Potiguar writer Tony Lucas, a doctoral candidate in Media Studies at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), launched this Saturday (8) his first long fiction book, Sina. Born in 1996, in Currais Novos, Tony lives between Tangará and Natal and also works as a journalist and tarot reader. His academic research focuses on representations of the Northeast, literature and queer art.
The work combines suspense, magical realism and references from northeastern culture to build a narrative about memory, destiny and the marks that cross generations. The story takes place between Natal, Tangará and the rural community Lagoa do Feijão, in the countryside of Rio Grande do Norte, and follows Samuel, a young tarot reader who returns to his homeland, Tangará, and begins to experience inexplicable events related to his family's past.
In the plot, ten years after a massacre that occurred inside a church, a city remains marked by the event. Between silences, memories and family issues, Samuel seeks to understand how far the guilt inherited from his father can go. From this scenario, the book explores the consequences of past events on subsequent generations and the psychological possibilities related to trauma.
The construction of Sina took about a year between writing and revising the manuscript. Before reaching the public, the work was a finalist in the Books of the Future contest, promoted by TikTok, in the Suspense category.
According to Tony Lucas, the idea for the book came from his master's research, in which he investigated northeastern representation in literature and on BookTok. His interest in horror and suspense films and his experience as a tarot reader also contributed to the construction of the narrative. Based on these elements, the writer sought to bring together themes and characteristics in the book that he identified as little explored in literature, especially in Rio Grande do Sul production.
"I wanted to play with this idea that we carry the weight of our parents' actions. Not to mention all the psychological possibilities that could be explored based on Samuel's trauma."
The choice of Tangará as one of the main settings of the narrative is also related to the author's intention to include the city in literary production. "I've never read a book that takes place here. I joke with my friends that my city is only known for pastels, so I wanted to show that there are other things in the city", he explains.
The relationship with Rio Grande do Norte also appears in the construction of spaces and references present in the narrative. By setting the story between the capital, the interior and a rural rural community, the book establishes a relationship with different territories of the state and with elements of northeastern imagination and culture.
The publication of Sina marks Tony Lucas's debut in long fiction and expands his activities between journalism, academic research and literature. For other writers from Rio Grande do Norte who want to publish their first book, the author leaves a message: “It sounds cliché, but believe in yourself and give your all so that this story reaches other people.”
Sina is available for purchase on Amazon, exclusively in Kindle eBook format. Access the link: https://www.amazon.com.br/Sina-Tony-Lucas-ebook/dp/B0H8RGM579/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
