Level 26ers,

I just got back from my book tour in France! I had an amazing time and I’m so thrilled I had the opportunity to go over there and experience the release of Dark Prophecy in French. I spent six days traveling around, signing books and doing radio and television interviews. It was so much fun meeting all the fans of the book from Paris.

Level 26: Dark Origins was a huge bestseller there last year and it looks like we’re going to have another hit on our hands. I got such an amazing amount of positive feedback on the series, especially Dark Prophecy. Everyone there loved the movie, loved the book and everyone kept asking me “When’s book three coming out? When’s book three coming out?”

We’re working on it now, I promise!

I had a lot of great food, met a lot of great people and such a great experience that I can’t wait to go back.

To see more photos from the book signings, click HERE.

Zuiker

(Sono spiacente se il mio italiano non è perfetto.) Voglio cogliere questa opportunità accogliere favorevolmente tutta gente meravigliosa dell'Italia di nuovo a Level26.com. “Io Ti Trovero” è stato rilasciato il 4 novembre 2010 là! L'immagine di cui sopra è il coperchio del libro in Italia! Sono stupito sempre a come le copertine di libro differenti sono intorno al mondo. Sono abbastanza felice circa questo. sembrate stupefacente, non acconsentite?

Nelle settimane prossime delle coppie, farò parecchie interviste con i giornali italiani in modo da impedica di entrare un occhio per quelli! E per tutti lettori italiani, scrivete me, scrivete su Level26.com e ci dite che cosa pensate al libro, dei cyber-ponti e più. Non può aspettare per sentire da voi!

I want to take this opportunity to welcome all of the wonderful people of Italy back to Level26.com. Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller was released there on November 4, 2010! The image above is the cover of the book in Italy! I’m always amazed at how different book covers are around the world. I’m pretty happy about this one. It looks amazing, don’t you agree?

In next couple weeks, I’ll be doing several interviews with Italian newspapers so keep an eye out for those! And for all you Italian readers, write to me, write on Level26.com, and tell us what you think of the book, of the cyber-bridges and more. Can’t wait to hear from you!

Zuiker

I want to take this opportunity to welcome back all of the wonderful people of France to Level26.com. Dark Prophecy was released on November 4, 2010 and for the past week, I’ve been in France, visiting this amazing country, doing a lot of interview for radio and television, eating amazing food and hearing how much everyone loves the Level 26 books.

The image above is the cover of the book in France! Everyone here appears loves Dark Prophecy as much as Dark Origins. For all you French readers, write to me, write on Level26.com, and tell us what you think of the book, of the cyber-bridges and more. Can’t wait to hear from you!

(Je fais des excuses si mon Français n'est pas parfait.) Je veux saisir cette occasion d'accueillir en arrière tout les peuple merveilleux de la France à Level26.com. La prophétie foncée a été libérée le 4 novembre 2010 et pour la semaine passée, j'ai été en France, visitant ce pays étonnant, faisant beaucoup d'entrevue pour la radio et la télévision, mangeant de la nourriture étonnante et entendant combien chacun aime les livres du Level 26.

L'image ci-dessus est la couverture du livre en France! Chacun ici apparaît prophétie foncée d'amours autant que des origines foncées. Pour tous vous les lecteurs français, m'écrivez, écrivez sur Level26.com, et nous dites ce que vous pensez au livre, des cyber-passerelles et davantage. Ne peut pas attendre pour avoir de vos nouvelles !

Zuiker

Look what I received yesterday! It’s been out since the 12th but the other day composer Bill Brown sent over a box of the physical CDs to our office. If you’ve watched the cyber-bridges then you know what an amazing job Bill did with the music. This album is worth listening to in it’s own right. It’s receiving really great reviews, which you can read at Sci-Fi-Online.com and FilmMusicMag.com  (scroll down to find the review).

I highly recommend the purchase, either the physical CD or the iTunes download. You can buy the CD at MovieScoreMedia.com or on iTunes.

Check out the track listing below:

1 Dark Prophecy 1.38
2 Henry's Theme 3.19
3 Three of Cups 3.16
4 Hangman 2.52
5 Deeper Waters 3.38
6 Dark and Hilda 3.06
7 The Fool 1.06
8 Because You Care 1.18
9 Dark's Decision 1.48
10 Ten of Wands 1.36
11 Victims and Visions 5.33
12 Five of Pentacles 2.58
13 The Devil 3.49
14 Death and Life 5.26
15 I Choose Life 4.26

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.

Level 26ers,

Thanks to all of you for going out to your local bookstore and checking to see where and how, if at all, Dark Prophecy: A Level 26 Thriller Featuring Steve Dark is being displayed. We’ve received some great responses from people so far but this isn’t over. We’re into our second week of being out there and there are still people who can’t find the book anywhere. I’ve noticed some of you are responding that you couldn’t find the book anywhere but not posting photos. Remember, if you post photos of three bookstores we’ll send you not only a signed dust jacket, Level 26: Dark Origins but also a copy of Dark Prophecy in hardback! You get the book for doing what you’re already doing and you’ll get it for free.

Keep submitting your photos guys. Click HERE to see some of the submissions so far. You’ll notice that some of them don’t have the book at all! That’s the point. Whether the book is there or not, take a picture, show us that it’s missing.

Zuiker