Not everything has come to a halt in lockdown, there are still artists and writers churning out new works, including new releases from Galway authors this week through local publisher Tribes Press.
Clarinbridge man Paul Mee, who works as a tax consultant with Mazars, has strayed far from his professional line of interest with the release of his debut science fiction novel Deity Creation this week.
This is a book about the Deusi, an extra-terrestrial tribe who discover Earth, and decide to create a single deity called the ‘Moses Experiment’. When this doesn’t exactly work out for them, they return fifteen hundred years later to try again.
“Like many people, I always wanted to try and write a book but, in 2008, I decided to try and do it. The idea occurred to explore how and why aliens might decide to create a region on Earth. That is how Deity Creation started,” Paul explains.
It took him four years to write the book, and a while longer than that before he worked up the courage to approach Tribes Press to start the journey of bringing his baby to print.
“I wanted to achieve three objectives when I wrote Deity Creation. The first was to make it a light-hearted, humorous and entertaining read that would be easily accessible.”
“The second was to include subtle ideas in the book that would make the reader think about the place of religion in modern society. The third was to faithfully tell the bible story albeit influenced by aliens,” Paul says.
Somewhere during the writing process Paul realised that his foray into fiction could actually be the start of a series, and if Deity Creation is well received he would like to see a second book published in 2021.
Two other works by Galway authors are also being released by Tribes Press this month. Lorcan O’ Connor of Knocknacarra will launch Binge, his adult fiction about Galway’s drugworld on Friday, November 13, and Marguerite Tonery of Castlegar has just released Kapheus Time the sixth book of the Kapheus fantasy adventure series for children.
Marguerite launched Kapheus Time with a virtual event two weeks ago, marking six years of the children’s fantasy series going strong.
Hero of the series Elisa is caught in the cross-fire as she is duped by old man Time himself in his attempt to settle an old score.
This series has also followed the siblings Elisa and Jamie as they move through childhood, and in Kapheus Time Elisa is now at the end of primary school facing that transition into teenage life, while her brother Jamie is in first year and loving it Marguerite explains.
“The Kapheus series is authentically Irish, and in Kapheus Time the young teenagers set out on a quest together, time travelling through history and legend in search of old man Time. The consequences to each and every action are high and so there is a lot at stake for the children,” Marguerite says
Binge is an adult fiction set in Galway where the main character, Michael, struggles with his mental health and attempts to find solace in self-destruction and rebellion, and unsupported, he is left to renew the ‘Binge’.
It is a gritty tale of drugs, depression and disillusion that perfectly encapsulates Ireland’s new lost generation.
Lorcan describes Michael as someone who numbs his angst about the state of society with an addiction to drugs and sex, but wants to escape his nihilistic mindset, something the writer experienced himself.
