children's fiction

13 Feb

The Puzzle Box complete - and some experimental videos

in children's fiction, cyberfiction, digital fiction, experimental video, hyperliterature, magic, myth, new media

I have now finished revising The Puzzle Box, as follows:

1. A new interface/front cover
2. One new Help Card animation and a couple of minor amendments to other animations
3. More sparing use of the box-icon within the chapters: it now only appears at those points where the box is mentioned in the narrative, and where readers will find something new if they click to open it
4. The page-background for Chapter Three has been redesigned

06 Nov

The Puzzle Box, Chapter 10

in children's fiction, cyberfiction, digital fiction, hyperliterature, magic, myth, new media

"Urizen is trapped by his own laws. He no longer truly believes in anything outside himself. His only way of relating to the outside world is either to fear it or to steal something from it. He has turned the infinite possibilities of the human heart into a little machine of self-interest. And because of that, his life is a life without hope.”

In search of Dora's box, the children find their way right to the heart of Urizen's headquarters, and discover something entirely different from what they were expecting.

07 Sep

The Puzzle Box, Chapter 8 (and other items of interest)

in children's fiction, digital literature, fantasy, hyperliterature, magic, myth, new media, Ouroboros, William Blake

“The wind was blowing harder now, and the snow was coming down in thick flurries, which quickly turned the fronts of their clothes white and made it difficult either to see or hear; but Dora thought she heard a snatch of music. Then one of the little boys started jumping up and down and pointing. 'Look! Look! They're dancing! They're dancing!' Everyone looked where the little boy was pointing. On the far side of the snow-field, next to the fir trees, the snowmen and snow-women were moving.”