Garrett: Now,
the first thing you’re probably wondering is, what
the hell is an interactive e-book? That sounds an awful lot like
vague PR fluff....
And you’d be right, so—ahem!—Ahimsa, why don’t you go ahead
and take this one. What exactly do we mean by an interactive e-book?
Ahimsa:
I think we mean Choose-Your-Own-Adventure, but with that title
already being taken, we have to go with “interactive ebook.” I
think what we’re trying to create is an intersection between two
great spec-fic loves—novels and games. I mean, sure I love Game
of Thrones,
but what if I could have been Ned Stark, and chosen to fight with
Renly? Or captured Cersei? Or listened to Varys? I think we’re both
really excited about the idea of a novel with reader input, and it
seems that technologically the time is right. That said, we’re
really not holding anything back! You want to talk about the setting,
G?
Garrett:
Does the pope wear a funny hat? Errr, I mean, yes! World building is
one my favorite parts of writing, and world building is even better
when working with a friend. I can say without any false modesty that
the two of us are pulling out all the stops with our setting on
Mettlefetchers,
and it promises to be awesome. Our story is set in an alternate
1857—the height of the Victorian era—and will include everything
from anachronistic steampunk technology to vampires, shape-shifters,
elves, mythical beasts, aliens and zombies. The main premise of the
book is that the rampant imperialism and pillaging of natural
resources on the part of world powers has awoken a prehistoric
menace—a slew of Great Old Ones and their minions. The result is
global, mass Bacchanalian
hysteria
(which adds an erotica component to our story). This means the
entirety of 19th Century Earth is our oyster, and readers will have a
vast, sandbox world to explore. The usual European steampunk locales
will be in there, but we’re making a big effort to provide access
to the underrepresented parts of the world too: Asia, Africa, Central
and South America, you name it. The steampunk aesthetic is very much
in play there, which leads us to our protagonists. What sort of
heroes will the reader have to choose from, Ahi?
Ahimsa:
It’s important to us to have diversity in character as well as
setting. Because we are starting off our story in Persia, we are
thinking of using a eunuch or hijra as a point-of-view character. (I
met a hijra while hiking in the Himalayas and she was one of the
loveliest people I met on my travels). Overall, we have 6 POV
characters, and in them we want to represent as broad a range as
possible. One of the Mettlefetchers, for instance, is transgender
(the term is 20th century, but the condition much older). This will
tie into larger themes of identity, so it can be examined on a
global, societal, and individual level. The characters will be very
much linked thematically with the world they occupy, and it’s going
to be exciting to “shapely up” our minds and make some
connections. Whatever their orientation, however, our characters
won’t be defined by their sexuality. You know what they say—what
happens in Bacchanalian
hysterias
stays in Bacchanalian
hysterias.
And while we are on the subject of sex, Garrett, just how much
erotica are we planning on including in this book? There won’t be
too many turgid manhoods or quivering sexes will there?
Garrett:
Oh, I’m quite afraid there are going to be a lot of love puddles in
this one, but remember it’s an interactive reading experience, so
the reader will always have a choice in what path the characters
choose. If you’re feeling a bit naughty, you can have your
character sleep her way to the enemy James Bond style. Or you can
take the moral high ground and eschew the erotic interactions
altogether. That being said, most of the choices aren’t going to be
morally black and white. Like any artful erotica, the sex will be
integral to the story. We’re not doing cheesy porn here, where any
flimsy premise for a sex scene flies—no Victorian pizza delivery
guys with a big sausage pizza! With six viewpoint characters and
dozens of storylines, there stands to be a lot of variety and
re-readability for the reader. In fact, as part of our Kickstarter
campaign, we’re even given supporters a chance to interact with us
during the creative process of writing the book. Ahi, you wanna tell
them why we decided to go the route of using Kickstarter and what
sort of rewards backers can get?
Ahimsa:
Well, Kickstarter is a pretty good litmus test of an idea. Like
everyone who has created a project, we think it’s a pretty snazzy
idea. But it’s not really up to us. So it’s fun to use
crowdsourcing and see if we have a concept that is exciting enough
for the community to fund. Unlike, say, musicians or to a
lesser extent artists, it’s hard for writers to work in a
collaborative manner. So we wanted to create rewards for backers that
involved their inputs. Depending on how much they pledge, backers can
create characters, insert themselves into the narrative, or just make
sure we include their favorite fetish into a significant scene. We
want to make sure it’s deep enough for those who want to wade into
our world.
While
we could blather on forever, I think we’ve covered the essentials.
Any last thoughts, Garrett?
Garrett:
Yes, how can people help? The obvious answer is to pledge a couple of
bucks to help make Mettlefetchers come to be. For as little as $5 you
get an advanced copy of the book when it’s done (and we’re aiming
to have the book ready in as few as three months if the project is
funded, so you won’t have to wait long). Pledge more and you get
some of the cool interactive rewards Ahimsa mentioned. To pledge or
just learn more about the book, check out our Kickstarter page:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1474763974/mettlefetchers
If
you’d like to help beyond that, we’d be forever grateful if you
could help spread the word about the project. Kickstarter campaigns
only succeed if they get out into the public awareness. Word of mouth
is great, and if you want to have a bit more fun with it, you can
take part in our inverse-meme campaign. Simply take one of our
pictures with the phrase “What is Mettlefetchers?” on it and
repost it wherever you hangout online. Better yet, create your own
inverse-meme with “What is Mettlefetchers?” on it, post it, and
let people’s curiosity do the rest.
If
anyone has any questions or suggestions, hit us up in the comments
below. We’d love to hear your thoughts.
