Interview With Marcel Mosswood

By Deaflegacy

Marcel Mossword began writing for the Newser a few months ago. To begin with, I had already known her some as not only is she a fellow reporter, but also my neighbor at Cape Heron. We recently met to talk about her time at the paper so far.

Passing  my congratulations to Marcel about becoming the new reporter for the SL Newser, Marcel told me,  “Thank you.  I like my new job.” She smiled, and went on to say she plans on writing,  “as long as I can have my SL account.”

I asked Marcel about her goal as a reporter.  “I like to let people know the news on Second Life,” she replied, “I want people to know the news in Second Life in depth, that's why I like to take one side of an event, not just the publication side.” Marcel went on to say she doesn't play on making this a real-life career, “I don't have a plan to become a reporter in real life.”


Besides being a reporter, Marcel is a skilled artist here in Second Life, “My main goal is to bring art to SL from our remote area and to learn about building and collaborate with people.” She also  considers Second Life to be a good place to learn to write and have collaboration with other writers.

Marcel currently has an exhibition at the sci-fi fair.  Her exhibition is mentioned on the sci fi blog:
https://art2048.blogspot.com

Marcel is an animal lover, who has three cats in real life. Her profile describes her in real life as a painter, illustrator, writer, and "homeschool mom." She is married to Iggy Tachikawa in both real life and Second Life.

Deaflegacy

Editors Note: Marcel would post the following in Facebook yesterday.

A month ago I joined this group of SL reporters, the SL Newser. I learned so much from my new job. I'm an RL writer since years ago, but I never did a reporter job who reports events or people. 

When I do my job, I combine my knowledge of various news reports with my interest in humanity (I'm a psychologist in RL :D ). So that I not only produce an article about the event itself, but also the human side of the event. Such as motivation, fatigue, teamwork, inspiration, emotion, etc.

I enjoy being among the SL Newser's media team, where the fellow reporters are very fun, creative and passionate.

Eleven Years of Reporting

By Bixyl Shuftan

It was about eleven years ago that yours truly got his start as a reporter here in Second Life. Before coming to Second Life, I had been writing a few science-fiction stories and posting them on a personal website. They got some reads, and a little fanart. But by 2007, I felt it was time for a break, so put that on pause. In the meantime, I had taken an interest in Second Life, and that year started logging in on a regular basis. Wanting to know more about this virtual world, I began looking up websites and blogs. I eventually came across a few newsletters, the one getting my attention the most being "Second Life Newspaper." It was owned by JamesT Juno and run by Dana Vanmoer. After a while, I came across an invitation for it's readers to send in "reader submitted" articles. So I wrote a few and sent them in. James and Dana were impressed, and invited me for a job interview. After several minutes of talking, I got the job.

Although I wasn't always sure what would make for a good subject in the first few weeks, I soon got the hang of things. I would write about a variety of subjects about the people, places, and events of Second Life. While occasionally my stories were a bit on the sensational side, such as writing about "Zig Zag" and her adult media company, more often than not, they were about how Second Life sometimes mirrored real life, such as the 2008 Presidential Election, people doing good things in Second Life, notably the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the Relay for Life, the various things people made here, or people just having fun such as the games and virtual pets. And of course I was part of a great time, some who would become my friends.

In Spring 2010, James and Dana were having to deal with real life situations that would not go away, and made the decision to close the Second Life Newspaper. Four of us, Gemma Cleanslate, Grey Lupindo, Shellie Sands, and I made the decision to start a new paper with me as the leader. And so my role changed from just another writer to the head of the team. Over the years, the team has seen people come and go, such as DrFran, Zymbers Slade, Grease Coakes, Majik, and others. But the team remains, with Gemma and I still writing stories.

As Second Life has changed, I've written about new places, things, and people here, such as the development of mesh and Bento. I've written about other virtual worlds, such as InWorldz. And as my friends here also play games outside Second Life, I've written about those as well, such as Minecraft, World of Warcraft, and more. But the main focus continues to be this virtual world. I'm able to write one, two or three larger stories each week, plus briefs for the front page about Linden blog announcements and other breaking news.

So now what? For one, I plan on continuing what I've been doing all along. But I also have something else going on. Before getting into journalism, I wrote a few fictional stories, some short and some long. And recently I've started up on another science-fiction novel, "The Corsean Encounter." This is the story of two men as they end up on an alien world that in some ways is quite familiar, in others very different, in a pivotal moment in it's history, and the decisions they and their friends and enemies make will affect the world for generations to come. As of now, it's slightly less than halfway done. The Newser keeps me busy.

Eleven years later, much has changed. But the primary objective remains the same, getting the word out about the people, places, and events, of Second Life.

"And that's the way it is."

Bixyl Shuftan

My Last Article For SL Newser

By Wesley Regenbogen,

Dear readers and SL Newser staff,

I joined Second Life Newser in July 2014 after searching for a virtual newspaper to write for in Second Life.

My virtual journalism career started around the year 2000, when I was member of a virtual world called Cybertown.com ( it doesn’t exist anymore nowadays ). At the time I saw an ad where they were looking for writers at CVN ( Cybertown Virtual News ). I decided to send in an article that I wrote and I thought by myself “here goes nothing.” But after a while, the editor emailed me back that the article was good enough for publication. I must admit that I was a bit blown away by the fact that my article was accepted anyhow.

But in the year 2003, the Cybertown.com virtual world had new owners and they decided to make it a subscription based website. I decided to leave CVN and thus the virtual world of Cybertown.com. After that I wandered around the web in search of other virtual worlds like Cybertown.com, but I found none that gave me the same “feeling.” Until in November 2006, I saw a video about Second Life and decided to join in and created my account.

After a few years of learning the basics of Second Life, I found out that SL Newspaper, owned by James T. Juno, was looking for writers. I then made the decision to join his team and write articles for them. But I lost interest in Second Life a while after that and decided to leave Second Life for a while. I briefly came back in 2012, but I didn’t find any virtual newspaper again and I learned that SL Newspaper was no longer existing. 

In July 2014, I found out that SL Newser, owned by Bixyl Shuftan, was writing about Second Life. I decided to join them and I have been writing for them ever since, until now.

Today ( December 13 th, 2017 ) I wrote my goodbye article and I will move on. I hope this career switch will be a good one, we will see what happens.

I would like to thank the crew of SL Newser, and especially Bixyl Shuftan, for letting me part of their team and write with them. I sincerely greet you, the readers, for reading my articles and enjoying the things I have written about.

So, I say farewell to SL Newser and I hope that the virtual newspaper SL Newser will continue to grow and will expand in the near future.

Yours truly,

Wesley Regenbogen

Commentary: Ten Years of Writing About Second Life

By Bixyl Shuftan

For most in Second Life, their big day is their rezzday. For me, I've had other milestones. There was when I first began logging onto the Grid on a regular basis, when I got my fox avatar, and most importantly, when I first became a journalist here, in November 2007.

My journey to Second Life actually started almost a year earlier. Although I'd been told about Second Life before, notably by an online friend who went by Kamilah Hauptman here, telling me how great the place was, that unlike an MMO one could build their own place and look how they wanted. But as I only had dial-up Internet at the time, I didn't think I could access the place. Finally in Dec 2006 I got high speed Internet and came here. Unfortunetly, Kamilah was suddenly unavailable due to new responsibilities. Going around, I found mostly just homes and ban lines, with no idea where the events were or how to find interesting places. There was no Destination Guide back then to look for them. So my visits became few and far between, spending more time in "World of Warcraft" with friends whom were available.

Things began to change in July 2007. Kamilah told me about the Relay for Life, and gave me the landmark for the Relay Track. Seeing many interesting builds, my interest in Second Life was rekindled, and I began to both learn more about how to go about and look around. I came across Luskwood, and began finding friends there. I soon ditched the starter ringtail for a red Luskwood Fox, and began looking over newsletters and blogs about the virtual world. The most interesting of these was "Second Life Newspaper," owned by JamesT Juno and edited by Dana Vanmoer. I found it more informative about what one could see and do in Second Life than certain other tablodish webpages. After reading it for a while, I saw a call for readers to send them stories and interesting pictures. So I sent in a few, feeling at least it would get me a little attention. It got me more than a little; James and Dana asked me in for an interview. During the chat, they were satisfied with what I could offer, and I was invited to join the team. With my first payment for a story, I bought an overcoat and a fedora, the classic reporter's garb. Combined with my avatar, it made for the "Fox Reporter" look that I continue to wear to this day as my everyday look.

I would write about all kinds of subjects in Second Life, it's people, places, and events. There were popular places and noted personalities, and there were out of the way locations that I found interesting and relatively unknown people whom had done things I felt were worthy of attention. There were many events, such as holiday celebrations, openings and the anniversaries of locations, the Second Life Birthday event, Burning Life, which was later changed to Burn2, the Relay for Life, and many more. There was the occasional personal experience that I found noteworthy. And there were the screenshot cartoons that I would send in every week. I was always able to find something noteworthy to write about every week, covering a little bit of everything, and was always finding scenes with potential humor. And we were a team, were I made friends such as Gemma Cleanslate, Grey Lupindo, Covadonga Writer, Shelly Sands, Nazz Lane, and many others. Eventually, I was giving the position of "Office Manager," which meant updating the paper when Dana couldn't.

Not everything went well. Sadly one of the first things I would write about in 2008 was the closing of my first hangout after Luskwood, the STA, and over the next few months many of my friends at the time would drop out of the Grid. Over time, I would be invited to be a part of other places and groups in Second Life, the Fortunas Club and Fortunas Estates, the Woodlin community (not to be confused with Woodland which had a different atmosphere) and the Star Tails club, the Foxworth community and the Blue Parrot Club (later known as the Bahama Beach Club or BBC). But all of these locations would eventually close and fade, with nothing left but screenshots and memories, and the treehouse I would take with me from Woodlin. It wasn't until Spring 2010 that I finally found a place that lasted, and became a part of the Sunweaver and Angels community, where I remain to this day.

By this time, my role in virtual journalism was about to change. In Fall 2009, JamesT Juno had to depart Second Life, and Dana Vanmoer wasn't able to give the time to the paper she once could. So she reluctantly made the decistion to close Second Life Newspaper. I along with the rest of the team was shocked and saddened. The newspaper had been such a big part of our experience in the virtual world, we couldn't imagine life here without it. So I talked with the others, and three others, Gemma, Grey, and Shelie, agreed to join me in the founding of a new paper that would take over from where James and Dana left off: The Second Life Newser. With the new paper starting up in June 2010, my role changed from being just one of the reporters to the editor and head of the publication. The Sunweaver/Angels offered us a place for the office at the start, and we soon had an inworld office. Under a new banner, we kept on covering the people, places, and events across the virtual world.

Over the past ten years, much has changed in Second Life. I came on when it was the darling of the tech media, considered "Internet 2.0," and mentioned in big media, including newspapers and TV news, even prime time TV shows. By the time the Newser took over from the old SLN, it was already fading from public view and the public was changing it's attention to other computer applications it could easier understand, such as Facebook. Many places here have come and gone. A few such as The Lost Gardens of Apollo have been lucky enough to be brought back by Linden Lab. Second Life's media has changed as well. Treet  TV used to do live programing across the Grid, viewable on inworld TV sets. Today, live programing is a rarity, reserved for a few special events. Shows like "Tonight Life" and "The 1st Question" that went on for a number of years are gone.

But while some things have been lost as time has gone on, there have also been some additions. Over time, new people have come to Second Life and made their own marks on the Grid. New places and builds have been constructed, giving those here new areas to explore. There's always something new here. One just needs to know where to find it.

Of "The Lab," as the residents call Linden Lab, the owners of Second Life, the love/hate relationship the residents have with them is still there. When I first came on there was some interaction with the residents. But after Linden Lab's founder Philip Rosedale/Philip Linden stepped down, they seemed to become more distant. Then with the appearance of the current CEO Ebbe Altberg/Ebbe Linden, there was more interaction again. But while the increased interaction helps, the view the residents have of The Lab is still mixed. They appreciate it's founders inventing Second Life, and the present company maintaining it. But at the same time they groan, sometimes curse at it for it's blunders. It seems the Lab puts developing new bells and whistles to getting rid of bugs and glitches. When it comes to banning people, there's a general feeling that the Lab has a way of being unable to stop a location from being repeatedly griefed by day-old alts made by the same owner, yet accounts that have lasted for years end up banned for trivial infractions. And then there is Sansar. While a few people here see promise in the "next generation virtual world" as it was originally called, at least some years from now, most residents see it as a waste of Linden Lab's time and their money, feeling all Sansar does for them is delay the amount of time bugs and glitches get fixed and raise their fees.

For myself, there have been ups and downs along the way. Old friends have stopped coming on, often when real life demands their full attention or otherwise makes it impossible to be here. This includes some hands at the Newser staff, of whom we've had to say goodbye to some talented writers such as DrFran Babcock. But new ones have continued to come in to bring in their own skill at reporting, such as Deaflegacy and Klaus Bereznyak. My home of the Sunweaver and Angels Estates has seen some changes, sims vanishing and appearing, clubs closing and opening, and people leaving and coming in. Club Zero Gravity for instance had to close it's doors for a time when finances forced it to, but recently reopened back and as good as ever. I myself have been helping Nydia Tungsten and Skylark Lefavre manage the community's beach club the Happy Vixen.

So what's ahead? Ten years ago, I had no real idea what my future was here beyond the next year or two. I never saw myself two and a half years later heading the publication that would replace the one my old employers had then. Despite Linden Lab's heavy handedness at times, it's a safe bet the Grid will still be around for a few more years, probably several more years, unless there's a major catastrophe such as a devastating earthquake in California that takes out the Lab and it's servers. I have expanded my writing beyond the virtual world, doing a blog about matters outside of Second LIfe, which I named "Food on the Table" on hopes it will eventually lead me to a writing job I can make a full time living on. I've also been writing a science-fiction novel on the side, the working title being "The Corsean Encounter." In the story, two humans end up on a pre-Industrial alien world, followed later by others with hostile intentions. If it does modestly well, I'll write more.

But I have no plans on stopping my reporting on Second Life, and the good this virtual world can do for people. As long as you keep reading, as long as I have a team by my side and as long as I'm able to, I'll keep on writing about the news here..

Bixyl Shuftan

A Few Words From Deaflegacy

By Deaflegacy

“Hi, I'm DeafLegacy, and this is my story.” 

I'm nine months old on Second Life.  I was introduced to this virtual world by someone who I used to know. I made new friends through Virtual Ability. “There is always something new on Second Life that still amazes me,” I tell people. There is so much to it than just being deaf. There's speech disorder that I have to deal with every day because I'm the only deaf person where I'm living in real life.

Second Life has given me many chances to be who I am without any fear of misunderstanding. When I was new, I met Gentle Heron, who then introduced me to Virtual Ability. Within the Virtual Ability community, I was given a chance not only to rent an apartment, but to be able to learn what it is like to have a house on a land parcel.  I chose to go back to the apartment, saying that it would be for the best if I lives in a small place.

For many years, I have always dreamed of becoming a writer. One day, I met Bixyl Shuftan, the editor of Second Life Newser. That's when I realized that I have a chance to become a writer and grabbed it. Ever since then, not only am I writing for the SL Newser, I'm also taking photographs for the articles. “This is more than just one chance,” I told someone. “I would definitely say that it is a once in a lifetime chance to prove how good I am at writing.” I pointed out that because of my deafness, English is not my first language. It is my second language. “American Sign Language is my first language. I learned it when my mother first found out that I'm deaf.”

Deaf or not, I have believed that I really wanted to be a writer, “I owe the Virtual Ability and the Second Life Newser team a lot of thanks. I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for them.”

Deaflegacy

This is Your Life, Grease Coakes

By DrFran Babcock

Grease Coakes, SL Newser Reporter, was rezzed on June 12, 2007. This makes him six years old—an old-timer in this virtual world that is about to be ten years old. SL Newser sat down with this remarkable griffin on June 11^th to learn a little bit about him, and see what he was up to. Grease needed no prompting:

Grease Coakes: Tomorrow is my sixth SL birthday and I’ve done a lot in Second Life™. I’ve learned to deejay,  I’m well known in furry clubs, and humans are familiar with me. I think that says a lot about an avatar, for SL.

SL Newser: How did you come to be in Second Life™?

Grease Coakes: Well, a friend from Neopets (the online virtual pet community) was saying I should check out Second Life™. I had no idea what it was about. I came on like a complete newbie, and my friend told me about camping for Lindens, so I tried it.  At first, I wasn’t earning jack, but then I figured out I could buy Lindens with real money, and I bought for my first furry avatar: a mutant red fox from Mutation Industries. I thought I was too cool walking around in that ugly avatar.

SL Newser: haha

Grease Coakes: I spent my own money a few times, but when I learned you could work in SL earning Lindens I wanted a part of that. I think the first job I got was as a male stripper for a club that’s long gone called The Spot. I used to hang out at a club that’s Dance Island now, but was called TJ Icey’s. Just for kicks I still use their really old glowsticks. I met RAFTWET Jewell there, who is one of the co-owners of the A-List and is Xavier’s wife, and Sneaky Krugman, a deejay who almost never changes his clothes. He’s always dressed in his longcoat and that Russian hat.  Later on I learned to host for a club that’s still around, Blackhearts Café, that you may have heard of—that plays 80’s music. I think back then in 2007/2008 it was a new club. It was fairly popular as an 80’s club. I guess it was a new thing in SL, an 80’s club, so lots of people came while I hosted and I made good money.

By that time I had my second avatar, an Aventity black fox. I started buying those like crazy, but the thing was I was earning the money from hosting instead of going to my debit card. I also found out about furry clubs a little later. Before, I only went to human clubs. The first furry club I went to was The Ark. Other furries, when I mentioned human clubs, said I was lucky for not being ejected as a furry, or at least being griefed. I guess I went to the right clubs back then. Even Blackhearts Café, a human club, got so used to me they let me host there. So I might of been the first furry to host at a human club in all of Second Life™.

    I ran into Tantari Kim at The Ark, who became one of my friends for a long time. She also gave me positive feedback about my children’s story before it got published. So she has always been a good friend.  And she's the leader of her very own Vixen Scouts. Every time I IM her to say “hi” she always says “arf!” Yeah Tantari is a helpful and kind person, but I can’t join her Vixen Scouts because I’m a guy. She likes recruiting vixens that are helpful and kind like her. She’s also been in SL a long time (2004), a longer time then me. So, even if I’m old in Second Life™ at six, her avatar is almost a decade old. Her last name, Kim, was the only last name she could pick out back then

SL Newser: Will you be deejaying at SL10B?

Grease Coakes: Yes, I might have to change my time though because it conflicts with a game I play over Skype. For those who haven't heard me I play house trance and video game remixes.

SL Newser: Have  you been a griffin for long?

Grease Coakes: Yes, for a while. The first griffins I bought were Toshuki, and today I have all nine of their colors, even the pink color.  One way or the other I’ve found a way to earn Lindens in SL. I haven't bought Lindens with real money for a long time. I’ve been in tail sales; lots of them (See: http://slnewserextra.blogspot.com/2013/02/at-tail-sale.html ). In fact, speaking of pink anyone who buys my children's story for 250L in SL gets a pink shirt with the book cover on it that is also a sixth birthday shirt. So far I have had three people buy it.

SL Newser: So, tell me about the book. How did you come to write a children's book?

Grease Coakes: Well I always remembered the Richard Scary books with the talking animals. As a kid I related to those stories, so I was a furry at heart although I didn't what it was a called back then. I thought wouldn’t it be cool if I wrote something similar? My character deals with something that children might relate to in the real world.

   My book was rejected many times, but in real life a woman did help me. I found her first life phone number on a website called Literary Market In the end she didn’t accept my book, but she was encouraging me and giving me advice. Her name is Annette Johnson, and she runs allwrite publishing. She’s a nice lady, and even though she did not publish my book in real life she helped a lot, just like Tantari Kim did. She was proud of me when I published my book in first life through a website called lulu.com It cost me a lot of money, but I was excited when I saw my book get published. I used a tax refund, so I didn’t really lose out. I can promote myself too in Second Life™.

   I like having fun too. I just blew 4,000 Lindens on buying an artist at a tail sale. I forget what club it was though.

SL Newser: Could you please explain about tail sales for readers who might not understand?

Grease Coakes: At a tail sale, for example, a furry can bid on me for my writing abilty. The last furry who bought me wanted a story about pirates, so i wrote a high seas adventure with his character and his girlfriend. One time, Dragon Heart bought me at a club for 5,000L. I kept 2,500 the other 2,500 went to the club to help pay for club fees. He had an interesting request, one that isn't suitable for the SL Newser (grin).

SL Newser: OK, we can move along…

Grease Coakes: Chazore Ayers is the exception, because she just wanted a flat out adventure without adult themes. The story I wrote for her is more PG-13, not so much XXX. She just wanted to be in a fantasy adventure. I thought it would be easy, but it took a while to write. She also gave me a 7,500L bonus when I finished because it was so long.  It was close to 40 pages long. I made 10k off a single story. I didn’t have to worry about Lindens for a while.

SL Newser: So, what would you like for your birthday? What gift would make you the happiest ?

Grease Coakes: Probably just people buying my book, Ginny Griffin’s First Day Of School, and then turning around saying it was a good book .

SL Newser: And, you said it deals with something folks could relate to in First Life ?

Grease Coakes: Yes, for children on their first day of school who don’t know anyone. Ginny Griffin runs into some bad things at her new school. I won't say what, but it’s a big issue now.

Starting tomorrow I will start handing out limited edition shirts to celebrate my SL birthday. I’ll be handing them out for a week or so, and after that no more shirts. Last year I handed out my fifth SL birthday shirts only on my SL birthday.  Giving away the shirts is fun as they are limited edition, making them rarities, like Linden bears.

Find Grease Coakes and get a limited edition birthday tee shirt, see if you can guess what issue troubles Ginny Griffin on her first day at school, and:

Come see Grease Coakes deejaying for SL10B on June 20^th from  4:00-6:00 SL time.

DrFran Babcock

SL Newser Reporter Breaks into Published Fiction with "Ginny"

By Grey Lupindo

          Long-time SL resident and SL Newser reporter Grease Coakes just published his first book, Ginny Griffin's First Day of School.  Grease is traveling around SL as a pink avi to promote its publication and the brave little girl who is the protagonist.   We met early one morning at my home on Syzygy to discuss the book and Grease’s publishing journey.

Ginny Griffin’s First Day of School is about Ginny Griffin, a third grader who moves with her parents to Spoonville, a totally furry world.  Because she’s the “new kid” and doesn’t know anyone, she's scared to go to the new school.   “But Ginny certainly has an exciting first day of school,” Grease explained.  “It's not a run of the mill day.”   The little griffin learns bravery as she goes up against incredible odds, although Grease wouldn’t reveal what specific hazards she encounters.    Those revelations would spoil the book for readers.     

While this is his first published book, Grease has been writing for many years.   “I remember as kid I wrote some and read a lot,” he said.    He has also been writing and publishing a lot in SL, both as a reporter and on other projects.    As we discussed his book, it became obvious to me that Ginny Griffin wasn’t the only one who faced incredible odds and triumphed.   Here is part of the interview that I conducted with Grease. 

Grey Lupindo:    Is this a book for young readers or one for parents to read to children?

Grease Coakes:  At 18 pages, I would think that children could read to themselves.  Or perhaps adults could read it to their little ones.  Or, adults could read it themselves for kicks.  Adults might relate to Ginny's struggle with their first day at a new school. 

Grey Lupindo: How did you get the idea for Ginny's story?

Grease Coakes: I always thought it was neat looking at those Richard Scary stories.

Grey Lupindo:   Oh, yes.  I remember those.

Grease Coakes:  So I thought, wouldn't it be neat to write a story with similar characters?   I associate pink with girls so I made Ginny pink.  Her mother is pink, too.  So it's in her family.”

Grey Lupindo: Yes, very appropriate.  ....  Is this your first children's book?

Grease Coakes: Yes, but I have written other stories.  A lot of them aren't meant for children. 

(At this point I see Grease smiling.)

Grease Coakes: I sell myself at tail sales for furries to use my writing services for less savory themes.

Grey Lupindo:  Oh...well...moving right along....What surprised you the most about the process of writing a children's book?

Grease Coakes:  It was a lot harder than I thought to get it published AND hard to look around for an artist to draw the cover picture. ... I knew a publisher via her phone number found off a website. She was supportive and helpful, but in the end she told me she would not publish my story.

Grey Lupindo: It's very hard to publish, especially in the last few years.

Grease Coakes: Yeah, it is.  Plus I had to keep editing and changing it as I got feedback from my friends.  So I've been working this story since my inception in SL, which is what... 5 1/2 years now.

Grey Lupindo:   Did you do the cover?

Grease Coakes:   Oh, goodness no! I can't draw worth a booger.   Perri Prinz told me about her friend Lampie.   I looked over her website and her pricing.   I think her artwork is simple and colorful, but also very professional and neat.

Grey Lupindo:   You said you received feedback from friends.  Were young readers among those friends?

Grease Coakes: No, this came from an old friend in SL. She read it over and hated the ending so I re-wrote it altogether.  I showed it to other friends, and they liked it.  But I think they were biased in my favor....   This friend was honest saying this won't work.

Grey Lupindo: The original ending?

Grease Coakes: Yeah.  I ended the book too easy, with not a lot of conflict.   This time I made it more exciting and more believable.

Grey Lupindo: Ah, yes. It's hard to make your characters suffer.

Grease Coakes: But also my characters have to grow.   I mean as a child just doing what your parents tell you is suffering.  Or being pushed around by the school bully.  No one person lives a carefree life.   Life doesn't work that way.

Grey Lupindo: Is there any bullying in this story? That seems to be such a hot issue right now.

Grease Coakes: There could be.

Grey Lupindo:  Is there anything else that you want readers to know about your book or the writing process?

Grease Coakes:  All I can say is, if you believe in yourself and apply yourself, anything is possible.  If you keep at it. I mean I could have just given up when someone didn't draw my picture for me after I paid in Lindens.

Grey Lupindo: Did that happen?

Grease Coakes:  Yes, it did.  And when I IM’d her, she gave me a rude response.

Grey Lupindo: How terrible!

Grease Coakes: I said the hell with this.   Let me look for someone else.  Luckily when I ran into Lampie, she was very professional and very swift.

Grey Lupindo:  Who is the publisher? How can people buy your book?

Grease Coakes:  That's easy.  They can go to http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-krauss/ginny-grffins-first-day-of-school/paperback/product-20635273.html    I have the link in my picks, too.

          Ginny Griffin's First Day of School is available from Lulu Press for $12.00 U.S.    

Grey Lupindo