small store that had a few Yoruba items, has closed--to give birth to Adire Extraordinaire! This shop will contain orisha products, beginning with initiate outfits and expanding to include medicines and other products. Through its back door you can enter Oliha Yiwama's office and the Olokun shrine that faces the beach

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--August 10 to 16

Tues., Aug. 4, 6 pm SLT. Weekly meeting of Egbe Akowe Writers Group at the new Slates, Scrolls & Sticks, Saminaka's library cum bookstore. Join the group and receive its missives by hitting the Subscribe-o-Matic (it doesn't add to group count) at the meeting location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/174/194/30 or the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint on Tarkwa Beach. Critique/sharing the first hour, then writing fun afterwards for the lingerers--if we get that far! The discussions have been preoccupying us. We have great meetings--come even if you haven't written this week and join the discussion and in-place exercises!

Sunday, August 15, 3-5 pm SLT. Well, cacao had its preview and its Grand Opening, but we're having ONE MORE Grand Opening--because the vendor ads for the men's clothes were tardy (tsk, tsk, Tamsin). So join us in the store as DJ HarleyMC Homewood plays terrific African tunes! I promise to do something else special for all! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kiko%20Life/234/114/1506

THIS WEEK IN SAMINAKA--August 3 to 9

Tues., Aug. 4, 6 pm SLT. Weekly meeting of Egbe Akowe Writers Group at the new Slates, Scrolls & Sticks, Saminaka's library cum bookstore. Join the group and receive its missives by hitting the Subscribe-o-Matic (doesn't add to group count) at the meeting location. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saminaka/174/194/30 or the Manatee Lookout Palm Wine Joint on Tarkwa Beach. Critique/sharing the first hour, then writing fun afterwards for the lingerers--if we get that far! The discussions have been preoccupying us. We have great meetings--come even if you haven't written this week and join the discussion and in-place exercises!


Sunday, Aug. 9; 3-5 slt. The REAL Grand Opening of Tamsin's new boutique on Kiko Life sim--Aug. 2 was just a preview. Hear fantastic DJ HarleyMC Homewood spin African popular music -- a fantastic mix of Afrobeat, highlife, hiphop, Congo music, remixes--not to be missed! The preview was an absolute joy! http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kiko%20Life/234/114/1506

Ongoing for 1 more weeks--BUT it looks as if it will find a permanent home elsewhere afterwards. The Middle Passage Experience has been relocated outside Treet.TV's studios. With more prims, it is more powerful than ever! Foliage surrounds the paths you take from freedom to slavery, and evocative sounds reinforce the move from everyday contentment to horror. Make history come alive! At http://slurl.com/secondlife/Northpoint/71/68/23

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.