The SL Enquirer: Reign Congrejo

Monday, May 15, 2017

Second Time Around by Lacy Muircastle...

Monday, May 15, 2017 Filipa Thespian, Frolic Mills, Giancarlo Takacs, Huckleberry Hax, IrishGent, kindle edition, lacy muircastle, Lanai Jarrico, Linden Lab, maxes loon, persia bravin, Philip Rosedale, Reign Congrejo, second life No comments

It’s finally done… This manuscript took a long time to come to fruition but I’ve enjoyed the journey immensely, and I have Lanai Jarrico, she of the SL Enquirer, to thank for its existence.

Out of curiosity, I joined Second Life, which was back in 2008. What a mind bend it was. The learning curve was incredible and coming to terms with the technical aspects of just moving around never mind making the avatar look halfway presentable was daunting. But I persevered and with time things began to fall into place.

But now what? I decided that if I were to remain in Second Life that I needed to do something constructive. In Second Life you can do what you want, be what you want and as a creative platform, the options are many and varied. In 2000 I’d dabbled with the idea of writing, but I filed it away and didn’t think about it again till early 2009. I’d come across several virtual publications in SL and decided that’s what I wanted to do. Write.

I applied to two virtual newspapers, one of which I never heard back from and which subsequently closed and the other was the SL Enquirer. Lanai Jarrico, the CEO, and publisher of SLE gave me a chance and now here I am. She became a good friend and I will forever be in her debt. Persia Bravin, another colleague at the SL Enquirer, showed me the ropes and with her encouragement, I was on my way.

Lanai Jarrico

Back in real life, I came to the conclusion that I’d like to write a book. Apparently, we all have one in us… I took an online writing course offered by Get Smarter and facilitated by UCT lecturer Dr Ron Irwin. Second Time Around was born. My first draft was, well let’s just say not awfully good and I obviously needed to learn a whole lot more about the craft of writing. Who knew just how difficult it was to write.

I rewrote my manuscript, several times... and along the way, I connected with All About Writing, run by Richard Beynon and Dr Jo-Anne Richards. They coached and mentored me, and the final version of the book is the result of that collaboration.

To my friends, Persia, Maxes, Mal, Peny, Dallin, Nigal, Lowell, Craig, Giancarlo and IrishGent amongst others, thank you for being part of my journey. And to all those avatars I’ve had the honour of interviewing over the years, I have enough material to write several Second Life related books…

Huckleberry Hax

A big thank you goes to Huckleberry Hax for allowing his character, Definitely Thursday, to have a cameo role in this book. Definitely Thursday is one of the main protagonists from the Second Life based AFK series written by Huckleberry Hax.

links: huckleberryhax.wordpress.com

Last but not least, thank you to Linden Lab for providing the platform for creativity in a virtual environment and to Philip Rosedale for coming up with the concept in the first place.

Second Time Around by Lacy Muircastle

A 21^st Century romance in which virtual life intertwines with real life

Sheridan King had it all and then she didn’t. Her trust in men irrevocably shattered, or so she thought.

Luke Ashton, accomplished Ad man and artist, surfer and ladies’ man. His pain and distrust of women run deep.

Having a Second Life© complicates matters even further. What is real and what is imagined?

Josh Magic and Callista Hancroft

Second Time Around is available on Kindle by Amazon.

Monday, January 20, 2014

Big Changes in Fashion and Media for 2014- Interview with Reign Congrejo; New CEO of BOSL- Quan Lavender Reporting...

Monday, January 20, 2014 2014, art, bosl, culture, fashion, Frolic Mills, Quan Lavender, Reign Congrejo, spotlight feature, The SL Enquirer No comments

The fashion and media scene in Second Life is currently undergoing big changes. While Rush Raymaker, owner of AVENUE announced going on hiatus, a new bilingual magazine, VERSUS published their first issue,and the publisher of BOSL (Best of Second Life) Frolic Mills, decided to retreat and pass the company into other hands.

These changes have not only influenced the fashion scene with designers, writers and model agencies, there are other magazines on the way and 2014 will be a year of many changes and new faces in the Second Life media world.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Spotlight on Reign Congrejo; Creator, Designer, Event Director and Professional Model. Lanai Jarrico Reporting…

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Evolve, fashion, hunts, pageants, Reign Congrejo, Sista Gurl, spotlight feature, Style 2 comments

Reign rezzed on the virtual scene in April of 2007 and has built quite the reputation in Second Life ©. Her titles include Neiva Kumasi events director, Model Manager for AVCON, Pageant director for The Costa Rica Sims as well as one of the founders of the Miss Ebony International Competition and held the crown as Miss Costa Rica Sims 2011 and was in the top 12 for Miss Virtual World 2011. Her more recent project is being the creator and designer for Evolve and the launch of her new line, Sista Gurl.