The story of the Cyberside started back in a day, I believe around 2015, in my tiny apartment in Dnipro, Ukraine, when I began to draft a small novel about the metaphorical journey through the digital realm, with every domain being an allegory to social networks, platforms, services and other things that have changed our life drastically in Web 2.0.
Two of my inspirations went to one: being a massive nerd for tech and having a passion for sci-fi stories and how they were told in the 80s and 90s. I love this era with all of my heart: retro punk, cyberpunk, Gibson, Stephenson, Sterling, Neverending Story, Labyrinth, Legend, Johnny Mnemonic, NES, SNES, Sega, arcade games, early years of video games, you name it.
Even now, while writing this blog, I’m listening to Gunship (if you don’t know this band, find it - it’s fantastic) and watching a synth-wave video in the background. And so, the first Cyberside Beta was written and, as it often happens, has been stored in a table for better times. I was horribly busy with work and my upcoming move to the UK, dealing with a few personal issues. Well, while the idea of publishing something has been there, it wasn’t the right moment.
The right will present itself next year when we met with my good friend Bert Jennings in LA and decided to finish it together, and so we did. There is power and magic in people choosing to do things together, which also worked this time. Cyberside was published and gained quite a lot of traction! The story found its audience. I have started working with Kostya Kortashev, an old friend and comic artist. The book has been signed conditionally for filming with one of the indie studios in the U.K… aaaaand, we hit Covid-19 has gotten limbo movie production plans, such as most of the other things we have been considering.
Then, well, for myself and Cyberside, 2019-2023 has been some of the most complex years historically. I have tried a couple of drafts and sequels, but things haven’t been aligning correctly, and I have dumped most of them. The comic and graphic novel was going slowly, but it was developing (and thank God, it’s almost done now. What an indie project!).
Understanding what the following story of the cycle should come to me in early 2024 when I left my job at a time and decided to retire from the industry after twenty-five years of work (a bit of a premature decision, as it turned into a sabbatical with my return to GSC Game World). I wanted to write a prequel. A story before the story that will also allow me to revisit my career, choices, and crossroads and weave it into the story of James Raynolds, Matilda and Fall Water Lake. And so I did. With the help of Mike Shilliam, a friend and an editor, without whom I probably won’t finish it at all, we have done Cyberside: Level Zero, which I consider an essential book for myself, and non the less critical story about the industry to be told today, in our convoluted world.
Interestingly enough, and as it often happens in our simulated reality (I have no doubts about it now), sometimes initiatives have gravity and start having their own life. This is what happened to Cyberside as well. More people joined me, and a dozen friends now contribute to this website. And we are about to do something that very few people did before.
We have opened a company called “Velvet Curtain Publishing” and intend to launch over the next nine months a whole myriad of products related to Cyberside and then more stories somewhat related to it. The way we are going to do it goes pretty much against every existing standard, practice, and rule; this is precisely why we like it.
Where will the journey lead next? No one can say for sure, but one thing is certain - it will be an extraordinary adventure!
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