Ground Breaking Novella Series Explores Digital Story Telling in the Age of Distraction

March 16, 2016 - Volume One of Patricia Mahon's "Stories from the Age of Distraction" explores the relationship between two friends —- a school teacher and a writer both with a passion for storytelling and a pressing dilemma. How can they communicate in a distracted, digital world where no one engages or focuses?

In an effort to save creative expression from the age of smart technology, algorithms, artificial intelligence, and cyber tracking —- they set out to invent a global storytelling app. The app is a dynamic, real-time platform where anyone, anywhere in the world can contribute a line to a collective narrative. While they seek the support of Silicon Valley funding and technical know-how, they ultimately go it alone.

"Volume One: The Island" traverses the globe with vibrant characters, vivid places, and the whispers of Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Dylan Thomas, WB Yeats, Herman Melville, Walt Whitman, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Franz Kafka, Eudora Welty, etc. This first book transports the reader from Central Africa, to the California desert, to Bolivia, to Brazil and finally to a perfect ecosystem in the South Atlantic.

With a collection of lively characters in tow, the world writes an EBook as the app helps our heroes break through to the creative life force that stories impart.

"Stories from the Age of Distraction" ultimately puts storytelling back in the hands of everyday people … which is where it all began. It draws attention to the merits as well as the perils of automation and provides a welcome snap shot of contemporary characters matriculating in a world where classic storytelling and literary history are still relevant.

New York Times Bestselling author Anne Perry says the book is "a journey of the universal imagination. Interesting, beautiful, different."

BBC Journalist and author Richard Hamilton feels that Volume One, "raises some important questions about the future of humanity in the increasingly fragmented and confusing digital landscape."

Wellness Coach and Writer Ellen Goodman maintains that the small novella "offers a large message —-that positive transformation occurs when we lift our heads up from our devices, engage in the world around us, and reignite our imaginations."

The author states, "I truly believe that stories can help bridge the growing gap between who we have always been … engaged, observant, social animals and who we are now in danger of becoming … isolated, unfocused, solitary creatures."

Each novella in Mahon's "Age of Distraction" series is packed with technology, travel-scapes, modern conflict, poetry, historical reverence, and classic literature. At the very least, Volume One of "Stories from the Age of Distraction" starts an important dialogue about the critical conversation that we're simply not having.

The first book is now available for Pre-Order on Amazon and will ship at the end of March 2016.
http://www.amazon.com/Stories-Age-Distraction-One-Island/dp/1939454670/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1458022987&sr=8-1