Interviews, and Words of Traitors

A 2 part interview I had with the popular if offbeat Serious Wonder podcast. Black holes, the myths of science, the shadow people, aliens, death, transhumanism, and the future:

I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, and I must say it was one of the more unusual interviews I've had put to me. I appreciate that. It's not often that someone out of the blue asks you, "so, what do you think about the shadow people?"

And what else is new? 

Of course-- this (Words of Traitors) is what is taking a great deal of my attention right now, and hopefully in the months to come as we build Nyssa, a graphic novel and fundraiser out of one of the chapters in the next installment.

The story behind the conception of WoT...

I was fighting chronic pain, I had to move, I was behind on payments, I was getting death threats, royalties from past books suddenly weren’t cutting it, and I had an infection in the nerves inside my teeth that lead, the dental student explained with eerie cheerfulness, into my eye and brain.

No one in their right mind would choose THAT as the time to start churning out short stories. But sure enough that is exactly what I did. One every few days. When my laptop and desktops died or became unreliable, I started writing it on my my cellphone because my handwriting, though it’s alright for notes, is just too slow and clumsy to write fiction with. I packed my life into boxes and then unpacked them again, and in the process discovered that I had one parcel along with them: this freshly printed young manuscript, written in a month, which was (I was told a few times) bringing people to tears.

My point is: at the end of the day no one knows anything about what good literature is, not really. No accounting for taste. But I do know that I made girls cry, and that has to count for something.

Now it is the time for these stories to be polished, for them to be paired with the art of some very talented artists, for a cover to be created — and most importantly — it is time for you to join us in the steps that come next.

-James Curcio

Still open to last minute artist/creative people jumping aboard (very, very last minute) and any linkage, pluggage, or support you can provide, financial or otherwise. This is more than just some short story collection. That promise will have to remain a "you'll understand when you get there" thing, though I've started to hint at it in some of the videos on the fundraiser site of me babbling at my videophone.

All in all, it's best I get back to work on that than talk more ABOUT it. Can I count on some of you to do whatever thing you can, tell a friend, share a dollar or a thousand, and I'll get back to what I'm best at?

The Words of Traitors Site

The truth about these stories. I was fighting chronic pain, I had to move, I was behind on payments, I was getting death threats, royalties from past books weren’t cutting it, and suddenly I had an infection in the nerves inside my teeth. No one in their right mind would choose THAT as the time to start churning out short stories, one every few days. But that is exactly what I did. 20,000 words in a month. When my laptop and desktops died or became unreliable, I started writing it on my cellphone because my handwriting, though it’s alright for notes, is just too slow and clumsy to write fiction with.

I packed my life into boxes and then unpacked them again, and in the process discovered that I had one parcel along with them: this freshly printed young manuscript, written in a month, which was (I was told quite a few times) bringing people to tears.

At the end of the day no one knows anything about what good literature is, not really. But I do know that I made girls cry, and that has to count for something.

Now it is the time for these stories to be polished, for them to be paired with the art of some very talented artists, for a cover to be created — and most importantly — it is time for you to join us in the steps that come next.

FUNDRAISER July 19, 2012 - Aug 19, 2012.

We are just getting the site up now, manual tweaking the CSS and working up the content will continue in the weeks leading up to the launch of the Indigogo fundraiser. In that time I will continue discussing the project with artists that want to be involved, and getting everything in motion.

Contact me if you are a visual artist looking to get involved, or if you would like to be a part of the street team -- instead of donating $$, donate some of your time and get perks. Limited space available.

http://wordsoftraitors.tumblr.com

Crowdfunding 2012

"We need to raise seed $ ourselves bc functional production companies no longer give a fuck about good creative work. welcome 2012" 

2012 Modern Mythology Projects 

In other words, and I know I'll need to pimp this every day for most the rest the summer...but i'm saying...that I need to leverage about $5 for every twitter and Facebook friend, and I can produce a great graphic novel length series with additional plot arcs in 3d and maybe live action, and a hardbound book of raw short stories.

But it doesn't come from thin air, we need to crowd source this ONCE, and do it right enough that we market it well enough to make a phenomenon. Sell 10,000+ units, agents get interested, and I've got a shot at my real dream.

But this is also terrifying because it is incredibly, impossibly hard at every stage to pull this off and there is no margin of error for me. There is no Plan B.

This is the only life I want. All others follow after I succeed at this. I can't fail anymore.

And if people say don't be so honest to others, well fuck them.

I am passionate about this work in a way that I can only show by the way I create it and I need you all to help me make that happen, even just by contributing what you can when the fundraisers start. I can promise to put everything I have into this, and into the work we produce through it, I can assure you that it is something that will meet you halfway and, if you're in the target market for it, it'll change you forever. But it only gets made if it gets funded. Don't make the funding goals? Everyone goes home.

I can't fail. Not because it isn't possible but because there is no other story or universe where I continue on the Right path, a whole person, afterward.

That's the genuine truth. I hope you come along for the ride. Announcements will be on www.modernmythology.net so please subscribe there if you want alerts as these things develop.

Plus, we will be developing a lot of unique perks for each contributor by hand. And everyone likes those, right?

-Jamie Curcio