The Quillians on Facebook
The Quillians, the nom de plume for members of the Fantasy & Science-fiction Writer’s Workshop, can now be found on Facebook!
Our Facebook presence will help members communicate with each other in a more social manner, in addition to keeping abreast of the workshop’s schedule and discussion topics.
Why not drop by and introduce yourself?
Originals Fair
Coming up next week, The Quillians will be proud participants of the I (Love) Originals Fair in Second Life.
The Fair will host a diverse collection of Second Life merchants, all of whom work under the strict policy of producing original material and honouring all copyrights, trademarks, and protected properties of others. That means no Superman costumes, no Coke ads, no ‘borrowed’ textures or prims (the building blocks of the virtual world). Everything must be creator-owned and created from scratch.
Our workshop will be offering several pieces of fiction, art, clothing, costumes, and furniture. All of which has been lovingly created without compromising the rights of others.
The fair was the brainchild of The Artist’s Voice, a group of merchants who have banded together to promote their own creative rights, as well as the rights of others…many of whom may not realize that their products, likenesses, or copyrights are being infringed upon. Promoting a campaign of awareness over enforcement, The Artist’s Voice hopes to gain support from retailers and customers alike, to curb the rampant abuse of protected material throughout the virtual world.
Please join us in supporting this wonderful cause and enjoy some of the best shopping on the grid!
The Quillian Logo
When I first blogged about The Quillians, we only had a name. Now, thanks to Nancy Waldman and Sherry Ramsey we have a logo to go along with it!
Both Nancy and Sherry are long-time members of the workshop and both are amazing artists, so when Nancy came to me and volunteered to come up with a logo, I jumped at the chance.
What you see to the left is the final incarnation of the logo, which was actually the seventh go around (hey, seven is a lucky number!). Luckily for me, Nancy was an amazing sport about the whole thing and calmly accepted all of my suggestions for change. She also added a whole lot of her own and I think her talent shines through!
Sherry’s contribution came in the form of the planetscape artwork. Sherry is an amazing digital artist and her work perfectly captures the speculative theme of the workshop.
It didn’t start out so polished though…in fact, this was the first draft:
The foundation is there, but it’s not quite a finished logo either. They grey was stolen from the original logo, but it looks drab and unappealing here. The group name is lost in the border of the logo as well, which doesn’t help to link the two brand names.
Which brings us to the fifth iteration:
We’re much closer to the end product here. The colour has been set and the artwork has been added, both of which make a world of difference. The workshop’s name has also made it into the logo itself and is more prominent but, this time, it seems like it’s floating there…not really attached to anything. There was also some concern over the font being used…
Which brings us to try number six:
This version sees a slight change in the boldness of the Quillian font (something that won’t make it to the final version) and adds a drop shadow to the smoke plume rising from the ink-well.
The font used for the workshop name (the same as the Quillian name) is too small and too elaborate to read easily, so it will be discarded in the final version in favour of a simpler font.
The whole process took awhile to work through, but Nancy did an amazing job! Now, the name Quillian has a visual companion that really helps us brand the workshop and gives the whole membership an identity.
Introducing…The Quillians
A couple of years ago, I started up a little writer’s workshop on Second Life. I thought it was important to have a place for emerging writers to go, even if they didn’t have a local writer’s group (as was my case). So was The Fantasy & Science-fiction Writer’s Workshop born. And ever since, I’ve found that name a mouthful!
The group is well enough established now, with some quality work being done and with some writers on the verge of becoming ‘authors’, that I wanted a name that was both memorable and easy to say. One contest later, and our winning name emerged…
The Quillians!
n. Quillian A member of the Fantasy & Science-fiction Writer’s Workshop.
The winning name came from the mind of Chuck Heintzelman, one of our established members. There were a few challengers, but I chose Chuck’s entry because it had that right ‘ring’ to it and it passed the ‘Google Test’. Meaning, it was relatively unique and unused by rival workshops (because, Heaven forbid, there be confusion over what it meant to be a Quillian!).
So, from now on, you’re as likely to hear me call my workshop by the Quillian name as you are by its longer ‘birth’ name. Which, I think, is just fine by me…
Wind River
Since its inception, the F&SF Writer’s Workshop has met somewhere near the home of Third Life Books in Second Life. Now, the fine folks at Third Life have sold off their land, moved onto their own island getaway, and rebranded themselves.
We are excited that our own workshop is making the jump with them and will, starting tonight, be meeting in our very own building in the Wind River Territory of Second Life!
I hope that this is just the first step in expanding our own brand, attracting new members and diversifying our offerings both in Second Life and out.
How to THiNC…
How to ThiNC
Yesterday, my new book, How to THiNC, A Guide to Creating & Publishing a THiNC Book, was released in Second Life. The big release was tied into the companion seminar to the book, which…hopefully…helped other writers with their own goal of self-publishing in Second Life.
This is a new foray for me…electronic publishing…but, if yesterday’s comments and sales turn out to be more than simple platitudes, then it will be a lasting one.
How to THiNC grew out of a need, both for myself and my workshop members, to learn the process of publishing in the virtual world. THiNC is one of the few companies in Second Life to offer publishing tools, and really the only one who offers a first-life analogue (meaning their book looks and feels like a first-life book).
In teaching myself how to use the THiNC publishing system, I experimented with image sizes and resolutions, fonts and image-types, and word processors and graphics editors. I certainly wasn’t an expert before I began this process, but I’d like to think I became one along the way. That said, I’m sure that there is more I have to learn, and maybe even some things I got wrong, but the information in the book stands as a comprehensive overview of the whole process.
While I’m pleased at the reception the book has received, I’m very pleased with the turn-out at the seminar. While we didn’t quite “crash-the-sim,” we certainly filled it. The crowd wasn’t just members of my own workshop, either…the seminar drew in quite a few members of Third Life and FarPoint Media too. I think there were even a few people there who were drawn in by word-of-mouth, and not any association to my group at all!
Over 75% of the people attending the seminar purchased my book. To each of them, I say “Thank you.” I hope that you find it useful in helping you to make your own books.
How to THiNC wasn’t supposed to be my first book to be published in Second Life. That spot was meant to be reserved for Body Language. Before I could publish Body Language, though, I had to learn the publishing process. How to ThiNC grew out of that… Now that it’s done though, my focus returns to my now-second book. Hopefully you’ll see it in about four weeks from now!
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Oh, and the seminar has received its first review as well! Pamqui Vita wrote about the seminar and the book on his Spanish-language blog, Profesionales de la Información en Second Life.
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For those of you using Second Life who would like to find my workshop and my book, just follow the slurl to the F&SF Writer’s Workshop Storefront. It will be on display from October 15th onwards…
