When screen sizes went from phone-size to tablet-size, the multimedia novel became a possibility, a novel with embedded media like video, audio, and JavaScript-animated graphics.The possibilities for the multimedia novel are limited only by the available technology and the designer’s imagination and coding skills. Designer-novelists can take this still-new medium in unexpected and experimental directions, exploring immersive techniques like some computer games do with augmented-reality graphics. It's easy to imagine a horror novel silently accessing Alexa to turn off lights in the house at an appropriate moment in the story and add poltergeist effects with any connected electronics and appliances. There are many more possibilities to explore.
Port Aero is a story of the birth of a new theme park in Southern California.
The designers and investors begin with the best of intentions. They want to balance ideas like “It’s a small world after all” with ideas like “In America we speak English.” But big construction projects seldom go exactly as planned or budgeted. Some of the good intentions are met with centuries-old hostility, and the designers and investors are left bickering over what kind of park to build. Do they compromise and accommodate? In the age of Trump, compromise is considered weakness. Should they plow ahead and present concepts that modern cultures need to hear? Or should they act reasonably?
Leith, one of the lead designers, is a workaholic who is content in a loving, stable marriage that doesn’t require much maintenance. Until he realizes that’s just the theme-park version of marriage.
Port Aero is soon to be published. Check back for updates. In the meantime, the video and audio in the eBook can be viewed on YouTube. The eBook will include 40 short video clips and 34 original music cues, along with numerous graphics, photos and concept sketches.
