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Interview with Cathy’s Book Co-Author Sean Stewart

February 8, 2010 / Michael Andersen

Below is an interview that Michael Andersen conducted with Sean Stewart regarding the release of the Cathy’s Book app for the iPhone.Â In addition to co-authoring the transmedia storytelling experiment Cathy’s Book, Stewart worked on ARGs including The Beast, i love bees, Last Call Poker and Year Zero.

MA: How did you and Jordan come up with the idea for Cathy’s Book?

SS: It was Jordan’s idea (things often are).Â After the Beast we were talking about how fun it was, but how frustrating it was, too, that it was over: even if someone heard about how cool it was, they couldn’t DO it.Â “Hey!Â You’re a book guy,” Jordan said.Â “We should do a book using the same kind of techniques!”

So we did.

We came up with the broad outlines of the story together.Â We figured YA was a good place to start, and, to be honest, having written a fair number of somewhat dark sf/f novels, I wanted to write a book I thought my teenage daughters might like.Â (They have a cameo in the first novel which Sharp Eyed Readers may spot…)

MA: How would you compare the writing process you used for Cathy’s Book, as opposed to what you used for traditional novels like Perfect Circle or full-blown ARGs like The Beast?

SS: We determined that the thing HAD to work as a book, first and foremost; if you never did any of the ancillary material, you still had to have an enjoyable, satisfying experience.Â So I wrote Cathy’s story, if you will, much as I would a regular book.

We used the extra material to fill out the life of Cathy’s love-interest, Victor.Â Readers looking through the extra evidence can eventually work out almost every detail of the Many Lives of Victor, from gold camp ragamuffin to WWI flying ace to mobster, and so forth.

Trying to fit together the various pieces of evidence was much more like the storytelling method of The Beast.Â Over time, we also changed how we did that.Â Cathy’s Book, like the Beast, has a ton of little pieces of stuff for players to link together.Â In Cathy’s Key and Cathy’s Ring we moved increasingly to building “interactive arcs,” so that a reader might, for instance, send an email and go through a 3 or 4-step investigation to arrive at a satisfying endpoint.
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Bank Run: Climbing the Corporate Ladder Can Be Fatal

February 7, 2010 / Jane Doh

bankrun SilkTricky, a Portland-based digital agency, will preview Bank Run: Someone Has to Pay, their soon-to-be-released interactive movie and iPhone game app, on Tuesday, February 16, at The Living Room Theaters in Portland, OR at 7:00 pm and 8:15 pm. In the completely live-action Bank Run experience, you control the choices and actions of Evan Sharpe, a collared-shirt office cog who stumbles into a deadly conspiracy. Ski-masked guys will come at you with unnecessary force–are you sharp enough to evade death? Hot babes may try to influence you–do you trust them? Will you and Evan make it out alive?

Bank Run will be presented in two parts. The first part is a choose-your-own-adventure video experience, which will be available for free online. The iPhone app continues the plot and features additional games–such as a third-person shooter–that, when beaten, unlock further scenes. The iPhone games can be played in infinite arcade mode, available to replay without going through the narrative experience.

Bank Run is inspired by the popularity of SilkTrickyâ€™s 2008 interactive zombie movie, The Outbreak. Puppeting the protagonist James, The Outbreak progresses in short chapters, and the transitions from scene to scene require viewers to make choices. With a horrifying line of zombies amassing in the yard outside, I had to make some hard choices. In the process, I learned something about myself: I am really ill-prepared for the coming zombocalypse.

Bank Run goes way beyond The Outbreak by introducing the iPhone app to the overall narrative experience. With the game/movie release coming very soon, weâ€™ll soon see how the two components come together. But, the interactivity already inscribed in The Outbreak seems a pretty good preview of whatâ€™s to come.

Bank Run previews at The Living Room Theaters (341 SW 10th Ave., Portland, OR) will include Q&As with the Director and Producer of the project. Space is limited, so RSVP through Bank Run‘s Facebook Fan Page, or via e-mail to [email protected].

“Something” Is Here, and the Contingency Foundation Wants You!

February 4, 2010 / Jane Doh

In April 2009, Staff of the Magi Productions (SotM) opened their second project, “Something Is Coming”, set in Harperâ€™s Ford, a fictional town in the Pacific Northwest trapped under some kind of barrier with all manner of ravenous plants and beasties. With Harperâ€™s Ford under martial law, Dave Dolan runs a pirate radio show, sending over 30 transmissions in about six months. We find that the entire United States has been put under quarantine. A possibly alien, possibly government paramilitary group, the Contingency Foundation, has enlisted us to some mysterious end.

Since Fall 2009, “Something Is Coming” has moved into a more location-based form of gameplay, localized exclusively but broadly to the continental United States. In September, representatives were chosen for each time zone, and these four teams competed, secretly racing through clue solves that eventually led to a dead drop. These first runners each received a live psychic reading (check out the wiki for player videos) and a â€œCompass,â€ a hardware-encrypted IronKey USB flash drive engraved with the Contingency Foundation logo. IronKey drives can be remotely managed and feature a permanent self-destruct sequence, triggered after so-many failed password attempts.
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The Repo Men Are Coming: Do You Have What It Takes to Disappear?

February 4, 2010 / Michael Andersen

repomen Last fall, Lone Shark Games and Wired Magazine conducted a month-long, nationwide manhunt for reporter Evan Ratliff, with $5,000 on the line. After 25 days on the run, Ratliff’s love of gluten-free pizza spelled his downfall when the owner of Naked Pizza caught him in New Orleans. This time, it’s your turn. Lone Shark Games, in conjunction with Wired Magazine and Universal Pictures, are searching for a few good men (and women) adventurous enough to put their regular lives on hold for a month, starting in late February. Selected “Runners” will be provided vital technology along with seed money to escape detection for a month. Every Runner to make itÂ a month without gettingÂ caught receives a $7,500Â reward. But, as the contest notes, “people will be trying to find you, and they’ll use any means allowed in the rules to try to figure out where you are.”

ThisÂ companion pieceÂ to The HuntÂ for Evan RatliffÂ serves as a promotion for the upcoming Universal Pictures film Repo Men. In the film, Union employees Remy and Jake (Jude Law and Forest Whitaker) repossess artificial organs from their recipients after a period of nonpayment. Thus, taken in context, the Runners are in for the flight of their lives. Of course, Lone Shark Games President Mike Selinker assured me that Runners who are caught should not have worry about the Union harvesting their organs…for all definitions of “organ harvesting” that you or I would know about.
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Looking Back at Scholastic’s Transmedia Efforts for 39 Clues

January 31, 2010 / Michael Andersen

39cluesbooks On September 9th, 2008 Scholastic published The 39 Clues: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series. The book debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and marked the beginning of Scholastic’s 10-book experiment in transmedia publishing. On February 2nd, Scholastic is releasing the seventh installment in the series, The 39 Clues: The Viper’s Nest by Peter Lerangis. February 2nd will also mark the premiere of The Viper’s Nest audio book and the corresponding set of collectible puzzle cards inÂ Card Pack 3: The Rise of the Madrigals.

39 Clues tells the story of two children, Amy and Dan Cahill, who are thrust into a global hunt for clues that will reveal the secret to the Cahill family’s power. The series is a cross between The Westing Game and The Amazing Race as the two children compete against members of four branches of the Cahill family to uncover the secret histories of famous Cahills including Benjamin Franklin, Anastasia Romanov, and Amelia Earhart. Although the series initially portrays their competition as cutthroat caricatures of their respective family houses, the series gradually reveals the complex motives of their fellow competitors.

While the story is primarily told through the books, each novel serves as a launching pad for further exploration, as a number of clues are hidden within each book’s pages. For instance, in The Maze of Bones, a series of apparently misnumbered pages spells out a secret message that aids the reader in solving a puzzle on one of the six collectible cards that came with the book. By going to the 39 Clues website, the reader can complete a puzzlesolving mission culminating in an online game that explains the message. Alternatively, by buying and solving puzzle cards expansion packs from the series, players can discover the 39 clues for themselves and reveal more of the Cahill family history. The story also branches through products ranging from a board game to Madrigal Maze, an iPhone application. Continue reading

Fight the Apocalypse: A Supernatural ARG for the UK

January 20, 2010 / Michael Andersen

fighttheapocalypse The fifth season of Supernatural is coming to the UK this February. To raise awareness for the show’s return,Â LIVING launched Fight the Apocalypse, an alternate reality gameÂ running from todayÂ untilÂ March 3rd. UK and Eire residents 18 years or over can join the game by registering at LuciferisComing.com and following the @fightapocalypse twitter account. The playerÂ whoÂ collects the highest number of points over the course of the game will win a flight to Vancouver to visit the set of Supernatural, along with the chance to appear in the show.

In order to play, residents of the UK or EireÂ can follow a series of clues delivered via the game’s Clue Portal or through videos by the angel Castiel (Misha Collins)Â that leadÂ to Enochian Sigils scattered online and across the country. By taking pictures of the sigils and sendingÂ them viaÂ MMS or email, players can help Sam and Dean Winchester stay hidden from Lucifer. TheÂ clue to the first sigil notes:

In the heart of London there is a Victorian street of booksellers. Here you will find an esoteric bookshop, established in 1894, specialising in Mysticism, Mind, Body and Spirit. Find a Sigil here and even have your Tarot read while you’re there.

In addition to hunting the Enochian Sigils, players can join armies of fellow players and create alliances through Facebook or their mobile devices. Additional clues and challenges will be released on the game’s twitter account.

While the main focus of the game appears to be hunting down sigils, Castiel’s videos provide an opportunity to extend the story. And since the game asks players to “look out for new ways to score points as the game goes on,” there may be much more to this experience.

Access to the Lucifer is Coming website is restricted to UK and Eire residents.