Choice and Consequence

Growing up, I hated reading.  I was what is now termed a “reluctant reader.”  Back then the terms ranged from lazy to uninspired (and probably some my teachers didn’t share with me.

Not only did I find reading hard, I frankly wasn’t that interested in books because the written word failed to capture my imagination the way TV, films, and video games could.

Here’s the stuff that really interested me:

Why read when all of this great stuff was available?

But the one book series that captivated my attention, and hooked me into reading was the interactive, game books called Choose Your Own Adventure.

I discovered these small Bantam books on the table-tops of the Scholastic Book Fairs that could come into my school three or four times a year. Finally, I was part of the story.  I could choose how the story unfolded.  It was happening to me. Unlike reading a passive journey prescribed the author,  these books demanded me to active, not passive in my reading.

It was like playing a book.

As you probably know, I wrote the MetaWars books to appeal to reluctant readers and to ‘read like a video game’ — immersive, relentless, and addictive.

Flash forward to this  Autumn.   As I was putting the final edits on the fourth and final MetaWars book,  I met the founders of a tech start up called Freed Fiction who were experimenting with what they call ‘first person fiction’ – creating books that behaved like video games.  They found a way to put a game engine into a book.

A book that reads like a video game!

It didn’t take long for us to cook up an awesome new project.

I’m thrilled to share that Freed Fiction are producing a stunning prequel series to the MetaWars books that are fully interactive in iBooks format for iOS.

The series is called MetaWars: Blood Nexus and it takes the reader on a relentless thrill ride through the history of some of the main MetaWars characters, specifically focusing on Sam (Samantha) Kavanaugh and her family.  You can read all about it on the Freed Fiction blog.

Interactive prequel to MetaWars.

This interactive iBook will publish in three “episodes”, commencing on February 6th, 2014.  And the first episode is free!