Today we’d like to introduce you to C.M. James.
Hi C.M., so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Well, where do I start? This is a follow up from my last article just a year ago in the Voyager. So much has happened. I started as C.M. James, an author focused on storytelling. Writing was my foundation. I built C.M. James Writes Publishing to help other creators publish and control their own narratives. But I’ve always believed stories don’t just live in books, they live in sound, visuals, and experience.
That belief led to The Literaverse, where I began merging books with immersive audio, music, and cinematic elements. It was about expanding storytelling beyond the page.
After losing my sister, Larysa Jaye, everything sharpened. I founded C.M. Jaye Music to preserve her legacy and to create space for artists who don’t fit industry molds. Music became another chapter of the same mission… ownership, narrative control, and building platforms instead of chasing them.
What looks like separate ventures is actually one ecosystem. Writing. Music. Branding. Production. Everything connects. Everything feeds the next.
I didn’t pivot. I expanded.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. A lot of people see the output such as the books, the label, the visuals, but they don’t see the pressure behind it. I built everything independently. No investors. No machine behind me. Just vision and execution.
I had to navigate loss while building C.M. Jaye Music to preserve legacy. At the same time, I was expanding C.M. James Writes, developing The Literaverse, and structuring what I now call the C.M. James Nexus; an ecosystem where everything feeds everything.
There were financial risks. Long nights. Learning entire industries from scratch. People doubting the pace. Some distancing themselves when the ambition grew bigger than comfort.
But I’ve learned that pressure creates clarity. Every struggle forced me to refine the mission: ownership, narrative control, and building platforms instead of waiting for permission.
It hasn’t been smooth, but it’s been intentional and very much worth it!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Over the past year, everything accelerated. As C.M. James, I’ve released the award-winning Alpha Blood series along with more than a dozen additional books, building C.M. James Writes into a creative publishing platform focused on ownership and narrative control. From there, I expanded into The Literaverse, an immersive storytelling experience blending books, audio, and cinematic elements.
Music became the natural next step. I launched C.M. Jaye Music to preserve Larysa Jaye’s legacy, releasing her single “No Other Face” last spring; and it’s been performing beautifully.
The surprise moment came last summer with “3 Shots,” a fun, drink-along track that marked my first time behind the mic as an indie artist and label owner. I didn’t expect it to catch on the way it did going viral and getting played in bars across Nashville and beyond.
Now I’m preparing my upcoming project, “Don’t Label Me: I Am A Label. What’s A Genre?” dropping this spring. The album lives up to its name blending rap, Afrobeats, country, R&B, Latin influences and more. Also in the process of finding new artists for the label.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
What I love most about this city is the people and the momentum. There’s real growth happening here; creatively, economically, culturally. The music scene alone is electric. There’s opportunity, there’s hunger, and there’s room to build something meaningful. You can feel the potential in the air.
What I like least? The traffic. Growth is a blessing, but it definitely comes with congestion. That’s the tradeoff of a city on the rise.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cmjayemusic.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmjayemusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cmjayemusic
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cm-james
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@cmjayemusic
- Other: https://www.cmjames.com
