Second Life-ing My Book

For those unfamiliar with Second Life, it is currently one of the better virtual universes out there (In my opinon – of course). Yes, there is a whole bunch ‘o cheesy stuff inside of it, but hey, that’s not so different than the real world. What makes Second Life so great is that almost all of the content is created by the people that play it (including the cheesy stuff). Second life citizens use prims, which are the building blocks of everything visual. Virtual clothes, houses, pets, cars, and even virtual bodies (called an avatar) are all created by the players.

Basic prims can be created right inside of Second Life with an inworld editor, zapped in front of your feet, moved around, and attached to other prims. You can adjust gravity, transparency, size, color, and various other settings of the prim fairly easily. Textures and scripts can be applied to the prims. People can also bring in stuff from their computer into Second Life.  They can upload their own sounds, images, and textures. They can use a 3D program to create scultped prims in very specific shapes, upload them, and apply textures to them. They can create actions using other programs and upload those actions, allowing others to attach such action to their avatar . My avatar currently walks and jumps like Neo from the movie The Matrix. For those into programming, Second Life even has its own programing language.  People attach pieces of code to the objects they make so the objects can do various actions such as walk, talk, drive, or follow you around. What can be created in Second Life is entirely up to the imagination of the people that play and the skills they learn.

Second life even has it’s own money called Linden dollars, which translate to real money. In other words, people make real money selling the objects that they create virtually, renting land, doing inworld jobs, and so fourth.

If you haven’t tried it, Second Life is free for those that do not want land of their own. For those that want a plot there is a monthly fee to pay, or you can rent using Linden dollars you earn.

All of this makes Second Life a haven for those that are creatively minded and technically saavy. Sure it lags at times, but new versions come out frequently that enhance the experience, and it only gets better as time goes on.

Some book authors have begun to promote there book within Second Life, or even have part or all text on inworld books. Sure, you may not be able to make a fortune selling books in Second Life, but it is not about that. It is just another tool to connect with people in a really cool way. Other people that have creative minds. People like yourself.

I know once I have my book out that I plan on placing at least part of it as a virtual book within Second Life. There are some really neat ways to make your own inworld books with pages that turn like real books. Authors are beginning to see the power of virtual worlds to reach people all over the globe who play second life. They are also finding out how fun it can be to create on this platform.

With millions of people logging in to Second Life each month, can authors really over look this as a medium? Possibly. But why when such a medium was designed for the creative minds that most authors are?

Second Life Name: Trick Landman

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Taranatha/181/81/253

12 New Free Doodles Added to Website for Your Use

Hello all! I added Twelve new doodles that you can use for free on your own website (if you link back).

Visit: www.TrickSlattery.com/freedoodles

These are eight new ones: fuzzball, scared mouse, doggie, faery, turtle island, mermaid, furry things, and alien girl.

These four were older ones from a long time ago that I had floating around the home: old dragon, yipes, hat guy, and some creepy guy.

Reminder: I will add new doodles to this site as I sketch them up. If you want to be kept up to date on any new doodles that I add in which you can use, subscribe to my blog.

Also please keep in mind that the doodles I draw specifically for my blog are not to be used. Only use images located at http://www.trickslattery.com/freedoodles.

Hope you enjoy,

‘Trick Slattery