By Nazz Lane Several weeks ago, I received an instant message inviting me to special event at the Athena Writers Island to meet and listen to the noted author Marjorie M Lui (aka MarjorieMLiu India in Second Life) to talk about her latest book, “The Fire King”. She discussed the book, which is the latest release in her Dirk & Steele Series and talked of her other series, Hunter Kiss along with being a writer and author. I took the ride over to listen in and enjoyed the next hour scrolling through the chat lines of questions from the dozen or so avatars assembled and Ms Lui’s replies. I unfortunately had to leave before the events completed, but shortly after, I was contacted by her in-world representative, Cheepoka Laval and we discussed my meeting with Ms Lui in-world for an interview.
After an exchange of e-mails the scheduled date and time arrived as did Marjorie after accepted my teleport request. We met at the headquarters of the SL Newspaper.
Nazz: Hello Marjorie, it’s nice to meet you.
MarjorieMLiu: Hello, again! It's great to meet you, too. I'm still trying to get a hang on this thing.
Nazz: I’m assuming you'd not spent too much time then in second life so far.
MarjorieMLiu: No, I haven't been back since that last chat.
Nazz: I saw in an e-mail that Cheepoka (aka Taughnee Stone) wasn’t able to join us.
MarjorieMLiu: I saw that, too. She's great -- a wonderful person, and a fantastic designer.
Nazz: She's handling your PR in second life?
MarjorieMLiu: Yes.
Nazz: How did you find out about second life?
MarjorieMLiu: Through Taughnee. I tried to use it more than a year ago, and got scared away by the avatars themselves -- I just couldn't get mine to work. In preparation for that book chat, though, Taughnee worked with me.
Nazz: You weren’t scared away by rude behavior I hope.
MarjorieMLiu: Oh, no, just the technical aspects of it all. And, of course, SL is the same as RL in the sense that if you don't know anyone, you'll still feel awkward.
Nazz: Yes, that's true. Have you done any exploration of second life, like going to a live music event, an art exhibit or shopping yet?
MarjorieMLiu: No, none of that.
Nazz: I wasn't able to stay for the entire book chat when you appeared, how did that go for you?
MarjorieMLiu: It was fantastic. I loved the forum, and the ease of reaching out to so many people from the comfort of home. And the avatars! Everyone was so beautiful! I mean, seriously -- in RL, how many chances would a person have to chat about books in a beautiful library on the sea?
Nazz: Not very many. Are you aware of some the writing groups that exist in SL?
MarjorieMLiu: No, I'm not. Are there many?
Nazz: There's several ... the Written Word is perhaps the largest ... in fact there's a large event coming up next month where they are the sponsor … Autumn Writers Exchange.
MarjorieMLiu: What kind of event?
Nazz: It’s basically a three day event ... one can set up a virtual booth ... there are writing and poetry competitions … live readings by authors … concerts.
MarjorieMLiu: Sounds very cool! Do you participate, or just cover it for the SL newspaper?
Nazz: Both, I wrote an article on it and did a reading last year
MarjorieMLiu: What did you read?
Nazz: Some of my own fiction and a piece I did for the SL newspaper.
MarjorieMLiu: Nice, any particular genre?
Nazz: I use SL as a backdrop for my characters ... the main character is a lawyer from Chicago. He meets and falls in love with a woman in SL.
MarjorieMLiu: That's very cool. Do people publish books in SL?
Nazz: Yes they do, I've published five chapters of my serial novel.
MarjorieMLiu: Is there a bookstore type place where you keep them, so that people can browse through the fiction?
Nazz: There are several different types of venues in SL, bookstores are one of them
MarjorieMLiu: Are there virtual books -- in essence, where people can "live" the story? I'm not sure that makes sense, what I just wrote.
Nazz: There are role play SIM’s, areas where people take on the guise of a character … wild west days, like Colorado and Deadwood and science fiction SIM’s. Some are quite extensive in their set up, like the Dr. Who series for example.
MarjorieMLiu: Sci-fi SIMs sounds cool. Wow! Dr. Who? Love that show … and Torchwood.
Nazz: In your latest book, “The Fire King” is set in central Asia, you'd commented about being fascinated by that region of the globe, what’s so intriguing about it for you?
MarjorieMLiu: I've always been fascinated with nomadic cultures, and that area is rich with history -- partially because of the Silk Road. Many cultures and people passed through Central Asia and you can see it in the faces of the men and women who still live there.
Nazz: Have you visited the area?
MarjorieMLiu: Close. I've been near the border to Mongolia. The region is beautiful.
Nazz: I think I saw some where were you'd commented on character development by thinking of the character and after then where to set them, is that a fair representation of how and what was it about Soria that said silk road and central Asia?
MarjorieMLiu: Yes. I'm a very organic writer. In the case of THE FIRE KING, I had originally thought about setting it in the American Southwest, but it wasn't isolated enough for what I thought the characters had to go through.
Nazz: You'd also commented on listening to loud music while developing your characters, what were you listening to with Soria?
MarjorieMLiu: Gosh, I need to pull up iTunes! I think I listened to a lot of Imogen Heap and other stuff. I'm all over the board from Alternative to R&B to Greatest Hits of the 80's.
Nazz: You had commented in your appearance at the book chat, that your next book is set in the South China Sea, what drew you to that area?
MarjorieMLiu: My research on piracy. That area has a lot of trouble with pirates.
Nazz: It does have that reputation.
MarjorieMLiu: Yup. One of the most successful pirates in history was a former Chinese prostitute who sailed those seas several hundred years ago.
Nazz: Oh wow!
MarjorieMLiu: That's what I said! She needs to have a book written about her.
Nazz: Are you planning for more appearances in SL or other virtual worlds?
MarjorieMLiu: I hope so. No specific plans at the moment, but I would guess that around my next solo release, next year...I'd like to come back. I actually have an anthology coming out at the end of October, called Never After. Then, another anthology in January, called Inked.
Nazz: I know you're just about out of time … any closing thoughts or comments to share with my readers?
MarjorieMLiu: Just that I think this is a wonderful place, with so many creative possibilities. I think you've made a wonderful community here.
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