As far as I am informed "Narasnook" is a Grid of Artists mainly writers, but the best is I will ask Nara Malone herself.
Hyperzette:
Hello Nara, I would like to ask you a few questions about yourself and the Grid "Narasnook".
My first question is always about your first contact to Virtual Worlds. I guess you started as the most of us in Second Life. Can you tell our readers how, when and where it all began and maybe a bit about the history that you now run your own grid ?
Nara:
I was introduced to virtual worlds by author Tibby Armstrong. She had read my second book, "The Dungeon Gourmet", a romance where the two central characters met via an internet cyber-dungeon and were in the process of taking their relationship into the real world. Tibby was a Second Life resident and thought I must be too. When I explained my research had centered around text based relationships, Tibby walked me through the installing, signing up, and navigating virtual worlds.
I have to admit, it was not love at first sight. I didn't know what to do with it. At a conference I ran into another author who was using Second Life and she loved it too. I was baffled but intrigued so I kept exploring. Then I discovered holodecks. Being able to install scenes and bring them up with the click of a button, logging in several avatars to play characters in a scene opened the doors to my imagination in ways nothing had before.
Not long after I discovered Second Life I discovered OSGrid and SoaS (Sim on a Stick; Standalone). I learned about running Opensim on my laptop and built a grid on my personal computer while I was writing the book "Snatch Me". At the same time I had set up scenes in my Second Life holodeck and was working on my third book. "Blind Heat", there. My publisher had agreed to link to the worlds of my stories in the front matter of my next books so I started moving regions online to various hosts..
I would blog about my experiences. I'd talk to other authors about them. A few wanted to team up with me and see if we could create a grid where readers could come to meet our characters and explore the worlds we built. As we grew, artists and musicians joined us in some of our interactive projects and they set up homes on our grid too.
Hyperzette:
How big is the grid in the amount of regions and residents ?
Nara:
Currently we have 20 regions, one of which is a 4x4 var region--it has 16 standard sized regions contained inside its borders. We are within spitting distance of having our 100th member sign up. Our active members (this includes regular hypergrid visitors) is running around 170.
I have two partners in running the grid -- Siobhan Muir and Tina Glasneck. They are both authors and have built some of their story worlds in regions on the "Nook" grid.
Hyperzette:
"Narasnook" is a special grid according to its residents. As far as I know all of your inhabitants are artists. Can you tell about that speciality ?
Nara:
The majority of our members are authors, with a few poets, musicians, and visual artists rounding out the mix.
You find stories at the heart of every art form. So while not everyone here is an author, storytelling is the goal we all share. The features we add here keep that goal in mind. The projects we do as a group draw on all the arts.
Hyperzette:
You are a writer in real and publishing books? Would you give a few headlines and how to purchase ?
Nara:
I've had six books and a video game published:
GAMES:
Spirit Walkers: Curse of the Cypress Witch
Developer: Orchid Games
Genre: G-Rated Adventure game targeted for women and girls
Released for PC, Mac, iOS, Android
(http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/17645/spirit-walkers-curse-of-the-cypress-witch/index.html)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
BOOKS PUBLISHED:
The Tiger's Tale
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Paranormal Romance
The Dungeon Gourmet
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Cyber Romance
Snatch Me
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Cyber Romance
Blind Heat
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Just A Little Byte
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Cyber Romance Anthology
Make Me Wet
Publisher: Ellora's Cave
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Links to the books:
(https://www.ellorascave.com/author/nara-malone)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
AWARDS:
Stroke of Midnight Best Paranormal Romance for The Tiger's Tale
ETRW Southern Heat Award Honorable Mention for Mind Games (published as Blind Heat)
Winner Summer Madness Poetry Competition: "Blue Harbor"
Pocket Gamer Silver Award for Spirit Walkers: Curse of the Cypress Witch
I think the easiest way to find my books is to go to my website,
NaraMalone.com
and click the books page to get to the buy links. They are available from all e-book sellers and can be read on any e-reading device. Some are also available in print.
My game is at Apple and Google Play stores.
Hyperzette:
All other writers are publishing in real as well. Do you sell your books in world ?
If yes, how does it work ?
Nara:
I believe all of our authors are published. It's hard to keep track with so many. Many of those most active inworld: Siobhan Muir, Shannan Albright, Tina Glasneck, Shara Lanel, Leah St James, Courtney Sheets, and Brandi Evans are what we call multi-published, with several books available from multiple publishers. You can find out more about their work at their websites and through our author Discovery Garden in Region Greyville.
None of us have books for sale inworld, though we do have bookshops in Greyville where you can find information about our books and buy links to where they can be purchased.
Hyperzette:
Are there not-authors to be found within the inhabitants of "Narasnook" and can you tell of which kind of artistic profession ?
Nara:
We have many folks who are residents of other grids and participate in our activities via hypergrid, but foucsing on just those who are residents with a presence at the colony:
Jeff Cuneo is a musican and song writer. You can find more about his music inworld. He is new to virtual and learning his way around while considering how to bring his music into virtual.
Endora Twinklens is a real world photographic artist with a gallery in Greyville. She was bitten by the Mesh bug within a a couple of weeks of first logging in at the "Nook" and also has a Mesh freebie store in th Paradise region.
Tracy Olmstead is a poet with a wide following though he does not publish his work for sale. You can view an exhibit of his work in the Paradise region of "Nara's Nook"
Thirza Ember is multi-talented. I know she does graphic work in SL but at the "Nook" she has a beautiful lingerie shop of wearable art.
Hyperzette:
Nara's is not only a meeting point for artists, but also an experimental field of a new kind of storytelling. Would you tell a bit about it ?
Nara:
Yes, Transmedia Fiction is a form of storytelling that involves stories that cross boundaries between the real world and fiction, as well as incorporating a variety of media beyond the written word to deliver a story.. The name Greyville Writer's colony is a hat-tip to the idea that our colony exists in the gray space between reality and fiction. You can meet our characters outside their books. You can dance with them, chat with them, go an an adventure with them.
In our first year the Greyville Writer's Colony has produced two major presentations for our transmedia experiments. The first, Hypergrid Stories, was an attempt to lead readers on an adventure across multiple grids in the metaverse.
The second, Geeked-Out Fairy Tales was a compilation of short tales, each designed to be a learning experience for creating interactive fiction while telling you a story.
Hyperzette:
Can everybody register at "Narasnook" or does one have to have any requirements to do so ?
Nara:
Everyone is welcome to join us. We believe the diversity of members inspires unique projects
Hyperzette:
You have been participating in the OSCC 14. Would you give a short opinion about it ?
Nara:
I loved the Community Conference. The presentations were extraordinary and I learned so much from the exhibits. As I presenter, I can say it was a tremendous amount of work to put together. That is because we went a little beyond what was asked for. We essentially had 8 rather complex interactive learning exhibits wrapped up inside one presentation. Our exhibit will remain on display at the "Nook" in the Pandora region for anyone interested in viewing.
Hyperzette:
What are the plans for the future, for you and/or the Grid "Narasnook" ?
Nara:
Shannan Albright is putting together a Nook's Book Writing Group to start in January. This is her description: Here is where you learn the craft of writing a book beginning to end. Learn your craft, or fine hone those areas you may have problems with. The goal is to have a published manuscript in twelve months. So prepare to work, brainstorm and enjoy the journey.
We expect more member-led workshops, covering both virtual world and creative arts skills, during the coming year.
Beyond that, we plan to keep on telling stories and experimenting with ways to bring something new to storytelling and the metaverse.
Hyperzette:
Thank you Nara
Interviewpartner: Nara Malone
For the "Hyperzette": zaphod Enoch
Destination:
Nara's Nook Grid, Default Region Greyville
world.narasnook.com:8900:greyville
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen