In Warren's Words

Adventures in the Digital World

My avatar, Warren Adler Aeon, has been holding weekly conversations at the Amazon site on Second Life with other avatars who join me on Thursdays at 3 p.m. (EDT). I lead the conversation, which deals with the short story as a literary medium, and the reasons why I embarked on my short story contest.

Read a recent session transcript, one blog review and another blog review.

If you do not understand my reference to Second Life then you have missed a remarkable story of a virtual digital world where other avatars—which is best defined as a concept or idea that takes on what looks like a human—interact in this virtual world. It is, in fact, "a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity."

As the folks at Second Life point out, "You'll be surrounded by the creations of your fellow residents because residents retain the rights to their digital creations and buy, sell and trade with other residents with currency that can be converted to U.S. dollars in monthly transactions now totaling millions of dollars."

To simplify, my avatar, let's call it an alter ego who looks human, converses and interacts with other avatars, created by humans, who come by the Amazon site on Second Life to join our conversation. We talk in text, but will soon be converting to voice. Participants come from all parts of the world, and we exchange ideas.

Set up by the folks at Amazon.com who were early participants in this digital world, my discussion is about the short story, its past, present and future. As readers of this blog know, I am passionately trying to bring back the short story to its former glory. In the last fifty years, it has declined precipitously in popularity as markets have dried up and a once teeming story market in magazines and books has been in deep decline.

Participants come from all parts of the world, and we exchange ideas.

I have published five volumes of short stories in my career, the fifth just published titled New York Echoes contains 22 short stories, seven of which have been recorded by the talented actress Cynthia Nixon. The book is available in bookstores, and Cynthia's reading can be downloaded on Audible.com and iTunes.

In addition, we have sponsored two short story contests, offering a cash prize for the winner and first editions of my new collection for the runners-up. I read each story and chose the winners based on my long association as a student and practitioner of the form. Today, Thursday March 13, I will announce the winner of our second annual contest.

I must confess that it is an awesome responsibility to pick what is best from a field that contains a plethora of "bests." The talent that arrived on our site is truly remarkable, and it has been a painful and agonizing choice to pick one of many that are equally wonderful. But when one makes a solemn promise, one must deliver.

The Amazon folks have suggested that the first announcement of the winner be made on Second Life, which I will do. What has intrigued me has been the willingness of the Amazon people to be on the cutting edge of the digital world. I have been on that cutting edge promoting the concept of e-books for eight years, taking the punches and fielding the criticism from readers and publishers who are now beginning to flock to the e-book digital world. Today with Sony's Reader and Amazon's Kindle making giant strides as digital reading devices, more and more readers are gravitating to these devices as the publishers are falling all over themselves to get on the bandwagon.

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