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AJ ENTRY #6

Da-da! A new entry into the journal that you all know and love. And as you may have suspected, the don't-read-the-info pressure is building up. Do any of you really know what it's like to try to dodge Animorphs info, whilst running an Animorphs site yourself?! Well, mighty hard is the answer! It truly is unbelievable just how hard it is NOT to have books spoilt for you, if that's your wish. I think the safest option for me would be not to check out the Animorphs sites at all. In fact, I've decided that in April, the release date for Animorphs #53, the only Animorphs site I will visit will be ani-news. Let's face it, many sites have that 'new book' image at the side of their main page, and for a better example MORPHz's leading title image boasts the new month's book cover. Now, I'm not asking any of these sites to stop all of this book publicity for me, or for anyone else who doesn't want the books spoilt for them. I have nothing against them doing that - we do it on our splash page, for goodness sake. It's their choice to publish the book info in any way they please. I was just illustrating how difficult it is to actually NOT have the books spoilt for you. And that is in the extreme case also, like this little experiment of mine, in which viewing of the book cover image is considered a spoiler. Okay, it's late, and I feel like I'm babbling. That's a sure sign that I've had enough of the chats. Until next time (soon, I hope!) ta-ta.

AJ ENTRY #5

Hi everyone. Not much has happened since last update, so this won't be huge. I just wanted to let you all know that in the period when I'm gone, info on #53 will start to heat up a little. There should be a bit more info on it released when I get back, so my job here will get a bit more harder, and my journal entries a bit more frequent. For those of you that are only just seeing this page, a refresh: I am doing a completely unique thing and dodging all information that is released on Animorphs #53. I have done this in the hopes of relinquishing that feeling that first got us interested in the book series. I want to see a book in the shops for the FIRST time, not after having seen the cover, read sample chapters over and over again, and stuff like that. I won't even know the TITLE of this book until I see it in the shop, if all goes according to plan. Wish me luck!

AJ ENTRY #4

Well lookie here - an actual update from the Kurt-man himself. Who woulda thought? Well I know it's been a long time, so sorry for the delay, but not much has been happening in relation to book #53. I mean, nothing until now that is. Yes, as most of you may know, the title for the book has been released. The info was first posted on MORPHz, and just for you all I'll give you a rundown on how this info was presented on a few certain sites in my opinion.

First was MORPHz: These guys took the courtesy (as they always do) to put the news on a separate page. This way you can only access it if you want to, you have to click the link to view the news. It would be very hard to unwillingly spoil something for yourself at this page. However what I found was that there were three news pieces presented on the one page. This was annoying in the sense that if I wanted to keep something unspoilt and yet view the other news I couldn't. I was forced to (very skilfully, mind you) place my hand on my monitor in an attempt to cover the title to scroll down past it to view the other news.

The next page I went to was Monster's Animorphs Site. Now Monster had posted the news very obviously on his main page. I came VERY close to revealing the title to myself (this no-info thing is going to be harder then it sounds). Now, I don't know wether Monster received any e-mails or the like about it, but he very graciously blackened out the info. Lol, he was lucky, 'cause I was going to e-mail him about it. Spoilers should at least have some sort of highlight system, or bright colors to notify the viewer that a spoiler is upcoming to help them skip past it.

Now, there are a few little #53 whispers going around. I have, successfully, dodged them all. The only thing I have heard is that this book will be fully written (i.e. no ghostwriter) by KAA. All-right! We've been waiting for this for a long time, and what a book to do it on - the one that is going to take me completely by surprise.

AJ ENTRY #3

Hey. Tyler here. I know a lot of people have been following Kurt's journal on the snuffing of book #53, and I agree- that would be a lot of fun to do! But, the news still needs to get to the people who want to know it. In that case, I have to do my job. I will be reporting the news, while Kurt completely ignores, and avoids it. :0)

If you see this warning ANYWHERE within the site, avoid it if you are looking for the feeling. Good luck, have fun, and feel free to tell us how your journey is going!

AJ ENTRY #2

Hey hey hey! My second journal entry! I bet you want to know what's been happening so far, so I thought I'd pay you the kind service of letting you know. Well, there has been a heap of response so far. Apparently I was one of MANY fans out there that want to find what has come to be known as 'the feeling' again. Excellent. Of course, I thought I should explain just how hard this task is going to be.

For starters, before I even read updates on any Animorphs site I use Internet Explorer's find command to search the site for mention of #53. If nothing, I have to QUICKLY QUICKLY QUICKLY scan sites for any mention of the book. If still nothing I can proceed. Some sites are particularly good, like MORPHz (didn't I mention those guys last entry?) who do not post any info on their main page, they link to it. Thumbs up for them!

But it does not end there. E-mails are death traps, in that subjects can be very misleading, if the senders are tricky enough. Let's just say that there is a lot of dodging going on. It will get much harder as it comes closer to being released.

I'd also like to mention, if my first entry was misleading, that my journey to find 'the feeling' is a solo task. Yup, that means I'm doing it completely by myself. I have nothing against anyone trying to do it for themselves, that's what makes it fun! But please don't e-mail asking to join in on this website experience, and want to update and stuff. That's a big "uh-uh."

Finally, I've added a copyright to the bottom of this page, and a poll, linked at the top. I didn't expect the fan-response to be so big, but it's been great, and I don't want any other webmaster cashing in on it! Ha-ha! Selfish, you say? Well, kinda, but we've had trouble with stealing in the past. Some people think that they can just change the title, and a few of the details and that makes it completely different, but it's not. I now realise that I'm rambling, so I'd better stop now. Hey, stop it! STOP it! ARRRGHHHHH!

AJ ENTRY #1

Welcome to Animorphs Journal (AJ), a very special, and unique, ani-news.com presentation. So what exactly is AJ? Well hold on to your seats, and listen closely:

Ever since the scholastic site first went up (It was when Animorphs 9 or 10 was released, I believe) we Animorphs fans have developed a whole new internet community. We find stuff, share info, interact with each other and much more. We design our own morphs, have a lot of good times, but what stands out the most is that we find and deliver in-depth knowledge of the upcoming books before the books themselves are released, months in advance.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to not have this knowledge? I mean, truly, who has walked into a bookstore, looking for the latest Animorphs title and been really surprised by the cover, for example. Well I wonder what that feeling is like - I lost it a long time ago. And so this is what I'm proposing. A trial...

I want to know what that feeling is like once again. To pick up the latest Animorphs book and be amazed by the cover, to not have read a sample chapter, or even an overview. I don't WANT to know what the cover morph is, or any plot details are. Simply, I want to be completely surprised.

This page is going to play host to my journey. The book I am going to "snob" will be Animorphs #53. This is due to the fact that I read the review of #52 on MORPHz. So from here on in I will write about my struggles...everything that will eventuate from my decision, from dodging info when it's released, trying to get around people sending me e-mails trying to sabotage my mission, trying to run an animorphs website, while not viewing certain info...

It's going to be hard. But I know I can do it. And I want to take you all on the ride with me. Anyone, in their own home, can join in on this exercise, I think it'll be fun. A challenge. Come along, if you dare...

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Here is my copyright. '©2000'. Do not use this idea. This means you, and quite possibly the person standing next to you, they look suspicious. Seriously though, don't take the idea. It would be bad...very bad. Bwa-ha-ha-haaaaaaa...

You got that evil scientist laugh, didn't you?