Freda's Place

Please visit  Stephanie Mesler's Soundcloud pages to hear "Time Management" read by the author.

Guided Meditation For A New Beginning   Set to Music by Angelwing, Lemming Shepherds and Peter John Ross Tuesday, December 29, and  Thursday, December 31 at 10 am US Pacific Time Freda's Fantasy, UUtopia   

Ermengarde The Expansive Escape From Pig Hill GodSongs Just click the links above to Get Them All FREE December 25-29, 2015

A Poet's Progress: Get Yourself A Free Fairy Tale This Holiday Season... : The only thing better than a book is a FREE book.   You can get a free copy of Ermengarde The Expansive , the third edition, just by joi...   Follow this link to find out how to get your   FREE Copy of Ermengarde The Expansive.    

  Basic Guided Meditation Set to Original Music by Angelwing Tuesdays and Thursdays at10 am US Pacific Time Freda's Fantasy, UUtopia    This week: Basic Guided Meditation For Focus and Peace

Friday, December 11 at 2 pm and 7pm (US Pacific Time) Writers' Block Café on Book Island, SL Please join Freda Frostbite for a performance of her book, Ermengarde The Expansive.  The third edition of the book, with new illustrations and a slightly changed plot, will be published within the week.  The event will take place in The Writers' Block Cafe on Book Island.  Please have local voice enabled so that you can hear the tale told.  Illustrations will be displayed. 

It's been a while, but I have led many guided meditation sessions at various locations in the metaverse.  I find I am ready to return to these activities.  To that end, I've written a brand new Basic Guided Meditation set to music by Angelwing.   I do hope you will join me for this brief session, focused on breathing and achieving serenity.    Basic Guided Meditation Set to Music by Angelwing Thursday, December 10 at 10 am US Pacific Time Freda's Fantasy, UUtopia   

For several months, I have been mostly absent from virtual worlds.  I have managed to visit my illustrations studio in Second Life a few times a week, working on illustrations for the third edition of Ermengarde The Expansive.  I expect this third edition to be published very soon.  In the meantime, here are a couple of samples of work created in SL for the book.  FYI, I am still dealing with some significant health issues, so energy is limited.  Still, I hope to be more active inworld(s) after the first of the year. 

Not sure if anyone is wondering, but Freda Frostbite is taking a little break from virtual worlds.  Health issues and work priorities are vying for her time and energy, both of which are quite limited.   For the time being, Freda is running no inworld events at all and only rarely making it inworld just to pay rent.   Hopefully, all will be resolved in the next few months and Freda will find the energy to return to regular virtual activities.  Have a great autumn! 

Friday, August 21, 10 AM PST Freda In Progress:  Escape From Pig Hill by Stephanie Mesler Local Voice Writers' Block Café, Book Island, SL It's not the end of Donny's story but it is the end of Escape From Pig Hill, first book in The Ballad of Donny Granger.   This is the week Donny and Mags finally make the break from those who have tried to hold them back and keep them down.  Jeremiah Adelbaum will receive his just reward and Daddy Granger will have one less son to mold into his own image.  Join us on Book Island in Second Life to learn how Donny and Margaret will make their escape from Pig Hill.  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/211/219/36

Monday, August 10, 10 AM PST Live Literature:  Llola Lane, Picture Stories Local Voice Writers' Block Café, Book Island, SL http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/211/219/36 LLola Lane of Ozland fame in Second Life and Inworldz will present some of her lovely picture stories.  Always inspiring! 

Sunday, August 9 at 3pm PST FIP: GodSongs by Stephanie Mesler In Local Voice Freda's Fantasy, UUtopia, Second Life   GodSongs is due for publication in September.  Sections of the collection have been performed at various sites around the metaverse.  The book has been through the editing and proofreading process twice.  It is now time to read the whole thing, end to end, to listeners inworld so that we have one last chance to catch any errors that have slipped by poet, editor, and proofreader.  The whole process should take just over an hour.  I hope you will join us for a beta-reading of GodSongs by Stephanie Mesler.                 

In real life, my first profession was singing.  If I do say so myself, I do not suck.  Almost all of my formal education post-secondary school has been in music.  I've taught voice professionally and I've sung a lot of places, both professionally and as a volunteer.  In recent years, health and family concerns as well geographical issues, have limited my opportunities for singing publically.  I really, really miss singing for an audience.    At long last, I've decided to take the plunge and start performing music in virtual worlds.  I am not planning to offer myself up as a virtual lounge lizard (at least not yet), not that I am above lounge singing.  I used to make a decent living doing just that in clubs in and around NYC.  I rather liked the work, to tell the truth, even in the skankier dives.  But I liked giving short recitals better.  Since singing in virtual worlds will not be about money-making, I plan to go with what I like doing best.    I am putting tog

Monday, August 3, 10 AM PST Live Literature:  Batfishing In The Rainforest by Randy Wayne White Local Voice Writer's Block Café, Book Island, SL http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/211/219/36  Randy Wayne White is the author of, among other things the Doc Ford and Hannah Smith mystery series.  White is a Florida author, a former TV personality, and fishing guide.  He also owns the restaurant chain, Doc Ford's.  Batfishing In The Rainforest is his "collection of strange tales of travel and fishing."  This collection was born of the writer's work as a columnist with Outside magazine.  White is a great story-weaver with interesting life adventures to share.  Batfishing in The Rainforest is just the tip if the iceberg.   

Friday, July 31, 10 AM PST Freda In Progress:  Escape From Pig Hill by Stephanie Mesler Local Voice Writers' Block Café, Book Island, SL http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/211/219/36 It's going to be another rough week for Donny Granger.  First, a run-in with his uncles, which threatens to turn ugly.  Thank goodness, one uncle is kinder than the others!  Then, Donny's worst fear is realized-- his secret is out.  How will Daddy Granger respond?  What will Donny do?

Happy days in Freda Land!  The mystery of how to stream both live singing and backing tracks into virtual worlds simultaneously using Windows 8, Shoutcast, and Reaper has been solved, thanks to my friend Wald Schridde (who performs historical music inworld)!  This means I will soon be able to sing live in virtual worlds!  I am over-the-moon about this and will soon be setting a date for a first inworld gig.  Woo-freaking-Hoo!  I can't even begin to tell y'all how much I have missed doing recitals.    In the meantime, there are some events coming in the next week I hope you will consider attending.  Friday, July 31, 10 AM PST Freda In Progress:  Escape From Pig Hill by Stephanie Mesler Local Voice Writers' Block Café, Book Island, SL http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/211/219/36 It's going to be another rough week for Donny Granger.  First, a run-in with his uncles, which threatens to turn ugly.  Thank goodness, one uncle is kinder than th

    Monday, July 27, 10 AM PST Live Lit With Marita DeCosta, Book Island, SL A Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/128/128/0?title=Book%20Island   Meditations on life, love, marriage, solitude, peace and contentment.  Written while on holiday by the sea. 

Friday, July 24, Freda will continue reading from her novel, Escape From Pig Hill.   This week, the Grangers lose Mama and Margaret Adelbaum loses a close friend and protector.  Join us for the reading on Book Island at 10 AM, US Pacific Time.  Slurl to:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/211/219/36   Read previous chapters of Escape From Pig Hill online or get your copy on Amazon.    

This Friday, July 17, Freda will continue reading from her novel, Escape From Pig Hill.   This week, Margaret returns to her home in the aftermath of personal horror.  With the help and support of the Granger family, she has the upper hand...for a while.   Meanwhile, Kathleen Granger is getting sicker and weaker.  It is clear that her end is near.  At least she is going out on her own terms.  Join us for the reading on Book Island at 10 AM US Pacific Time.  Slurl to:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/211/219/36   Read previous chapters of Escape From Pig Hill online or get your copy on Amazon.    

Monday, July 13, 10 AM PST Live Lit With Marita DeCosta, Book Island, SL A Gift From The Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Book%20Island/128/128/0?title=Book%20Island   Meditations on life, love, marriage, solitude, peace and contentment.  Written while on holiday by the sea. 

Saturday, July 11, 6 PM PST Freda Frostbite at Circe's, SL Ermengarde The Expansive and Poems From The Five Day Poetry Challenge   Join us as Freda performs her story about a fat princess who grows into her greatness and catches a star and slays a dragon in the process.  Freda will also share five new poems written for the five-day poetry challenge.  

After a brief hiatus, Freda Frostbite returns to Second Life.  This Friday, July 10, she will continue readings from her novel, Escape From Pig Hill.   This week, Jeremiah Adelbaum, deals with the consequences of his choices and his daughter, Mags, spends a happy holiday with the Granger family on Pig Hill.  As always, Donny, stands by her through the hard times.  Together, they try to make things better.    Read previous chapters of Escape From Pig Hill online or get your copy on Amazon.    

I am slipping gingerly back into virtual worlds activities after several weeks when The SL Decades Festival ate my time and a week of hospitalization (Unrelated. I think.).  Tomorrow will bring my first reading from Escape From Pig Hill in three weeks, so we have some catching up to do.  Monday, I'll be hosting Marita Decosta, as she begins a four-week stint on Book Island.  Marita will be reading  Anne Morrow Lindberg's A Gift From The Sea .  And Saturday, I'll be back at Circe's in SL for the first time in a year or more.  I'll be sharing some new poems and one of the first stories I published, Ermengarde The Expansive.  If you are unfamiliar with Ermengarde, now is the time to make her acquaintance.  She is the princess Disney should have created decades ago and still hasn't.    Friday, July 10, 10 AM PST Freda In Progress, Book Island, SL Escape From Pig Hill   It's Christmas on Pig Hill.  Margaret is dealing with what her father did to h

I took a week or so off from virtual worlds to regroup after the very successful Decades Festival.  I needed a break (though I gotta admit the break was sorta forced on me by a brief hospital stay -- NO worries, all better now).  Now I'm back, having taken a little time to tweek plans for upcoming events.  Watch this site for a schedule, which will be posted tomorrow or Thursday.  It's good to be back at work, real word and virtual.  In the meantime, here are my redefined rules for doing events in virtual worlds.  Maybe the same should apply elsewhere as well.  Hmmm...

Celebrate History in Second Life!    The Decades Festival and Ball, June 27, 2015 starting at 12:01 AM SLT EVENTS All times are SLT (US Pacific Time) 1:00 AM Pavilion Stage Ceci Dover will perform like no one but Ceci does. If you have never seen her very high energy show, this is your chance. Ceci does a wide variety of music from many eras. Her voice is dazzling. AND she is wonderful to work with. She is one of Second Life's true professionals. (Streamed) 3:00 AM Observatory Cafe Coffee Break! Puss Applewhyte will host in the observatory coffee house. IC event. Come from your favorite time period. (Text) 4:30 AM Decades Underground *Lamentations of The Sabine Women* by Stephanie Mesler, performed by Avi Choice winner, Freda Frostbite. This poem cycle based on the mythology and history of early Rome will be published this summer in Mesler's book, *GodSongs.* Decades Underground. (Local Voice) 6:00 AM Observatory Cafe Coffee Break! The "mouth of

Second Life has so much to offer.  Right now, at locations all over the grid, we are celebrating the twelfth anniversary of this magical, marvelous world we have created together.  The DECADES FESTIVAL celebrates all of the real life history one can explore here.  SL offers opportunities for education, creative study, and historical role play that are just not possible anywhere else.  Possibly, in real life, you could join a the Society for Creative Anachronism or several historical re-enactment groups.  You could play a lute at a RenFair or ride a steamer up Mark Twain's Mississippi.  But in SL, you can do it all!   Please join us Saturday, June 27, between 12:01 AM and 11:59 PM to celebrate and learn with us!  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vahalla%20Island/158/9/24 There will be numerous exhibits at the Festival.  I hope you will explore all of them! Performers of several kinds will perform on The Decades Stages!  I guarantee they will all be wonderful and urge you

  Wednesday, June 17, 12 noon PST To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Performed by Trolley Trollop The Haven, Molson, Second Life http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Molson/140/151/761   One of Second Life's greatest story-tellers, Trolley Trollop brings one of history's finest books to life.  Join us each week for more of To Kill A Mockingbird.   Harper Lee deserves to be read in a voice like Trolley's. 

The Decades Fest is now less than a week off!  So many people are working tirelessly to support Historical education and RP!  And please, let me know if you would like a Decades Fest Poster to place on your virtual land or in some other appropriate venue.   The Decades Festival and Ball is set for June 27, 2015 starting at 12:01 AM SLT EVENTS All times are SLT (US Pacific Time) Performances: 1:00 AM Pavilion Stage Ceci Dover will perform like no one but Ceci does. If you have never seen her very high energy show, this is your chance. Ceci does a wide variety of music from many eras. Her voice is dazzling. AND she is wonderful to work with. She is one of Second Life's true professionals. (Streamed) 3:00 AM Observatory Cafe Coffee Break! Puss Applewhyte will host in the observatory coffee house. IC event. Come from your favorite time period. (Text) 4:30 AM Decades Underground *Lamentations of The Sabine Women* by Stephanie Mesler, performed by Avi Choice winner, F

Friday, June 19, 6 am PST A Mystery Revealed and Teen Rebellion , Escape From Pig Hill by Stephanie Mesler Live Lit With Freda Frostbite The Haven, Molson, Second Life http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Molson/140/151/761   Join us as Freda shares two new chapters from her recently published book, Escape From Pig Hill .   You can catch up on previously published chapters of the book by visiting  Ballad .  In this week's chapters, Donny stumbles onto a mystery and two teens plot rebellion. 

The Decades Festival and Ball is set for June 27, 2015 starting at 12:01 AM SLT Event Location:  http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Vahalla%20Island/158/9/24   We conceived The Decades Festival when it became clear that money needed to be raised to support Historical RP and education in SL through The Historical Communities and Royal Courts website, http://royalcourts.ning.com/ .   We wanted to help with the expense of running this site that supports all of us in sharing live history in the metaverse.  What started out as a simple request for donations drew all of our attention to the need to support one another in all we do in Second Life and elsewhere on the net to promote historical education and RP.  A little discussion led to a lot of planning and, voila! a Festival was born.    We chose the sunflower as the symbol for the DECADES Festival because their open faces that symbolize the sun speak to what historical communities and builds represent: warmth, happiness,