Author of the Week: Nara Malone

Welcome back to Buy a Book, Tell a Friend!

This week Nara Malone visits the blog. I met Nara when I read her BDSM tale The Dungeon Gourmet and messaged her on Facebook to find out if there was another one coming. Mr. SM and I also tried out her Baked Peach Ice Cream recipe and it was divine. Nara eventually invited me to join her in her online community in OpenSim. Today I asked her one question about virtual worlds and writing.

BBTF: You have a strong connection to the virtual reality community. What is it about virtual worlds that appeals to you and how does that translate into your writing?

Nara: Virtual reality is fiction and nonfiction in three dimensions. It is a simulation. It can simulate a laboratory where theories and prototypes can be tested. It can simulate a work environment where participants scattered around the globe can come together and work on projects. But mostly it is a place where artists, musicians, writers, engineers, builders, programmers come to create what has never been created. I think a virtual community is a good look at the personalities you would find in an early colony--the explorers, rugged individualists, adventurers, scientists, entrepreneurs, artists, musicians, and storytellers. These are the folks who always push boundaries and explore new frontiers. They were the ones that explored earth's continents, expanding the boundaries of civilization. They are the ones who launched the digital age and have started the colonization of inner space. They are the ones who'll be populating the first space colonies.

As an author, this is a crowd I love to hang with--they inspire a million ideas. As a lover of fiction, how can I resist exploring the fantastic simulations they build of fictional and real world settings?  Virtuality encourages you to be more and then gives you the tools to do it. And just like reading a book, I walk away from that experience a different person from the one who walked into it.

The best way to make a decision about the value of a new frontier is to go exploring. You can find instructions to get into the colony I've been building with authors, artists, and musicians here.

[Link for colony instructions]

If you'd rather do that through a book first, you might like to read Snatch Me, a story about a virtual world romance. My newest release, Make Me Wet is not about a virtual world but I built the setting from the story on my virtual world of Nara’s Nook and wrote the book while I sat at my virtual desk and typed at on a pixel computer. I loved the idea that I could sit down to work in a virtual world and make something real.

You can find out more about Nara Malone's magical and virtual worlds on her website. Be sure to buy a book and tell a friend. Happy reading!

Siobhan