When author Michael Latshaw first began releasing chapters of his book “It Happened in Plainfield” on the web in April 2007, he had no idea the project would take on a life of it’s own. Originally planned as a humorous online mystery serial, Latshaw posted a new chapter on his website every Monday morning, wondering if anyone would ever find them. It was several weeks into the process when he realized people had not only found the story, but were quickly becoming very loyal and dedicated readers.

“I wanted to create an old-fashioned serial,” Latshaw said. “So that people would want to come back every week to see what happened next. And surprisingly, they did. I began getting e-mails from people saying how much they identified with the main character , Henson Ray, and all the quirky people he came in contact with. Plus, the added element of a Secret Society of Celebrities didn’t hurt, either.”

But when Latshaw announced to his readers that the story would be coming to an end on Monday, December 31, he began getting e-mails of a slightly different nature.

“I thought New Year’s Eve seemed like the perfect day to conclude such an opus, but people were actually begging me not to do it. They’d gotten so used to the Monday morning chapters, and the weekly visit with their 'friends' in Plainfield, that they didn’t want it to end.”

So to satisfy his fans and hopefully expose the story to a new crop of readers, Latshaw began an ongoing blog called “Henson’s Hell,” which is “written” by his main character, Henson Ray. The blog actually appears in the book, so Latshaw sees it as a great way of extending the boundaries of the story, and allowing Henson’s character to interact with the real world. The blog has been quite successful in gathering new readers, and Henson does a great job of keeping his fans amused with regular commentary and musings about pop culture and other oddities.

After launching “Henson’s Hell,” Latshaw then began creating a series of short videos for YouTube that were designed to promote “It Happened in Plainfield” from a different angle. The videos each covered a particular aspect of the book, and were presented in the form of news stories. In each video, local reporter Fritz Freewhenever investigates the mysterious celebrity sightings taking place in Plainfield. The “investigation” eventually leads him to London and Madrid, which ironically paralleled Latshaw’s own excursions to those particular cities.

The promotional videos eventually led Latshaw to explore other kinds of entertainment, including a series of short one-minute videos films featuring his two cats and a slew of inanimate objects.

“The one-minute video is a fun challenge,” Latshaw confesses. “And right now my actors are either animals or plastic toys, so it’s fairly easy to shoot and edit these in a timely fashion. I don’t have to work around anyone’s schedule but my own.”

To keep all his various creative endeavors centrally located, Latshaw developed the Wizard of Wit website to house his videos and other humorous content. The website also serves as a portal to “It Happened in Plainfield” and “Henson’s Hell,” making it much easier for readers to find everything all in one place.

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