Category: Events

It’s time to kick-off a week of story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, February 21st

13:30 Crazy Eights: Tea Time at Baker Street

When Hilton Cubitt of Ridling Thorpe Manor in Norfolk presents Sherlock Holmes with a piece of paper with a mysterious sequence of 15 stick figures, the Great Detective and Dr. John Watson find themselves embarking on The Adventure of the Dancing Men.

Cubitt reveals that he has been married to is wife, Elsie, an American, for about a year. All had been well until a letter arrived for her from the United States. Clearly upset by the letter, she threw it in the fire – and shortly afterwards the strange little figures started showing on in pieces of paper, chalked on a wall or door… all with a terrifying effect on Elsie Cubitt.

Holmes instructs Cubitt to make sure all occurrences of the figures are copied and sent to him at 221B Baker Street. As they arrive, Holmes realises they are a substitution code, and the last message causes him to rush to Riding Thorpe Manor. But by the time he and Watson arrive, Cubitt is dead from a bullet in the heart, and his young wife, despite being wounded in the head, is the prime suspect in his death.

15:00 Crazy Eights: Storyteller’s Sandbox

Providing a forum for new stories, new storytellers, and new ways to present them.  The first Sandbox will feature Artist and Storyteller Hana Hoo, self-published author Dulcie Mills with her newest work, and the ever creative Trolley Trollop with “The TAO of Martha.”

Monday February 22nd 19:00: Wizard of Karres

Gyro Muggins returns to the universe created by James H. Schmitz and given form through his 1949 novel, The Witches of Karres, as he continues reading the 2004 sequel, The Wizard of Karres, penned by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. So why not join Gyro as he once more traces the adventures of Captain Pausert and his companions, Goth and the Leewit, the Witches of Karres.

Tuesday February 23rd, 19:00: A Tribute to Harper Lee

Caledonia Skytower and Trolley Trollop pay tribute to the authoress of To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and Go Set a Watchman (2015), who passed away in her sleep on the morning of February 19, 2016, aged 89.

Wednesday February 24th 19:00: Resort to Murder: Thirteen More Tales of Mystery by Minnesota’s Premier Writers

In The Silence of the Loons, editors Carl Brookins, Ellen Hart and William Kent Krueger (known as the Minnesota Crime Wave) brought together 13 of that state’s top crime writers to present a series of tales of mystery.

Now, in Resort to Murder the Minnesota Crime Wave are back with 13 more tales penned by writers. All of the stories have one element in common: Each tale takes place at a Minnesota resort. Minnesota has over 10,000 lakes, and there’s something in the water.

Join Kayden Oconnell as he reads from this fascinating anthology.

 

Thursday, February 25th,19:00 Crazy Eights: On the Island

Shandon Loring and Caledonia Skytower, continue reading the February choice for Seanchai Library’s Crazy Eight’s Featured books reading, On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves.

Anna Emerson, a 30-year-old English teacher accepts s position as private tutor to 17-year-old T.J. Callahan, a young man who has been undergoing treatment for cancer. For Anna, it is a plum assignment, requiring as it does travelling to the Callahan Family’s summer rental in the Maldives with the teenager. T.J., however, is less than happy; with his cancer in remission, he’d rather stay at home with friends, and not carted off half-way around the world with the dead weight of lessons to catch-up on.

Before they can reach their destination however, the pilot of the charter plane taking them to the Maldives suffers a heart attack, the ‘plane ditching in the Indian Ocean. Making it to a deserted island well off the beaten track, Anna and T.J. must work together to survive as days turn to weeks, and weeks to months without sign of rescue. As the time passes, Anna realises that her biggest challenge may not be caring for T.J. should his cancer return – but the fact he is growing into a young man.

Note: On the Island is also to be presented at Seanchai InWorldz. Check Seanchai session posts during the week for specific grid locations).

Saturday, February 27th, 14:00: Crazy Eights Story Forest Tour

A guided exploration of the Crazy Eights Story Forest with selected stories shared live in voice. Guests meet at the Welcome Plaza and join Tour Guides for a walk and a talk featuring some of the 20 stories from around the world found in the Crazy Eights Story Forest.

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

The featured charity for January / February is Heifer International, working with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth.

Additional Links

• Seanchai Library blog
• Seanchai Library in this blog
• Crazy Eights web page

It’s time to kick-off a week of story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, February 14th

13:30 Crazy Eights: Tea Time at Baker Street

Holmes and Watson find themselves drawn into The Adventure of the Norwood Builder after they are visited by a young lawyer, John Hector McFarlane, who is being sought by the police for the murder of builder Jonas Oldacre.

McFarlane explains that Oldacre, a client of his, had surprised him the previous day by visiting McFarlane’s office requesting the young lawyer draw-up his will in which McFarlane himself was named sole beneficiary and heir to a considerable bequest. Oldacre explained his reasons as being due to a lack of heirs and a previous relationship with McFarlane’s mother.

In order to complete the work as requested, McFarlane returned with Oldacre to the builder’s home in Norwood in order to study some legal papers there. As it took him a while to complete his review of the documents, McFarlane opted to stay at a local inn overnight. Catching the train the next morning, he was horrified to read of Oldacre’s murder and that the police believed him to be responsible, thus prompting him to come to the Great Detective’s office and petition his assistance.

Join Caledonia Skytower, Corwyn Allen, Kayden OConnell ain the living room of 221B Baker Street on Seanchai’s Crazy Eights installation, as they continue reading the collected adventures of Holmes and Watson, first published in the Stand Magazine in 1903-04, and gathered into the single volume, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1905.

18:00 Magicland Park: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

When running away, it’s always handy to have some idea of where to run to. In Claudia Kincaid’s case, the ideal place is the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. As her younger brother has money, Claudia decides he should come with her to help on the finances front.

The museum proves an interesting place to settle into, but when the museum purchases what appears to be an early work by Michelangelo, a statue of an angel, for the unbelievable price of $225, Claudia and Jamie, her brother, find themselves taking on the role of investigators.

Is the statue genuine? Has the museum bought itself a bargain, or is the statue something else? Digging into the matter, Claudia and Jamie are led to the remarkable Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, former owner of the statue and the owner of some remarkable files which promise to led Claudia into some discoveries about herself.

Join Caledonia Skytower at Magicland Park as she reads from E.L. Konigsburg’s engaging story.

Monday February 15th 19:00: Peter Robinson

Gyro Muggins concludes a tale from the universe of Larry Niven’s Man-Kzin Wars.

The Kzinti, are a warlike race Niven first introduced to the world in his 1966 story The Warriors. They permeated many of his stories set in the Known Space series, and well as appearing in his Nebula and Hugo award-winning Ringworld. In his stories, Niven references a series of conflicts between Kzinti and humans, but did not write about the wars himself. Such was the demand for more information on the wars, however, he allowed the Man-Kzin wars to become a shared universe series, with the majority of the stories written by other science-fiction authors such as Hal Codebatch, Poul Anderson, Dean Ing, Jerry Pournelle, S.M. Stirling, Greg Bear and others.

Peter Robinson is a short story written by Australian author Hal Colebatch, and forms one of 18 stories he has written for the series. It first appears in Man Kzin X: The Wunder War, and is one of four stories, all by Codebatch, which make up the volume.

In it, an expedition by the Institute of Knowledge on Jinx, funded by the Puppeteers sets of to explore a recently detected slaver stasis box, an artefact of the ancient Thrintun (Slaver) Empire. Arriving at their target, the team of mixed races, including human and Kzinti, discover that it is nine miles in diameter, the largest box ever discovered.

Tuesday February 16th, 19:00: Poetry This Year

Caledonia shares some of the poems chosen by students in her state from the 900 available in the Poetry Out Loud on-line anthology.

Wednesday February 17th 19:00: More Silence of the Loons

While writers from the southern American states turn to tales of crime, inevitably the broiling heat of humid summer days is an ever-present backdrop. But when the stories of criminals and their ways are moved northwards to Minnesota, it is the brutal cold of hard winters which offers a frame for many of the tales.

In this collection, 13 of the state’s top crime writers present a series of tales of mystery, all of which are linked by the same 8 clues, which lead the reader through their dark twists.

Join Kayden Oconnell as he reads from this fascinating anthology.

 

Thursday, February 18th

19:00 Crazy Eights: On the Island

Shandon Loring and Caledonia Skytower, continue reading the February choice for Seanchai Library’s Crazy Eight’s Featured books reading, On The Island by Tracey Garvis Graves.

Anna Emerson, a 30-year-old English teacher accepts s position as private tutor to 17-year-old T.J. Callahan, a young man who has been undergoing treatment for cancer. For Anna, it is a plum assignment, requiring as it does travelling to the Callahan Family’s summer rental in the Maldives with the teenager. T.J., however, is less than happy; with his cancer in remission, he’d rather stay at home with friends, and not carted off half-way around the world with the dead weight of lessons to catch-up on.

Before they can reach their destination however, the pilot of the charter plane taking them to the Maldives suffers a heart attack, the ‘plane ditching in the Indian Ocean. Making it to a deserted island well off the beaten track, Anna and T.J. must work together to survive as days turn to weeks, and weeks to months without sign of rescue. As the time passes, Anna realises that her biggest challenge may not be caring for T.J. should his cancer return – but the fact he is growing into a young man.

Note: On the Island is also to be presented at Seanchai InWorldz. Check Seanchai session posts during the week for specific grid locations).

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore.

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Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

The featured charity for January / February is Heifer International, working with communities to end world hunger and poverty and to care for the Earth.

Additional Links

• Seanchai Library blog
• Seanchai Library in this blog
• Crazy Eights web page