This interview is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can read all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale Alex Rose: SongwriterAlex Rose is an Indianapolis based musician whose new song “Space Adventure” is 10,000 Dawns new Theme Song! You can hear a sample of the song in front of this week's podcast version of 10kd, or just download the whole thing below!
First off, could you introduce yourself for our readers? Hi! I'm Alex Rose! I've been playing guitar for 8 years and music is my absolute passion! It's a major part of me and I'm so happy to be able to be involved in this great story! I’m an artist in many forms and I absolutely love creating things. I also love space! The way you met the author of 10,000 Dawns was pretty interesting from what I hear? Yea actually! We had met at PopCon in Indianapolis IN in June of 2015! Uh, but, how we became friends consisted of a major dance off between me (a cosplaying starlord) and him (a dancing Doctor!). And the friendship sparked from there! Tell us about your song, “Space Adventure”, what inspired it? How did you go about writing it? Space Adventure came to be when I was going through a rough time with friends and relationships. I was being thrown around emotionally, and the song is about me telling myself and others that I can do everything I set my mind to do and what they do doesn't hold me back It was me standing up for myself. It took a long time for me to actually come out and say what it was about, because I was afraid. But I'm so glad I did. And now it's a fan favorite What themes do you think the song shares with 10kd? Space man!!!! I also feel like it has a strong connections with Graelyn! The song very much portrays a strong independent vibe which is everything I see Graelyn as. I feel like it really commits to the story and I'm so glad that it's the theme song! What drew you into music? My dad actually! He was a major influence. He taught me the basics of guitar. What kind of music do you listen to when you're not writing it? Have a favorite song? I listen to everything (but country) honestly! And my favorite song changes every week! But right now, it's I Want To Get Better by Bleachers Like a lot of awesome artists, you do live shows! Where can people see you, and how do you feel about performing in front of people? Do you ever get nervous or are you always pumped? I love doing live shows! Usually I play at different venues in Indianapolis, most notably being the Hoosier Dome on Prospect St! Sometimes I'm nervous, but most times I'm always pumped to perform! I absolutely love it! What's the greatest moment you've ever had onstage? Probably when I sang I Miss You by Blink 182 and people got on stage with me! There's a video of it on the Facebook page, and whenever I watch it I laugh! What's the most embarrassing moment you've ever had onstage? The time I forgot my own lyrics half way through a song and had to make it up as I went!!! 0.0 You have an upcoming album, correct? Whats the album like overall? I do! Overall the album is honestly about my life over the past few years. Some songs are really sad and about personal things or they're about happy stuff and moving on past the sad things, such as space adventure! Expect a good cry. You're a reader of 10kd, as well as a songwriter. What's your favorite thing about the story? I CANT chOOOSE Do you have a favorite 10,000 Dawns character? Graelyn! What's it like having your song as the theme to a story like this? It's so shocking honestly! I never thought my music would be taken so seriously! We have to ask, did you and James Wylder ever consider recording a cover of something from Guardians of the Galaxy together? You don't have to answer but.... Hell yes!!!! Where can our readers find more of your music? Alexroseandthemagicalacoustic.bandcamp.com Thank you so much for talking to us Alex, we wish you many more space adventures!
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This interview is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can read all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale Rachel Johnson: ArtistRachel is an artist who has drawn art for the 10,000 Dawns Artist Showcase, as well as for our bonus stories! It was a pleasure to speak with them. First off, could you introduce yourself for our readers? I’m Rachel. I’m currently a sophomore at the Minneapolis College of Art and design where I’m studying comic art! Drawing is one of my biggest passions. You have an interesting relationship with 10,000 Dawns, in that you read it's first short story in “An Eloquence of Time and Space” and made the first fan art of it! Did you ever expect you'd be drawing more of it? I can’t say I was but I’m really glad I got the chance to! What drew you to 10kd? Obviously I’m going to be interested in anything a friend of mine is doing, but I also really love sci-fi so this is right up my alley. Do you have a favorite character from 10kd? Probably Graelyn. Or Mister Sprinkles. What's your favorite work of art you've made for 10kd? The big group picture I did of Songbird and her crew! You've drawn more art for 10kd right now than any artist other than Annie Zhu, in some ways you've given your own feeling and aesthetic to Songbird's World, and the Bonus Stories. What was it like defining a look for so many characters? It was pretty challenging trying to get everyone’s looks to line up with their written descriptions, but it was also a lot of fun for me! Can you tell us about your other art? I also make short comics and also digital illustrations, mostly inspired by daily life and my interests. What sort of things do you like to do in your free time? Any hobbies or interest? I love to draw, obviously. I also enjoy reading. If I’m not doing either of those I’m probably watching superhero shows. If you could have the chance to draw any character you haven't yet from the story, who would it be? Kinan, probably! Is there anything else you'd like to tell our readers? Thank you so much for chatting! It’s been so much fun being involved in this story and I hope you guys are enjoying it! This interview is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can read all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale Jordan Stout: WriterJordan is a writer who has been a part of the development of 10,000 Dawns and will be featured in 10,000 Dawns: Anthology later this year! He's quite the character. First off, could you introduce yourself for our readers? Good day to you all. It is a pleasure to meet all the readers of 10,000 Dawns, I hope you are well, sassy, classy, and currently enjoying a good book of some kind. My name is Jordan Stout and I am proud to say that I am one of the writers for the 10kd universe. I've been with the 10kd project from the beginning, and I am honored to still be here helping readers make that special astonished face you all make when something too crazy to be possible happens on the page. Yes, you do totally make that face. Yes. Its kind of like the expression lemurs always have by default. Yes, like that, its my favorite, and I love you for it. So you've been part of 10kd for a long time, how did you first get involved in this endeavor? 10kd for me started with a college friend desiring to embarrass me and my roommate with an obscure science fiction card game he had stolen from James' room that we had never played but he deceptively and wickedly already knew all the rules to. Naturally my roommate and I were disgraced forever and will never completely live down the shame, but there was something very thought-provoking about the cards themselves and the very lightly brushed on conceptual story behind them and it got us working out new and different ways to play the game, making a newer and deeper story, and then ultimately starting a full role-playing game and living out adventures in the world of our design every Saturday night, with the ever-creative James Wylder as game master. The adventures were rich and brilliant and often the sun would rise on a Sunday morning to us still laughing and shrugging off our exhaustion for another roll of the dice that would determine fates to altered the very alignments of planets and moons in our solar system. As much as it meant to us, originally it was almost a joke. There were only four of us at the start and it was almost embarrassing to tell others about this game we played that was loosely based off of a card game that no one in their right mind would have even heard of. We would get looks like we were all wasting our Saturday nights and there was no way to really explain. Stories, however, have a way of speaking for themselves. We gained two new people to make six just before I began a semester traveling abroad in Europe, and when I returned I was astonished to find more that thirty people sitting at the same little table the next Saturday night, all with characters woven into the intricate story that James had continued to weave. It only grew from there. The game evolved into an overwhelming topic of conversation, started holding its own reserved room at college events and conventions, taking form on social media, drawing the attention of other science-fiction writers, hosting its own website, inspiring us to write short stories, and eventually became so big that rare was any hour of any day where a large group of people would not be sitting in the campus center discussing, bickering, building, or scheming some angle of the story arch and so there was never a time a person couldn't conveniently find someone to talk to about this story at our college. At that point it was clear that it had taken a life of its own, and after graduation it was keen to become the subject of literature. What's it been like developing the 10kd universe together? How do I love having my own characters represented in your work? Well, speaking on behalf of my character, Doitzel, he truly loves your work James, and is trilled to see himself come to life under your pen, and, oh wait, he's demanded to speak for himself, he says “you haven't yet written about him at all yet,” and “what's the matter,” he seems rather angry. Oh, maybe he's crying. ”Are you afraid of my magnetic personality? Think I will try to take over your story by force? I won't, scout's honor, I'm a changed man.” I'm terribly sorry James, I'll have a chat with him. “Is it because I'm insane?” No, Doitzel, you need to stop this now. “I'm not you know, I have a letter from the state that says I've been pardoned.” Yes, well done, Doitzel. “Not many people have those!” Doitzel, please calm down. Remember what happened the time when you shot the coffee machine. “I've always wanted to be in your stories, Jim, why don't you notice me? What do I have to do, take over a planet or something? I will if I have to.” Doitzel, you need to stop threatening authors, this is becoming a bad habit. “Believe me, you'll want me in your story on your terms, don't let them be mine! Don't forget how many side characters were never fully developed because of me!” I'm sorry about that James, he's just cranky because of his tragic background. You know he can't be held accountable for his own words. He's harmless, really, you have nothing to worry about, and should keep up the good work we all love. Now, you're a part of 10,000 Dawns: Anthology, which is set in the Prime Universe of 10,000 Dawns, featuring very different versions of some of these characters we've just met. Do you think readers will be surprised at what they'll see? Naw, I think our readers are brave and ready to handle the surprises in store. Can you tell us a little about what you're creating for 10kd: Anthology? Most of my writing will be focusing on events on the Rim as well as one of my characters to grow out of the original role-playing game, Doitzel. It looks like I'm going to dive into the Rim in a few more questions here, and I dare not tell you what role Doitzel will play in the history of the known universe but suffice to say he is far from the conventional hero we've come to expect from our classic stories, but often, for better or worse, finds himself at the turning point of a story where in an ideal world the more conventional hero really ought to be. Audiences can be assured that he is not the kind of man who can do more than one pull-up, be counted on to always find the right solution over the most entertaining solution, and most certainly of all, learn anything meaningful about life or humanity over the course of a given story. I am delighted to see what you readers will think of my tales and characters and what you judge them to be for yourselves. Most frequently I feel natural writing a story out through thick layers of humor guided along by a brisk, confident pacing like the stride between two blind men who haven't realized the other is blind leading each other across a busy street. You can reasonably expect my stories to quickly rush up to the limit of where you will expect things to go and then take that one step over the edge, and I do hope you will enjoy every word, it's what I wrote them for. What else do you do in your free time? Do you have any other hobbies or pursuits? I rather like to keep my free time overbooked with as many things, equally ridiculous as my stories, as possible. I like long walks on the beach, traveling to any place less geographically level than central Indiana, which thankfully is almost everywhere, I play semi-professionally in the chamber folk band “Willoughby Sprig,” I am told that my volunteer tours of the Indiana Central State mental hospital are very “...enlightening,” I occasionally build my own home electronics out of unconventional things, and my dream is to one day photo-bomb the James Webb Space Telescope. I am truly blessed to have a cat that judges me abusively if I do not stop things I am working on and go to bed at a healthy hour. You really helped shape the feel of the Rim in 10,000 Dawns, a place that our readers have yet to explore in depth! What sort of adventures can we expect to see out there? What drew you to it? I have been, more or less, the creative designer of the Rim in the 10kd universe with the generous help of many other writers here like Andrew McLung, Taylor Elliott, Miguel Ramirez, and of course James Wylder. I took a rather passionate liking to working on the societies out there due to our need to write them as wild, frequently irrational, and possessing a far wider range of cultural differences than are found on Earth and Mars. With the story centered around a time when humanity looked to the stars, pushed boldly out to the edges of our solar system and then said “eh, that's good enough,” the Rim becomes a place where people live ignored, desperate, short, but clever and exhilarating lives, mostly free from the powers of the planets, and organized into ever-warring gangs that might frequently be underestimated by the strong power of Earth. Readers can expect locations on the Rim to be strange and turbulent, and the characters from the Rim to hold dreams, specifically of the big and dangerous variety. Expect pirates with cybernetic bodies to be taking big risks for big payoffs. Expect crazed space-prospectors to ramble madly about pods of probably equally crazed space-whales they saw swimming past Neptune. Expect floating cities on the oceans beneath Europa's icy crust. Expect violently temperamental and shadowy gang bosses to be hatching layers of convoluted schemes against each other and the powerful governments of the inner planets. Expect remarkable space stations that could be possessed by ghosts. Expect scientists that my no means should have lived as long as they have to be messing with things that they really shouldn't be, and of course, expect our heroes to be right in the midst of it, holding their own. If you could punch any 10kd character, who would it be and why? I probably wouldn't punch any of them because its a universe where people are likely to punch back very hard. Is there Anything else you'd like to say to our readers? Many, many thanks to all you readers and supporters for the time and interest you give to this project. We couldn't do something like this without you, well, okay, actually we could but it would be pointless and dismal. I am trilled to be working on these new bits to come out and I hope you are all just as excited, and if not, then I hope the sheer strength of your obdurance is consolation enough for reading this entire article against your better judgement. Best wishes to you and happy reading. Thank you so much for talking with us Jordan! This interview is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can read all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale Josephine Smiley: WriterJosephine is a writer who has been a part of the development of 10,000 Dawns and will be featured in 10,000 Dawns: Anthology later this year! She's was a real joy to talk with. First off, could you introduce yourself for our readers? Absolutely! I am Josephine Smiley, writer for 10kd, graduate student at the University of Missouri (Mizzou,) political and social justice activist, and all around geek. Actually, science fiction was my first love, so to speak: that love came in ’93 in the form of Star Trek: the Next Generation, and it has been a wild and awesome ride from there. So you've been part of 10kd for a long time, how did you first get involved in this endeavor? When I was a student at Hanover College, a bunch of us were part of a Tabletop RPG Group of Total Geekery. I was one of those roleplay nerds who writes up detailed backstories for her characters. While I was doing that, more story ideas just came popping into my head, and I created Alice MacLeod, and then… well, you guys can see what happened. What's it been like developing the 10kd universe together? Amazing. I love being able to collectively create something as diverse and wonderful as 10kd, and everyone else on this team is the best. The fact that it’s a team effort only makes it more diverse: other people have thought of ideas I never would have come up with, and everyone’s ideas just give me more ideas for my own 10kd stories as far as places, people, and events that I can work in and develop a little more. Some of your ideas (and characters) have made it into 10,000 Dawns: Serial, especially your character Alice MacLeod, what was it like seeing her come to life under a different writer? The thing about Alice MacLeod is that she’s supposed to be able to appeal to people from various different backgrounds. In the story, she leads a worldwide revolution, and in order to do that, you have to be someone that people can relate to at least a little bit. I relate to her a lot, and it has been a very interesting experience for me, watching how other people interpret her. I’m very eager to see how it plays out in the future as well. After all, Alice is for the people, I wouldn’t want to keep her to myself. Now, you're a part of 10,000 Dawns: Anthology, which is set in the Prime Universe of 10,000 Dawns, featuring very different versions of some of these characters we've just met. Do you think readers will be surprised at what they'll see? Maybe. It’s hard to tell, honestly. The Prime Universe is definitely different than the universe they’ve seen in 10,000 Dawns: Serial, and several aspects of it will probably be surprising. Some characters have changed a little, and some have changed a lot. Whether or not their differences will be surprising to people, I’m not sure. Can you tell us a little about what you're creating for 10kd: Anthology? Absolutely! I have a series of short stories that I am working on currently, most of them about the relationship between Earth and Mars. I find that fascinating, so it features a lot in my work. Are there any prominent themes in your own writing? As Alice MacLeod would say: Viva la Revolution! My work definitely has a theme, and it’s the same theme that dictates my life as an activist: it’s all about universal struggle, uprising, and rebellion. I guess you could say it’s an examination of what happens when human beings are pushed to their limit and survive. What else do you do in your free time? Do you have any other hobbies or pursuits? (What is free time? I do not know this term.) Okay, all joking aside, yes, I am active in several of my local social justice organizations which are constantly mobilizing, working toward a better future (if I may be so cliché about it.) That consumes most of my free time. I also run a blog, so there’s that as well. You're also writing a Novel set in the 10,000 Dawns Universe, correct? Without giving away too much, who and what are we going to see in it? Well, I don’t want to spoil my novel for everyone, but I can tell you that Alice MacLeod is in it, and it will explore a lot more of her personal story than the serial does. It also investigates the reality of Earth’s mega-corporation, Centro Systems, and goes along with that theme I was talking about earlier. The Alice MacLeod parts of 10,000 Dawns Serial had a lot to do with Revolution. Is this a theme that will continue with your own writing about Alice? You better believe it. If you could punch any 10kd character, who would it be and why? Oh…. You know what, I don’t know if I would. There are a lot of characters in the 10kd universe that I know I definitely wouldn’t get along with in real life, I can tell you that much, but would I punch them? Probably not. I take my rage out in other ways. Is there anything else you'd like to say to our readers? You’re important and you matter. I love you all. Keep being awesome! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us Josephine! This interview is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can read all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale Taylor Elliott: WriterTaylor is a writer who has been a part of the development of 10,000 Dawns and will be featured in 10,000 Dawns: Anthology later this year! She's pretty darn interesting. First off, could you introduce yourself for our readers? Hi there! I’m Taylor, I write Ariadne Moore/Chess Mistress Hex. What’s shakin’, Internet? So you've been part of 10kd for a long time, how did you first get involved in this endeavor? Jim was running a tabletop RPG, the one the 10kd universe has spun off from, back at college, and most of our mutual friends were playing every Saturday night. I was asked if I’d be interested in playing and, while I was hesitant to devote every Saturday to a tabletop game, I agreed to come in as a one-shot villain — specifically one that had originally appeared briefly in a story Jordan had written for the universe. I went into the game with every intention of Hex dying, but not only did she survive, she managed to ROYALLY mess with the entire party during that particular campaign. It was so fun that a few weeks later I came back, and the next thing I knew I was spending every Saturday night as Hex, who was masquerading as a crew member named Leesa Nickelback to mess with the other players and generally wreak total havoc. What's it been like developing the 10kd universe together? Super fun! This is a universe we’ve had our feet in for 4-5 years now. It became such a big part of our lives and has been a really strong bond for all of us. It’s been so cool to take what was just a fun way for us to spend our Saturday nights together and see it grow into this big, new thing that other people can enjoy. Some of your ideas (and characters) have made it into 10,000 Dawns: Serial, specially your character Chess Mistress Hex. Hhat was it like seeing them come to life under a different writer? Really cool! It was fascinating to see how Jim understood Hex and the choices he made for her. Because she’s such a complex and secretive character I was involved with the editing process for the scenes she’s in, but Jim did such a great job with her that I really didn’t need to do much. It was so cool to see someone else bring her to life! Now, you're a part of 10,000 Dawns: Anthology, which is set in the Prime Universe of 10,000 Dawns, featuring very different versions of some of these characters we've just met. Do you think readers will be surprised at what they'll see? Oh absolutely! I think they’re going to be really floored by some of the differences and some of the adventures we have planned. Can you tell us a little about what you're creating for 10kd: Anthology? I am currently working on one project wherein we get to see a much younger Hex. I think it’s going to be really interesting for everyone to see her before she became the Hex we all know her as, and I’ve been having a lot of fun exploring that chapter of her life. I’m also working on a joint project with Jordan involving Hex and his character. It’s something we’re both really excited about and I think the storyline is really going to shake up the universe! Are there any prominent themes in your own writing? I definitely play with some nontraditional character elements and questions of morality in my writing. I actually wrote my undergraduate thesis on antiheroes. I love writing characters who aren’t all good, but aren’t all bad either. I love making a reader really question whether a character is a protagonist or antagonist, and I think Hex is a really obvious example of this. While our lovely 10kd readers have good reason to believe Hex is a baddie, I don’t think any of my fellow writers on this project would really classify her as a villain. What else do you do in your free time? Do you have any other hobbies or pursuits? I am an event planner by day, a nanny by night, and help run a small press publisher, PlotForge, by twilight and early morning. In my free time, I cook, read, write, croon at my cat, watch way too much Netflix, and plan fabulous international adventures. Last summer I spent two weeks in Japan where, among other things, I got to cuddle some owls and scared the pants off a guy I’m pretty sure was a member of the Yakuza. Chess Mistress Hex (aka Ariadne Moore) is such an intriguing, and mysterious character. Will we get to learn more about her? Absolutely! The readers are going to be seeing more of her in the future. I don’t want to talk about her too much because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I am really excited for everyone to get to know her better and understand who she is and what she does. If you could write about any 10kd character you haven't yet, who would it be and why? Chrometeeth. Hands down. Any character who rocks a cute sundress and can rip out a jugular with her modified teeth is a character I need to be better friends with. You played a big role in developing the criminal group “The Index” for 10kd, as well as their home of New Alexandria. What draws you to them so much? The old adage that knowledge is power is honestly the inspiration there. We’re not the first group of storytellers to hit on this — it’s what made Sherlock (and his enemies, Moriarty and Magnussen) so potent and intriguing. Anyone can be powerful in the sense of having a formidable weapon or military at their disposal. It’s an entirely different type of might and, in my opinion, much more frightening type of might to wield intelligence and secrets. The Index just takes this concept to an interstellar scale. Imagine the combined secrets of all of these groups carefully collected and stored away for a rainy day. And imagine, if you will, how the Index is securing all of that information. Makes you feel like you can’t trust anyone, huh? As for New Alexandria… I mean, my inner history and literature nerds just LOVE the idea of paying homage to the lost library of Alexandria in this way. And how cool is that setting for something like the Index?! They built a massive compound on an ice moon! Just for fun! Could have built it anywhere but no, they took a look at Europa and said, “Yeah, that seems like a really hospitable spot for the compound we’re going to blackmail the entire system from.” It’s just makes me nerd out in a big way. If you could punch any 10kd character, who would it be and why? Manuel Salazar. Hard, in the face. My inner Hex is too strong for me to give any other answer. Is there Anything else you'd like to say to our readers? Basically just cue up “The Best is Yet to Come” by Frank Sinatra, because that’s what we have coming down the pipe for you guys. Get excited. I know I am. Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Taylor! This feature is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can find all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale Thank You, Annie Zhu!Contributing over 40 pieces of artwork to the 10,000 Dawns project, Annie Zhu has defined the look of a universe, and built an amazing foundation for other artists to build on. Her distinctive style has brought her lots of love from the Doctor Who community, and we thought it was time to show her some well-earned love for her art! So thank you, Annie Zhu. You made this whole thing possible. But don't take this nebulous paragraph's word for it, here's some love in quotes: "Seeing someone else draw Hex for the first time was one of the coolest moments in my life. It was so incredible to watch these characters that I know and love come to life in such a beautiful way. Annie has made this universe real and tangible in a way only she could, and I don't know that any artist could have done the 10kd story justice the way she did. Annie: thank you, for all your hard work, and all the beauty you've shared with us." -Taylor Elliott “Annie- I've been imagining 10kd in my head for a long time, but you made it come to life. Your art and all your hard work means that other people can also envision 10kd now, and that is something so awesome I'm not sure I can fully explain what it means. Thank you, you're an inspiration.” -Josephine Smiley “I wasn't sure what I imagined 10kd would look like while we were going through the creating phase; but Annie has captured it perfectly!” -Elizabeth Tock “Every week, Annie provides readers with a visual portal into the 10,000 Dawns. Her art not only allows us to visualize a setting that is literally out of this world, but reveals a perfect glimpse into the action and emotions of every chapter.” -Rebecca Jacob “Annie, Rob and I just wanted you to know how much we love the art you've created for 10,000 Dawns. Your illustrations are so beautiful and your interpretation of the characters is as important as the words themselves. Thank you for being a part of our team and sharing your gift with our audience.” -Martha and Rob Southgate “Annie! I love your style - simple yet emotive. It takes a good eye and better hand to make successful images with limited lines and color palette. Well done in every way!” -Olivia Hinkel “Annie, you simply captured the magic of Jim's work in the most beautiful way. 10kd wouldn't be what it is without you and I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your art. Thank you for being a part of it.” -Brandon Derk “Working with Annie made 10,000 Dawns into the story it was. I can't even count the times Annie drew something, and I had to go back and revise because her visual imagination was so strong she inspired me to do better. 10,000 Dawns has always been different in that the illustrations weren't a secondary thing, they were just as canon as the words on the page, and I couldn't have picked a better partner for this. I couldn't have made this story without Annie. Her commitment to creating and developing this world in her art made the world of 10,000 Dawns real in a way I never could have on my own. Every chapter of this story has her hand in it, every word has been helped by her spirit. I may be the writer, but she was the real artist.” -James Wylder Annie Zhu Tribute, Part 2What would 10kd have looked like without Annie Zhu's art? Lets find out! Dear Jim, In the full manner of our friendship, you have asked me to peruse your art for your upcoming tale, “10,000 Dawns.” Indeed, having been a part of this endeavor for some time, I was generally honored you asked me to look upon such works. In the full manner of confidence however, the news must be bestowed upon you that perhaps it would be finer and more prudent if you were to begin the search for an artist more skilled in the visual form, who is not capable of producing the visible horrors which have just assaulted my eyes. These abominations are unholy, and have terrified me worse than even that time I accidentally walked into the local chapter of the flat earther society and puppy kicking cabal while looking for a Dairy Queen. Indeed, I am now hiding under my desk while writing this to you. Its dark in here, and perhaps that is for the best. Maybe seeing itself is overrated? There is a lot of dust under this desk, I really should clean more. At the very least, the papers ontop of the desk are now invisible to me. I am worried to leave. I have undertaken the task of calling in for pizza. Hopefully the delivery person survives the trip around my desk, and can give me what I desire: a delicious disk of bubbling cheese, tomato sauce, and baked dough with a 2-liter of carbonated beverage. I will be living down here till you come to remove the drawings off my desk. Please bring a blanket. Your friend, -Josephine Smiley Dear Josephine, Fine, I'll go get Annie Zhu to draw something sheesh. Your friend, -James Wylder The following documents were retrieved from the top of Josephine's desk. The rest were burned by the pizza delivery person to prevent any one else from having to look upon them. This feature is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can find all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale The Mexico City TapesOriginally, during the trial of Graelyn Scythes, the prosecution was going to actually play the tape of what was going on at Mexico city. I decided to delete the scene: it was simply too early to reveal that to the reader, but I have preserved the contents of the tape itself for the curious.
A video began playing on the wall. It showed rows and rows of cloning cylinders, each with an identical man inside the cylinder. They bobbed in their amniotic fluid calmly. Then one dropped from the cylinder, out a hole in its bottom, and out of view. "Where does that go?" A voice said from behind the camera. The voice is familiar. The Camera cuts. We pick up again in a new location, where the camera is moving through a door. One of the bodies drops from the cieling, and falls onto a conveyer belt. The newly born man looks around, taking his new world in, and is then a crane leans down and circles around his head. "What's it doing?" "Its scanning him for something. Maybe checking a wireless connection? Ah, he has chips in his head. I think it is getting a full set of data out of him." The crane lifts up, and the conveyer belt begins moving him. "Can we turn that off?" "I don't know how, the thing is armored as hell, Trevon start trying to figure out how." "Yessir." Graelyn recognized the voices. It was Songbird's team. The conveyer took the man down the room as the team tried to catch up with him, cursing. He was elevated, and none of them could seem to climb the smooth sides to reach him. The conveyer belt then dropped the man into something like a huge fishbowl. He stood there, naked, still wet from birth, and confused. The crane moved over him, and began blinking." "What's it doing?" The man suddenly began screaming. The bowl was filling with gas, gas that seemed to settle into the bottom of the tall bowl and not rise out of its brim. "Break the bowl, get him out of there!" The soldiers fired on the bowl, but it didn't break. They pounded on it, but it didn't break. The man inside was clearly in horrible pain, but kept trying to leap for the brim of the bowl, as the crane above him kept blinking. He focused. "He's trying to Clegg." Alice said, in horrified amazement. He didn't Clegg fast enough. He fell to the floor of the bowl, seizure, foam oozing out of his mouth. He stopped moving. Someone screamed. "Oh God." Jack said. "Shut this thing off Trevon." "...Almost got it." He said sadly. It only then became clear that he was, in fact, still breathing, when body dropped through the floor. It turned off. Stepping forward, Jack looked down at the floor. "Where did he go?" "You know." Alice replied. He nodded. "Lets move." The camera cuts. We are standing in front of the door we saw Alice walkthrough before in Chapter 9. The one she threw up after coming back out of. She approaches the door. She puts her hand on the handle an grimaces. "You're filming?" "Yeah." She opens the door, and steps through. The room is cavernous, and is clearly divided into two sections. one is filled with dead bodies. While the machines have been turned off, it is obvious what was happening, as the different stations are still filled with corpses in different poses. The people fell from the hole in the ceiling, and were picked up by a meat hook. The hook carried them through different stations where their different component parts were removed efficiently, one at a time. First the skin, then some muscles and fat, then organs, etc. each station was frozen in a grotesque pantomime, midway through the procedure. many of the corpses have bullet holes in their heads. They are not in the poses of people who were unconscious through the procedure. They look like they were screaming. Alice runs over to the man who fell through the ceiling, and helps him up. Chantelle found a blanket somewhere, and wraps him in it. He looks totally bewildered. "Get him somewhere safe. We're... Going to need a team upstairs to get the others when they are... Born." Alice stammers out. "Yes ma'am." Chantelle replies. Alice gestures for the camera to follow her. "When we came in here, it was silent, aside from the whirring of the machinery and the... The sounds of the... Of what they were doing. The victims were fully conscious. But... They, they made no sound. Their uh, they, we checked a body and it wasn't born with vocal chords... So..." She looks down to the ground. "We turned the machines off. But many of them were... Impossible to save. They were... Vacating too many vital fluids. So I made the call to put them out of their misery." She puts her hand over her mouth as she says that. Her eyes are welling with tears. She steadies herself. "I'm sorry. We still have the other half of the room..." She gestures. There are what look like pens for holing cattle. Then there are disection tables, littered with bodies in various states of experimentation. There are many machines next to the tables, but their purpose is unclear. "We already removed all of the survivors to a safe location, but they were standing here when we arrived. Just... Waiting. Calmly. From reading the logs of the on duty scientists, it appears they were... Mass producing people in order to try to find the secret of what makes humans clegg. The ones who were strong enough to clegg hard enough to jump out of the fishbowl were then... Examined to try to find what made them special. Those who did not were taken apart for their parts to make more people to do this to. Taken apart, like cleaning a chicken." She turns to the camera. Her eyes are on fire. "Graelyn Scythes ordered this. She directed this. She planned this. These weren't people to her they were... They were... Lab rats. She's a monster. She see's people as nothing more than a harvest to feed her goals. She is a blight on everything. A walking plague." She is more serious than you have ever seen someone. "She deserves no mercy from us." The video ends. This guest essay is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can find all of and download at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale by Tyler LipaTheoretically mankind is aware that a multiverse of possibility exist. Each decision that is made by us individually and by those around us creates an entirely new universe where any possible outcome could be selected. If you are reading this right now it is because the decisions that we made and were made for us has led us to this specific point in time. This is the world that has been created by James Wylder, the writer, and Annie Zhu, the illustrator, in the world of 10,000 Dawns. The main focus of this story is to illuminate what it means to transition from the person you were as a child to the adult version of yourself that must face the limitations of being human in a world that is constantly changing. 10,000 Dawns features the lives of seventeen year old Graelyn Scythes and cyborg Archimedes “Arch” von Ahnerabe as they stumble through the multiverses of their lives. Graelyn is a brilliant, mildly sociopathic, pansexual demiromantic, intern. Arch is a heavily armed, emotionally troubled, genderfluid cyborg. Through the help of Director John Aril of their universe they find themselves thrown into a time and a place where they exist, but in completely different fashions. Scythes and Arch must come to grips with who they are, and how they became this way in the first place. Graelyn is a character who lives in the far future, but is representational of the modern world that the reader exists in. She is a perfect representation of the reader themselves. Graelyn wants to be different and thinks very highly of herself. For example. despite living in a future that offers a wide array of technological and surgical remedies for poor vision, she chooses to wear glasses. Graelyn thinks very highly of her biological self, and is representative of a “pure” human in a post-human environment. Her normality is what sets her apart from the world she exists in. Arch is a character who is the exact opposite of Graelyn. Arch is an altered human being that was meant to transcend the trappings of normal humans such as Graelyn. He only has one eye, and his body is encased in armor plating. Arch also has complete control of the biochemical makeup of his body. Arch is the culmination of man and machine and is on one hand alien to the reader because of his modifications, but familiar in the fact that those who read science fiction are interested in attaining an ideal of human civilization. Ideal is far from the reality that Graelyn and Arch exist in. The universe they inhabit is defined by corporate greed and cultural decline. The world governments have been replaced by a powerful corporate overlord known as Centro Systems. The only holdover from the present is the military. The time that Graelyn and Arch exist in is described as the end of a Golden Era. Humanity has once again begun to rest on its laurels in regards to discovery and knowledge. This is reflective of the current frustration that is felt by many young people with the state of politics and the economy. Debt and a growing service industry are failing to add fulfillment to the lives of 20 and 30 year olds who are learning what it means to be an active part of the economy. Instead of finding a sense of importance there only seems to be low paying jobs and endless financial instability. Pondering what life could have been if other decisions had been made haunts people who are leaving a time when they were filled with youthful potential, and now must face the realistic life decisions. This is where Wylder’s concept of the multiverse is exactly what readers are searching for.This zeitgeist theory gives a hope that somewhere out there there is a version of us that has either made better decisions than us and are living a wonderful life, or there is a version of us living in much worse circumstances. Graelyn and arch are able to see this first hand. Graelyn is able to meet a version of herself that is extremely successful, but is one of the most hated women in the world. Arch finds that he is only an idea in another world, and a simple interaction between his creator and a business woman decided his entire existence. This is just one of an infinite number of possible universes that exist. Graelyn is a troubling character because of her long list of flaws that stem from her character’s talents.. She is an amalgam of some of the worst character flaws of our time. She is burdened with the need to become an adult at a young age from an abusive mother which has imbued her with a false sense of maturity. Graelyn also has difficulty connecting with those around her, and in every universe that she visits she finds that even in the case of being an owl in one universe she is more interested in questioning others than thinking about herself. This lack of self awareness is excellent for her career growth, but makes it difficult to identify with her. She is always unique in every situation which can make her seem inhuman. Graelyn is crafted in the same mold as Ender in Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game. She is a very unique and intelligent character with a greater purpose than even she is aware of. Without her the future of mankind is uncertain, but it feels as if she is not part of the humanity that she hopes to save. For example, when she meet an alien creature from the race know as the Pantheon she is able to deduce that the alien is communicating to her via mental electrical impulses. These aliens entrap humans and use them as slaves for a galactic empire. The alien comments that she is more astute than the average human which implies that she is in some way special or more advanced than the rest of humanity. This exceptionalism is a source of great contention for generations that have preceded the Millennial Generation. Characters like Graelyn as viewed from those outside of the target audience might be seen as pretentious and self absorbed rather than thoughtful and worldly. This does not mean that she is a poorly crafted character, but when viewed as a person that is not the reader she takes on a much different interpretation. 10,000 Dawns is a story of the world as it known today viewed through the lens of the far future. It captures the frustration and jadedness that can lead to apathy in the modern world. Graelyn and Arch are two characters who have an opportunity to see what is backstage to the world that they exist in. This view changes them and shows them that truth and meaning is dependent on the reality they inhabit. Unlike the readers who must find meaning from those around them Graelyn and Arch have the opportunity to discuss the darkest fears and uncertainties of being sentient with other versions of themselves. This concept of self discovery resonates strongly with the target audience because there are currently far less answers than questions. Despite the false confidence of youth there is a deep psychological need to find one’s place in the world and to feel accepted. 10,000 Dawns evokes these strong emotions, and Wylder does an excellent job in drawing the reader down and building them back up to believe that they, like Graelyn and Arch, can find a reason to exist in their own respective words. Revolution, corruption, hope, and fear. These are the key ingredients that make 10,000 Dawns such a compelling story. Wylder has created a world that can be inhabited by the emotions and desires of those who read it. All great stories have one thing in common. The reader must discover something that lay hidden deep inside themselves. 10,000 Dawns accomplishes this by creating a world that is just an intensification of the world as the Millennial Generation perceives it today. Wylder has created a challenge to look at our own reality and accept that we are part of it. This is accomplished through the use of a character who represents some of the worst aspects of the Millennial Generation. Instead of embracing these flaws the world that Wylder creates questions these character flaws and seeks to remedy them through hope and humility. Readers will find that they are looking at a reflection of themselves as they journey with Graelyn and Arch on this epic of self discovery. This guest essay is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can find all of and download at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale by Amanda IrwinLet’s start this essay with a statement, think about the female protagonist in science fiction literature. Think about it. Think about it seriously. What do you think about? Did you think about how few there are? What about female characters in general? When I think about female characters in Sci-fi, I can’t help but think about how few and far between they are or how limited they are in character complexity. What comes to mind is Leia Organa from Star Wars or all the women that James ‘Jim’ T Kirk has had relations with. For me, I often think about how women are not valued in the science fiction genre, if they’re even there at all. I was surprised to say the least when I started reading James Wyler’s 10,000 Dawns that the protagonist was female. But not just female, like any protagonist, Graelyn Scythes is so much more complex and intriguing . The first thing I noticed about Graelyn is that she is not sexualized. Graelyn is described as having black hair pulled into a ponytail and wearing black glasses. That’s it. There is no mention of her body type, weight, or even skin color. It is all left up to the imagination of the reader and that on to itself is refreshing. Unlike Leia, Graelyn doesn’t wear a metal bikini nor does Graelyn get involved in a cliche romance with the “bad boy” in the story. Do I sound pretentious and bitter? Probably. In the Star Wars films, Leia’s most important quality, other than her metal bikini body, is her love story with Han Solo. What is Graelyn’s most important quality in 10,000 Dawns? Her intelligence. Although Graelyn is emotionally cut off and appears as though she doesn’t care, she is, in fact, very human and cares for a few people. For example, she cares immensely for her cat, Mr. Sprinkles, and feels incredibly sad when she has to give him up in order to go to Atlantis. I wasn’t crying when she gave up Mr. Sprinkles, not at all. But Graelyn doesn’t just care for her cat but also for our favorite metal man, Arch. When she and Arch are thrown into a different universe and are attacked, Graelyn’s fight or flight instincts kick in and she runs only to think of Arch right afterwards. Graelyn’s thoughts keep wondering if Arch is okay and she hopes that he is alive. Despite Graelyn’s lack of emotion and logical almost robotic thinking it reveals that she has built a shell in order to stop feeling hurt by whatever has happened in her past. It’s not just her past that she tries to hide but also her fears. Graelyn, like many people, fears failure and disappointment of not being able to leave a mark on history. “I am very scared I will amount to nothing. I am already nine years old and I have not made any significant scientific breakthroughs. I can already tell I am a failure.” -10,000 Dawns, Chapter Nine It’s not just preventing herself from getting hurt and showing fear but Graelyn, also, doesn’t want to be pushed around. Graelyn wants nothing more than to be respected and admired for her accomplishments and if she has to be cold towards others than so be it. This only adds to her humanity and her desire to not feel emotions. It becomes very clear that Graelyn internally struggles between expressing her emotions and gaining respect. If she shows emotion, then she’ll be seen as weak. But if she bottles up the emotions then she loses parts of her humanity. There is no win-win in this situation in Graelyn’s mind and seems to be something that she battles with constantly. Does she express emotion and be perceived as weak, or does she lose her humanity in order to gain respect? We all desire to be respected and admired for our accomplishments. Humans will almost do anything they to gain respect. Some kill others for it, some will only hurt others. Some will become cold towards others and see weakness as failure, much like Graelyn does. In a way, a desire to be respected is a common human quality Graelyn is a complex character and I feel as though I’ve only scratched the surface of her character. She is very logical but hiding an emotional side, she tries to be aloof but still cares for others, and, the best part, she isn’t sexualized in any way. The real question now is how can I get my Contemporary Gender Issues professor to start reading this story. Any thoughts? This feature is part of the 10,000 Dawns Finale, which you can find all of (and download!) at this link: http://www.jameswylder.com/home/10000-dawns-the-finale We thought we'd give you a glimpse behind the scenes into making the art of this grand adventure! Exhibit 1: The First Sketch of Graelyn and Arch! Notice how its similar, but how Annie refined the details in her final versions. Many ideas changed during the early visuals of the characters and world. Exhibit 2: Chapter 12: The Confrontation (Sketch to final version). Here you can see the basics of how a drawing went from Concept to completion. Note the addition of the swords in the final version! Exhibit 3: Chapter 16: The World Was Wider, the Sky Was Bolder (Sketch to Final Version). During development, the whole composition changed, with the final version suiting the chapter's tone better. Exhibit 4: Chapter 22: The Pavements the Limit ( Several drafts to final version). Chapter 22 proved to be the absolute hardest piece to nail down the art for. The dramatic and heartbreaking scene of Graelyn's suicide attempt went through several concepts and iterations to get it right. You can see several of the ideas Annie and Jim went through in trying to bring the scene to life correctly, until they settled on the final version that perfectly captured the moment.
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James Wylder
Poet, Playwright, Game Designer, Writer, Freelancer for hire. Archives
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