Sime~Gen Perspectives Newsletter

DECEMBER 2005

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Contents:
*NEW YEARS CHAT LIVE
*LILLIAN CAULDWELL RADIO SHOW
*SIMECENTER NEWS
*REREADABLE BOOKS ARCHIVED
*NEW REVIEWS
*JACQUELINE LICHTENBERG E-BOOKS
*NEW ITEMS FROM ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AT CAFE PRESS
*JIM MICHAEL HANSEN INERVIEW
*HELP WANTED
*CONVENTION APPEARANCES
*AVAILABLE RELEASES and PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
*SITES TO REMEMBER
*SUBSCRIPTION AND CONTACT INFORMATION

COPYRIGHT NOTICE**

*****NEW YEARS CHAT LIVE

Please join us for our Annual New Year's chat. Details and information are below....

New Year's is on a Sunday, January 1. TIME -- 10AM Pacific, 11AM Mountain, 12 Noon Central, 1PM Eastern. This is the annual gathering with the staff awards and stock voting.

Access to the chat can be via mIRC or equivalent chat software.

You may also access the meeting via the http://www.simegen.com/techtools/chat/ website.

The chat will be held in room #sgchat and a talk channel for non-business discussions will be #sgtalk.

Everyone is welcome.

For those not in North America, check the Worldclock website for time conversions.

For those who want to install their own chat software, there are two tutorials for that. Karen MacLeod's tutorial found at http://www.simegen.com/techtools/irctutorial/ and a more detailed and technical explanation of installation instructions written by Eric Berlin which is found on http://www.simegen.com/techtools/tutorials/. For Eric's instructions, click on the link marked "SEE how IRC looks when online".

If the tutorials are still confusing to you, e-mail simegen@simegen.com for further assistance in setting up your software.

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******LILLIAN CAULDWELL RADIO SHOW

Twenty-two million Americans use MP3 Players this past year!

Ann Arbor, MI - December 6, 2005 - Lilliandme, a podcast show airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the peak performance hours of 9 am. to 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Lilliandme is an interview show of unknown, published midlist and beginning authors wanting to market and promote themselves and their books to a 'captured' listening audience via the internet, MP3 , iTunes, iPod Players.

A small fee of $25 is requested for each twenty minute broadcast. If author requires additional programs, a $10 fee is requested for each of the subsequent shows.

Interested parties, contact Lillian Cauldwell at 734-332-5902 or email lillian@lilliancauldwell.com. To listen to internet broadcast, go to http://lilliandme.libsyn.com .

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******SIMECENTER NEWS

One of our most faithful authors, Lois June Wickstrom, suggested that we assign her story to a group called 'Modest Needs' .

Modest Needs is a non-profit organization reaching out to hard-working individuals and families who suddenly find themselves faced with small, emergency expenses that they have no way to afford on their own. In short, they try to find and assist people who have temporary need for assistance, who have been overlooked by the large charities.

They realized that thousands of people, who had to leave cities devastated by Katrina, are now spread throughout the United States and stranded for the duration. Because they are now out of the disaster areas strictly speaking, precious little direct assistance is available to these people. Modest Needs has stepped in to fill this critical service gap.

Our wonderful artist, Micheal Cox, agreed to have one of his works transferred to 'Modest Needs', and that change has now been posted.

See Michael's bewitching "Being There" and the second part of Lois' "The Reluctant Spy", and make your donation to 'Modest Needs' to help these people displaced by the hurricane devastation.

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PLANS FOR NEXT ISSUE OF SIMECENTER

Three new stories and three new artworks have been donated for the next SimeCenter outing, which will appear before the end of this year.

You will enjoy two colorful abstracts by GB Chew, "Harlequin Spear" and "Regimental Green" (where does he get these names?!?), and the lovely "Across Time" by Michael Cox.

In the story realm, we have the second installment of Jean Lorrah's "Savage Empire" novel; Jayge Carr's "Computer Portrait" and; returning after a long absence, Celia Leaman's engaging piece called "The Quarrel."

When the new page is posted, it will be announced to the SimeCenter list, and the general Sime~Gen list. If you want to keep current with SimeCenter events, join one or both of these lists .

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******REREABLE BOOKS ARCHIVED

Two new columns posted at the archive site .

The November 2005 and December 2005 columns are now available on the archive website at simegen.com.

Note particularly the December 2005 column which highlights a general area I will be delving deeper into during early 2006. "Into the Spirit Realm: An analysis of our group mind" This is a huge topic, sprawling into a wide variety of subject areas. By some odd coincidence -- ahem -- well, the universe has showered me with a huge stack of novels that reveal some of the darker nooks and crannies of the general subject of America's attitude toward Spirituality and the transit of Neptune over America's Natal Moon. We may see that next year, but we may not be able to recognize it for several more years to come. Keep notes!

Check out the 2006 index page .

You will find the books to be discussed during the first few months of the year are already posted.

Note the best way to absorb the meat of this column is to read the books to be reviewed before reading the review itself -- and see what you make of them yourself. There is a good chance you may have already read some of the books listed here.

At the very least, go to amazon.com through the links provided on the page and scan the description of the book by the professional reviewers and the reviews other readers have dropped on the page. Think about all this data in terms of the generalized energy suffusing our culture at the moment. Despite individual differences, there is a pattern underlying the movements of large numbers of people. Search for the pattern.

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******NEW REVIEWS

WHAT ROUGH BEAST by H. R. Knight

COMES A HORSEMAN by Robert Liparulo

MIRACLE IN THE MIST by Elizabeth Sinclair

THE MIDNIGHT WORK by Kassandra Sims

SHADOW OVER KIRIATH by Karen Hancock

THE STRENGTH OF HIS HAND by Lynn Austin

THE WITNESS by Dee Henderson

MONSTER by Frank Peretti

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******JACQUELINE LICHTENBERG E-BOOKS

Molt Brother and City of a Million Legends, two of her more esoteric sf/f works, is available in a (much cheaper) e-book edition.

Both are now available on amazon.com in pdf and Microsoft Reader, and on fictionwise.com and wildsidepress.com plus a number of other e-tailers and gaming sites in the full panoply of e-book reader formats. And they're still available in trade paperback.

The two books tell a long story about current incarnations of people responsible for having destroyed the First Lifewave, the first galaxy-spanning civilization. In the second book, you will find an alien "take" on a Qabalistic concept, plus an initiatory journey that you may find illuminating.

Watch this Newsletter for announcements of new e-books and new original trade paperbacks from Jacqueline.

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******NEW ITEMS FROM ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AT CAFE PRESS

A SIME~GEN postage stamp is now available to order on cafe press. It can be used just as you would use a a regular postage stamp. Be the first on YOUR block to have them!

We've got a new page for Cafe Press items from our artists and authors. Now you can get t-shirts, greeting cards, clocks, mugs, and other great stuff with work from your favorite artists. You can even buy books about Nessie, the Orange Forest Rabbit and The Reluctant Spy that aren't available anywhere else.

http://www.simegen.com/marketplace/health/shop/cafepress.htm is a direct link to all our items and merchandise stores. Use of this page will give the domain extra income.

If there is an item that you wish to see that isnt offered, just write Lois and she'll get it ready for you to order.

Also check out the magnificent, hand-crafted Starred-Cross Jewelry .

This page shows the four items:
- 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.)

Follow the link to the artist's own page for ordering.

Any questions or comments go to Kaires Tevesu. (Please mention 'starred-cross jewelry' in the subject line, because that address gets a _lot_ of spam.)

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******JIM MICHAEL HANSEN INERVIEW

Wanda Maynard and Karen MacLeod interviewed attorney Jim Michael Hansen, author of NIGHT LAWS. The interview has been posted to http://www.simegen.com/writers/spotlights/firsttime/hansen.html .

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*******SIMEGEN.COM ACCESSIBILITY

ANYONE who has had trouble accessing any of our pages, please file a report with webmaster@simegen.com -- We have a new fan who is legally blind, who reports she can not access several of our sites. If you find difficulties, please report them, so we might make Simegen.com accessible to everyone. Send as much detail about the URL and type of computer system you are using. The more we know, the easier it is to solve a problem.

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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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******CONVENION APPEARANCES

Both of SIME~GEN's co-creators, Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lichtenberg plan to attend the following Conventions in 2005 and 2006, unless otherwise noted below.

WESTERCON~ San Diego CA, July 1-4 2006

WORLDCON~ Los Angeles CA, August 23-27 2006 http://worldcon.org/ for a list of all Worldcons including Japan.

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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.

~ 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 and Winston Howlett's omnibus reprint of the Savage Empire series.

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

TO KISS OR TO KILL finally has a definite publication date. June, 2006. Misha Merlin's next project with their new distributor, after spending this summer on a major promotion of their special Robert Heinlein collection, will be a Fall relaunch of THE UNITY TRILOGY with world-wide promotion and distribution, and a drive to get it into chain stores.

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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.

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.

*Please Note all material posted on Official Virtual Tecton is copyright © 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 © by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, 1969, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986 and Sime~Gen Inc. 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005.