What is your book all about?
A Crack in the World is about Gino Marcotti, an occult investigator of the Royal Paranormal Institute in Greenwich, and his colleague Carter Williams, as they investigate the disappearances of several Sussex villages in 1994. Their investigation leads them to discover a link between the Black Metal music community and the opening of gates to other planes of existence.
What inspired you to write the book?
I’ve noticed that in the early ‘90s there was an explosion of everything-occult in the popular media. From The X-Files to Twin Peaks, from the rise of the Black Metal genre to the Goth and New Age subcultures, there was a peak in 1994. Then, it disappeared almost without any traces. So I thought, what if something supernatural happened between 1990 and 1994? What if the reason for this explosion was due to the opening of a gate from another plane of existence where demonic entities dwelled?
What is your target audience for our book?
Definitely readers of horror, and especially cosmic horror, will enjoy this book. Also, fans of the occult detective genre, with title such as Hellboy and Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files and Lumley’s Titus Crow, will find many similarities. Although, funnily enough, I had never read any of these myself when I finished the book! So, the inspiration definitely came from somewhere else. If you enjoyed Twin Peaks and The X-Files in the ‘90s you might like it as well, given there so many hints to that time period.
What do you hope readers could get out from your book?
I really wanted to explore the ‘90s and that revival of everything occult during that decade. I believe people have forgotten about those years and how they shaped, perhaps unconsciously, many aspects of today’s pop culture, which took inspiration from them. Additionally, I think that, given that 30 years have passed, we can now examine that Satanic Panic phenomenon in the media with more maturity, and view the Black Metal subculture with different eyes. In the book, I depicted the Black Metal scene as inherently evil because THAT was how people in the media at the time thought of it. However, present readers and listeners will understand that most of it was just pure escapism mixed with a lot of teenager angst and transgression.
There is also another underlying theme in the book, which is the relationship between father and son, and how we are deeply linked to our parents, both in positive and negative ways.
What are your future goals/plans for your book?
Due to the many positive reviews I’m writing a sequel to the story to further explore the characters and environments that were only hinted at in the first book. Additionally, I’m working on a collection of short stories, but this is a project for the future.
Something about yourself?
By reading this book people might think I’m an expert in the occult. Believe it or not, before embarking on writing it, I knew very little about occultism and black magic. My background is in science, so I had to read a lot on this subject before and during the writing of A Crack in the World, and in this process, I’ve learned so much. So, for me, this book was actually more than just about writing, it was a way of learning about a world that I had just only superficially known.
In addition to my education and passion for science I’m also well-versed in classical art and literature (mostly Roman and ancient Greek). I’m an avid reader of science-fiction, horror, weird fiction and non-fiction (in particular history and science). I love languages and I’m trilingual. I have a beautiful family with seven-years old twins that fill up my days with joy and games.
