100 Years of Ermintrude is a wonderful example of how an author’s work can be re-purposed for different platforms.
It started life as a PDF download which raised a nice amount of money for breast cancer charity … and ended up with me walking around London in a bra with 15,000 women.
It then morphed into an MP3 and then I wrote two sequels and the printed version of the book appeared a year later.
And now a few years after it was originally conceived, it is being made available on the iPhone and iPod touch.
This, of course, takes the work to a whole new audience in a whole new manner.
The trilogy is being released in installments as iPhone Apps over three months … here’s the schedule:
100 Years of Ermintrude
100 Years of Ermintrude is a narrated ebook with soothing classical guitar background music. It tells the story of a great-great-granny from death to birth.
The story of her life, her loves and her family is told backwards in just 33 stanzas. It’s an ideal story for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Just put your headphones on, snuggle up in a comfy chair and treat yourself to 20 minutes of pure me-time.
“Stunning, I cried, that’s all,” said one reader.
Others said:
“What a stroke of genius to turn it upside down – you’re drawn further and further in, desperate to know what happened before. Very evocative writing, particularly when writing as a small child. I love it and I love Ermintrude and especially the big floppy hat.”
“Really nice app. Very different & relaxing. Great use of voice & txt to tell an unusual, thoughtful story – backwards”
“Endearing. Ideal for the Tube.”
The title was inspired by 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez and with the name Ermintrude herself coming from The Magic Roundabout.
Any similarity ends there.
100 Years of Ermintrude now available in the iPhone App Store
25 Years of Tristan
25 Years of Tristan is the second story in the Ermintrude trilogy. It tells of the short life of Ermintrude’s son. Tristan’s life is told with an unusual marking of time. Imagine if you knew how many months you had left to live. Would you live your life differently?
Like life Ermintrude’s story, the message is simple. Live your life as if each day may be your last and live it to the full. Tristan’s story is a reminder to us all that our time on this planet should be treasured.
“Brilliant! Stop, look and listen. Read, learn and inwardly digest. I’m touched and delighted. I’m quiet. A truly poignant story of how life changes. It made me think about how the bad times quickly change to good times.”
25 Years of Tristan is scheduled for publication on the App Store in March.
65 Years of Lucy
Last in the Ermintrude trilogy is her daughter’s story, 65 Years of Lucy. Lucy inherits her mother’s indomitable spirit and her story fills in many of the gaps from Ermintrude’s and Tristan’s life tales. Together the three tales show how we should treasure everyone we touch and meet in our lives.
“What a delightful, unusual book. An excellent insight into the ages of humankind, it deserves a wide audience.”
“You have captured the zeitgeist of each age beautifully and with laser sharp accuracy.”
65 Years of Lucy is scheduled for publication on the App Store in April.
