Events

Our main writers’ space is in the form of a digital community, where users move, communicate and socialise using mouse, microphone and keyboard controls. Here we host a variety of online writing sessions, workshops & interactive readings; providing a wealth of opportunities for writers to meet and share resources.

Writers’ Dash 

Hosted in Second Life® by Doyle Slen, Artemis Danube and Roberrt Magne at 6am PT Monday -Friday.

500 Word Snatch 

Hosted in Second Life® by Harriet Gausman at 8am PT on Monday – Sunday. There is an additional Snatch at Book Island with Schaduw Farspire on Sunday at 12 noon PT.

PT is Pacific Time

Poem-a-Day Challenge (February)

A month-long writing event culminating in a competition for the best poems written during the challenge.

March Poetry Festival

An exhibition of work and readings from Second Life®’s most prominent poets. Held the last weekend of March.

NaNoWriMo Support

A veritable calendar of delights – offered annually during National Novel Writing Month – write-ins, inspirational workshops, pep talks and articles from successful authors.

Camp NaNoWriMo

Support for those participating in the April and July writing challenges. Set your own goal and join us in our own campground in Second Life®.

VW Workshops

A month-long selection of creative workshops designed to toss participants head first into the process of writing. Held throughout November.

If you are interested in holding an event at our writers’ sim, please submit your query through our online contact form.

Milk Wood is the celtic-themed, 3d home of Virtual Writers. Here we learn to experiment with the Second Life® platform to cultivate our craft, develop literary poise, and establish a strong, unique voice.

The Stone Circle – our stone circle monument is used as a stage and performance arena for book and poetry readings. Take a wander around the standing stones and forested areas for a unique, immersive experience.

The Writers’ Camp – our twice-daily Writers’ Dashes are held at the writers’ camp; a delightful woodland spot that is fully equipped with typewriters and desks. You’ll also find a selection of writer’s cabins adjacent to the camp that are available for rent.

Dead Wood Book Fayre portrays the fayres of yesteryear and is ideal if you have books or events that you want to publicize. We can create replica book covers and display them for you as a virtual book; anyone clicking on the book will be directed to either your website or your seller’s page. This is a unique and very effective way of promoting your work.

The Celtic Writer’s Cottages at Milk Wood are also available for rent. These can be used as a base for your online writing sessions, or a place for you to display your writing and art. Many of our tenants have been with us for years but we welcome all newcomers.

Camp NaNoWriMo – join us every April and July at our own 3d campground and see how much you can achieve with our support.

Writers’ Displays – the carpet-covered carts and wagons are used to display the work of our members and are available for rent.

About Writers’ Dash

The Writers’ Dash (#writersdash) is a prompt-driven, free writing exercise held on Second Life® every weekday. If you’re attending the live event in Second Life® there’ll be an opportunity for you to show your work to the other participants, at the end of the timed writing session. If you’re unable to attend the live event you can share your work on Twitter, Facebook or on our blog – just look out for the prompt post and leave your dash piece as a comment.

If you want your dash piece to be included in the weekly Dash in the Pan newsletter, simply post it to your own blog, then promote it on Twitter using the #writersdash hashtag.

About Word Scrimmage

A Word Scrimmage is an event in which participants write, or type, as fast as they can for an agreed time, with the aim of increasing the word count on their current novel, or work in progress. The participant who has written the most at the end of the scrimmage is declared the winner.

The event is held regularly on Second Life®, at the 3d home of Virtual Writers, and on Twitter under the #virtualwriters and #wordscrim hashtags.

About Word Snatch

The truth is you can make a long story short by taking small disciplined writing steps every day. As Jack London said,  “You can’t wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club”; so don’t be idle and wait for the muse to strike, join our literary challenge and put a mark on your page every day.

The challenge is to write 500 words a day for 365 days, come rain or shine. If you’ve completed NaNoWriMo you’ll find this very easy. The 500 Word Snatch (#500WS) is perfect if you have a long-term goal, or you need sustained support and encouragement.

Of course, you’re not confined to writing a novel, you can use the challenge for many different writing forms; outlining, a daily blog, a book of poems, short fiction, non-fiction or even revision; we don’t care what you write, as long as you write. Look at it as an exercise in disciplined creativity.

Almo Schumann

After working in print journalism for 30 years, Almo Schumann is turning his attention to fiction. He is the proprietor of Well, That’s My Story, a company devoted to the publishing of short stories, novels and screenplays. He is a Southerner by residence and temperament. In Second Life®, Almo is a part of the Milk Wood Writers’ Consortium and is co-founder of Alibi Projects, a company that writes and produces machinima. Almo is married in first and second lives to the patient Graceful Schumann.

Harriet Gausman

In 2007, Harriet conceded her élan vital to pixels and created the atmospheric Milk Wood, inspired by the Dylan Thomas radio drama, Under Milk Wood. Over the years, the sim has become a literary home to many artists and continues to offer a range of writing and reading events, providing opportunities for writers to cultivate their craft, develop literary poise, and establish a strong artistic voice.

The former teacher, turned children’s writer, has published non-fiction articles, short stories and poetry. She is experienced at planning and hosting online events, and applies a unique approach to promoting and supporting writers.

Doyle Slen

Doyle read the original R.E. Howard Conan series, Chronicles of Narnia, and Hobbit when he was in elementary school and became an avid fantasy fan. In junior high he discovered the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game. Over the last thirty years he has developed two game worlds. He always wanted to be a writer, but life happened. In 2011 Doyle came to Second Life® where he met his editor. He has written 4 rough drafts over the last four years, and is working on finishing the edits on his first novel.

Doyle is head host of the Writers’ Dash in Milk Wood.

Roberrt Magne

Roberrt, describing himself as a ‘a semi-retired, old fart’, writes professionally for the magazine Glimmer Train and does music reviews for New Beats Media.

He is active on the popular amateur writing site, The Den of Amateur Writing posting under the name of kt6550.

He is a member of the Long Ridge Writers’ Group in Connecticut and co-hosts the evening Writers’ Dash.

Lizzie Gudkov

Lizzie Gudkov is a fiction writer born in Portugal. After a career as a teacher of English, she rediscovered writing. Lizzie is an author at iRez since January 2013 and a guest blogger at Virtual Writers since February 2014. As part of her writing path, Lizzie hosts and takes part in multiple writing events (including the Saturday Snatch at Milk Wood), namely in the virtual world of Second Life®.

Huck Hax

Huck Hax writes regularly about Second Life® and has written several novels set in the metaverse. He is co-editor of Beggar’s Velvet Poetry Journal and hosts Virtual Writers’ annual NaNoWriMo workshop.

Arlene Radasky

Arlene Radasky started writing later in life. Her first novel, The Fox, was self-published in 2008 and is doing well on Amazon and many other sites; Arlene also recorded it as a podcast novel, where it’s available on both iTunes and Podiobooks.com. Currently, she is working on her second novel and some short stories and poetry. Her love of history, and helping others learn what life was like in past times, encourages her to continue. Arlene also hosts various writing workshops in Second Life®.

Diana Hunter

When not tied to her writing, Diana can be found engaging in other, more mundane, activities such as gardening, scrapbooking the memories of her two grown children, or weaving (yes, by hand, on a real loom). Still married to her best friend, she’s branched out and begun writing in other genres as well. After all, why should we only have one fantasy?

You can find Diana’s other works under the names CF Duprey (historical fiction), Diana Allandale (straight romance and short stories) and Mystic Shade (for the shadier sides of our desires).

Diana is an experienced writing tutor and hosts various workshops in Second Life®.

Emerian Rich

Emerian Rich is the author of the vampire book series, Night’s Knights. She also writes the Sweet Dreams Musical Romance Series under the name Emmy Z. Madrigal. Her most recent full length novel, Artistic License, mixes both horror and romance. She’s been published in a handful of anthologies by publishers such as Dragon Moon Press, Hidden Thoughts Press, Hazardous Press, and White Wolf Press. Emerian is a podcast horror hostess of HorrorAddicts.net, and leads various writing workshops in Second Life®.

Merry Chase

Merry Chase is a granola-eating, organic-gardening, structure-loving poet who relishes subverting the constraints of haiku and sonnet to serve a spirit of silliness. It may be this tendency to merrily amuse, rather than any real inspirational quality in her, that inspired her Milk Wood Dash nickname of “Musey.”

Nathaniel Ballard 

Nathaniel is a mild-mannered Victorian accountant, kept busy defending his village from the intrigues of the Sidhe courts, the demon realms and random critters. When he isn’t defending the village from attack or navigating the complex waters of the sidhe courts, he keeps a diary and occasionally aspires to literature. His diaries can be found here.

Ian, the man behind the character, lives in a rural part of southern England famed for its ponies. A former communications engineer, he now works in retail, and the voluntary sector, and writes fiction. He is a regular host at the morning Writers’ Dash, where he tells the story of Martin and Jane, two trainee shamans. Occasionally he dons period garb and organises events for a medieval re-creation group. He is rumoured to be very fond of cats, beer and cooking, and sometimes manages to find time to blather on about them here.

Artemis Danube

Artemis spends her time away from Second Life® working in sales. Her hobbies include writing, the occasional Facebook and Sims game, and reading. When in Second Life®, she enjoys more writing; her current project is a fictional account of a daughter of Hades, but like many writers, she often finds herself distracted. You’ll find her co-hosting the morning Writers’ Dash.

Franja Russell

Franja Russell previously headed the Portal to Sci-Fi & Fantasy on Info Island, which is part of the very active Library Association Group in Second Life®. She now helps host the morning Writers’ Dash at Milk Wood.

A former teacher, Franja taught Elementary School, Grades 3-4-5 for 38 years. She loves to travel, both home and abroad, and has visited 20+ countries around the world.  A prior Commissary Manager for the Sierra Club’s Base Camps, she still enjoys moderate hiking, but the days of 10 mile backpacking and rock climbing are a wonderful memory.

In addition to writing, Franja also enjoys art and photography.

 

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