Back in January, Jodi Cleghorn sent me a cryptic text asking if I wrote letters when I was a teenager. I was prolific. A friend once joked she could make an inspirational calendar from my writing.
Jodi fished for a bit more information before telling me she had a pitch, but would give nothing away. I was on a camping holiday a little south of where Jodi lived, in the first week of January, so she dropped in.
We sat in the ocean with our children splashing around us and after finding out we had a similar writing background as teenagers, she pitched an idea. It’s one that traverses an odd path between old and new forms of communication, differing modalities of storytelling and mixed media, all played out in real and suspended time. It incorporates our love of letter writing and music.
A succession of rapid-fire text messages over the next two or three days brainstormed the concept into a feasible project. We established a setting and our characters. I kept scribbling ideas and suggestions in my notebook as we bounced ideas backwards and forwards. My phone bill was ridiculous that month.
Since then our characters have taken on a life of their own and we are constantly surprised at the emotional investment we have given these fictional people.
For months we wrote in private, dropped cryptic notes and photos on twitter and thought about a launch. Now, the launch of #thesecretproject is imminent and we want to spread the word.
Launching on April 10, 2012, is our collaborative project, Post Marked: Piper’s Reach.
Post Marked: Piper's Reach
Post Marked: Piper’s Reach – The Blurb
In December 1992 Ella-Louise Wilson boarded the Greyhound coach for Sydney leaving behind the small coastal town of Piper’s Reach and her best friend and soulmate, Jude Smith. After twenty years of silence, a letter arrives at Piper’s Reach reopening wounds that never really healed. When the past reaches into the future, is it worth risking a second chance?
Before the launch, would you be interested in hosting an interview with Jodi and myself?
If you do, drop some details in the comments box and our minions will talk to your minions and we’ll bring the cupcakes and tea.
A Fullness in Brevity - Adam Byatt 