Tonight, as I do every Wednesday evening, at 6 PM Pacific time, I’ll host office hours in Second Life. Readers and writers are cordially invited to attend. I’ll be in voice chat, answering questions and talking about issues of the day. The event usually goes on for about 1.5 hours, but I’ve been known to stay longer. Over the last couple of weeks we have had an influx of new attendees and have enjoyed a good solid round of discussions.

We’ll discuss Amazon.com’s new Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint, 47North. What does this mean for the future of publishing as we know it, and how does it further Amazon’s plans to dominate the world of books. What will publishers do to strike back, and can they do anything, or is all lost already?

Plus: your questions, problems and perspectives on writing and selling of fiction today!

6 PM Pacific time, don’t forget!

Second Life is internet chat software with a graphics interface. It’s probably most easily imagined as Skyping via The Sims. With folks playing plenty of multiplayer, online games where voice chat is just part of the gaming experience, this will be nothing new. The software is free, the learning curve fairly shallow and there are plenty of folks who are willing to help you get squared away. Download the free software, sign up, and you’re set to go.

You attend office hours this evening by logging into Second Life, then clicking on this link. It will take you to a browser page. Click on the orange “visit this location” button in your browser. Second Life will then offer to teleport you straight to the office hours location. Just click the teleport button. (Alternately you can search on Third Life Books, Pen Station or Noble Charron (my alter ego) and we can work things out from there.

The full novel is available for purchase right now from my webstore. Just click on the cover image to the left, or on that link. The novel runs $3.99, and the package in my store has both the Kindle and epub versions of the books, so you’ll have a copy that works with any of your readers. As always, the books are presented without DRM (digital rights management) and I have a note with instructions for getting the book onto ereaders and smartphones. Please remember, by purchasing stories direct from authors, not only do you pay less, but you become a patron of the arts. You vote with your dollars, and that tells us what you’d like to see us continuing to write.

For the Kindle edition, just hit this link.

To purchase it through iTunes for your iPad/iPhone/iPod, just hit this link.

To purchase it through Barnes & Noble for your Nook, please use this link.