My sci-fi series “Red Desert” reviewed by WIRED.it

The publication in English of the first book of my sci-fi series set on Mars, “Red Desert”, is almost behind the corner. The whole translation/revision/proofreading process will be completed in the next weeks, then ARCs of “Red Desert - Point of No Return” will be delivered to a selected group of readers (click here if you want to apply and get it for free; there are still some available slots), while the novella will be published sometime in June.

In the meanwhile the series is receiving some very good feedbacks in my own country, Italy, the last one of which surprisingly came from the Italian online version of WIRED magazine. On February 28^th WIRED.it published an article titled “I 10 migliori autori italiani autopubblicati” (The 10 Best Italian Self-Published Authors), and according to the web magazine I am one of them!

Within the article is a great review of my work that I would like to share with you.

I’m translating from Italian. As usual, please forgive my less than perfect English. Fortunately I have some mother tongue people working with me at the translation of my series.

Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli - “Deserto rosso” (this is the original title of “Red Desert”)

Deserto Rosso is a series of four novels narrating the events related to a NASA mission landed on Mars thirty years after the first - failed - attempt of colonisation. The first episode opens with Anna coming out from the pressurised environment of the base and venturing among the rocks and the shadows of the planet, persuaded to let herself die, as soon as her oxygen provision will finish. The novels proceeds by means of flashbacks. The present time of the story is interrupted by memories of the past, which explain the reasons inducing the main characters to leave; in the case of Anna it is more a desire for escaping than for knowledge. The prose is controlled. The story runs on a dual rail: the exploration of the red planet and the one of her own ego. The reader performs together with Anna the necessary steps towards the truth. Beautiful, introspecting, intense science fiction. In the end, the real planet to be explored is us.

How cool is that?

The first book of "Red Desert" series, "Point of No Return", will be available
on Amazon, Kobo, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and other retailers in June 2014.