Join us at “The Brink”

Your Invitation to The Brink

I know I’ve told you guys before about the super-cool work of author J.C. Hutchins. Hutchins is the genius behind the epic 7th Son podcast novel trilogy. This summer, his next work is going to hit bookstores — Personal Effects: Dark Art. But just as J.C. helped to revolutionize podcast novels and  — let’s be honest — was one of the major influences that made me a believer in the New Media, now he’s going to do something totally original with his foray into print.

Personal Effects: Dark Art is the story of an art therapist named Zach Taylor who works at the legendary horrific Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital, known to many as “The Brink.” The book itself is going to come with several “personal effects,” items that belong to the patients, that you can use to help immerse yourself into the world of the story. And as if that wasn’t enough, now you can become a part of the experience online as well.

Head to “The Brink” Page of J.C.’s website to learn how you can become a patient at the Brink. Share some of your own artwork, join the online community, and become a part of what is sure to be one of the coolest publishing experiences of 2009. This looks like it’s going to be a sort of hybrid between a book and an ARG — Alternate Reality Game — and these things are always a lot more fun if you get in on the ground floor. Having no artistic ability myself, I won’t actually be participating in the first “assignment,” which is to contribute your own patient artwork, but you can bet I’ll be keeping an eye out to see what happens next.