MediaPost – August 26, 2018

By Richard Whitman

Marshall Ross, the longtime Chief Creative Officer at Chicago-based agency Cramer-Krasselt, has been quietly pursuing a passion project for the last three years — science-fiction writing.

Now that project is about to come to fruition with the publication of his debut novel called Lost Arrow, said to be the first installment in a planned three-book effort called The Kalelah Series.

The first book begins with the discovery of a strange ship buried in the sea floor of the Pacific Ocean. It’s big, old and “most definitely not from this planet. But neither is it alien. Or dead.”

Well, I’m intrigued already!

Ross has led the creative teams on some notable ad campaigns, including Corona Extra’s “Find Your Beach” and Porsche’s “Every Day Magic.”

He’s a storyteller all right. The vessel on the bottom of the Pacific is the starship Kalelah and the novel is described as a “sci-fi polemic on the dangers of dogma.”

The action moves between characters in contemporary American life and the crew on the starship, “a culture without time, living light years from its home worlds.”

The series is said to have elements of “space opera,” (soap opera, but set in outer space) first contact and alien invasion. Well, if that doesn’t pique your interest, I don’t know what will.

All right, sci-fi fans, if you’re looking for a fresh new voice in the genre, Ross just might fill the bill.

“Lost Arrow” debuts September 4 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon.