Freda's Place

November 29, 1900 Mercy me!  I've just come home from sharing a most harrowing Thanksgiving dinner with that nice lady who owns the detective agency, Miss Trolley.  I was mighty glad to be invited because I woke up Thanksgiving morning feeling pretty blue. it being the first year without Mother to cook the turkey and spend the day helping her.  Of course, it's also the first year without my father to wreck the dinner she prepared, so that's the silver lining in that cloud, isn't it?  I know it's a horrible, awful sin to be glad about someone's death but when Miss Trolley asked everyone at her table to say something they were grateful for on Thanksgiving, I thought in my head that I am grateful my father isn't here in Philomenaville (or anywhere else) to cause trouble and hurt folks.   That man was a mean brute and I will never regret what happened that last day before I left home.  He deserved to die and I will never forgive him for what he did to Mama.

December will be another exciting month at Freda's.  We'll have some new events for you to participate and we'll be at Freda's Winter Place for many of them!  This month at Freda's, Artwork in the small gallery is from IanLee Patton.  I do hope you'll drop by Freda's Winter Place to see his exhibit there.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virrat/225/180/104 **Quiet Write-Ins** Times for writers to gather in silently supportive work times occur several days each week.  Watch Freda's Place announcements in Second Life to know when and where.  Freda's office is available anytime for folks who want a quiet place to work in sl.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Virrat/235/200/106 **Tuesday Babble** 1 pm Pacific, Tuesdays, at Freda's Place Cafe Open Mic for writers, musicians, actors.  If you can do it in local voice on a moderate sim, you are invited to do so.  Come to perform or come to listen.  http://maps.secondlife.com

Chapter Four, Almost Thanksgiving by Lulabelle Gimlin The day before Thanksgiving the year Lee's mother was expecting his baby sister, Josiah Graham returned from one of his long trips out west. He  said California was the very best market for bibles.  He said all them Spanish conquistadors and the priests they brought with them had laid a fertile groundwork for modern-day bible salesmen.  Evidently that autumn's trip west had been a particularly lucrative one.  Lee's father came home in a better mood then usual and he brought his family presents.  For Polly, there was a set of wooden embroidery hoops, along with needles and thread and cloth.  "A fine little lady who lives in Sacramento helped me pick them out for you, Polly.  I met that gal on the train from San Francisco and we had such a nice time and she was about your age, so I figured she'd know what you would like."  Truthfully, Polly had never been much for sewing and had no idea how to use

2pm, Pacific Today Live Literature Presents Trolley Trollop's "Voices From The South" Trolley is great fun and a good judge of literature.  She will share "Jane Murray's Thanksgiving" by Rebecca Harding Davis as well as a wee bit of  O. Henry.    Trolley herself is a royal hoot, so you definitely won't want to miss this!     http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quoll/11/87/97    

23 November, 1784 Rocca Sorrentina   My heart, soul and body yearn for my beloved husband.  At the same time, I dread the trip to Milan.  I am to leave later this day from the port of Rocca Sorrentina.  The boat trip will be blessedly short but grueling, the symptoms of my condition being worse now than a few weeks previous.   Then the boat trip will be followed by the long coach ride from Naples north to where Gabriel is rehearsing.  The few days in that city will not be restful and then we'll be traveling together to Rome.  I have always wanted to see that city but find now that I would much rather see the inside of my own rooms here at Rocca Sorrentina.    I met Professor Stern yesterday.  He was taking coffee in a public house on the waterfront.  I was so bold as to ask him and a lady also present if he could recommend a female healer, not necessarily a physician.  He seemed to think one could found locally and promised to send one to me upon my return from Rome.  As

November 22, 1900   Lu shops in Philomenaville. Well, some good news finally!  I've now written three full chapters of  *The Life and Times of Lee Graham.*  If I keep this up, I'll have a complete novel in no time.  Then I can send it to get published and make a pile of money.  Hopefully, I'll manage that before the money I have stashed runs out!    Today would have been my Mama's birthday.  She'd have been 35 today if that depraved devil she married, my very own father, hadn't finally killed her.  Really, it's a miracle she lived as long as she did, considering how many beatings she took from him over the years.  I never will understand how Grandpa Zeb could have let that go on.  Seems like a decent man woulda killed my father with his own hands before lettin' him beat on his daughter and grandchildren year after year.  I know Mama was expectin' with me before she got married.  Grandpa Zed never forgave her for getting in that kind of t

There are people who don't get virtual worlds.  That's okay.  I used to be one of them.  There are folks who think virtual worlds are just computer games with no real value.  That may be true for them, but for me and countless others, the metaverse is a place where creativity comes alive.  It is obvious in the creation of avatars and virtual settings.  Even people who are deprived of avatars can see and appreciate that by looking at pics taken in virtual worlds.  What they probably don't get is how much real art and literature and drama and music is made inworld.  For that reason, I share a poem I created while attending an open write-in in Second Life yesterday.  Sure I maybe could have written this poem without logging into my virtual office first, but would I? True Platitudes by Stephanie Mesler (AKA Freda Frostbite) I’m that dot on the map calling your name when you’re bored and lonely and need a fresh game.  When you need a new start, to burn the bridge down,

Image from WT at www.openclipart.org There are days when I wonder why I call myself a writer.  It seems I spend so much of my time on the other parts of my job that writing is the least of it.  It's easy to get sucked into the editing, proofreading, recording things I've written, making illustrations, doing the PR necessary to sell my work, meeting and talking with other writers, blogging about writing (ironic I should mention that one here, huh?), book layout, planning work sessions-- well, you get it -- the list of writing-related tasks that distract from actual writing is about a paragraph long.  Lately,   I have  had a string of days where writing has gotten short-shrift, if it has happened at all.    There are also times when my whole writing life is derailed by some mundane thing, like a holiday (when people are home and in my space and when I am expected not to work) or a doctor's appointment (which is supposed to take an hour but ends up filling half a day

There will be two events today at Freda's Place in Quoll.  The first is our weekly Tea Talk For Writers.  This gab session that covers all matters writerly will begin at 4pm Pacific.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quoll/30/71/104 Writer's Chat at Freda's Place 11/13/14   Tea Talk will be followed by a poetry and dance party by the pool to celebrate the re-location and re-opening of Freda's Place.  We'll have an opportunity to share short poems and to get to know one another.  Music will be provided by DJ Freda and all are encouraged to don their favorite pool duds and come party at Freda's Place. There will be games and prizes too, so don't miss out on all the fun!  The party will start at 5 pm SLT. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quoll/26/33/97

The Life and Times of Lee Graham is a Second Life Novel, written by Lulabelle Gimlin.  Chapter Three has just been added for your reading pleasure.  Lulabelle Gimlin works in her room above the Philomenaville stables.

Caledonia Skytower Does Live Lit Caledonia Skytower is a driving force behind SL and Opensim's Seanchai Library.  In her first life, she is the author of Trio Tales by Judith Cullen, an ongoing series.  She brings works in progress and recently completed to Freda's Place each month.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quoll/30/71/104

      Quiet Write-Ins Times for writers to gather in silently supportive work times occur several days each week.  Watch Freda's Place announcements in Second Life to know when and where.  Freda's office is available anytime for folks who want a quiet place to work in sl.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quoll/30/71/104   Tuesday Babble 1 pm Pacific, Tuesdays, at Freda's Place in Quoll Open Mic for writers, musicians, actors.  If you can do it in local voice on a moderate sim, you are invited to do so.  Come to perform or come to listen.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quoll/11/87/97   Live Literature at Freda's Place 2 pm Pacific, Tuesdays, at Freda's Place in Quoll This week, Live Lit presents Caledonia Skytower!  Cale, one of SL's best loved story-tellers, will read from her own works.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Quoll/11/87/97   Tea Talk For Writers 4 pm Pacific, Thursdays, at Freda's Office,

Things did not go quite as planned with the relocation.  The wise avatars in charge at Linden Labs decided in the end that I would have to wait for the abandoned land I requested to be put up for auction and then I would have to bid on it and possibly lose the land in a bidding war.  This makes NO sense whatsoever, not for me, because it would keep Freda's Place homeless and unable to operate for several weeks, and not for Linden, as land at auction generally sells for less than when purchased outright.  I took a day or so to regroup and then rented land in Crinkle.  This land will house all of Freda's Place public venues.  The private venues, illustrations studio, skybox for dressing the av, and build platform, are now located on a parcel I did buy at auction.  The illustrations studio is already up and in use.  I expect to have at least part of The public venue up and running by week's end.  Hope to see you there soon. The build in progress at Crinkle.

But not to worry-- Linden Labs is sure to fix her up with some abandoned land real soon.  Freda has requested the land just across the road from one of her favorite RP venues in Second Life, Philomenaville .  The good folks at Linden say the whole process of land transfer should take about a week.  It's been four days, so shouldn't be too much longer!  In the meantime, Freda's typist is busily working on illustrations for Escape From Pig Hill, which will be released in March of next year.   Looks Pretty Darn Good For a Homeless Gal!