I've never heard of Jim Munroe, but he's got an interesting idea for a blog; he's using it as a vehicle for telling a book-length story in 88 parts. When I was younger and single, I had this idea that I'd write one page of a recurring story per day as an exercise in pulpish adventure as a gift for my intended. Nowadays, that would take the form of a blog. Here's the write-up of the exercise: http://nomediakings.org/books/roommatefromhellcom.html "When Kate discovers that her roommate identifies as a demoness, she figures it's too sacrilicious a secret to keep to herself: she tells all on her blog, roommatefromhell.com. This is the basic gist of my new book, An Opening Act of Unspeakable Evil, a tale of the urban occult told entirely through Kate's entries. Starting today, I'll be posting one a day to the faux roommatefromhell.com blog until all 88 entries (the whole book) are up. After that I'll be writing a spinoff story based on how the poll on the site goes." Jim Munroe is a novelist who left HarperCollins to showcase and propagate indie press alternatives to Rupert Murdoch-style consolidation. Why should media magnates have all the fun? Here's a snip: http://roommatefromhell.com/ "She handed me a beer and I toasted her. “That was— Remind me never to call you a whore,” I said. I took a swig from the bottle and put it on the bar because my hand was a little shaky. I cast around for a stool because my legs were rubbery, too. She smiled. Her hand was steady, but her eyes were a little funny. She turned her head as a boy she knew came by before I could really look. Maybe I would have seen that quality I’d seen tonight in them. Maybe they would have been flying. OK, I’m still smelling that weird smell. I’m going to go check her room. Maybe a candle’s still burning or something." johne (phy) cook wisconsin, usa _________________________________________________________________ Check out Election 2004 for up-to-date election news, plus voter tools and more! http://special.msn.com/msn/election2004.armx