We started off our second book talk with the author's visit. Mandie arranged for Elisa to call her on the phone and be in SL via voice from phone to headset. It was pretty good! Elisa talked about how and why she wrote the book, "Blood on the River," about Samuel, a real boy at Jamestown. She discussed her research methods. She talked to Jamestown docents, read primary sources, visited the archeological dig, and camped in the Jamestown area in the late spring. She knew the sounds, smells, and feelings Samuel and the others might have had living in SE Virginia in 1607 without the amenities we have today.
Elisa does not use a computer for communication and has only just started using it to compose her current book. She looks away while typing because the screen bothers her. She has always written, edited, and rewritten her books by hand.
VSTE members asked many thoughtful questions and Mandie read them to Elisa via phone. Mandie will send her our text chat along with photos we took via US mail. What a strange mix of 20th and 21st century, but it worked!
