Come Get Your Special Features!

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The time has come for the first special feature of the Sailor in the Civil War project!

It has been quite awhile, I know. Things have been chaotic, and thus threw off the whole production schedule for this project. But it is still a go, and I am working hard to get everything I’ve been talking about and promising out as soon as possible.

And it starts right here! If you’ve read the brief for the Sailor in the Civil War project, you’ll know that the main character in the historical strand of the story is a young Latvian sailor by the name of Karl Gaigala. But how did he come to be in Russian Alaska? This is quite a distance from Latvia. Now you have the opportunity to find out! Click here: In Prelude – Part 1 you have an opportunity to go through a choose-your-own-adventure style introduction to the first part of Karl’s story. Part 2 is to come later!

Enjoy! And keep an eye out for the next special features – they’ll be following along soon!

Support Aila Rye’s Genea-Fiction Series!

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The holidays may be over, but work on genea-fiction is not!

As December draws to a close, I’m working hard on my different projects, including this genea-fiction project featuring Aila Rudzīte. As you may have noticed, the Kickstarter campaign drew to a close at the end of December, having not met its goal on Kickstarter, but having met it outside of it, so I cancelled the campaign instead of letting it end as a “failure” even though it really didn’t fail.

But there’s always more to be done, so further contributions are still welcome! Head over to this page to read about how you can support my genea-fiction independently from Kickstarter, while still being able to get the rewards and backing perks that were available on Kickstarter. For these contributions, there is no deadline – contribute when you can!

To read more about the first Aila Rudzīte genea-fiction novel, tentatively called “Sailor in the Civil War”, you can click click here.

Happy New Year, and here’s to a year full of genea-fiction mysteries!

A President For His Country – Now Available!

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The full short story “A President For His Country” is now available! Just click here to start reading!

I hope you enjoy the story. If you find promise in it, then I hope that you will support my first novel featuring Aila Rudzīte – I have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the production of the first book!

If you don’t know what Kickstarter is, it is a crowdfunding platform – people all over the world can contribute money towards the actualization of a creative project of some kind. If the funding goal is not reached, no money changes hands. There is more information on the main Kickstarter website. The amount of the contribution is up to you, and there are many different reward levels with all sorts of interesting rewards – everything from temporary tattoos that correspond to the tattoos that Aila has to artwork to being able to name a character in the upcoming novel.

The basic amount I’m asking for should, with my own contributions, cover the editing, but I want to be able to do so much more than that – videos shot on-location, hire professional developers to help me with game creation, and so on. With your support, it can happen! If you’ve enjoyed the puzzles along the way for this short story, I can’t wait til you see what I have planned next!

If you don’t have the funds to spare to support the project, that’s okay – telling your friends about the project is free, and the more people know about it, the more likely it is that it can be funded! There is a time limit on the campaign: 30 days! So the sooner the better!

Thank you for your support!

Happy Halloween!

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Aila is taking a break from the puzzles for a Goth’s favourite holiday, and you should too!

Happy Halloween, and come back next week for more!

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation…

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Are you ready to learn what you’ll need to solve the puzzles that will be appearing in the short story, “A President For His Country”?

If so, you’ll want to head on over to the third puzzle page and solve the keyword code. The answer to that puzzle will give you the password you need to access the page I’ve set up with informative links and instructions on what you’ll need to solve the puzzles in the story.

Get to solving, and then you’ll be ready to go when the story launches!

Ready for an Excerpt?

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The time has come! You can read the prologue for the short story that will be debuting here soon!

But of course, you have to work for it! I’ve made this week’s puzzle a bit easier than last week’s, since it seems like a lot of people had trouble with it. Hopefully this one will be easier!

You can come solve the puzzle here!

Any questions? Need another clue? Leave a comment here, or post/Tweet on Facebook or Twitter!

Where It All Begins…

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She’s young. She’s tattooed. And she’s got the boots to break down any genealogy brick wall.

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Meet the newest genealogy fiction heroine. She’s breaking down stereotypes about what means to be a genealogist. This twentysomething Goth will break down brick walls, unravel family mysteries and travel to the ends of the earth to do it.

But who is she?

You’re going to have to solve that puzzle yourself!

Modern technology has revolutionized the way we communicate, the way we interact and the way we tell stories. A story is no longer limited to the printed page. We live in an era where the click of a button can open up whole new worlds we never even knew existed.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it and participate in this new storytelling experiment: Check out the first puzzle and solve the clues to find out our heroine’s name and personal story! Then come back next week to discover the first adventure that she will be embarking on. You can subscribe in the sidebar!

Welcome to the New Way of Storytelling!

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Mixed media storytelling is on the rise. It promises a new way of engaging readers with the stories, aided by advances in technology and the Internet.

What is mixed media storytelling? Simply put, taking a story beyond the usual bounds of printed text on a page or e-reader/tablet. Images. Videos. Apps. Interactions in the “real world”. “Deleted scenes” from novels. Author’s notes. The possibilities really are endless.

It is my intention to embrace as many of these as possible in the creation of this genealogy fiction world. Now, they’re not all going to come at once. Some involve more of an investment than I’m currently able to fund. But hopefully, with some help from you, that will change. We can create an amazing creative world. We just need to take that first step.

Are you ready to take that step with me?