Selkies' Skins

Selkies' Skins
Current book in series Temple and Skinquest. Enjoy Castle and Well from Amazon, B&N and Smashwords while waiting for that and the prequel's audiobook "Pearls of Sea and Stone: Book of Seals".

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Illya Leonov's Go Fund Me Was A Success

Illya Leonov, the Narrator of Selkies' Skins: Castle and well, will be getting his surgery thanks to all of the wonderful people that banded together to help get the money together for his medical bills.

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Illya Leonov needs help with medical bills

I am slower than I'd like to be in getting this posted to various places. I have been juggling a lot today and it hasn't been going well in getting everything done that was intended for the day.

The narrator of "Selkies' Skins: Castle and Well" and "Pearls of Sea and Stone: Book of Seals" is having medical problems and very greatly needs some help. He is a very good friend and I consider him in the manner of another father figure. Illya Leonov, AKA Morgan Freepony is a man that tries to do things on his own and then take care of everyone else. So for him to even START a Gofundme tells me he is having more problems with it than he was willing to admit. He could use some help. If you can toss some help toward his medical bills that is positively fabulous and please do. If you can't afford to please share the heck out of his Gofundme to help it circulate and hopefully find people that can. He's done so much for us as a storyteller narrating things for our enjoyment.

As of right now a glance at his page shows that the deductible itself has been raised but the end goal is $5,000 that he will need help with.

https://www.gofundme.com/surgery-is-magic

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Limerick Contest Winner

This apparently did not post when I thought it had, though the article did appear in the SL Newser when I expected Bixyl to release it.

The Limerick contest went well and I am pleased that there were so many submissions. Each participant will receive 25L dispersed from my alt Kirsty (Hanaarashi Resident). The winner will receive an extra dispersal of 1500L as the prize pot was increased over the term of the contest by donations sent to the prize pool.

=Limerick Contest Participants=
Max (Fluffyquokka)
NightTrotter
Flutters (Derpyhoofesy)
Bixyl Shuftan
Zayfod
Rainbowdashsw

=Winner=
NightTrotter

The submissions will all be read on Amehana's stream for the library Sunday during the 6 PM Pacific Story Hour. It will also be available on Youtube starting March 24 at 11AM.

Library stream #2: http://us2.ishout.net:8403/
Youtube video: https://youtu.be/9valPiX4PXQ

I have not yet chosen the next writing or art contest for the library. Illya Leonov (Morgan Freepony) is currently running his own costume contest for the library for the Thursday music/story sessions. His contest spans 21 sessions in the library, more on the Newser at (http://slnewser.blogspot.com/2019/03/announcement-library-costume-contest.html) , or the forum thread (http://intersimlibrary.freeforums.net/thread/70/past-sins-fanfiction-costume-contest).

~Amehana Arashi/Teresa Garcia

Saturday, March 23, 2019

Audio Recording Ponderings

Something interesting that I have noticed while doing recordings of reviews and stories is that my AMORNO bluetooth headset seems to record very cleanly in Audacity at about -88 for a sound floor. Very quiet, quite pleasing, much lower naturally than the -65 ACX and FindAWay requires. Not a lot to do when in processing to boost the RMS up and the noise floor stays acceptable on recordings made using it. The drawback is when my hair falls on it and gets picked up by the microphone so I have to remember to have my hair pulled back when using it. Going back over on ones not intended for sale, just as tracks intended for the library and for finding the sweet points of equipment I find spots where hair falls.

As much as I love using a lavaliere with my Zoom H2N much of the time I still end up with a background hum and have not tracked it down fully as to the cause. It could be a combination of the wire, wires near each other for the remote, the light (it's worse now that I've switched the lights in here to LED, not so bad with the florescent, and much improved when using incandescent light), and the power meter just outside my room. I know it would be even noisier when boosting RMS if mom had allowed the power company to put a smart meter on the house. I wish I kept the links to those people that had been checking noise floor near those with their own recordings. I'd have liked to have compared theirs to mine.

I'll have to set up the H2N on my mic stand again at some point soon to check what the current ambient noise floor is and see how much of a difference in noise there is going back to that way. The drawback is in not having the mic kept a uniform distance from my mouth when my body has to shift while reading.

I am still working my way through the tracks for The Ian's Realm books one through three. I'm not getting as much speed as I'd like due to other things that also have been needing taken care of.

Regarding recordings made with the camera as it ages I really don't remember it being so noisy when I first bought it from the neighbor years and years ago. I am not ready to replace it with a newer camcorder though as I have higher priority items. On the other hand it sort of works well for videos intended to have some element of ASMR, as for me at least those camera noises trigger my own.

Flash Fiction Friday: Boosting Oscelot's Flash Fiction

Oscelot Haalan is also still doing her own Flash Fiction Fridays push. The below is her posting.
--
I thought today I would play with using an enby main character. I'm not sure if it worked considering I didn't give them a name at the beginning, so it sounds like a strange plurality, but it stands at least as an interesting experiment.-------
The world wheeled around them. Their hair blowing every way as the sidhe danced around them. The reel sped onward faster and faster, as they played furiously. Ephemeral bodies, keening their exhaustion, dropped one by one around them, then finally vanished, until there was only one left. As dawn threatened, the violinist and their violin persisted, playing steadily onward through the remaining night.
-------
Pronunciation note: sidhe is pronounced shthee, all one syllable.

You can find the original posting here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/25579193
Please consider following her on her Patreon at http://www.patreon.com/Oscelot 

Friday, March 22, 2019

Flash Fiction Fridays: "Trade" and "Fish Army"

Fish Army was last week's written flash fiction posted to my Patreon. You can listen to it being read here in this video.


This week's written flash fiction is "Trade" from within the world of Selkies' Skins in a different time and location. This flash fiction touches on the seal folk. Long ago a Patron and friend asked for a tale of selkies in a Native American milieu. This is a long awaited glimpse into the life of one of the seal folk somewhere on the Eastern coast of America.


Flash Fiction: Trade

Waves crashed against her rock, froth spraying up to dampen her. The sun was warm here, though the ever present sea breeze did what it could to take the warmth away. Beside her spread out her skin to bake to let the oils seep in to fur and flesh. Her dreams whispered. Eyes watched her from the shore before slipping tentatively into canoes. She smiled as she watched them and sang sweetly. So long as they minded themselves she did not mind calling forth the fish. She liked to watch them toss their nets and spears. Safety traded for food.

Friday, March 8, 2019

Flash Fiction Fridays! "Death of Pride"

Here is the reading of my first Flash Fiction Fridays installment. This is a challenge that I recommend for those that don't have much writing time or are dealing with writer's block.


You can listen to these on the Youtube channel. Or you can follow Teresa's Patreon to read them the week before.
Teresa's Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/Amehana

You can also read some other worthy flashfictions at Oscelot Haalan's Patreon.
Oscy's Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/Oscelot

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

Review: The first books of the Brotherband series by John Flanagan

Here is another well deserved book spotlight. This covers books one through three of John Flanagan's "Brotherband" series.



Check the Youtube channel on Friday for the first Flash Fiction Fridays reading.

Monday, March 4, 2019

Read an Ebook Week Sale


Select books at our #Smashwords outlet are participating in the Read An Ebook week. Use codes EBW50 or EBW25 depending on which title. #ebookweek19 https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Amehana