The new summer reading

E-readers--Kindles, nooks, iPads, etc.--are becoming more popular. In fact, this week a patron at the library asked if we had any books available for checkout on e-readers, and I was pleased to tell her that we do. Paper and binding are far from obsolete, but from what I hear e-readers are fun (the exact word a patron used) and convenient. According to author and Wall Street Journal editor Lauren Mechling, however, e-readers aren't that different or more exciting than books in print. This summer, Lauren Mechling and Laura Moser, writing partners extraordinaire, are exploring the potential of an online, electronic reading experience with a serialized YA novel at Slate.com.

Lauren describes "My Darklyng" on The Wall Street Journal Speakeasy Blog:

What if we used photographs and videos and gave our characters online lives that change along with the story? The fruit of this garage operation is “My Darklyng,” a serialized novel told on simultaneous platforms. We’ve made characters’ photo diaries, Youtube videos, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. It launches on Slate tomorrow and will grow by three chapters every Friday throughout the summer.

“My Darklyng” is about a normal 10th grade girl named Natalie Pollock whose own fiction addiction (her drug of choice: Fiona St. Claire’s vampire novels) gets her into major trouble. She’s been reading Fiona St. Claire’s “Dark Shadows” book series since middle school and when she sees a post on Fiona’s blog about an open casting call for the model for the next book’s cover, she can’t resist. What she had thought was just a random field trip turns into a dark and terrible new-best-friendship, scarier and more thrilling than any of Fiona St. Claire’s vampire novels. Two real teenagers to play the characters: Erin Schrode as James, the vampire cover model, and Hannah Grossman as Natalie.

I just read this week's installment, and it's enjoyable stuff. It's funny, the characters are immediately engaging, and--most importantly--I can't wait to find out what happens next. As far as the story's online platforms, I have not looked into the characters' Twitter accounts, but Natalie's Facebook page is worth visiting and hitting the like button, and fictional author Fiona St. Claire's Wikipedia  page (the link to which is handily nestled in the prose of chapter two) is a winner. So far, however, my favorite parts about this electronic reading experience are the photos of the people and places in the story. Imagining such things for oneself is fun, but there's something satisfying about seeing a picture and knowing that you're seeing the same thing as the author and the other readers. Sort of like going to a movie adaptation of a book but a bajillion times better.

"My Darklyng" is a new way to experience a story, and I think it'll be fun. My only problem with it? I can't read it all at once.

Links:

Read this week's installment. (You know you want to give it a try.)
Read more about "My Darklyng" at Slate.com
Lauren Mechling takes over at The Story Siren and talks about "My Darklyng"
Lauren's January interview here on Bookduck

Waiting for next Friday,