An experiment

Greetings, Reader! Since this blog is aimed towards people who like to write and people who use the Internet, two groups which are notorious for clicking away from a page that doesn't immediately grab their interest (writers because they'd rather spend their time writing, people who use the Internet because it has destroyed our attention spans), I'll try to keep this brief and to the point.

First of all, let me introduce myself. I am not Adam Lexington. Adam Lexington is a pseudonym I adopted, in case this whole following my passion thing doesn't pan out and I'm forced to take on a real job for the rest of my life. If this all works out, maybe I'll reveal my true identity one day. Writing that sentence kind of made me feel like Batman, just now.

Anyway, what I can tell you now is that I'm an aspiring writer with an interest in e-publishing. I started freelancing when I was in college and have been keeping at it fairly consistently ever since. Major accomplishments include having work published on Cracked.com, working under Mali Elfman (her dad makes pretty awesome music), and also writing for Christopher Smith. None of that work was published under this pseudonym, so don't go looking for it.

Smith, as you may know, is author of the page-turning (or, since this is the digital age, page-clicking) thriller Fifth Avenue, which has spawned sequels, spinoffs, and well-deserved success for its author.

A few more folks out there -- Amanda Hocking, Johne Locke, J.A. Konrath -- appear to be finding success publishing their fiction for the Kindle, and I want to try my hand.

This is going to be a little different, though. Although I love the format of the novel, the possibilities inherent in e-publishing got me thinking.

See, I've been watching a lot of TV lately, which is a nice way of saying I've been unemployed. Good TV shows allow characters to develop over time, allow plots to grow more intricate as the series progresses, and allow storytellers freedom to work outside the bounds of the traditional three-act structure. While individual episodes and overall seasons may conform to a "rising action - climax - falling action" rhythm, on the whole, the TV format still gives its creative team the ability to follow a few characters over the course of a long span of time, and that interests me.

So, I've got my idea. The story is called The Dark Triad. It's a horror-comedy about three friends who, the summer before they begin college, find themselves involved in a secret cult's maniacal scheme to take over the world. They'll spend the next four years of their lives (and, if I enjoy writing about them that much, maybe even a little more) trying to enjoy the experience of higher education while constantly facing threats from an evil secret society with supernatural powers.

Each "episode" will be within the 20,000 to 30,000 words range, published via Kindle Direct Publishing and priced at .99 cents each.

This is where I get to be unprofessional. I really, really, deeply hope that some people respond to this idea. I know that horror-comedy is a pretty small niche market, but The Dark Triad will allow me to constantly visit some of my favorite topics -- the supernatural, my college experience, and characters who are a little more than loosely based on my real friends -- and I'd love to know that others out there enjoy reading this series.

Of course, that means I'll have to do a good job writing it. The first episode is almost ready for publication, but there's still work to be done. Thanks for taking the time to read this, since I promised to keep it short and may have failed to deliver on that promise.

Stay tuned for important updates!