How Will You Die?

The main character in my upcoming novel BLACKBIRDS can see how and when you’re going to die just by touching you. A little skin-to-skin contact and — *snaps fingers* — she knows.

And now I want to know how you’re going to die.

I’ve started a Tumblr page.

This Is How You Die (how-you-die.tumblr.com).

Think of this as a community storytelling and art project in the vein of, say, Postsecret.

This is what I want from you:

I want to know how you’re going to die.

This can be fantasy. This can be parody. This can be a meditation on the fear or power of death.

Maybe it’s how you want to die. Or are afraid to die. Or how you’ve always expected to die.

You can send it to me at terribleminds at gmail.

If you want to send something physical in the mail, email me and I can get you an address.

Or you can submit direct to the Tumblr: http://how-you-die.tumblr.com/submit

It can be straight text (preferably under 100 words; shorter is almost universally better).

But I’d also like a mix of other media if possible:

Photos, music, videos, postcards. Anything that tells a story of how you expect to die.

(Again, Postsecret is a good example as any if you need it.)

If you’ve got a Tumblr blog, I’d appreciate you following along.

I’ll keep running this up to and ideally beyond the BLACKBIRDS release on April 24th, 2012 (with the mighty Angry Robot Books). Keep your eyes peeled to that blog as I may do story snippets and giveaways for the book that you can’t find here. But mostly I hope you’ll keep in touch for the stories and the art the community creates.

Which means, it’s time for the disclaimer:

Whatever you send to me, you’re giving to me. I can do whatever I want with it. I can manipulate images and text and edit accordingly. I don’t want to say I own it — but by sending it over, you give me permission to use it as I see fit. Obviously if the time comes you need me to take something down, I will. And feel free to submit anonymously — I will be posting them all anonymously anyway.

Please spread the word.

Please participate.

And thanks!