Update Sept 7 2025

A new website just released for this book – First Coffee: The First Cup

BOOK LAUNCH PARTY – September 20, 2025 – 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm! Concert by SEMINA from 1pm til 2pm! Sign up for more info and a drawing for a FREE copy of the book at https://firstcoffee.marqsdesade.com

Musician-turned-author launches innovative virtual reality book in Second Life

There’s something magical about coffee shops. They’re intimate spaces where strangers become friends. Quiet conversations can change everything. The aroma of possibility lingers in the air, rising like steam from a fresh cup.

It’s in this setting that musician, photographer, and now debut novelist Marqs DeSade.  Releases his new book, First Coffee: The First Cup. This 2025 release combines traditional storytelling with virtual reality in Second Life. A blend as bold and surprising as that first sip of espresso.

As Marqs puts it: “Coffee shops are emotional crossroads. They’re places where people linger, confess, and collide.”

Soulbound by Marqs DeSade ☕︎♡

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About the Author: From Music and Photography to Novel Writing

Marqs brings a unique artistic perspective to his writing, shaped by years as both a musician and a photographer.

“Music gave me rhythm and restraint — how to let a line breathe,” he explains. “Photography gave me framing — how to focus on what matters and blur the rest.”

It’s a way of seeing the world that feels cinematic and intimate. “I write like I compose and shoot: with attention to mood, texture, and the emotional weight of light.”

 “Sometimes the most important part of a photo is what is left out of the frame, and that’s true of writing as well.”

For longtime fans, there’s an extra delight. “My lyrics often come from the fabric of my own life, so they naturally echo through the story. Readers who know my music will likely recognize lines embedded in the narrative sometimes subtly, sometimes directly.”

Beyond music, photography, and now fiction, Marqs describes his creative vision as a celebration of contrasts and transitions.

“Whether it’s the glow of a sunset or the interplay of shadow and light, I am drawn to the stories these elements tell. My photography explores the delicate balance between serenity and chaos, closure and new beginnings — capturing the beauty in life’s complexities.”

His work invites us to pause and notice the moments that often slip past us. From the solitude of a windswept landscape to the warmth of a fading horizon. His art is about connection to the world, to emotion, and to the universal human experience of change.

It’s no surprise his first novel follows the same thread. It focuses on finding harmony in opposites. It also emphasizes embracing the journey rather than the destination.

And, as he likes to add probably with a grin: “Musician, author, blogger, pretty good whistler.”

Though First Coffee: The First Cup is his debut novel, Marqs is no stranger to publishing. His earlier books focused on music, with several works already available on Amazon.

Looking Out On The World by Marqs DeSade ☕︎♡

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A Story Born from Life’s Emotional Landscape

While the story isn’t strictly autobiographical, its roots run deep in lived experience.

 “The story grew from moments I’ve lived, feelings I’ve carried, and reflections I’ve had, sometimes while sitting quietly at First Coffee — a place in Second Life where I go to pause, breathe, and listen inward.”

 “Someone once told me, ‘coffee changes people,’ and that idea stayed with me.”  Anyone who’s ever lingered too long over a cup knows exactly what he means.

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Book Themes: Love, Loss, and Transformation in Fiction

This debut novel unfolds around three themes that feel as universal as they are intimate:

✨ The Spark 

 “The spark happens when two people recognize something in each other — something familiar, maybe even fated.”

🌒 Survival 

 “It’s about carrying grief, navigating vulnerability, and choosing connection despite fear.”

🕊 The Choices 

“Often subtle, but they shape everything. The book is full of those moments — where a glance, a word, or a silence becomes a turning point.”

Reading his words, I was struck by how much they mirror the fragile, luminous way relationships unfold. Relationships are born in a spark of chance. They are deepened through small acts of courage. They are forever altered by the quiet moments we never forget.

Love is by Marqs DeSade ☕︎♡

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Virtual Reality Book Launch

“First Coffee: The First Cup” will debut through an innovative book launch inside Second Life. It’s a virtual event that feels almost inevitable, given how rooted the story is in that digital landscape.

“First Coffee is the launching point of the story, and emotional home of it,” Marqs explains. “Since that is a place in Second Life, it seemed the natural place to introduce the book.”

The novel is also illustrated with images from SL. Photographer and design editor Nene Chrome worked closely with Marqs to add visual storytelling that complements the narrative.

“SL provides a backdrop for parts of the book, both in terms of location and emotional connections,” he notes.

For those of us who have lived and loved in SL, this book doesn’t feel like a campaign at all. It feels like coming home to a place we already know in our hearts.

Diary Photo By Marqs DeSade ☕︎♡

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Author Interview: The Creative Process Behind the Debut Novel

Even for a seasoned artist, writing a first novel had its surprises.

“What surprised you most about the process of writing your first novel? How emotional it was,” he reflects. “Because many parts of the story are drawn from pieces of my own life, although it’s not biographical, it does reconnect me with many moments and people who have been a part of my life and shaped me.”

That emotional current carried him deeper than expected. “I wasn’t really prepared for how much that would touch me. As a writer, you hope you pull your readers into the emotional landscape of the story… I found myself deeply connected to these characters and the journey. It was like living the events as I wrote them.”

When asked about the role of love in shaping his approach, his answer was both simple and profound:

“It’s made me more honest. Love isn’t just longing or passion. It’s presence, patience, really seeing your partner and the courage to be seen. Writing from within a relationship means I understand the quiet challenge, reward , the value , of everyday connection. I write love as something lived, not just imagined.”

And when asked if someone special inspired the book, his response was quiet but telling:

 “The book is dedicated to the person who’s taught me the most about love. To quote Forrest Gump, ‘That’s all I have to say about that.’”

 Sometimes, the most powerful truths need no elaboration.

Where Time Slows Down by Marqs DeSade ☕︎♡

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More Than Just a Story

First Coffee: The First Cup promises more than entertainment. Like the best conversations across a café table, it’s an invitation to linger. To reflect, and to find ourselves changed in small but lasting ways.

Marqs recalls the advice he was given early on: “I was always taught to ‘write what you know.’”

And perhaps what he knows best is this: that love, like coffee, is best when shared.

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Listen, Look, and Linger

Marqs’ artistry has always lived in the spaces where music, photography, and words meet. His Flickr images often carry poems or lyrics, weaving story and light together. And sometimes, those layers come alive in collaboration.

This video pairs Marqs’ original music with photography by both Marqs DeSade and Nene Chrome. 

Then There Was You original music by Marqs DeSade

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Stay Connected

First Coffee: The First Cup will officially release in September 2025 with a celebration at First Coffee in Second Life. The exact date will be announced soon, and readers are invited to join the release party in-world.

To get updates about the release date, book availability, and the upcoming First Coffee website, you can subscribe in world here:
👉 Second Life Subscriber

About First Coffee: The First Cup

• Author: Marqs DeSade (musician, photographer, debut novelist)
• Genre: Contemporary fiction, romance
• Publication: 2025 release
• Launch Method: Virtual reality event in Second Life
• Illustrations: By Nene Chrome

• Website: marqsdesade.com
• Book website: https://firstcoffee.marqsdesade.com
• Photography: Flickr
• Upcoming: Novel site (soon

Fun Fact About “the Book “First Coffee: The First Cup“ Author: 

“Well, I enjoy a nice cappuccino, or an iced mocha. I suspect one of the characters in the story might order that, but the other, more likely would get a hot chocolate!”

The Cafe Chronicles by Marqs DeSade ☕︎♡

A Glimpse

“From The Café Chronicles — A Rainy Day Escape:

The rain drummed steadily against the window, turning the street outside into a watercolor blur. Marqs sat at a corner table, his fingers curled around a coffee cup, savoring the warmth it offered. His plaid shirt still carried the dampness of the storm, the tattoo on his forearm glimpsing out like fragments of an untold story.

The cafe hummed with life, a neon sign casting a subtle glow over the room. A chalkboard advertised lunch specials that no one seemed to notice, while the barista behind the counter worked with fluid precision, his movements almost hypnotic in their rhythm.

Marqs’ gaze drifted to the window, where raindrops traced erratic paths down the glass. He followed them absently, his mind quieter now than it had been in days. There was something about the small cafe—the muted chatter, the hum of the espresso machine, the rain-softened world outside—that pressed gently against the tension he carried.

This moment of stillness wasn’t a solution, and he knew it. But it was something—a space to breathe, a pause in the noise. He let it be enough for now.” MD

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✨ I can’t wait to curl up with First Coffee: The First Cup when it launches this September.

Marqs has poured his music, photography, and heart into these pages .This isn’t just a book; it’s an invitation to linger, reflect, and fall into a story that feels as real and tender as that first sip of coffee shared.

What a gift from such a talented soul. ~ 🦉☕️ Owl