A large extension to the Cartland Court area of the island had been built, which would explain the many empty shops I saw when I was last there. The island now has a 90% occupancy with many tenants remaining and new vendors coming in.
The island has become home to quite a few new residents. One of the groups includes Podcrafters, organized by Emz Mazie, Imarad Breen and Insight Zadark. Members of the Written Word group will recognize Emz Mazie's name (aka Emerian Rich). The group promotes Podcasting and Marketing. In addition, they produce Podiobooks, serialized audio books. These are available for free at http://podiobooks.com. Examples of the podcasts will be shown on the TV screen in the main square. As well, a trailer of Arlene Radasky's (Imarod Breen) book, "Mark of the Druid," will be shown on the TV screen.
RL romance writers, Melissa Mayhue (FaeWritr Bookmite) and Elaine Levine (Vinnie Mimistrobell) hold a month SL Salon on the Island, held often at Books at the Beach. During the past year, they have hosted RL literary figures, Deidre Knight, Elissa Wilds, Deb Stover and Terri Brisbin. Another resident is Nightmare Scribe, a writer and co-founder of the award-winning Colorado Springs Fiction Writer's Group at http://www.csfwg.org.
Over the next couple of weeks, new homes are being built for writers who would like to live in a literary community.
With the many plans in place, the future of Book Island looks, indeed, very bright and I look forward to becoming a bit involved with events there.
Shellie Sands
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