Sime~Gen Perspectives Newsletter

APRIL 2007

Contents:
*JEAN LORRAH and PARTICIPATION IN THE RELAY FOR LIFE
*SIMECENTER NEWS
*SECRET PENS NOTICE
*BORDERLANDS UPDATE
*NEW REVIEWS
*REREADABLE BOOKS
*NEW ITEMS FROM ARTISTS AND AUTHORS AT CAFE PRESS
*THE DRESDEN FILES INTERVIEW WITH JIM BUTCHER
*HELP WANTED
*PUBLICATION SCHEDULE
*AVAILABLE RELEASES
*SITES TO REMEMBER
*SUBSCRIPTION AND CONTACT INFORMATION

**COPYRIGHT NOTICE**

******JEAN LORRAH and PARTICIPATION IN THE RELAY FOR LIFE

Dear Friends,

In May or June you are sure to hear about a Relay for Life held near where you live. The one in Murray, Kentucky, where I live, is May 4-5, at our Regional Special Events Center. Relay is the primary fundraising effort each year for cancer research, and Relay teams are raising those funds right now.

Many of you know that I am a breast cancer survivor--six years now. I participate in Relay as a way of paying forward the research that made my own treatment possible. If you are not participating in your local Relay (or even if you are), I hope you will join with me in supporting cancer research through my Relay team.

I am a member of the "Eighth Wonders," a team made up entirely of cancer survivors. The name comes from the statistic that breast cancer strikes one in eight women. It would be great if you would like to donate through our team--and it's now easier than ever to do so.

This year the American Cancer Society has provided a means for you to donate on line. Just click here and donate using your credit card. There is a receipt page to print after you have made your tax-deductable donation.

If you would rather donate by check, print out the mail-in form available on the website.

Also, let me urge you to attend your lown local Relay for Life. It is one of the most life-affirming experiences you will ever have.

I am living proof that the money for cancer research is working. Six years ago I had to go to a teaching hospital in Philadelphia for what was then considered experimental therapy: brachytherapy (radiation implants). It was expected to reduce the chance of recurrence from 30% to 5%. I have not had a recurrence, and I heard on the news recently that brachytherapy for breast cancer is now available in Paducah, only fifty miles from home.

Cancer survivors are living longer and longer, and in fact today it's not at all surprising to find twenty- and thirty-year survivors. Most people who have cancer at some time in their lives eventually die of something else.

But the fight isn't over. There is now a vaccine for cervical cancer. We want a vaccine for ALL cancers! Chemotherapy saves many lives. We want treatments that are just as effective but do NOT destroy quality of life for months on end.

Please donate to the American Cancer Society through the Relay for Life, and help to end the threat of cancer once and for all.

Jean Lorrah

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******Advertisement*****

GLASS SOULS ~ When members of an immortal family and their vampire Protectors are brutally massacred by Crusaders, one Protector, wounded and stripped of his powers, searches desperately for the reincarnations of his loved ones. But how can he succeed when the reborn, even his beloved wife, can't remember him, and his own memories have been altered? http://www.michaela-august.com/novels.html

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****** SIMECENTER NEWS ******

SimeCenter proudly announces the FINAL installment of:

      Savage Empire (by Jean Lorrah)
      Chapter 8: A New Outlook
      - not an ending, but a beginning

The accompanying artwork is:

      Alien and Therapist (by G.B. Chew)
      - it makes sense if you back off

These compelling works were contributed in support of the American Cancer Society and their "Relay for LIfe" (a celebration of survivors!) Events are taking place all the time...more than 3 million participants nationwide. Find one near you .

Or, you can donate to the group in Jean Lorrah's home town, where she is an active participant. The link is http://www.acsevents.org/relay/ky/calloway/jeanlorrah .

When you donate to this worthy organization, be sure to tell them you were referred by SimeCenter .

Send your comments, questions, etc.--about the site, the stories and art...whatever--to the address below.

In Service to Unity,
Kaires Tevesu
[If you write to me, mention 'SimeCenter' in the subject. This EMail address gets a lot of spam.]

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*****Advertisement******

Kate Rizor's The Governor's Wife is more than a romance. This novel resonates with a message of hope and peace for the future for the future. Read more at http://www.stargazerpress.com/novels.htm . We offer flat rate shipping!

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******SECRET PENS NOTICE******

For those that may not be aware, the Secret Pens is still up and running, even if just about all the recent posts are spam... sigh. There is a (relatively) new story, although it has not been linked to the main index--"The Junct Condition" by N. Eileen O'Neill, at http://www.secretpens.org/leonarra/junct.html .

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epress-online is proud to announce that two of our books are EPPIE finalists: Needle by L.L. Whitaker, SF ; Hierath by Joanne Hall, fantasy . Winners will be announced in March 2007 at the EPICon. Available as multi-format ebooks through Fictionwise and also as Trade pb.

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******BORDERLANDS UPDATE

The latest group of episodes of Borderlands, the S~G collaborative fiction scenario, has just been made available at the usual place .

This part is called "Physicians Across Borders," and focuses on Sosu Cristal of the Hannard's Ford Sime Center, who becomes the center of attention (or bone of contention) for healers from both Territories. Another plot thread encompasses the further adventures of Nick and Katsura as they return to civilization, or what passes for civilization in New Washington Territory. Finally, Senator Tsibola and his nephew Craig try to work out their differences, and wind up trying to get some very unusual help from two unexpected sources.

We also have the usual sidebars the Sat'htine sewing circle, some tourists from out-T get help from a homeboy, a Gen with an unusual profession visits the HFSC, plus a two-parter about PPling, the poet/barista from the Moonbean Cafe.

Any other readers out there are welcome to comment by e-mail to us. We're planning to take a new turn, soon, and would like to hear from our readers about who they'd like to see more of and what kinds of situations they like us to present.

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******Advertisement******

In the Service of Samurai - YA/Adult Japanese Fantasy "Last Samurai Meets Pirates of the Caribbean" Vassal of EL - YA/Adult Fantasy Mystery "Winged men, murder, a past that comes back to haunt him" Gloria Oliver - Unveiling the Fantastic - http://www.gloriaoliver.com .

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******NEW REVIEWS

QUEEN OF BROKEN HEARTS by Cassandra King

NAPOLEON'S PYRAMIDS by William Dietrich

SEEING THINGS by Jana Richards

THE PERMISSION SEEKER'S GUIDE THROUGH THE LEGAL JUNGLE: Clearing Copyrights, Trademarks and Other Rights for Entertainment and Media Productions by Joy R. Butler

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Anyone shopping Amazon who wants to contribute to simegen.com without it costing them a cent, please start by using any of the Amazon Search boxes on our pages. Our top page has three really handy ones near the bottom.

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******REREADABLE BOOKS

ReReadable Books Feb, March & April Columns Posted 04-06-2007 - The February, March and April columns of ReReadable Books reviewed by Jacqueline Lichtenberg have now been posted on simegen.com.

You will find them, along with the books to be reviewed through June 2007 at http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/2007/ .

This monthly column is first published on paper in The Monthly Aspectarian, then posted on their website, lightworks.com, then archived here for handy reference. Science Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, cross-genre, and books about the craft of fiction and the benefits of reading fiction are covered in this column. You will find columns dating back to 1993 indexed at http://www.simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/ .

I have a personal interview lined up with Jim Butcher, the writer of the books upon which is based the Sci Fi Channel series THE DRESDEN FILES, which I've been watching. As you may have noted, I have reviewed the Dresden novels favorably -- catch this series if you can. We'll be discussing it and with luck I may have some interesting information from the series creator.

Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg

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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://simegen.com/marketplace/cafepress/

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 isn't offered, just write Lois at lois@lochness-monster.com and she'll get it ready for you to order.

Think about magnificent, hand-crafted Starred-Cross Jewelry for your holiday giving: http://www.simegen.com/marketplace/jewelry/

The image comes in four designs:
- silver & enamel brooch *
- 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.)

* Enamel can be almost any color - think Householding colors! How do you describe the color you want? Try http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_colornames.asp .

Follow the link to the artist's own page for ordering: http://www.wormgeardesigns.com/simegen.php . The artist who created these items apologizes for not replying to some early queries.

Apparently, the 'Shopping Cart' was sending notices to an obsolete mailbox, and he didn't receive them until very recently.

He says the page still has some problems, but at least the notification works, and ordered items will be created and shipped within a few days, by First Class mail.

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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***** The Dresden Files Interview with Jim Butcher

I spent an hour with Jim Butcher, creator of The Dresden Files then sat through his talk at a local bookstore, The Poison Pen in Scottsdale AZ. (he's a very good speaker -- and very funny too!)

It was very informative and enjoyable -- maybe 45 or 50 people turned out in a smallish bookstore.

He was born in 1971 and grew up on Anime, Spiderman movies, and modern adult fantasy - thinks visually of story in Anime and film terms and likes the Anime style of deep relationships and screaming hot action.

Patric asked a good question which I posed to Jim:

Is he satisfied with how his books were translated to the screen?

Jim said yes he is, the only real changes were cosmetic and for practical TV filming purposes. The two we discussed were the switch from Dresden driving a VW Beetle to a Jeep -- and the reason was that a 6Ft+ guy getting in and out of a Beetle on screen would be funny/awkward every time it was shot whereas in his novels he can play it for laughs only when appropriate.

The reasoning for choosing a Jeep was consistent with the background point that Dresden's body field fries fancy electronics. Also the VW Beetle would be harder to shoot from various angles and catch Dresden's image inside -- but the Jeep is easy and thus cheaper. So he accepts that change.

The other visual change was the long duster changed into a fireman's jacket -- and Jim says that's fine since it's in keeping with the way Dresden uses fire. On the other hand he and I agree the jacket just doesn't have the right look -- the flowing leather duster would look better. I'm not sure of the reason for that change.

The wand becoming a hockey stick he can live with easily enough. The blasting rod we didn't discuss -- we only had an hour. But basically I agree that so far the TV version has only superficial changes necessary to make the budget work (fewer characters, less animation, fewer sets). If they do a second season and onwards I do hope they can increase the budget. I have philosophy and writing-lesson material for several columns and the final episode of the first season airs tonight. I want to see that and then write some columns. They'll decide by June whether to do a second season - no word on the DVD yet. Of course as author of the books, Jim is the last to know!

I'm working on the July 2007 column and a few more that will feature bits from this interview.

My review column, ReReadable Books (because it's not worth its cover price if it's not re-readable) is published on paper in The Monthly Aspectarian, then posted to their website lightworks.com then archived on http://simegen.com/reviews/rereadablebooks/ so you can always look up prior columns.

Live Long and Prosper,
Jacqueline Lichtenberg

******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.

Individuals to take over, or assist with the SIMECENTER Site -- It isn't at all hard, but a bit time-consuming...and very rewarding ("meeting" these marvelous authors and artists, if only via EMail and their websites). Please write me, Kaires Tevesu if you are interested.

******PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

We have had to withdraw the entire Sime~Gen project from Meisha Merlin for a wide range of reasons. They missed several deadlines for publication of TO KISS OR TO KILL and showed no signs of intention to get it out any time in the foreseeable future. That stalled everything else. It was very disappointing.

So we are now actively in search of another publisher.

THE UNITY TRILOGY should continue to be available for some time -- they have the right to dispose of all stock in the Meisha Merlin warehouse.

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******AVAILABLE RELEASES

~ 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 .

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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.

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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, 2006, 2007.