The Liminal Cycle, an interdisciplinary media experience.
It is presented in three acts across multiple mediums.
Liminal– Novella presented as a movie treatment
Xen– Novel presented as a “found” mobile audio journal
Statio Numero-Graphic novel presented as an interactive, product plan for an abandoned game
Part 1
Liminal: By Cameron
A novella presented as a movie treatment for a movie that was “suppressed.” Written under the pen name, Cameron Whiteside.
Part one of The Liminal Cycle.
Available as a Kindle, print, or audiobook
Archive.org ebook and audio versions.
REVIEWS
“This autobiographical novella could easily be compared to some of the best cyber-punk science fiction available to us. Over his journey, throughout this period of his life, Cameron is confronted by symbols from Ancient Mesopotamian and Buddhist theology, goth and punk subcultures, and anarchist traditions, all the while confronted by questions that are both strange and common to us all – “what is going on?”, “what is happening to me?”, “what do I trust as real?”, etc.” – From a review by Julian Langer, author of Feral Consciousness: Deconstruction of the Modern Myth and Return to the Woods and other great works
Possibly the best story I’ve ever experienced. (not just read, as it is an Experience}. I tip my hat and bow. –Brent Keala Kekua
“It was a lovely May Day gift receiving this book as part of an email giveaway. A quick enjoyable read with so many literary counter-culture touchstones from Conrad to Burroughs. You can use this book as a shopping list or as a synopsis synchronizing us for the next step.” –Andrew Ceyton, Goodreads
“I made the mistake of reading Liminal before going to bed. It really influenced my dreams = every person and everything has a hidden purpose some of which you are in on and some not. After I had finished the “proposal” I saw my collection of laptops and pads as sinister apertures into a clinging needy system that only wants to do me good (your buying habits indicate that you’d probably like this new Wampus) at an indeterminate price (you’re basically nobody unless you own a Limulus D).
It’s a scary piece of writing. And a nice logo too: reminded me of my early algebra classes — draw a circle of radius R on the Cartesian X-Y plane in such a way that it encloses the origin but is not centered there.
What is the equation for this circle?
Where does this symbol come from?
A preview of a slice of madness.” – Nick Herbert
“Reading this is like learning to write with your non-dominant hand. It opens new pathways in the brain.” – Reader/Winner of the print book giveaway
“I shit you not, I’ve seen that sigil in Glasgow. Probably a few weeks before the quarantine. Plus Cameron is a Scottish name so maybe they’re from here?
I’ll check it out and see it I can get pics of the symbol once lockdown is over, but I’m 100% sure it’s the same one.” – The Weirdnet (@TheWeirdnet) April 28, 2020
All of this is a strange combination of intriguing and silly, but that range is completely dependent on the weather and the time of day. Read those same words at night in a rainstorm, and you end up with a different emotion. That’s true of all fiction… or non-fiction masquerading as fiction… or fiction masquerading as non-fiction masquerading as fiction… My head hurts. – Bots and Bee
The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon also called the “frequency illusion,” is an illusion in which the thing you’ve just noticed, experienced, or been told about suddenly crops up everywhere. –Jonathan Bartholomew
“A Novela in the form of a Movie Treatment. Liminal tells the story of a Game Designer named Cameron on a quest to understand the semiotics (the interpretation of meaning and their interconnections) between Symbols found in both the Ancient and Modern Worlds, including Ancient Mesopotamia, Buddhism, and the subcultures of Goth, Punk, and Anarchist traditions. – Rob Conn
Part 2
Xen: The Zen of the Other by Ezra Buckley
Xen: The Zen of the Other is a work that confronts the questions of identity, modernity, life, the other, and the place for rites of passage in the modern world.
This audio-play version of Xen includes a fully hyperlinked ebook for reference use. Presented as a series of audio notes left by the protagonist on his phone. Written under the pen name of Ezra Buckley.
Available as an audio drama with ebook accompaniment.
Digital Album
Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads in MP3, FLAC, and more. Also includes ebooks in multiple formats.
Also available on Audible.com
Available as a print-only book for bibliophiles.
REVIEWS
“I enjoyed reading Xen: The Zen of the Other, but the audio radio play is even better. Its gusto voice acting, hypnotic musicscapes, and mystical plot all add up to a transporting experience that’s beyond what we normally expect from a book recording.” – Joe Nolan, The Contributor
“…wildly creative experiments with form…through a down-to-earth lens and with a sense of humor. … I felt spoken to many times as Ezra articulated his own frustrations with life and with his own expectations of the world.” – DAVID AMITO, award-winning Actor. Writer, Producer, Director of Antrum
Part 3
Statio Numero
Statio Numero: an interdisciplinary media experience.
This limited series is the third and final act of The Liminal Cycle, a meta-trilogy.
Knowledge of Liminal and Xen, which make up the first two parts of the trilogy, will be necessary for understanding this work.
Statio Numero: an interdisciplinary media experience.
This limited series is the third and final act of The Liminal Cycle, a meta-trilogy.
Knowledge of Liminal and Xen, which make up the first two parts of the trilogy, will be necessary for understanding this work.
Statio Numero
A product plan left behind documents the creator’s descent into a parallel world or maybe simply madness. It is a story about persona, identity, liminality, and voice.
Get the book
Buy the interactive PDF ebook version here.
REVIEWS
Ever feel like you’re coming undone? Why not go all the way? – Garret Daun
The intensity almost made me cry. –Deb
Joseph Matheny’s Liminal Cycle is an object of genuine American strangeness (or perhaps madness), the kind that reaches out and grabs you. As the final act, Statio Numero terrifies and fascinates—a technical marvel from a master craftsman which undermines expectations of how storytelling can operate as a technology. I’ve never read anything like it. – Sequoyah Kennedy, The Nonsense Bazaar
Thank you for opening the doors and sharing the alternate places told by your imagination. –RC3
This review is writing me more than I am writing it. I can no longer distinguish right from left, and ever since I began interacting with the Liminal Cycle, I began hearing quiet carnival music in the distance. 10/10! – Mimi C.
Did Joseph Matheny & Jason Nunes create Station Numero, or did Station Numero create them and the strange, wondrous world it opened within its pages. When you finish the Statio Numero, go to a place you have never been, drive or walk to a crossroads, a fork in the road, a place with a few paths. See which path pulls you……Then STOP, close your eyes for a moment, Then open them and quickly choose another without thinking and GO. You may find yourself in the dark, mysterious, wonderous lands in the Liminal Spaces. -Rob Conn
Joseph Matheny 