ALEX JAMES
Curse of the Mandrake and other Books by Alex James
Welcome to the online tour page for Alex James, a visionary author and artist who turned unimaginable challenges into creativity without limits. A quadriplegic for more than forty years after a motorcycle accident at nineteen, he learned to draw and write using only a pencil held between his teeth.
His debut, Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect, and follow-up, Curse of the Mandrake, blend science fiction and history with bold storytelling rooted in Black identity and imagination. Determined to see more representation for disabled creators, Alex continues pushing his work toward film and television—proof that creativity doesn’t depend on circumstance, only willpower.
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Curse of the Mandrake by Alex James
One dying man. One cursed town. A truth that won’t stay quiet.
An aging man in Musky, Mississippi carries a story no one wants to remember. As his time runs short, he finally speaks—of the town’s buried sins, of the curses whispered in the dark, and of what really happened when good and evil traded places in the Deep South. Set in the depression-era South, this haunting tale pulls you into a world where faith wrestles with fear, and silence costs more than the truth.
Excerpt: Curse of the Mandrake by Alex James
No, it was not for the reader to judge the old man—especially after what happened to his cousin Jonah.
The young orderly gingerly placed his hand into that of Mr. Perkins. In an instant, with the speed of a cobra strike, the gnarled, wrinkled hand gripped the young man’s wrist. Shocked by such sudden motion, the orderly gasped.
“Jonah! Jonah!” the old man cried out, his voice echoing against the walls of his room. He continued to call as if summoning someone—someone from the grave, someone from the long-dead past.
“No, Mr. Perkins, it’s me, your buddy!”
The vise-like grip of the old man tightened until the young man winced in pain. Mr. Perkins’s eyes bulged from their sockets, his face a mask of terror worthy of a Greek tragedy. His head moved from side to side as he surveyed the room in confusion, his face reflecting the depth of his fear.
The orderly’s alarm mounted as the frail frame of Mr. Perkins began to spasm. The iron grip released him at last, and the young man stared in disbelief. Mr. Perkins seemed lost, unaware of where—or when—he was.
“What’s wrong? Where are you?”
Heedless of the young man’s voice, Mr. Perkins thrashed about, legs kicking and arms swinging wildly as if swimming—or drowning. That was when the orderly realized the truth. Mr. Perkins was not fighting the angel of death. No, he was fighting to live. Fighting to breathe. He was no longer safe in his bed; he was trapped somewhere in the past, battling for his life.
The sound of the old man’s desperate gasps filled the room. The young orderly stood frozen, his mind straining to understand the strange, haunting sight before him.
“It’s okay, Mr. Perkins—it’s your buddy!” he cried, trying to pull him back to reality. “Mr. Perkins! It’s me, it’s me!”
Finding his words useless, the orderly lay beside the trembling old man, clutching him tightly. “It’s okay,” he whispered over and over. “You’re safe.”
Gradually, Mr. Perkins’s agitation began to fade. Gasping for air, he took in great, shuddering breaths. Awareness returned slowly, his eyes blinking as the present came back into focus.
“Where am I?” he rasped.
The old man’s confusion cleared, and he noticed the arms around him. “Who’s that? Who got me like this? Let me go. Can’t a body die in peace?”
“Calm down, old man, it’s me—nobody but your buddy,” the orderly said gently. “You’re safe in bed. Nothing to worry about. What happened? What made you act like that? For a moment you had me scared.”
The orderly loosened his hold. “Who was Jonah? You kept calling for him. You said, ‘The eyes are the mirrors of the soul.’”
Mr. Perkins’s eyes told their own story. The leathery, wrinkled face bore the stamp of time, but the eyes held something more—an energy, a vitality untouched by age. They shone with the kind of light only a life full of memory and pain could kindle.
Now, those same eyes stared past the room, fixed on something far away. Something that called to him.
The voice of time was relentless, dragging him backward—back through memory, back through fear, back to the nightmarish hell of being a young colored boy in 1930s Mississippi.
( Continued...)
Listen to the audio version of Curse of the Mandrake by Alex James
Copyright © 2019 by Alex James. All rights reserved. Book excerpt reprinted by permission of the author. This excerpt is used for promotional purposes only. Do not reproduce, copy or use without the publisher's written permission. Copyright infringement is a serious offense. Share a link to this page or the author's website if you really like this promotional excerpt.
Explore Books by Alex James
https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Mandrake-Alex-James/dp/1703709233/
https://www.amazon.com/Negative-Gravity-Mannheim-Alex-James/dp/1096111527/
Apple Podcasts
Amazon Music
Artists with Disabilities Need Media Exposure
Alex James has spent forty years confined to his bed, but limitation has never defined him. What others might see as impossible, he’s turned into art. After publishing his first novel Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect, James returned with Curse of the Mandrake, a chilling descent into the haunted corners of American history. His voice—sharp, imaginative, and unflinching—proves that the boundaries of creativity lie nowhere near the body.
“My goal in writing Curse of the Mandrake,” says Alex James,“ and in creating the audio preview on YouTube, is to shine a light on Black and disabled writers in science fiction and horror. I want to encourage writers with disabilities to chase their ambitions despite limitations and setbacks. We deserve to be seen, to inspire, and to remind the world that imagination has no restraints.”
Connect with Alex James
X/Twitter: @AlexJames1976 | https://x.com/AlexJames1976
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex.jamesauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexjames1976
Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect
Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect by Alex James
What would you do if the ground beneath your feet suddenly became the sky above?
The world has flipped upside down. Streets crumble, fires roar, and magma falls from above. Thirteen-year-old Alex has twenty-four hours to reach the pharmacy and get his ten-year-old sister’s insulin for her diabetes. Every step could be their last. Every second counts. Can he survive when gravity itself has turned against them?
Speculative Fiction. Action & Adventure Fiction | 282 pages
Read more: https://a.co/d/fO79Uyt
Alex James is a bed bound quadriplegic of 40 years. Overcoming many obstacles in his lifetime, he is finally able to share his imagination with the world. After completing his first masterpiece "Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect" he's back with an eerie tale from the dark recesses of American History.
About the Author
Alex James is a storyteller who turned hardship into an art form. A bed-bound quadriplegic for more than four decades, Alex’s life changed at nineteen after a motorcycle accident left him without the use of his hands. What could have silenced him instead gave him a deeper reason to create.
Raised by a devoted single mother, Alex was surrounded by care and discipline that shaped both his endurance and imagination. He showed early promise as an artist, earning a place in the Gifted and Talented art program and winning a Mayoral Award at fifteen for an illustration and short story.
Science fiction captured his mind early, with Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen influencing his taste for otherworldly storytelling. After losing his sister at twenty-four, Alex became a caretaker to four young children, facing years of emotional struggle before creativity reignited his sense of purpose.
One day, while lying on his back, he noticed people appearing to walk on the ceiling. That simple image sparked Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect, a bold, cinematic concept that would consume years of his life. Drawing with a pencil in his mouth, he created over 1,100 detailed storyboard sketches, working until his elbows bled. He later dictated the full screenplay, blending science, emotion, and wonder into a project he hopes to see on screen.
Alex’s second work, Curse of the Mandrake, takes readers into the dark corners of the segregated South, mixing supernatural terror with racial truth. It’s an unapologetically Black retelling of American horror—a statement of creative defiance and brilliance.
Disappointed by the lack of inclusion for disabled artists in Hollywood, Alex continues to advocate for authentic representation through his work. His determination has made him not only an artist but an example of persistence and imagination that cannot be contained by physical limits.
Short Bio (under 120 words)
Alex James is a visionary author and artist who turned unimaginable challenges into creativity without limits. A quadriplegic for more than forty years after a motorcycle accident at nineteen, he learned to draw and write using only a pencil held between his teeth. His debut, Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect, and follow-up, Curse of the Mandrake, blend science fiction and history with bold storytelling rooted in Black identity and imagination. Determined to see more representation for disabled creators, Alex continues pushing his work toward film and television—proof that creativity doesn’t depend on circumstance, only willpower.
Medium Bio (around 200–250 words)
Alex James is a writer and artist whose story is one of endurance, imagination, and sheer creative will. After a motorcycle accident at nineteen left him a quadriplegic, Alex’s world changed completely—but not his drive to create. With the unwavering care of his mother and a lifelong fascination with science fiction, he found new ways to express his vision.
Using a pencil held between his teeth, he spent years sketching more than 1,100 detailed storyboard images for Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect, a groundbreaking story that literally turns the world upside down. He later completed a full screenplay through dictation software, proving that art bends to persistence.
His second work, Curse of the Mandrake, reimagines horror and history through a distinctly Black lens. Set in the segregated South of the 1930s, it’s both a haunting narrative and a cultural statement—his bold response to Lovecraft Country.
Committed to breaking barriers for disabled creators, Alex continues working toward adapting his projects for film and television. His life and work stand as a reminder that imagination is stronger than limitation, and stories can thrive anywhere the human spirit refuses to give up.
Explore Books by Alex James
https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Mandrake-Alex-James/dp/1703709233
https://www.amazon.com/Negative-Gravity-Mannheim-Alex-James/dp/1096111527
Connect with Alex James
X/Twitter: https://x.com/AlexJames1976
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex.jamesauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexjames1976
Soignée Lifestyle Magazine Conversation with Alex James
Alex James learned early that imagination can’t be confined by circumstance. At nineteen, a motorcycle accident changed the course of his life, leaving him a quadriplegic. What followed wasn’t the end of his creativity—it was a new beginning shaped by grit, humor, and the quiet courage that comes from having to rebuild everything from scratch.
He spent his younger years proving that talent runs deeper than physical limits. A gifted artist since childhood, Alex earned recognition early, winning a Mayoral Award for his art and storytelling at fifteen. His mother, a single parent, cared for him after the accident, becoming both his anchor and his strength as he figured out how to live differently—and how to keep creating.
While lying on his back, he’d often look up and notice how the world appeared upside down. That tiny detail became the seed for Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect, a story that literally turns the world on its head. He brought it to life the only way he could—by sketching more than a thousand scenes with a pencil held between his teeth. His elbows bled from the pressure, but the work never stopped. Once the storyboards were finished, he dictated the full screenplay, word by word, with the same patience that built every drawing.
Then came Curse of the Mandrake, his second major project and the one that shakes the room. Set in 1930s Mississippi, it’s a historical horror story told through a Black lens—raw, unapologetic, and steeped in the truth of what real terror has always looked like in America. It’s his answer to the genre’s long history of exclusion and his bold attempt to give it a new center.
Alex’s work isn’t only about storytelling. It’s about representation. It’s about letting the world see that creativity doesn’t stop where disability begins. He’s still pushing to bring Negative Gravity to film or television, still showing that disabled creators deserve space in science fiction, horror, and every other genre that once ignored them.
His story reminds us what real imagination looks like—it’s not the ability to dream, but the refusal to stop dreaming.
SLM: How did you begin your writing career? When were you first published?
Alex James: After my motorcycle accident at 19, I lost the use of my hands. The only power I had left was my voice, so I began recording stories on a cheap tape recorder. I used my isolation to strengthen my imagination. As technology advanced, I started using dictation software to bring my stories to life. I published my first book Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect on Amazon Marketplace in July 2019, and Curse of the Mandrake followed that November.
SLM: How did your upbringing or personal experiences influence your storytelling style?
Alex James: Growing up in the vibrant era of 1960s Los Angeles with the sea before me and the mountains behind would fire the imagination of any young man. Summers at the beach had me dreaming of pirates and buried treasure. In the fall, I attended camp in the Sequoia Mountains, where the sunlight darting through the trees turned the forest into a playground of shadows. Those experiences shaped my sense of mystery and wonder.
SLM: What has writing forced you to confront about your past, your relationships, or your purpose?
Alex James: Writing forced me to confront my impatience and my constant need to perfect my craft.
SLM: What does writing in your genre give you that nothing else does?
Alex James: Science fiction and horror have always been forbidden pleasures for the public. The genres challenge me to surpass the greats who came before me. It brings me satisfaction knowing my work could be mentioned alongside writers like Mary Shelley or Clive Barker.
SLM: Introduce your latest book and the main characters. Why did this story need to be told now?
Alex James: Curse of the Mandrake is a historical fiction horror story that follows Mr. Perkins, an elderly Black man haunted by his past in the segregated, Depression-era town of Musky, Mississippi. In his old age, he’s still tormented by what he and his childhood friends, Jonah and Kevin, experienced. There’s also Ms. Hazel, a young widow whose four husbands all died under mysterious circumstances.
Mr. Pickman, a charming schoolteacher from the North, hides a dark malevolence beneath his perfect exterior. Pastor Jackson is a man of faith and strength, a protector of the Black community against the sinister presence of the Conjure Woman—a shadowy figure who sells potions and spells that curse those desperate enough to buy them.
SLM: Which character tested your patience the most, and what did they teach you in the process?
Alex James: Silas, the town drunk. He’s a sellout, an embarrassment to his abused wife, Bessie Mae, who’s Jonah’s mother. He’s despised by everyone in town. Writing him reminded me that I’ve met plenty of people with shades of Silas in them, to one degree or another.
SLM: Did any characters say or do something that surprised you, even though you created them?
Alex James: Silas surprised me the most. I saw parts of him in others and in myself. It made me wonder if there’s a bit of Silas in all of us.
SLM: Curse of the Mandrake is described as steeped in Lovecraftian dread. What drew you to that particular style of horror, and how did you make it your own rather than an imitation?
Alex James: I grew up watching Roger Corman movies in the 50s and 60s. They borrowed from Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft, and that made me curious about Lovecraft’s work. Schools often teach Poe, but where Poe goes into the cemetery, Lovecraft goes into the crypt and blows out the candles. I was fascinated by his mythos and the creatures that haunt his imagination.
SLM: Horror writers often talk about writing as a way to confront fear. When you were creating Curse of the Mandrake, were there any moments where the story unsettled even you?
Alex James: The cemetery scene between young Perkins and Kevin shook me. They follow Mr. Pickman to the potter’s field and witness him resurrect something that should never have walked the earth. What rose from that field should have walked on four legs, yet it stood on two and chased them all the way to the church doors.
SLM: Writing is often romanticized. What’s a reality about this life that most people don’t see?
Alex James: Being a bed-bound quadriplegic for many years, I’ve learned that people express their joys and disappointments in different ways, and that makes the human story richer. What most people don’t see is how much grit and patience it takes to write. It’s not wishful thinking that gets you there; it’s work.
SLM: Do you believe writers have a responsibility to represent their communities or cultures? Why or why not?
Alex James: Absolutely. Writers help others see worlds they might never encounter. The joys and struggles of different cultures add depth to our understanding of humanity.
SLM: Have you ever considered walking away from writing? What made you stay?
Alex James: My disability sometimes made me doubt myself, and I’d think about giving up. But my family always believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. That kind of love keeps you going.
SLM: What’s the best decision you’ve made as an indie or traditionally published author?
Alex James: After struggling to get publicity and trying to handle everything myself, I realized hiring a publicist was the best decision I could make. It’s been an eye-opener. Having someone who understands the business side lets me focus on the creative side. I learned that you have to invest in yourself if you want real results.
SLM: How can readers connect with you, and what’s the best way for them to support your work beyond buying a book?
Alex James: Readers can support me through my YouTube channel or by listening to my podcast and joining the conversations in the comments. My next project is a live stream where I’ll show the storyboard drawings from Negative Gravity: The Mannheim Effect and take questions about the art and story.
Explore Books by Alex James
https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Mandrake-Alex-James/dp/1703709233
https://www.amazon.com/Negative-Gravity-Mannheim-Alex-James/dp/1096111527
Connect with Alex James
X/Twitter: @AlexJames1976
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex.jamesauthor
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexjames1976
Partner with EDC Creations and Alex James
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Seen by peers and clients alike as strategic, generous, and grounded in faith, Ella continues to break barriers for independent creatives, helping them launch, elevate, and sustain their brands.
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