The Waterhouse Women was the first piece of interactive fiction that I released. I entered it in IntroComp, a competition in which authors submit the beginning of a new, never before seen work of IF, but not the full game. People play the introductions and vote upon which games they'd like to see completed. The Waterhouse Women took third runner-up. Not bad, considering it was my first public attempt.

I am continuing to work on the complete release of the game, which I now simply call Waterhouse. Some of you who'd like to see this full-release game don't believe me when I say that I'm working on it, but I am. My full idea was far too vast to be implemented by a new programmer in under a year, and I've spent a good deal of time over the past few several years corresponding with Pre-Raphaelite art historians, purchasing and reading tomes on Waterhouse, and researching the flora and fauna of the British countryside. Heck, I've even swapped e-mails with Tracy Chevalier, author of Girl with a Pearl Earring on copyright issues with respect to paintings. Peter Trippi, author of Phaidon's latest (very gorgeous and informative) Waterhouse book has also been extremely kind and helpful.

My most amusing moment in doing research was when I wrote the Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies and began my inquiry with "I am writing to you because I am conducting research on John William Waterhouse for a fictional piece that I am writing..." In their reply, they said, "Your fictional work sounds fascinating [...] and we will no doubt want to review your book when it's published." I wrote back trying to explain what interactive fiction was.

At any rate, you can play the introduction to The Waterhouse Women by clicking here, but to be honest, if you haven't played this one yet, hold off. I honestly am working on finishing it.

Honestly.

If you're new to interactive fiction, I would recommend a visit to A Beginner's Guide to Playing Interactive Fiction before you download anything.

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