Weekly Blogging: The Daughters of Freya
For this week’s blogging put on your thinking caps, your leg-warmers of creativity, and your pocket-protector of digital acumen:
What digital “thing” would you most like to see used in The Daughters of Freya? This could be a new feature or type of content, or it could be an expansion of what’s already there.
I’m curious to see what you come up with!
September 16th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
I’m actually really enjoying The Daughters of Freya. I find myself checking my email constantly; it’s frustrating that I can’t read the emails at my own pace, but at the same time, the anticipation builds which is pretty cool. Sometimes when I’m reading though, I feel like it’s a rough draft of the real thing – I think there’s a lot of potential for this story to be really, really good. First, I’d definitely like to have phone numbers that worked. This was a pretty awesome element to Cathy’s Book, and I think it would really enhance this story as well. Also, many of us have said in class that it’s sometimes hard to keep track of the story, characters, etc… It might be a good idea to have a corresponding blog so that readers can interact with each other about what’s going on in the book. Of course, this presents the problem of the ending being spoiled, so making different threads for different topics might work.
September 16th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I agree with marissa. the fact that the phone numbers don’t work really messes me up. I don’t have a problem with having to log in to the DoF website but its lame that the numbers are dead…I would like to hear some voices to go with this story and also more access to photos of the main characters…specifically peter and samantha (and maybe even max, don, karen and lisa) would help me. i like to do some hardcore visualizaton when i read and i dont have anything to work with. for the most part i have been really happy with the daughters of freya. i like that i have to wait to get the emails and the story seems clear enough and easy for me to follow and i don’t think it breaks character in terms of real life email too often. i’m way more into it then i was into Cathy’s book…
September 16th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Daughters of Freya is pretty cool, I’m really enjoying it. I’m obsessively checking my email, too. I really like the pacing that the email format gives the story. Like Marissa said, when you run out of emails to read the suspense starts to build and you try to guess what’s going to happen next. Then, when you have a new email in your inbox, you break the tension by flying through it and then the process starts again. It’s very condusive to mystery as a genre, and you can’t help being really interested in what’s happening because it forces you to keep guessing. Pictures of the main characters would be nice, though. And I don’t know if I skipped an email or what, but I’m totally confused by Jane’s connection to the cult. Where did that come from?
September 16th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
Agreed that the pacing is crucial to the suspense of the piece. I think it’s one of the format’s– and the story’s– great strengths.
Disagreed, though, on the matter of the phone numbers– while Cathy’s Book was fantastic at blurring the line between fantasy and reality, I don’t think that DoF carried that intent. To actually implement all of the contact info given at the end of some of those emails would be an unrealistically huge undertaking.
I didn’t mind having to frequently go through the DoF website for the extra content, but I did get a little thrown off by the mix of pre-existing websites and created websites. What I would like to have seen was a more integrated DoF website– almost like a wiki with few (if any) external links. All the background necessary for the story could be included, along with any other fake websites needed to create a sense of realism. This could also create more plausible excuses for finding people’s photographs, personal info, etc– maybe it could include a Myspace knockoff where all the characters have profiles! ‘Twould make it a heck of a lot easier to remember who’s who. In general, I think blending ‘real’ internet content with ‘fake’ internet content runs the risk of confusing the reader– how much of the Freyja website do I have to read to get all of the info I need? If the oceanographic institute (or whatever) real or fake? Is there other info relevant to the story hidden in there? ell, no, because it’s a real website. But creating a ‘pocket’ internet in which the story takes place would really allow the reader to take on more of an investigative role– because they can know that most of the information there will be relevant, or if not, irrelevant for a reason.
Well, that rambled a bit, but I hope my intent was legible. See y’all in class.
-FTF
September 17th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
I really agree with what everyone has been saying about more photos- that would be fun. I also kind of agree with FTF about a more comprehensive DoF website. I don’t know how I feel about character profiles, but it would be nice to fish around the website for new things.
One thing I really like so far are the cryptic little orange message that the cult insiders send each other. I also like that there are a couple of new sub-plots beginning to expand (Tom). The reading is definatly getting more interesting as we go on.
One thing that I kind of wanted to see was the video that Samantha took while in Krueper’s office… It would have been great if she had “up-loaded” it into the email.
But really, other than small things, I am pretty happy with the way that this story is being told.
September 17th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
I find it interesting that people seem to all agree on wanting to see more pictures of the characters. While I do agree that it would be nice to put a face to everyone, it is interesting because part of the beauty of the literature we have previously been familiar with is that the lack of visuals leaves room for the imagination. And after all, a good read should stimulate our iminds to create our own visual interpretation. But thats just some food for thought!
I guess as far as adding a new digital dimension, I find that as the story continues and more characters come into play, some type of online character profile attached to the e-mails would be incredibly helpful. I find myself having to go back and search through previous e-mails to remember whom is who.
I originally thought it would be interesting to add more websites such as police reports, etc. that would allow us, as readers, to have more of a hands-on approach with the detective work, but as I read on, I realize that we are receiving these e-mails in a timely fashion that does not allow us to jump ahead and make our own conclusions for a reason. This, I find, is part of the fun associated with reading an e-mail mystery…the fact that we just can’t jump ahead.
One final aspect that I thought would make it more interesting would be to see the e-mails formatted differently for a couple of the characters. Aside from her father, they all seem to have the same format, but many people tend to have different styles of e-mailing. I think character analysis and content could actually be strengthened by adding this dimension.
September 17th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
I’m not sure how this could be accomplished exactly, but I think it would be cool to be able to email someone in the story yourself. Specifically, I was thinking I would like to write an email to Samantha about her article and it could be on the list with all the other responses. This way, the reader would be participating, but no response would be required. On the other hand, it would be really cool to be able to ask a character a question and have them respond to you. Maybe if it was kept to just yes or no questions there could be some sort of easy way for the author to respond? Being able to email a character in this novel would be like an equivalent to having phone numbers in “Cathy’s Book.”
September 18th, 2007 at 8:47 am
I’m definiitely agreeing with everyone who has suggested moore photographs, perhaps of what the Daughter’s of Freya house looks like as well as the main characters such as Sam, Jane, and Simone. I love this email idea and having more interactions may be crucial to help the story move along, however sometimes it is not necessary for more links and such. Most of the links I dont read or look at until after Im finished reading the emails and go to the DOF website. When signed in you can look at everything you have read so far and all the links that have gone along with the emails. Kipepeo suggested that police reports would be useful which I might agree with however I dont think I am as far in reading as everyone else so Im not sure how this would come into play. All in alll Im enjoying the emails and looking forward to reading the remainder of the story.
September 18th, 2007 at 9:07 am
I am deffinately enjoying the DoF even though right now my inbox is plauged with e-mails because i have been out of commission for a few days. Besides more pictures I think it would be interesting to have links to recordings instead of phone numbers. For instance since Sam is a reporter I am sure she records her formal interviews, links to be able to listen to those would be very interesting I think. Voices help with giving a visual of a character as well.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:05 am
I agree with photos or some other way to put a face to a name. I feel it would really help keep the characters organized in my head. I also feel as though this is missing something that for me would make this seem more real to me. I don’t know about the rest of the class but i know that my inbox is packed with spam mail. Maybe the author can throw in a couple of pieces of spam here and there and the author could even sell some advertising space within each one to be able to fund some of the ideas that the class has about telephone numbers, facebook accounts and websites. This would really add to the realism of this story for me because of the idea that we are reading these from someone’s e-mail inbox.
A picture of the DoF temple would be good because when someone says cult, i think of people in a uniform normally carrying around funny talismans, normally half clothed, walking around as if they were brainwashed. It would be nice to put this stereotype to rest.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:55 am
I would have to say that what I think should be added to DofF would have to be a picture of the temple or just a more detailed description of it. I find myself struggling with getting a mental image of the building and I think that it would be a lot cooler if we had some sort of image to think about while we read about it. Even just a description of it would be fine because then each person could make their own image in their head and that would then be neat to talk about; the different ideas that people have about how the temple looks.
September 18th, 2007 at 11:10 am
I am surprised we haven’t encountered anything with easily cracked “fake” encryptions. It would give Daughters more of an involved feel like Cathy’s book had.
September 18th, 2007 at 7:08 pm
I wish that as the e-mails came in their address was from the actual sender instead of “Email Mystery”. This would get me me more excited about reading the emails.
I agree that the video of the password would have been fun to see. From that the reader could then find the password and log in to a separate email provider to read his emails.
Also, I think it would be better if the e-mails came in faster. Its hard to keep track of all the information when it comes in little pieces like this.
:: Clock Model ::
September 20th, 2007 at 12:43 am
Although I credit DoF for being the first email based work I’ve ever come across, there is always room for improvement. Here are a few suggestions I thought of:
1. The multi-email emails were extremely confusing. It took me a while to figure out who was responding to who at what time and in regards to what? Lots of unanswered questions there.
2. Graphic details about the sex cult.
3. I’m a huge LOST fan. Part of the success of that show is the frequent flashbacks that seem to answer questions about the future. Though we found Jane and Sam discussing the events of their experimental teenage years in the first few emails, I would like to see darker pasts emerged. Much like LOST’s hero Jack, who’s fear of death was derived from a huge dispute with his father. This could be done through links to character flashbacks as the story progesses.
I’m no email novelist but I feel these simple additions would be a step in the right direction.
September 20th, 2007 at 8:25 am
I too find the multi-emails pretty confusing and at times this turns me off a little from reading…also I’m not a huge fan of the format. Reading a novel in email form doesn’t really thrill me, I find it kind of annoying probably because I’m the type of person who likes to set my own pace when reading a novel but this definately doesn’t allow for that. However, I admit that it is an interesting idea and the actual plot is entertaining. If I could make any changes I would probably have the phone numbers actually work, that was something I really enjoyed about Cathy’s Book, I really felt like it added another reality dimention to the novel and kept my interest. I also, would make it so that you didn’t need to type in your own password and unsername everytime you clicked on a link, this really takes me out of the novel and I feel like the whole point of the email novel is to give the reader the sense that they are in this persons world hacking in to her email.