I’m seeking a few beta readers for my upcoming literary travel memoir, Inner Atlas.
This book is a meditation on impermanence that intertwines themes of climate anxiety, the collapse of civilizations, and personal grief. It explores how meaning can still be crafted in our rapidly destabilizing modern world.
Inner Atlas [104,500 words] is an engaging travel memoir that combines my personal experiences with historical reflections. From the American Southwest to Malta’s ancient burial chambers, I delve into themes of mortality and the cyclical nature of civilizations. By integrating cultural history, philosophy, and art criticism, this narrative offers both intellectual and emotional depth, encouraging readers to reflect on the fragility of existence on our ever-changing planet.
PLEASE NOTE: This book contains potentially triggering topics, including depression, death, and political issues.
Overall, my manuscript sits at the intersection of:
-Robert Macfarlane’s — Underland (2019) deep-time geology and subterranean travel.
-Olivia Laing’s — The Lonely City (2016) / The Garden Against Time (2024) an emotional-cultural memoir of art and grief.
-Jenny Odell’s — How to Do Nothing (2019) a critique of modern systemic pressure.
-Rebecca Solnit’s — Orwell’s Roses (2021) a philosophical-historical synthesis of politics and place.
What sets my work apart is the explicit fusion of:
-Archaeological travel writing
-Climate and civilizational collapse framing
-An intimate narrative of grief and depression
-Political and economic critique
In other words, it leans more towards an apocalyptic-anthropological memoir than pure nature writing or an essay collection.
*Release date* I hope to publish by the end of the year, once beta and ARC readings are completed.
If this sounds like the kind of read you’d enjoy, please message me!
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NOTE: Unfortunately, I’m not looking to pay any reader fees at this time! NO PAID BETA READERS NEED APPLY!
Thank you!
Krista Marson 