Five Lives was great fun to write. The story is about an alien who comes to Earth to find a lost friend. In order to look for her friend she has to take on human form and through the five senses she has been given, touch, sight, smell, sound and taste, she discovers how beautiful it is to be human, and to effectively have five lives.

The story was written online for the publisher, Fiction Express, and my brief was unusual to say the least. I had to write one chapter a week and post it online for hundreds of Spanish speaking students who were learning English. At the end of each chapter, the students were asked to choose what would happen next.

During the writing of every chapter I was in constant contact with the students who were following me. I asked them questions and they gave me suggestions. The reader was a co-creator in the project. A fantastic idea and an example of how digital technology can provide the reading world with something positive. The students were from all over the world and during the interaction they also chatted with each other. Amazing!

I will be doing another story for Fiction Express early next year. Check out their website. They are doing wonderful things.