Putting my keyboard where my mouth is

I wasn’t going to do this. I was watching my step, trying to stay away from places that might contain rabbit holes. I know I blogged about PixelVixen707 and I think I mentioned it is part of an alternate reality game that is part of a novel that will be released in June — Personal Effects: Dark Art by J. C. Hutchins. But I had no intention of getting involved in the game.

Why? Because once I get hooked into things like that, they nag at the back of my mind until I solve the problem. I can’t put them down. That and I’m more into romance than thrillers.

So what changed?

I read PixelVixen’s blog because she’s a great writer and she posts links to articles that she considers great writing. So last night I was unwinding from the work week, thought I’d look over her new feature: Pix Vix Picks.  Only there was a new post up and just skimming through I got caught up, and I wound up reading to the end where she talked about some weird interaction between her and her boyfriend’s brother. It was one of those oddly out of place things, like a cat toy in the home of someone allergic to cats. I just kept wondering why that post was there.

It crawled into the back of my brain and throbbed. I tried to make it go away with mindless web surfing. Then I tried to ignore it and answer email. When I finally logged off and put the laptop away, I knew. It always happens that way. After you sign off you know what you have to do. It took ten minutes to fire up the computer and log on the net and aim the browser at the website for the hospital where Zach Works. I’d seen something there and that little out of place cat toy was the answer to how to get in.

I had a moment’s creepiness when I got to the site. It’s pretend breaking and entering but it still feels a little weird sneaking in. It feels even spookier when you get in and find ID cards, and pictures with labels that indicate they are of a dead body. I didn’t look at those pictures. I’m trying to talk myself out of trying the emails and telephone numbers I saw.  I didn’t look at much because I’m barely running dial-up speed from home. I might look more from work. I’m not looking at that body. I need to find someone to look at those pictures for me.

But now I’m hooked. I’m down the rabbit hole and I know I can’t pull back. I put myself on the pre-order list at Amazon, but the book won’t be released until June. After looking around in a few more places, it appears the ARG is in place. There’s plenty to to sort through until the book comes out.

There is something about this kind of storytelling that empowers you. You can have an impact, figure things out, solve problems, be a burglar and not get arrested. That’s addictive.

I want to make clear, that while I’ve blogged about this ARG, I am not associated with the author or anyone working on the production. I’m just a writer who likes the genre and has a bad habit of falling down rabbit holes before the game is meant to start.