Sime~Gen Perspectives Newsletter

DECEMBER 2004

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Contents:
*NEW STARRED CROSS JEWELRY ITEMS AVAILABLE
*SIMECENTER NEWS
*NEW REVIEWS
*SAVAGE EMPIRE: DARK MOON RISING / THOSE OF MY BLOOD FREE PAGES *NEW REVIEWS
*UPDATE TO THE SIME~GEN RPG "BORDERLANDS"
*LILLIAN CAULDWELL'S INTERVIEW RADIO SHOW FEATURES SIME~GEN STAFF MEMBER
*TREKKIES 2
*AVAILABLE RELEASES and PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
*HELP WANTED
*SITES TO REMEMBER

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS
HOW TO CONTACT EDITOR

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******NEW STARRED CROSS JEWELRY ITEMS AVAILABLE

Beautiful "starred cross" jewelry will be available for ordering very soon. You can see the items on the artist's website .
- silver & enamel brooch (enamel can be ANY color)
- silver & gold brooch
- silver & gold outline pendant
- small silver pin
(The first three are 1-1/2" square; the pin is about half that size.)

Kaíres is acting as liaison, and will try to answer questions: historian@simegen.com.

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******SIMECENTER NEWS

An enjoyable new story and art work await you at the SimeCenter. We also have an advertisement for SimeCenter at: http://www.simegen.com/simecenter/advert/SimeCenter_ad-Dec04.htm . This explains how you can access the issues posted in October and November, as well as the current issue.

We're keeping the last two issues available in the archive for a while, because each of the three has a different designated recipient:
     October - Clarion SF & Fantasy Writers' Workshop
     November - American Red Cross
     December - Space Shuttle Children's Trust Fund

This month's story is by Lois June Wickstrom, well-known author of stories for children. This story is magnificently appropriate for our new recipient... In it, a young girl learns about life and death from her beloved grandfather. There's no way to keep up with Lois' many and varied activities. You can get a hint by visiting http://www.simegen.com/writers/nessie/ .

In the Art department, we have "San Francisco" by Michael Cox, a delicate fantasy rendition of the meeting of East and West. Michael's homepage at http://www.michaelcox.com shows dozens of recent artworks, including quite a selection of book covers.

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******NEW REVIEWS

SOUL'S EMBRACE by Diana Laurence

TANGO ZEN by Chan Park

IMOGENE OF PACIFIC KINGDOM by Teresa Saari

FOR LOVE OF MAGGIE by Fran Shaff

LIFE EXPECTANCY by Dean Koontz

DRAGONSBLOOD by Todd Mc Caffrey

EPHAME'S CHOICE by P.C. Cast

DEAD BY DUSK by Shannon Drake

AWAKE, MY LOVE by Judy Boettcher

WHEN EAGLES DIE by Robert Ambros

SNAP ME A FUTURE by Connie Gotsch

STARLIGHT COMES HOME by Janet Muirhead Hill

PARADOX III by Rosemary Laurey and J.C. Wilder

THE BITTEN by L. A. Banks

TAHN by L. A. Kelly

RAGA MALA--THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF RAVI SHANKAR edited by George Harrison

A FORM OF GODLINESS by Shane Johnson

YEAR OF THE TIGER by Owen Smith

YULE BE MINE by Charlene Tegha

THE DARK LORD by Patricia Simpson

UNSPEAKABLE by Graham Masterson

ROCKVILLE PIKE by Susan Coll

HEAVEN by Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen

MY DEMON KISS by Lucy Blue

THE ROSARY GIRLS by Richard Montanari

CRIMSON MOON by Rebecca York

HUNTER'S MOON by Lori Handeland

SEX AND THE SERIAL KILLER by Jennifer Skully

PICKET FENCE by Kimberly Cates

THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN by Gilbert Morris

ALL HALLOWS' EVE on the Realm of the Vampiresby Margaret Carter This book from New Concepts Publishing comprises a pair of erotic romance vampire novellas. Click on "List of Books Reviewed" at the top of the page to see review.

ALSO~ We have posted many new reviews at Midnight Reviews including authors such as Jacqueline Lichtenberg, JennaKay Francis, Charlotte Boyett-Compo, and many more. Stop by http://simegen.com/reviews/columns/midnight/ .

A NOTE FROM THE REVIEWS EDITOR:

I took over the Reviews section at the end of 2003. During the beginning of 2004, I oversaw the introduction of the new Reviews section online. Since that time, about 390 reviews have been posted. Some of those are reviews that were copied over from the old sections; this process has not yet been completed. Older reviews are copied over only when the books are still widely available.

I inherited a list of 176 reviewers, but many of these were no longer active. Linda Nelson helped winnow out which ones were still with us. At this time, there are 38 reviewers on our list. Of these, one is currently inactive, and one or more seem to have disappeared. It is not always easy to determine when a reviewer has vanished. Overall, I would say that we have been able to replace the reviewers that go away with new ones. However, we could use many more reviewers. Of all the people who inquire about reviewing, only about a quarter to a third ever send in paperwork.

Our currently active reviewers are: Amy Harlib, Alisa McCune, April May Rollins, Martha Ann DellaCamera, Beverly J. Rowe, Allie Bates, Cheryl R. Houston, Linda Nelson, Darlene Kendall, Kara Hash, Diane Mason, Flora, Alice Klein, Gloria J Magid, Sheri Stanley, Harriet Klausner, Katherine Maria Scott, Michelle Combs, Jeanette Cottrell, Margaret L. Carter, Christy ONeal, Nan H Doporto, Chari, R-Laurraine Tutihasi, Miriam Jean Lamb, Wanda Maynard, Karyn, Elizabeth Barrette. Of those, the only ones actively reviewing are Amy Harlib, Martha Ann DellaCamera, Kara Hash, Diane Mason, Flora, Alice Klein, Gloria J Magid, Harriet Klausner, Michelle Combs, and Wanda Maynard. A few others have been assigned reviews that are overdue, and we are trying to determine how may of those reviewers are still with us. Also a few reviewers only do occasional reviews.

Right now our staff consists of Ann DellaCamera, Wanda Maynard, and myself. Ann has been extremely helpful and has taken over many of the tasks formerly performed by Linda Nelson. Wanda is new to the reviews Department.--- Laurraine Tutihasi

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*****SAVAGE EMPIRE: DARK MOON RISING AND THOSE OF MY BLOOD FREE PAGES

Amazon.com now has added a "look inside this book" feature for SAVAGE EMPIRE:

DARK MOON RISING, and for THOSE OF MY BLOOD. Viewers can read the first six pages of the first book online,using the links below.

SAVAGE EMPIRE: DARK MOON RISING contains the first three volumes of the series, the story of Lenardo, the Master Reader (telepath), who must venture into the land of the savages who can cause fires, move mountains--and very easily stop human hearts. There he meets Aradia, Lady Adept. Love, war, and politics become inextricably combined. May be ordered at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193210013X/rereadablebooksr .

THOSE OF MY BLOOD by Jacqueline Lichtenberg is a vampire-romance-intrigue novel available for the first time in a new affordable trade paperback edition. Read free chapters at http://www.simegen.com/writers/luren/ or find it on amazon.com often at a good discount.

The first volume of the reissue of all of Jean Lorrah and Winston Howlett's Savage Empire books, SAVAGE EMPIRE: PROPHECIES has been newly released.

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Part 9 of the current Borderlands RPG scenario has just been released,with 21 episodes, for a current total of 144. This one is mostly about conferences: academic, medical, and familial. It introduces several new and interesting characters, as well as featuring the return of lots of old fan favorites from both recent and not-so-recent episodes. We even have Hajene Darrel, the chicken channel from Bender Cove (and later, the Snake River Dam), as a major character in several episodes. Look for more characters from older scenarios to resurface in later parts as well. Visit http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/fans/bev/boom/ .

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******LILLIAN CAULDWELL'S INTERVIEW RADIO SHOW FEATURES SIME~GEN STAFF

Simegen staffer, Karen MacLeod was interviewed on December 9th, 2004, on Lillian Cauldwell's radio-internet talk show,"thru-the-cracks-of-time." The topics included one of Karen's specialties, editing. MacLeod was featured for the entire hour and the segment was well received. Karen mentioned both Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah as well as the WorldCrafter's School.

"Thru-the-Cracks-of-Time" is a one hour radio-internet talk show hosted by author Lillian Cauldwell that will interview writing guests who often "fall through the cracks" because they're not a household name. The show can be found at Artist First Radio Talk -- a Web Radio Station and Distributor. Artist First sends a clear static free FM Stereo signal worldwide 24/7. When listening to the programs, please go to the Artist First web site at http://wwwstreamnetro.ca/afrn or log onto their website . The Lillian Cauldwell Radio Programs: Thru-the-Cracks-of-Time and Author B-Known Hour --- two programs on Thursday. One from noon to 1 p.m. and one in the evening, from 7 to 8 p.m. EST/USA Time. Author-guests will be interviewed and receive LIVE e-mail questions and answer these questions via the show. Interested? Contact Lillian Cauldwell, thru-the-cracks@writeme.com.

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Promote and advertise your books on simegen.com. Banners, newsletter ads, book cards. LOW Rates. SPECIAL OFFERS for authors and publishers. http://www.simegen.com/agreements/pricing.html.

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******TREKKIES 2

Jacqueline Lichtenberg is featured in the award winning sequel to the acclaimed Trekkies docudrama. Lichtenberg is the creator of the STAR TREK fan series KRAITH and primary author of the Bantam paperback STAR TREK LIVES! See article at http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/trekcon.html for connection to the first Sime~Gen novel HOUSE OF ZEOR, now available in the omnibus reprint SIME~GEN: THE UNITY TRILOGY.

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******KEYBOOKS

Keybooks is the World Crafters Guild's off-campus bookstore. Yes, we're an amazon affiliate but not one of those automated storefronts into which amazon's software shoves their most popular titles. See keybooks at http://www.simegen.com/marketplace/keybooks/ or Worldcrafters Guild at http://www.simegen.com/school/ .

Each title on our virtual bookshelves and each gift or office item is hand chosen by a professional writer specifically for writers. Writers are generally eclectic readers, too -- so this store is perfect for the reader who searches for something different or something writers are reading for inspiration. Many titles have mini-writing lessons beside them crafted by one of our professional writers in residence.

This is the perfect place to find a gift for the writer in your life -- time-savers to make writing time, inspiration sources for story ideas, and practical help in how to get published. Click the links across the top of the page to find all our separate genres.

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******PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

Now available
~ the Omnibus reprint of Jean Lorrah's SAVAGE EMPIRE: DARK MOON RISING -- is #1 in the reprint program.

~ the new Trade Paperback edition of DREAMSPY from BenBella Books and you can order on Amazon and some other places.

Read the comments here .

~ SAVAGE EMPIRE: PROPHECIES is #2 in Jean Lorrah's abd Winston Howlett's omnibus reprint of the Savage Empire series.

Still Available in Trade Paperback, SIME~GEN: THE UNITY TRILOGY .

SIME~GEN: TO KISS OR TO KILL e-book from Embiid has been rescheduled. No news on the new schedule yet -- stay tuned for the next breaking announcement!

At this writing, we expect that the print HC and TP versions will be rescheduled again and we should have news on this from Meisha Merlin(tm) Publishing Inc. Watch this newsletter or simegen-l for news updates on the schedule, or pre-order from Amazon.com .

The stand-alone HOUSE OF ZEOR e-book from embiid.com is delayed as well.

We are not being ignored. When all is said and done, there's a good chance we'll end up in a better position than we had before. This newsletter will keep you posted.

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******HELP WANTED

The spotlights section of Simegen.com currently needs interviewers, spotlight posting personnel, an assistant spotlights gatemaster, and a keygifts store manager. We are also requesting an Assistant Reviews Co-coordinator - duties include covering when other staff are unable to perform tasks. We are almost finished revamping our reviews section and expect activity to be at a constant high level. We're looking for a versatile quick learner able to put in some time daily. Pluses are: A good command of the English language (syntax, grammar, punctuation, in that order,) some computer experience or ability to learn, and an interest in books. Direct all inquiries to simegen@simegen.com.

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***** Sites to Remember *****
Author spotlights

Chats

Romance articles

Reviews of books by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Reviews

Shopping

Sound files of Jacqueline Lichtenberg pronouncing Sime~Gen vocabulary words can be found at http://www.simegen.com/jl/nivetsoundfiles/index.html .

To sign up for classes, go to http://www.simegen.com/school/SchoolForms.html .

To volunteer, go to http://www.simegen.com/agreements/helpwanted.html for the latest openings.

*Please Note all material posted on Official Virtual Tecton is copyright (c) by Sime~Gen Inc. and all rights are reserved. To get your Sime~Gen(tm) material sanctioned for web posting or to get permission to repost from official materials, e-mail ambrovzeor@aol.com or contact simegen@simegen.com. Sime~Gen (tm) is the trademark of a fictional universe copyright (c) by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986 and Sime~Gen Inc. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004.

To unsubscribe from this list, send an e-mail to listserv@simegen.com with no subject and the text "unsubscribe NEWSLETTER-L".

To contact editor for any reason, please e-mail Lisa Saunders at simegen@simegen.com.