On the Level

Well, USA Today outed me. That "collaboration" I've been hinting about for a while now is Level 26: Dark Origins, a "digi-novel" by Anthony Zuiker, the creator of CSI. The story is 100% Zuiker's; I'm the wordslinger he tapped to help tell the tale.

What is a "digi-novel," you ask? Well, it's a hybrid of print and digital video; as Zuiker explained to USA Today, you read about 20 pages of the novel, then have the chance to jump online and watch a three-minute video to enhance the experience. The book does stand on its own, but it's so much better to take the ride as Zuiker intended.

You may also ask: Does this mean the death of print/the twilight of the word, etc.? Of course not. I think it's a cool new way to experience a thriller. Traditionally, a novel will appear, and then sometimes—if the stars are aligned, the pentagrams drawn, the goats slain—a movie version will follow months or years later. Well, this is both experiences slammed together, drawing on the strengths of each to tell a seriously wild, intense and scary-as-shit story. As a guy who loves books, who loves movies, who especially loves scary books and movies... this is a dream project for me.

And finally, you might be asking yourself: What the fuck is that thing under the bed (above)? Ah, see, that's the other thing that drew me to the project: Zuiker's villain. I'm not into spoilers, so you won't get any out of me... but holy God wait until you meet this thing. The moment Zuiker told me about it over the phone last summer was the moment I knew I had to be part of this.

I hope you guys will give it a chance this September. In the meantime, you can go to www.Level26.com and sign up for updates.

(Also, you might want to start checking under your beds.)