I wouldn’t say I am computer-illiterate but I know I am not the most techno-savvy person around. Which is funny when you think about it. I am a digitally published author with several ebooks to my credit and a paperback soon to be released. I have this blog. A website. Email accts., another blog and website with the Midnight Moon Cafe. I have a MySpace and am now on Twitter. You’d think I was into technology and a cutting edge techie individual. Uhh, nope. lol.
I still prefer to proof my manuscripts by printing them out and going over them with a red ink pen. I use index cards and I have a rolodex. For those of you who have no clue what a rolodex is, it’s what people used to use for business addresses (people would flip through contact information by actually using their hand to turn a dial on the side of the device). And I still use mine! How quaint, huh? :-P
The nature of the world today has forced me to become a hybrid. Melding new technology and ways of connecting with my old tried and true methods. So it is with a sigh that I seemingly embrace the newfangled things all my friends say I have to try or do. I had to be pulled (yes, kicking and screaming) into MySpace, but now after a couple of years, it feels more natural going there and adding each new book, or blogging about something.
The same is true of Twitter. My bff author pal and partner in crime, Cora Zane, told me Twitter is the new hot thing, and created an account for the MMC there. I told myself I was not jumping on that bandwagon, dammit! Didn’t I just finish learning and becoming comfortable with MySpace? Sheesh!
But I finally caved and joined and now I love it. It is micro-blogging fun! lol. http://www.twitter.com/Cass_Curtis is my profile. Follow me if you like.
Anyhoo—so you can imagine my reluctance, yet again, to face learning another new social networking site. All this in addition to Yahoo groups, I mean, when am I going to find the time to write?
The site is a thing called Second Life. If you are familiar with the concept of a game called the SIMs then you have a better idea of this social networking/game than I did going in. :-P
Here is a page that explains it better than I can: What Is Second Life?
My friend “Bryn” (who is also a long time best friend in RL) kept telling me how I needed to branch out, meet new potential readers, connect in a new, fun way with current readers, and generally explore new avenues of marketing both myself and the MMC online. Ugh. Can you tell she has a degree in marketing? lol.
She’d call me and share her latest exploits every weekend. I knew what she really wanted. Me —helping her clothes shop long distance. LOL.
(I’m the redheaded avatar on the left. Snapshot was taken at a place called the SL Botanical Gardens, which btw, is so gorgeous you’ll wish it was real).
So here I am, getting dragged once more into another social networking site. But I’ll warn you, Bryn told me that it might be a little bit of a ‘learning curve’ at first. Curve? Sugar, it’s freakin’ Mount Everest!
I walked like somebody with a corn cob stuck in a very awkward location (LOL) until somebody gave me something called an AO (Animation Override). My first thought was—why not do it right with this AO contraption the minute they come into Second Life (known as SL or “in-world” to the local residents). So, you come into the world (they call it “born”) and walk funny and fall outta the sky.
Why am I falling? Because in this place, you can fly sorta like Superman, but without the cape. You can also teleport to any location on the map and meet up with friends, like I did when Bryn sent me an invitation to teleport to her location at this really cool Japanese fishing and shopping place.
Now, when you get into this SL world, you can’t pick your own last name, you have to pick from a drag down list they provide, but you can pick your own first name, so if you are into Second Life or decide to explore this trippy place, look me up. I’m Cassandra Sharktooth…lol. Yep. Can you believe it? lol. My last book in the S.T. trilogy has a shark-shifting heroine! I really lmao on that one, sugar! What are the odds? lol.
But it gets better, my moonmaid bff Cora Zane also joined. I’ll let her tell you the name that was available for her as a last name. lol.
After a week or so since my “birth” date, I still fly into the occasional wall, fall from the sky and land in strange places, and continue walking through shrubbery even after my fingers leave the keyboard, but I think I’m getting better and finally learning that damn ‘curve’ my gal pal talked about.
A really nice person in SL helped me set up a group (in SL) so my real life readers can join if you want. It’s called the Midnight Moon Cafe Authors and Fans. In the future, we hope to give readings of excerpts from our books and talk about writing and other paranormal goodness. :-) So watch the MMC blog for updates and information about any of our SL events or join the SL group for future news about any moonmaid SL appearances.
It’s surreal, ya’ll. I guarantee. :-D