When I read Something Real at the beginning of last year, I had no idea that I'd be embarking on a new book affair with Heather Demetrios' writing. Three (!) books later, the busy and talented Heather is revisiting the story that started it all.
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK (April 27, 2015)—Heather Demetrios announced today that she is writing a sequel to her critically acclaimed debut novel, Something Real.
The Lexie Project is a multi-media, multi-platform storytelling experience, a novelized memoir that reaches readers through social media, including Wattpad and Tumblr. Demetrios will be writing the story in serialized form with weekly installments, at no cost to the reader. Daily updates on Lexie’s social media accounts will give readers the chance to interact directly with Lexie, as well as provide readers with opportunities to influence the course of the story.
Said Demetrios, “YA readers are passionate fans and their deep investment in the stories they love is something I took into consideration when I set out to work on the sequel. Lexie’s story is about a reality TV star who’s now trying to make it in Hollywood. As such, I want to give my readers a fresh, modern way of entering into into her story—this is how Lexie would tell it. Fan interaction and crowd sourcing allows the YA fandom to be part of the creation of the story and I’m excited to see where it will take us.”
The first installment of The Lexie Project comes out on Wattpad on June 8, 2015. Lexie is already active on her social media accounts. Readers can find out more on www.heatherdemetrios.com/books/lexie_project.
SO COOL. There are also going to be videos by Lexie's YouTube star roomie in the novel, so I'm definitely getting shades of Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Choose Your Own Adventure, aka THINGS I ALREADY LOVE.
Haven't read Something Real yet? What are you waiting for? "Readers do not need to read Something Real," says Heather, "but, of course, it deepens their understanding of Lex and the other characters." And there's still plenty of time for you to get caught up with the Bakers before the launch of The Lexie Project on June 8th!
Here's the official word on The Lexie Project:
Lexie Baker is ready for her close up and nobody’s gonna get in her freaking way.
Nearly a year after graduating high school and taking a hiatus from her family’s reality TV show, Baker's Dozen: Fresh Batch, Lexie is in Los Angeles, on a mission to take Hollywood by storm. From red carpet premiers to helping her YouTube star roommate film weird videos, Lex fits right in with the droves of girls just as hungry as she is for some screen time. When Jax Wilson, a young, hot producer, offers to launch The Lexie Project, a reality show that will chronicle Lex’s adventures trying to make it as an actress in LA, she jumps at the chance. It isn’t an Oscar-winning role, but it’s a start.Then she meets Liam, a film student who brings books to parties and is one of her twin brother’s closest friends. When it becomes clear that her brother, Benny, has a serious drinking problem—one that lands him on the front page of tabloids and threatens to get him kicked out of his university—Lexie relies on Liam to help her protect her brother. But spending time with Liam throws Lex into a spiral of self doubt: is this the life she really wants? And how far will she go for the stardom she’s always longed for?
The City of Angels soon becomes Hell on Earth and Lexie realizes that everyone—even Liam—has something they’re hiding. Fed up with Hollywood, Lexie decides she needs to find a new role to play–not the one she was cast in at birth.
The Lexie Project is a spin-off of the critically acclaimed novelized memoir, Something Real, by Heather Demetrios and features several of the major characters from the novel, including Chloe and Patrick.
The authors of The Lexie Project, Heather and Lexie!
Find Lexie online!
Wattpad (where the story will be told)
Tumblr
Pinterest
Twitter
Goodreads
What do you think about real-time multimedia storytelling experiences like The Lexie Project? What other potential sequels would you like to be told in this way? And do you have any questions for Lexie or Heather? (Ask and they might appear in my upcoming interview with the duo!) Let me know in the comments!