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 |  A hub for the "Book of Masks" universe. |
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The Interactives "The Book of Masks"  : A high school student discovers a grimoire that can make magical disguises."The Wandering Stars" : Sequel to "The Book of Masks.""Student Bodies" : A high school student is turned into a blue goo that can possess people.For non-WdC Members "The Book of Masks: Archives" : Dodges the "Servers Busy" barrier!"The Book of Masks (Abridged)" : Introductory storylines for new readers.Community "BoM/TWS Message Forum" : Community for readers of the interactives."BoM/TWS/SB Wiki" : Notes and documentation for authors. Spoilers!Current Polls None The Latest 7/1: Interactive: "Solving Other People's Problems" 7/1: Public: "Solving Other People's Problems"
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| A decisive win yesterday, the leader ahead all day, so here's the next chapter: "Invalid Item" I'm changing one of the recurring choices. Instead of "Return to [the last chapter with only a plurality winner]" I'll be making it a generic "Return to an earlier chapter." If that choice ever wins a plurality, we'll stop and take stock. |
| So, at 11:00 AM (EDT), when I checked, the poll at the end of "The Warlock's Lair" was a tie. It spent most of yesterday in a tie, too. It was hard-fought all the way. Except at the very beginning. For the first four hours or so after I posted "The Warlock's Lair", "Make some new masks" had a clear lead. Seeing that, I started writing a sequel for that choice. But after I finished writing it, I checked the poll again and found the results had tightened up, and they remained neck-and-neck all the way up to the deadline. So I cast a tie-breaking vote, giving it to "Make some new masks" because I had that chapter ready to go this morning. It saves me the work of writing another chapter, and it gives you guys a chapter today instead of having to wait 24 hours: "Invalid Item" |
| Yesterday's vote surprised me in two ways. I didn't expect the "elementary school basement" choice to win, and I certainly didn't expect it to win by an absolute majority. Oh well. Here's what most of you voted for: "Invalid Item" . |
| "Invalid Item" It's a dull chapter, only there to advance the plot. Sorry. I thought about mowing through it quickly by doing the usual thing: Collect the dirt, transport it to the old school, buy the other stuff, set it all on fire. But I don't think that would have been more interesting. Besides, I figure you guys should have a chance to vote on where the spell gets executed. Maybe you'd want a new location. So I had to spend a good chunk of space motivating a couple of other places for Will to take the dirt. |
| So, the vote yesterday was so close that I went to bed having no idea which way it was going to turn out. I did a little thinking for each possibility, though, so I wasn't unprepared for either eventuality. I woke up early enough to see which choice was going to win. Over the next ninety minutes banged out a sequel; left it to cool for thirty minutes; then gave it a rough revision. The result is far from brilliant, but I think it works well enough, and it wouldn't get much better if I let it sit for 24 hours before posting: "Invalid Item" |
| With this new system there are a lot of places to be maintained. I almost forgot to update this blog this morning, for instance. I beg your indulgence as I post new chapters in the special folder and in the interactive itself, edit old chapters, insert and delete links, and make these updates. I will certainly slip up more seriously at some point by forgetting to do something. Oh, and before I forget: "Invalid Item" |
| Yesterday's vote was a nail biter. Most of the day it was tied, usually between different pairs of entries. So I didn't know until this morning which choice I'd be writing. So you'll have to wait until tomorrow for Chapter 14. Right now, I'm off to try figuring out myself what comes next ... |
| Next chapter is now up: "Invalid Item" I must say, Chapter 12 was another one where I thought the voting wouldn't be so one-sided. |
| This surprised me. I expected the vote for Chapter 12 to be closer than it was. But the winning choice took an early, strong lead, so I got the sequel written yesterday. It's posted now: "Invalid Item" |
| Chapter 11 is now up: "Invalid Item" . In the last poll, no one voted to return to a previous node, but going forward I'm going to continue putting in a "return to a previous node" as a choice. It will be to return to the last node where the winning choice got less than 50.1% of the vote. |
| That was the judgment of the voters in the last poll. There were enough votes for returning to an earlier node, though, that I'm going to include that choice in all polls going forward. So it's there in the latest chapter: "Invalid Item" . That choice won't count as the winner, though, unless it gets a majority of the vote. A plurality won't be enough. |
| The current chapter in the Reader's Edition -- "Invalid Item" -- ends with a meta-question: Continue this storyline, or find another? No, I'm not angling to cut this one off. But this chapter (as you'll see if you look in the interactive) doesn't end with a story choice but with a blank "Continue." That sometimes happens when I can't steer a chapter quickly enough to a place where the narrative can diverge in ways that are (or might be) dramatically interesting. So instead of a poll that asks, "Where will the story go now?" I decided to ask if we should find another storyline. Certainly I don't mind continuing this one; but neither would I mind switching to another. Really, it's all good for me. Where would we go if readers vote to suspend this storyline? Back to "Invalid Item" , which is the last node where one choice didn't win 50%+ of the vote. We'd hold a new vote without "A teacher ..." as a choice. |
| The first bit of business is to direct your attention to this page: "Invalid Item" . If you have a Free Membership at WdC, or are unregistered, that is another page you should likely bookmark, if you want to read new BoM/TWS chapters without WdC's "servers busy" hassle. At least, you should try to remember that it is there. I've put it near the top of my Portfolio, for easy access. You can read there at that page what it's all about. The TL;DR: That page directs you to static versions of current versions of BoM/TWS storylines, so that you can read them without hitting WdC's "servers busy" notice. |
| I used to keep readers updated about my interactives through my regular WdC blog. But then I realized that not everyone knew about that blog, so I started updating inside the interactive itself. Then I was reminded that WdC frequently blocks Free and unregistered members from accessing interactives. So we're back to a blog as an update device. This time I'm going to make a special, stand-alone blog devoted solely to BoM/TWS updates while leaving my old blog for more general types of posts and writing. If you want to keep abreast of news and updates about my interactives, bookmark this page. Or, at least, know to look for it. I'm putting it near the top of my portfolio, to make it visible. But that's about the best I can do to help readers to remember that it exists. Well, I might occasionally post reminders in the interactive itself. But that'll be more for the benefit of new readers and visitors, if any come along. |
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