On Saturday 10th October, real life YA Writer Chaz Young joined us at Milk Wood Library to attend a brand new event in Second Life^® called Virtual Meet and Greet. Chaz read from her newly published book Travels to Fahdamin-Ra and told us a little about how it all began for her.

Kghia Gherardi: …and here is our author, Chaz Young (Fahdama Dawodu in-world)

Vel Alchemi: Clap

Harpy Convair: APPLAUSE!!!!

Harriet Gausman: ..:::APPLAUSE:::..

Kaiser Kozlov: *Claps*

Harriet Gausman: Welcome Chaz

Anouk Lefavre: Applauds

Harriet Gausman: Thank you so much for joining us at Virtual Writers, Inc. and Bookstacks. We are thrilled to have you with us.

Harriet Gausman: ..:::APPLAUSE:::..

Harriet Gausman: We’ll be publishing this on Virtual Writers, Inc. blog and our Milk Wood social site. It will get your name further out there in blogland and the netiverse in general, which can only be a good thing. If anyone would like their name or quotes removed from the transcript please IM and let me know. It will be tweaked a bit first before being published, to remove any unnecessary text.

Harriet Gausman: So, this is how it will work today. Chaz will do a reading from her new young adult book TRAVELS TO FAHDAMIN-RA. After which, I will ask Chaz some questions, followed by Kghia. If anyone from the audience would like to ask a question, please send it on a notecard to either Kghia or myself and we will put it to Chaz for you.

Harriet Gausman: Are we all set?

Harriet Gausman: I’ll first give you a little bit of book blurb to whet your appetites: *The lives of fourteen and twelve year old Celestine and Joel Bridges change forever when they uncover a family secret. They are descendants of “Creators” who were given a world to rule with superhuman powers. The siblings travel to the world of Fahdamin-Ra and use their newfound abilities. Making friends among the three tribes, the Harun, the Masamba, and the Jabulani, they joyfully use their powers to cure, fly, and create animals. However, their fun soon turns to serious work when the Fahdamins are threatened by the evil Shadow Men, who have unusual abilities of their own. Can they triumph over this group of brutal men, or will they be expelled from Fahdamin-Ra forever?

Fahdama Dawodu reads an extract from her book

Harriet Gausman: ..:::APPLAUSE:::..

Kghia Gherardi: You can have a copy of the necklace Chaz mentions – take a copy of it from the table; it is located next to the book cover.

Vel Alchemi: Applause!

Harriet Gausman: ..:::APPLAUSE:::..

Huckleberry Hax: Applauds

Kghia Gherardi: Applauds

Arton Tripsa: Applauds!

Almo Schumann: Applauds.

Anouk Lefavre: Applauds

Kghia Gherardi: You can order Travels to Fahdimin-Ra by Chaz Young at the following website: http://www.eloquentbooks.com/TravelsTOFahdamin-Ra.html

Kghia Gherardi: Harriet is going to ask Chaz some questions – if you would like to IM me with your questions, I’d be happy to ask on your behalf.

Harriet Gausman: Perhaps you could answer some of your questions in chat so we can publish it on the blog, Chaz?

Harriet Gausman: What or who inspired your book?

Fahdama Dawodu: My children inspired it. They wanted a book with “Brown” kids (like them) as the heros.

Harriet Gausman: Yes, you were saying that there are very few books in this ‘genre’ with such a positive slant.

Fahdama Dawodu: Yes, most books about African American kids are “victim” books, and are about kids that have terrible problems in their lives.

Fahdama Dawodu: As you can see, this book is fairly positive.

Fahdama Dawodu: Celstine and Joel are actually based on my children, Callista and Toliver.

Harriet Gausman: Awww, how lovely!

Fahdama Dawodu: Yes, but I am hoping to change that. This will be the first of books in this series.

Harriet Gausman: It must be thrilling for them to have a book written especially for them.

Harriet Gausman: How did you come up with such fascinating characters?

Fahdama Dawodu: Yes, and Callista can’t read the dedication to them without crying!

Fahdama Dawodu: I observe people, and I used the types to be the characters, only I make them a little exaggerated.

Kghia Gherardi: You have three distinct groups inhabiting Fahdamin-ra. What inspired those distinct cultures?

Fahdama Dawodu: Well, I needed one tribe to follow the rules and write a history so they can answer questions, which is the Harun.

Fahdama Dawodu: The Jabulani are run by 5 women called Becca, and they are creative and accepting.

Fahdama Dawodu: The Masamba had to be secretive and seem kind of threatening. The Shadow men come from there, and they are evil. They couldn’t come from a tribe perceived as nice!

Harriet Gausman: Tell us about the curved indentations on the back of the children’s ears, does this have any real life significance?

Fahdama Dawodu: My husband and children have crescent shaped indentations on the backs of their earlobes.

Fahdama Dawodu: My husband said that those marks shows that he is a long-lost African prince.

Fahdama Dawodu: He gave me the idea for the book by that joke!

Harriet Gausman: Is this the first book you have written? Could this book be the first in a series?

Fahdama Dawodu: He is Raymond, by the way.

Fahdama Dawodu: Yes, this is the first book that I have written. I am about halfway through the second one, which is told by Joel this time.

Harriet Gausman: So there will be more? That is exciting.

Harriet Gausman: Could you tell us how you went about getting it published? Did you submit your manuscript to many publishing houses?

Fahdama Dawodu: I submitted it to an agent, and they found Eloquent books

Harriet Gausman: Do you feel it is important to search for a Literary Agent first or just concentrate on getting your book noticed by publishers without the help of an agent?

Fahdama Dawodu: Well, at first, I tried to get it published. I got turned down twice, and the second time I got a nice letter from the publisher.

Fahdama Dawodu: I was not happy with it. Then, I met a Nigerian writer, and he agreed to read my book.

Fahdama Dawodu: I took the whole thing apart and rewrote it to the book that I have today.

Fahdama Dawodu: That was when I decided to find an agent, because of his advice.

Harriet Gausman: It was good advice it seems

Kghia Gherardi: Obviously making it cross-cultural was very important to you.

Fahdama Dawodu: Yes, since I married my husband years ago, I have gone from a white world to being aware of people of color.

Kghia Gherardi nods

Harriet Gausman: yes

Fahdama Dawodu: I see the world differently since my children were born.

Fahdama Dawodu: They see race as a minor thing.

Kghia Gherardi: What kind of reaction have others had to the work?

Fahdama Dawodu: Most people that love it are older people! I have had some kids the same ages as Joel and Celestine love it.

Fahdama Dawodu: I love to read Young Adult fiction myself.

Harriet Gausman: Me too!

Fahdama Dawodu: One day at the library, I was gettting a stack of young adult books, and an older lady made fun of me.

Harriet Gausman laughs out loud

Fahdama Dawodu: Now, I say that I am checking out my competition.

Kghia Gherardi: We are at the top of the hour, so we will bring this to a close. Would you like to make any final remarks, Chaz?

Fahdama Dawodu: Thank you all for coming and being such a wonderful audience!

Harriet Gausman: ..:::APPLAUSE:::..

Harriet Gausman: Thank you for a fabulous reading

Alas Zerbino: Thank you!!

Harriet Gausman: …and thank you all for coming along.

Alas Zerbino applauds

Harriet Gausman: ..:::APPLAUSE:::..

Kghia Gherardi: One quick question for the audience

Kghia Gherardi: “It reminds me just a little of Philip Farmer’s Worlds of Tiers, was that an influence?”

Anouk Lefavre: Applauds

Fahdama Dawodu: No, I have never read that book.

Fahdama Dawodu: I will have to.

Harriet Gausman: Harriet adds another book to her list…

Kghia Gherardi smiles – always good to add a book to your To Be Read list.

Kghia Gherardi: Thank you all for coming

Harriet Gausman: Thank you all again, you have been a wonderful audience

Harriet Gausman: ..:::APPLAUSE:::..

Kghia Gherardi: And thank you, Chaz, for sharing your work with us.

Fahdama Dawodu: The best!

Fahdama Dawodu: I am glad to share.

Elizabeth Levi: Excellent job chaz

Kghia Gherardi Applauds

Kghia Gherardi: Fahdama, I hope you enjoyed our experience

Kghia Gherardi: It was a pleasure having you here.

LINKS

3D virtual world in which the programme was held: Second Life®

Programme venue: Milk Wood Library 

Host group: Virtual Writers, Inc

Host’s website: Virtual Writers, Inc.

Host’s location in Second Life®: Milk Wood

Second Life® user name and profile of interviewer and moderator:  Harriet Gausman

Author’s website: http://www.chazyoung.com/

Second Life® user name and profile of Chaz Young: Fahdama Dawodu

Interested in a Virtual Book Tour to help promote your book?

If you are interested in promoting your novel through an inworld Meet and Greet or virtual book tour please email Andrea, our Events Coordinator, at andrea@virtualwritersinc.com and title your email Meet and Greet Request. We will build your avatar and provide full clothing and accessories. We will create a cover of your book for display and for linking to real world book information. We will publicize the reading, make posters and publish full details on the blog and main website. The meeting will be held in the library which has space for up to twenty guests. If you require a larger venue this can be arranged. We can tailor further events at other venues outside of our sim if you desire a complete inworld book tour.