Previous Entry | Next Entry

And so it begins.

sf doctor FANtastic!
You've been very patient boys and girls. And I've been yanking your chain over this for the last six months, and I'm sorry. Keeping it to myself has been very nearly unbearable.

But now, I have something to tell you.

The secrit projekt is secrit no longer:

May I introduce--

Shadow Unit.

The brainchild of the amazing coffeeem, Shadow Unit is, more or less, the website for a serial drama in internet form. Or possibly it's a fan site for a TV show that doesn't exist.

Over the next couple of months, the site will be updated on a weekly or biweekly basis with new information, vignettes, character sketches, character bios, a community message board, and other exciting things.

And starting in mid-February, there will be a series of novellas and novellettes, and one complete novel. Approximately one story every two weeks for sixteen weeks (though we are still tweaking the schedule), comprising the first season (of hopefully many) of a television show that doesn't exist.

Some of the content will be free. Some will be by subscription. (Subscriptions will be extremely reasonable.) There will be DVD extras, deleted scenes, background information, character-based digressions, and I dunno what all else.

The staff writers (as of today) are Emma Bull, Will Shetterly, Sarah Monette, and myself. The Brilliant Web Ghoul and Fabulous Artist is Amanda Downum. The Technical Supergeek is Stephen Shipman.

I am so geeked I can hardly stand it. Setting this up has been exhausting, exciting, and downright mad. It's a work in progress: it's rough, ready, and under construction. You're in at the ground floor.

We sincerely hope you have nearly as much fun playing in this world as we have in creating it.

Comments

( 139 comments — Leave a comment )
Page 1 of 3
<<[1] [2] [3] >>
wintersweet
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:21 am (UTC)
Wow, intriguing! I'm going to post about it to the old Bordertown mailing list (because of the Bull and Shetterly connection).

P. S. I imagine you already know that this is probably going to get you a lot more LJ traffic.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:26 am (UTC)
I am glad these are not my servers.

*g*

And thank you. Pimping is, of course, encouraged. This is all about word of mouth.
blackaire
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:23 am (UTC)
So far I see X-Files, Criminal Minds and Torchwood. And an exciting bunch of writers!

I, too, am heartily geeked. Looking forward to more.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:25 am (UTC)
Oh, it's much, much more than pastiche. *g*

We hope, at least.
(no subject) - blackaire - Jan. 8th, 2008 05:29 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 05:34 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - blackaire - Jan. 8th, 2008 05:36 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - dsgood - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:11 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:25 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - blackaire - Jan. 8th, 2008 07:04 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - coffeeem - Jan. 8th, 2008 07:48 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 12:48 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - stormcloude - Jan. 8th, 2008 09:31 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 10:57 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - luciab - Jan. 8th, 2008 02:34 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 02:36 pm (UTC) - Expand
hee! - rutemple - Jan. 8th, 2008 08:42 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - dd_b - Jan. 8th, 2008 04:31 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - crinklequirk - Jan. 8th, 2008 09:18 pm (UTC) - Expand
lferion
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:25 am (UTC)
I like the lead in. And the page is beautiful.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:27 am (UTC)
Amanda's web design is gorgeous and functional. She also did my home website.
saoba
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:27 am (UTC)
Just so you know, I just determined that squealing fan girl noises make my cats vanish at light speed.

I don't think teleportation was involved.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:27 am (UTC)
Ehe.

Excellent. That's what we like.

jonquil
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:29 am (UTC)
*Wow*. Rock on, the set of you.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:28 am (UTC)
All Emma's genius, with a generous and extreme assist from Will. Seriously.

I'm like the biggest fangirl around. *g*
(Deleted comment)
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 07:06 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - fidelioscabinet - Jan. 8th, 2008 01:35 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 01:38 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - coffeeem - Jan. 8th, 2008 04:29 pm (UTC) - Expand
lavendertook
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:33 am (UTC)
Yay! What fun! (-:
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:32 am (UTC)
Glad you think so!
avocadovpx
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:46 am (UTC)
Are we meeting Mom and Dad?

>> We sincerely hope you have nearly as much fun playing in this world as we have in creating it.

The fun definitely shines through.
cvillette
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:49 am (UTC)
Dude. Mom and Dad. Who *else* could it be?
(no subject) - avocadovpx - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:07 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - cvillette - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:33 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 05:55 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - avocadovpx - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:01 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:33 am (UTC) - Expand
britgeekgrrl
Jan. 8th, 2008 05:49 am (UTC)
AAAAAAHHH!!!!

I love it!

*bookmarks*
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:34 am (UTC)
That? Is totally what we like to hear.
lindensphinx
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:05 am (UTC)
This is /so/ damn cool. *bookmarks*

(The friend on whose couch I am crashing says, when presented with the site: 'That's kind of. Vigilante fandom, y'know?')
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:34 am (UTC)
Ehe! Yes, you know? It kind of is.
karenthology
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:05 am (UTC)
This is SO cool.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:42 am (UTC)
Excellent. *g*

arachnejericho
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:15 am (UTC)
Idea space!
I'm excited!

And weirded out. I only just finished a four-part blog post series about building up to working serial fiction.

I can't wait for more Shadow Unit stuff to show up. I'll be studying it closely!
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:48 am (UTC)
Re: Idea space!
We hope not to disappoint!
lil_shepherd
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:16 am (UTC)
Now I'm really intrigued... page bookmarked.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:26 am (UTC)
There will be mentions of updates here, I'm sure. *g*
dsgood
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:30 am (UTC)
"Or possibly it's a fan site for a TV show that doesn't exist." I wish I'd thought of that first!

On the Usenet group soc.history.what-if (devoted to alternate history), someone has done reviews of "West Wing" as it appears in an alternate world. He has harsh things to say about the improbable plots -- all of which are taken from recent events in our world.

I look forward to seeing more of "Shadow Unit." And I'll be spreading the word.

Is it mentioned on the Fourth Street Fantasy website yet?
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:47 am (UTC)
It's not mentioned anywhere yet. This be it. *g* The beta-launch, as it were.

And thank you for the word spreading. It's very appreciated.
gwynnega
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:35 am (UTC)
How cool!!!
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 07:00 am (UTC)
Glad you think so!
slothman
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:38 am (UTC)
I’m interested. The WTF windbreaker made me laugh out loud.

Fortean nitpick: on Stephen Reyes’ page, was HAARP intended?

coffeeem
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:58 am (UTC)
Oh, fiddle. Indeed it was; I left out an A. Thank you. Will fix.
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:59 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 06:58 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - xengar - Jan. 8th, 2008 08:53 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 12:53 pm (UTC) - Expand
blackholly
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:39 am (UTC)
Wow. Cool.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 07:01 am (UTC)
Thank you!

Sometimes you just have to do something because it's so darned *cool.*
calanthe_b
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:40 am (UTC)
Wow. Bloodly Nora. You really do go in for hard fun, don't you?

Sounds/looks very fascinating...
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 07:01 am (UTC)
Hee. I think you will like these guys.

*loff*
karenhealey
Jan. 8th, 2008 06:58 am (UTC)
Oh, GLEE. GLEE!
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 07:00 am (UTC)
Woo! Glad you like.
(no subject) - karenhealey - Jan. 8th, 2008 07:22 am (UTC) - Expand
jadegirl
Jan. 8th, 2008 07:09 am (UTC)
Oh, this is *so* cool.
erinya
Jan. 8th, 2008 07:11 am (UTC)
Looks fascinating! Just my flavor of geek. Is there more to the site than the single page with logo and intro that I see? I looked for links to more but was unsuccessful.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 07:13 am (UTC)
There are at least two links in the body of the vignette.

And more will follow.

Also, detective work around the internets may reveal other lurking things....
(no subject) - coffeeem - Jan. 8th, 2008 07:57 am (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 12:37 pm (UTC) - Expand
glinda_w
Jan. 8th, 2008 08:10 am (UTC)
squee! (other words fail.)
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 12:58 pm (UTC)
woo!

I'm so geeked, actually, I barely slept. *g*
charlieallery
Jan. 8th, 2008 08:33 am (UTC)
Awesome concept! Bookmarked. Love the hyper-linkage, though I can see myself losing track fairly rapidly of what I've read, if that expands as it has the potential to. Seriously looking forward to more though. :)

And Will Wheaton's pimping your books. *g*
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 12:53 pm (UTC)
Hee. The plan is to make the stories, at least, easily findable. Cookies may be less so. But that's why they're cookies.
cinderberry
Jan. 8th, 2008 09:40 am (UTC)
This is beyond brilliant. I love reviews of fake books of the sort Stanislaw Lem used to write, and blogs of fake people, and sites of fake organisations - so this sounds like a project after my own heart.

*glee*
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 12:54 pm (UTC)
And you know, with the WGA on strike... well, we're shy real TV shows.
princejvstin
Jan. 8th, 2008 10:26 am (UTC)
What a quartet of writers. Fun. Fun. Fun!
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 12:54 pm (UTC)
Thank you!
txanne
Jan. 8th, 2008 12:44 pm (UTC)
Can I nominate saoba as the LJ Unofficial Obsessive Episode Recapper? You know, kind of like you are for CM? Because we're gonna need a place to take it apart! Because it's just that effin' cool!

Also, I hope there'll be a non-PayPal way to subscribe. Pretty please.
matociquala
Jan. 8th, 2008 12:58 pm (UTC)
Hah! I would love that. She'd be awesome. (Is saoba a she? OMG. On the internets, nobody knows you're gendered!)

There will also eventually be places for fanfic, etc: the plan is to creative commons it for derivative noncommercial works. However, comma, we have to figure out how to word the agreements so that if that fic is posted anywhere where *we* might see it, the writer agrees that any coincidental parallel development in the cannon plot is, you know, not plagiarism.
(no subject) - txanne - Jan. 8th, 2008 01:06 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 01:09 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - txanne - Jan. 8th, 2008 01:33 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 01:34 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - coffeeem - Jan. 8th, 2008 04:37 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 05:28 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - saoba - Jan. 8th, 2008 10:34 pm (UTC) - Expand
(no subject) - matociquala - Jan. 8th, 2008 10:58 pm (UTC) - Expand
Page 1 of 3
<<[1] [2] [3] >>
( 139 comments — Leave a comment )

Profile

writing rengeek magpie mind
matociquala
it's a great life, if you don't weaken
Elizabeth Bear Dot Com

Latest Month

May 2013
S M T W T F S
   1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293031 

Tags

Powered by LiveJournal.com