(Note: This is part II of a four-part blog post. For part one, a profile of author Kate Pullinger, click here. The full article originally appeared in the November 2009 issue of the Queensland Writers Centre's Writer's Quarterly Magazine.)

Lisa Holton of FourthStory MediaLisa Holton, Founder and CEO of Fourth Story Media is currently enjoying the success of The Amanda Project, the first collaborative, interactive fiction series for girls aged 13 and up. The Amanda Project unfolds across an interactive website, and readers not only read – but write parts of what will become the published books. For the uninitiated, The Amanda Project is not really a book, it’s not a video game, and it’s not a website. Lisa and the other creators call it "a collaborative, interactive mystery – where readers can participate in the story."

It was Lisa’s 25 years working in children’s book publishing, and the ideas expressed in BORN Digital that helped generate the idea for The Amanda Project.

"Publishing is an art as well as a business – attracting, nurturing, editing, and supporting talented authors and illustrators, designing and producing books, connecting them with readers. I believe many, many kids love to read and many more love to live online – so I started thinking about how to combine those two activities, and Amanda just kind of appeared."

What would Lisa consider as one of the drawbacks of being a pioneer in transmedia? The Amanda Project’s unusual nature as a non-book can make it harder for people to understand what it is: "There has certainly been a fair amount of attention, but since it’s completely new and unlike anything else that exists, it’s understandably hard for some people to get what the heck we’re talking about -- teens, though, usually get it immediately."

And it is a huge collaborative effort. Says Lisa, "We approached Melissa Kantor and Peter Silsbee, the first two authors [about telling] an ongoing story over a series of novels and the web ... we all got together with Happy Cog, our web design firm, and played around with both story and format at the same time ... then Melissa and Peter went off and created characters and a story while Happy Cog invented a web site that allows kids to participate in the story.

The creative process was exciting because each person got to do what they do best – write, design,create information architecture – but they got to talk about it with other talented people, learn what the others were doing, and be inspired by each other’s work. I think everyone involved got a big kick out of it, and fed off of each other’s ideas."

Lisa’s role became something akin to a director: "I did what you do when you direct or produce any creative endeavor – go find talented people, help them do their best work, clearly define what it is you’re trying to do and then try to move toward completion … the real challenge is in the editorial work."

But the most challenging aspect of The Amanda Project?

"Anytime you try to make up something as you go along, it is going to be challenging. Balancing the plot arc and mystery over the site and the books will continue to be a big challenge, and we will need to make sure we are as responsive to the kids' contributions as we are now while we grow. Perhaps the hardest thing continues to be trying to explain to non-Amandaites what it’s all about."

In true transmedia style, engagement/interactivity between the reader and the story is a big focus of Lisa’s work on Amanda. "It’s the goal of the project. We know we’ve accomplished it when we see the readers diving into the stories online – they create amazing characters, write beautiful responses, and are wildly creative in the way they further the story."

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Click here to read Pt. I of Transmedia Storytelling: Pioneers in the New Age of Narrative - KATE PULLINGER.

Check back Wednesday for Pt. III of this post: Transmedia Storytelling: Pioneers in the New Age of Narrative - JEFF GOMEZ of Starlight Runner Entertainment