Sime~Gen Perspectives Newsletter

FEBRUARY 2005

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Contents:
*JACOB "JAY" SCHIFF
*LIFEWAVE ANNOUNCEMENT
*SIMECENTER NEWS
*NEW REVIEWS
*REREADABLE BOOKS
*UPDATE TO THE SIME~GEN RPG "BORDERLANDS"
*TREKKIES 2
*KEYBOOKS
*AVAILABLE RELEASES and PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
*HELP WANTED
*SITES TO REMEMBER

COPYRIGHT NOTICE
UNSUBSCRIBE INSTRUCTIONS
HOW TO CONTACT EDITOR

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******JACOB "JAY" SCHIFF TRIBUTE

Jacob "Jay" Schiff, a friend of Sime-Gen and A Companion In Zeor, passed away in January after suffering from a fall earlier in the year. He was a staunch supporter of fandom, Sime-Gen in particular. He was a most unique person, with many and varied interests, which these pages barely touch on.

Jay will be dearly missed by all. Visit his tribute pages at http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/rimonslibrary/cz/cz22/Jay.html and http://www.simegen.com/sgfandom/rimonslibrary/cz/cz22/JaysPressObituary.htm .

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******LIFEWAVE ANNOUNCEMENT

How would you like to experience first hand live role playing with a character inspired from Jacqueline Lichtenbergıs LifeWave Universe? Consider this a personal invitation to come play, "Washington Press Conference."

Washington Press Conference
Saturday, 5-Mar-2005 09:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Saturday, 5-Mar-2005 11:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Imagine that you are an elite reporter in Washington, DC working for a prominent news organization. Your boss has urgently paged you and assigned you to an exclusive invitation only news event at the U.S. Department of State.

You, along with a small gathering of other elite news industry professionals, will have the opportunity to interview an unanticipated VIP and write a ground breaking story. You are your organizationıs star reporter, and your boss expects you to be aggressive in your questioning. The Assistant Secretary of State for Communications will moderate the press conference. This game focuses exclusively on interactive role-playing and the ability to formulate complex and meaningful questions in a competitive group interview environment: There is no combat system. Players will have a choice of type of news organization (American, foreign, broadcast/cable, news wire service, and internet) and will be expected to frame their questions to reflect the tone of their organization. You will be able to prepare general questions ahead of time based on your paperıs interests, but the emphasis will be on your ability to change your strategy as new facts and information is revealed during the Press Conference. Keep in mind the news business is very competitive, and there are rivalries between reporters.

Find out more at http://www.simegen.com/jl/kren/krenlarp/krenLARP.html .

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*** SIMECENTER NEWS

An enjoyable story and artwork await you at the SimeCenter: SimeCenter joins the Southern Asia recovery effort.

SimeCenter is the charitable organization within the World of Sime~Gen, currently seeking funds to support the recovery effort in Southern Asia, via donations to the Red Cross.

This month's story is: "Birthright" - by Brenna Lyons

This month's artwork is: "Icthy" - by G. B. Chew

This month's contributing author, Brenna Lyons, is a member of BroadUniverse, an international organization promoting science fiction, fantasy, and horror written by women. These 'Broads', as the members call themselves, are outright awesome. Lyons, for instance, has two finalist entries in the prestigious Eppie awards this year.

Please send your comments to charities@simegen.com, and return to our site often for new art, stories and different charities to support.

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******NEW REVIEWS

BENEATH WINGS OF AN ANGEL by Janice Romney Farnsworth

A THREAD OF GRACE by Mary Doria Russell

METALLIC LOVE by Tanith Lee

THE KNIGHT by Gene Wolfe

ANYWHERE BUT HERE by Jerry Oltion

THE DUKE'S BALLAD by Andre Norton and Lyn McConchie

THE SEVEN HILLS by John Maddox Roberts

WALKING AWAY FROM TEXAS by Sharon Bradley

THE CAT WHO WENT BANANAS by Lilian Jackson Braun

Other reviews can be found by going to http://www.simegen.com/reviews/ .

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******REREADABLE BOOKS UPDATE

The January 2005 rereadable books by Jacqueline Lichtenberg is now posted. On this same page you will find the books that will be discussed in columns through May 2005. http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2005/index.html

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******UPDATE TO THE SIME~GEN RPG BORDERLANDS

Parts 9 and 10 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/ .

We've also put up Part 10, and added one more episode to Part 9 of the ongoing Borderlands scenario of the cooperative fiction project. We invite your comments. Please let us know what you think.

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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 or Worldcrafters Guild .

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 İ 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.comor contact simegen@simegen.com. Sime~Gen (tm) is the trademark of a fictional universe copyright İ by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986 and Sime~Gen Inc. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.

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.