May 20 - ‘Atacama’ - A Debut Novel By Joe Moss
A chance encounter on a web forum has led to a book deal for local writer Joe Moss. ‘Atacama’, his first novel, was snapped up by the U.S-based Zharmae Publishing Press and will be launched locally early next month.
Inspired by a trip Joe made to the Atacama Desert in Chile, the short horror novel follows a group of young people who travel across South America to attend a rave.
The group comes across a cave containing the remains of a pre-Inca mummy. When one of them takes a tomahawk from the tomb, strange things start to happen…
The novel had a curious evolution: it was originally a screenplay which was submitted as an academic requirement for a screenwriting course Joe was studying. The publishers were keen on the story but asked Joe to turn work into a novel.
“It was strange because I already felt that the work was finished. I then had to go back to it and re-write it as a novel,” explains Joe.
The main challenge, he says, is that ‘Atacama’ was intended as a screenplay for a visually stunning film.
Joe expands: “The inspiration is the scenery of the Atacama Desert which is out of this world. There are rock formations, salt lakes, geysers, volcanoes…the setting itself is a character and you need to put this across in words – here you have to tell more than you show.”
The book is on sale in the US and the UK, via Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
LOCAL LAUNCH
The local launch will take place in the Eliott Hotel on Wednesday 3rd June at 19:00. The Editor of YGTV, Giordano Durante, will present the book and engage in an informal conversation with Joe. Members of the public are invited to attend.
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