Introducing “God vs. Cleveland”

Its a book. Or a novel. I’m not really sure. I tell people I’m writing a book, but I guess its a novel. Either way, its a story, and being designed while its written to be a different kind of story. One that goes with you in more ways than one. This I’m still sorting out the details on, but so far its going to have parts that work on a phone, parts that work on paper and parts that work elsewhere. There’ll be updates here somewhere, so keep your eyes peeled and the RSS warm. Here’s an excerpt:

1 May 1985, Cleveland, Ohio, Heartland Prefecture

Cleveland had been under Soviet rule for a year or two and yeah, people were pissed off now and again, but in the end, nobody really gave a shit. Well, it is Cleveland after all. Nobody really did much of anything.  Ohio pretty much threw in the towel right away, well before the federal government completely did.  Apparently the people of Northeast Ohio thought that there would be something new to do for once or that they would at least lower the drinking age. Things were in many ways the same: baseball on Saturday, slush, white people hating black people, black people hating white people, and of course the weather still sucking. However, some could remember a time when all’s people talked about was going to college so they could get a job to hate where they would work like bastards day and night so they could buy stuff. Mike Polanski was well on his way to doing just that, but luckily Cleveland got invaded.

So far its the first two chapters written and the culmination of countless mornings getting up at 07:00 attempting to squeeze out what now stands at  26,134 ca. 43,000 words.

The reason I’m writing and designing a book is quite simple. One day I made a list of all the things that I need to do before I die. So I started a design thing/company, which was I believe #4, and I think one or two after that was “Write a book”.

Someone’s got to tell the story of all the working class heroes, broken bottles and broken hearts, epic stoner adventures and people just plain being people.

I’ve always had this idea in my head that stories can be a lot more than what they are now. So much of what’s touted as new ways of telling stories, whether some sort of mixed reality game or new fangled way of looking at a screen still can’t make you cry like a 40 year old movie can. No video games have driven people to revolt in the streets like books have. This is usually because the story is thrown on some pre-existing technology or vice versa, and the result is usually typically shit or at best mediocre. This is why “God vs. Cleveland” is being written and designed at the same time, to try and see how to combine story and design to get under your skin just a little bit more. Someone’s got to do it – tell the world about the place you love to hate, and hate to love. Someone’s got to tell the story of all the working class heroes, broken bottles and broken hearts, epic stoner adventures and people just plain being people.