World’s most remote jungles set tone of new book by William Petrick

There are many elements that come into play when writing your book. There is character development, fine-tuning the plot and choosing where you want your story to unfold, among many other fun things we as writers know we have to have for our story to make sense.

For author William Petrick, the setting of his book became a crucial part of his whole book as it set the tone of the story as well as providing us with a glimpse into the lifestyle of its inhabitants. He chose the Maya Mountains of Belize and Guatemala.

Why writers choose different settings becomes a personal thing to each one. They might have lived there, traveled there or fantasized about being there. But one thing is for certain – the setting they choose is determined before anything else.

“Many readers have asked me why I chose to set the novel in the Maya Mountains of Belize and Guatemala,” William says. “The simple truth is that I’d visited years ago, wandering through the Mayan villages and the pristine jungle and the experience never left me.

“Soon after I finished a short story called ‘Shooting Harlem’ about a producer and TV crew struggling in New York’s urban jungle, I wanted to keep the characters and story going. What would happen to these people if they were to practice their craft in one of the world’s most remote jungles (a real jungle)?

“Naturally, I had the Maya Mountains in mind and soon I was off and running. As the novel progressed, my work as a documentary producer took me to jungles in Costa Rica and Thailand, rain forests that deepened my knowledge and understanding of what I’d experience in Belize. I also began to meet people who spoke casually of ‘jungle fever,’ the feeling they get when they are about to embark on another trip there, usually coming from a city somewhere. Their senses became heightened, their instincts reaching what they described as fever pitch. I was shocked when I felt that, too, on one of my last trips.”

William Petrick is on tour with his latest book, The Five Lost Days (Pear House Publishing). If you would like to schedule an interview with William, contact Pump Up Your Book Promotion at thewriterslife@yahoo.com. You can visit William’s website at www.thefivelostdays.com to find out more about him and his book.