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Friday, October 2, 2015

THAT SPOOKY TIME OF YEAR: October at Seanchai Library

When the leaves begin to turn and the first signs of chill are in the first-world air, many begin to think of blazing fires, and stories that send chills up your spine. Second Life is no different as autumnal builds and Halloween destinations spring up, like toadstools in a friendly lawn, all over the grid.  Seanchai Library on the Bradley University sim is among the longest running spoken word venues in SL, and enthusiastically embraces this spirit of the season each year by ramping up the ghost stories, tales of haunting, and other scary fiction from a variety of genres presented live in voice by talented staff.

“It seems like it is the start of the ‘story season’ every year,” said Chief Storyteller, Shandon Loring.  We just get through International Talk Like a Pirate Day, take a deep breath, and then leap into October.  We run all out, full speed, pretty much from October 1st to end of March without a let up.  It’s great!” Seanchai presents literature and stories live in voice year round, five to eight hours a week, with tips going to benefit a variety featured charities annually.  It was founded in March of 2008 and prides itself on being a library whose collection is built “one story at a time, shared live.”

Seancha Library is celebrating this “spookable” of year with an encore presentation of Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October presented in five one-hour sessions by a cast of voice talent.  A Night in the Lonesome October is a semi-satirical novel by Roger Zelazny published in 1993, near the end of his life. It was his last book, one of his five personal favorites, and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1994.

Seanchai will also feature Robert Beatty’s debut novel, released this year, which Serafina and the Black Cloak follows a 12 year old who is different and lives apart from most other people with her father in a basement.  Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate. But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows the clues to follow.  Caledonia Skytower presents the captivating adventure this month in selections at both Seanchai’s home, and their outreach program at Magicland Park.
became a New York Times Bestseller in the first week of its launch and was selected as an Okra Pick for representing "the best in Southern Literature." 

One of Seanchai’s most popular weekly sessions is “Tea Time at Baker Street” on Sunday afternoons (SLT).  Since 2012, a core team of four readers has been working their way through the entire canon of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes adventures: four novels, 56 short stories, and a handful of micro-fiction and parodies penned by Doyle himself.  This month the team will complete the final piece in their transit of the Holmesian canon: The Valley of Fear, published in 1915.

In addition to the regular story sessions, Seanchai Library is participating in Literature Alive’s Good Reads Hunt October 1 through 31st.  Eleven or more destinations round out a celebration of autumn’s power to inspire reading and literature. “Reading is amazing past time, and the fall is a wonderful time to grab a book, blanket, and head to shady spot in the woods.”  Hunt information is available at the starting point: Literature Alive!/Desi's Gifts and Prints.   http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Dakiels%20Dream/47/180/2002

The Library is also featuring a new and updated version of “Five Irish Haunts”: an exploration of some of Ireland’s tradition of haunts and spooks.  Many haunting legends are similar, but have different origins in different cultures which are reflected in their stories and folklore.  Seanchai celebrates its roots with the Irish origins of a selection of spooks.  Look for the blue and green information globes to learn about the Banshee, Dear-Dur, Far Liath and more.  Who knows?  There just might be surprises hidden in those wee spinning spheres as well!

The featured charity October through December will be Reach Out and Read, one of the most highly rated literacy charities in the United States, reaching 4.4 million children annually in all 50 states, and distributing over 1.6 million books.  Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based nonprofit organization of medical providers who promote early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by integrating children's books and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud into well-child visits. 

Love a good story?  Check out Seanchai Library’s website for schedule and program information.


by Caledonia Skytower

“Any Ink is Good Ink, even if it is Virtual”

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