Welcome to Level26.com! If you’re reading this then you’ve picked up a copy of Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller (or, perhaps, even Level 26: Dark Origins). If you’re new to the “Digi-Novel” experience, let us give you a little rundown on how this whole thing works.

You can experience the “Digi-Novel” in three ways:

1)    You can read your hardcover or ebook copy cover to cover and enjoy it as you would any traditional novel.

2)    Every 40 pages you’ll be prompted to come to this website and enter a code to watch a cyber-bridge – a three to ten minute movie that will take you beyond the book’s storyline and treat you to Steve Dark’s personal Tarot card reading where Dark must confront his past to see his future.

This time around, the cyber-bridges are actually an hour-long film cut up into eleven parts, so there is no need to watch it when prompted, though we encourage you to do so. You can watch them all at once, four at a time, or however you wish to consume them. The cyber-bridges are meant to enhance the book experience in Dark Prophecy, not replace it.

3)    Lastly, you can join and participate in our Level26.com community where you can discuss the book with other fans, read blogs from me, the creator of CSI, enjoy behind-the-scenes photos and videos, and much more.

Thank you so much for picking up your copy of Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller (or Level 26: Dark Origins) and we encourage you to take a look around the site, set up your profile, say hi to other members in our forums and comment sections and enjoy everything the “Digi-Novel” experience has to offer.

Anthony E. Zuiker

Welcome back everyone! Before the break, we posted two giveaway opportunities: one to receive autographed copies of Dark Origins and Dark Prophecy and the other to receive a free download of the Dark Prophecy iPad App (or autographed books if you don’t own an iPad).

Well, we didn’t forget about it and wanted to announce the winners, whose names were randomly drawn.

The winner of the ‘To Cyber-bridge or Not to Cyber-bridge” book giveaway is Linda DiMezza. Linda, please PM me your address so we can send you the books. Congratulations.

The winner of the free Dark Prophecy iPad App download is Schram. Congratulations. Please send me your email, via PM, so that when the app is released we can send you the code to download.

Thanks to all of your for your responses!

Zuiker

Level 26ers,

As we wind down 2010 we wanted to take this time to wish everyone and their families a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year. We hope everyone has a great time with friends, families and loved ones.

Just a reminder that both Level 26: Dark Origins and Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller make great gifts this holiday season. Pick up your gift copy today. And for all of you lucky people who receive an iPad this Christmas, we’ll have the Dark Prophecy app available in January!

Have a great time everyone.

We’ll see you in 2011!

Zuiker and the Level 26 Team

Okay, to be fair, this post title is a little misleading. There’s no version of the Level 26 books not having cyber-bridges, that’s a given. After all, it’s a called a Digi-novel.

However, as most of you know, we tried something different with the cyber-bridges for Dark Prophecy. Rather than taking scenes from the novel and filming them, requiring you to put the book down, log in, watch the bridge, and then return to the book, as we did in Dark Origins, we decided to film a one-hour companion film, that took a moment from the book and expanded it. This way, you could watch the videos whenever you wanted, not when called to action in the book.

We decided to try this because 1) the Digi-novel is a constantly evolving product, 2) we heard from a number of you who, as readers, like to sit down with the book while traveling, on the beach, on a plane, where you might not have access to the internet or even a computer and finally 3) it felt clunky to be comfortable on your couch, reading, and then before forced to get up and watch the video.

Also, knowing that this may be an issue, the information conveyed in the cyber-bridges was ultimately covered in the book anyway, lest someone reading on a plane gets confused because they had no clue that character A said “insert important piece of information here.”

We listened to your feedback and made changes to Dark Prophecy so that it retained the spirit of the Digi-novel but allowed you guys to choose how you consumed the book.

We’ve been looking through the forums and, surprisingly, we’ve seen a number of readers saying they prefer how we did the cyber-bridges in Dark Origins while others like the format of the bridges in Dark Prophecy.

So, let us know. We’re currently developing the concept of the bridges for book three and are open to hearing what our fan base thinks. I can tell you that we’re looking to go a new route and would love to know how you like to consume YOUR Digi-novel. We’re looking for constructive criticism that can help us improve your experience.

Everyone who comments will be entered into a random drawing to win an autographed copy of the Dark Origins paperback and the Dark Prophecy hardcover, so get your comments in and let us know what you think.

The contest closes on Thursday, 12/16 at 11:59 PM EST.

Zuiker

Level 26ers,

In an effort to continually serve you better, we like to check in with you guys now and again to find out how we’re doing. Now that the book and cyber-bridges have been released in the U.S. (we’ll be releasing Dark Prophecy in a number of foreign countries over the next year) we’re curious to see what YOU want out of Level26.com.

Hopefully, we’ve improved the user experience for you guys, but we’ve also seen discussion drop a little bit. We have a lot of content that we’re in the process of finishing (such as behind-the-scenes clips) and we’ve been busy working on the iPad App for Dark Prophecy (check out the post on that HERE) but we’re always curious to hear what you guys think.

Last year, we did a number of posts on aggregated content, articles and videos we found interesting and thought might interest you. However, we stopped it because it felt off brand. True Crime is perhaps another subject to explore but our early attempt at that didn’t get a great response.

So, what do you guys want from the community section of this site? Let us know!

Zuiker

Angela Bare is a photographer from Seattle, Washington. The photograph of the man above was used for the cover of Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller. Check out our interview with Angela below.

Level 26: Tell us about yourself.

Angela Bare: My name is Angela Bare, but I go by Angie. I'm 30, married to a US Marine, and have three little boys. I'm thoroughly outnumbered – even our dog is male!

I've been an artist since I was young. I started my first art class in 2nd grade. Over the years I've taken lots of classes, and have played with all sorts of mediums...pencil, various paints, clay. 

When I became a mom, I found it really difficult to find time to draw or paint, and I went through a number of years with no creative outlet. Any of you creative people will know that just about drove me crazy! When my husband deployed to Iraq, I was overwhelmed with my kiddos, all aged 6 and under at the time. A friend invited me to a park one day, and said I should bring my camera. That day, I discovered a new escape. Photography sparked that desire to create again, and was a fantastic medium for me.

I started out using film, and this year switched to digital...although I've got a rather large collection of film cameras that I plan to use again.

Photography is something I can do in a moment; it doesn't need planning, or very much time. Most of my photography is about spotting something beautiful, or interesting and shooting spur of the moment. When I first started, I'm sure I confused a lot of people...I was constantly pulling my vehicle over to shoot a random building, cloud, tree or piece of trash. I'd see people in their cars craning to figure out, “What is that crazy girl taking a picture of?!” In a way, I consider that a success. I like to shoot things most people will drive or walk right past without noticing...so if they pause to look at details of the world because of what I see, that's a good thing.

L26: Tell about the set you were shooting that contains the photo.

AB: Since much of my photography is very spontaneous, I often have ideas that come at a moment's notice simply based on the surroundings. Sometimes an idea comes fully formed; other times it changes as I shoot. I'd seen some friends use storytelling in their photography, and it had me thinking about how you can tell a story with a single image. We had a day of extremely thick fog, which was a rare thing for where I was living. I felt the opportunity couldn't be passed up. I wanted to shoot something dramatic and atmospheric, and I was literally thinking “something that would work on a movie poster." My husband had the day off, and as we headed out to lunch I asked him to grab a gun. I picked this location--a back road that was mostly abandoned--because it was a favorite area for me at the time.

L26: Were there more photos with the man and the gun?

AB: There are a few more, but not many. I only shot 14 frames that day.  We
 were in a hurry to get somewhere else, and I didn't want to push our luck with someone seeing the gun and getting the wrong idea. Even though we were legal, people still tend to get a little excited sometimes. Especially considering the other idea I had that we shot that day!

L26: What were you planning to do with the set when you finished shooting it?

Since it was a public road, I didn't really have more plans for it, except as a good location to shoot in! I like using the world as I find it, and I have a lot of fun with finding places to fit a scene that is in my head, or creating a scene to fit a location I've discovered. I've been working on a self-portrait project, and I'm constantly scoping out places to shoot myself. The other shot I took in that location wound up being my first photo for my self-portrait project.

L26: So how did your photo come to be on the cover of Anthony E. Zuiker’s book?

AB: I use a photo sharing site called Flickr...it's a great resource to learn more about photography, share photos and get inspiration from other photographers. I posted my photos from that day on Flickr, got some great feedback, and fun discussion. I went on my merry way, coming up with more ideas and images.  

About a month later, I got an e-mail from a Penguin Art Director, Anthony Ramondo, asking if he could buy one of my images for a book cover. I was surprised, and didn't really know what to think...I figured it would be for something tiny no one would see. When I Googled Anthony Ramondo’s name, I was even more surprised to find he had designed the covers for a number of books I recognized! We did some e-mailing back and forth, and eventually I signed a contract. By that point I was really excited, especially since I'd found out whose book cover my photo would be a part of.

My husband and I have been fans of C.S.I. since the beginning, and after one of the episodes (the guy who wore the clean suit and shaved bald), we discussed how he could have perfected that and wondered if C.S.I. would continue with that idea. I hadn't heard of the Level 26 series before, so I grabbed a copy from the library first chance I got, and was thrilled to find that Sqweegel was even creepier than I imagined.

L26: What’s it like to see your work on the cover?

AB: Seeing my photo on the cover is amazing. I held my breath for a long time, feeling like I needed to be pinched since the idea just didn't seem real...so when the book finally came out after months of anticipation, I was telling complete strangers “See that photo? I took that!!” It may be a very small part of the overall project, but for me it's huge!

I'm still exploring and deciding what I want to do with my photography, but this is a fantastic encouragement that I'm headed in the right direction. The last few weeks have been a lot of fun; my Facebook wall has been full of friends writing to let me know they'd gone out and bought the book, and showing pictures that they'd taken of the cover. My husband has been getting called Steve Dark--not a huge stretch considering his name is Steve, and he is former law enforcement. He's similarly having fun with the whole idea of being on a book cover.

This has been a great adventure for me, and I've learned some things about an industry I didn't know much about. Now I just have to see if I can repeat this success! ;D

To see more of Angie’s pictures, check out here Flickr account HERE.