Originally, POOKOO was going to be a small, quiet story about life in the big city about a forgotten athlete. But something happened on the way to the printing press: the story became about a larger-than-life character, a free download off the Internet, and the POOKOO world grew a cast of rich minor characters. So far, readers from 12 countries have downloaded the book - including 180 + in November.
"I'm surprised that people like who they do," D.L. Shiloh said about his new book, POOKOO. The book is currently free as a download from his web sites and the special edition is being readied for print via Amazon.com. "For instance, the guy doing the screenplay says Floyd the Projectionist is his favorite."
And since the August 2008 release of the book, people have been asking Shiloh which character is he most like.
"My 16-year-old son swears that I'm the narrator, Pete Warner," Shiloh added. "I'm drawn to Katlin Hillmacher, the story's main character, while others like Lenny (the Lobster). An author has a bit of everyone, either inside them or in their experience, to be able to tap into this odd assortment of people."
Fans of the book can now vote for their favorite character in an online poll at http://www.pookoo.net/gpage3.html. If readers send an e-mail to Shiloh through the site's contact page, they'll be put into a drawing that goes until December 31, 2008. The prize? An autographed book of POOKOO: The Special Edition, which is set for publication in late December.
"People love stories and they love characters," Shiloh said. "Every character helped amplify the story, which is one of dark despair during rough times. But they're there for a comedic balance."
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Homefield Multimedia is a multimedia group using new media technology, publishing books, CDs and DVDs.