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    • Dreams of Delphine
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    • Dissolve
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  • About  Dissolve
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Dissolve

What if you could imagine, and embrace, a transmutation story about your own ending?

Wiley is a dying man, gripped by a memory from his time as a young textile trader on a remote island.

His mentor, an aging gem hunter, had unveiled to him a stone never before seen—a watery rock replete with pearly orbs that, when bathed by moonlight, came alive. What Wiley witnessed left an indelible impression.

Decades later, from his hospice bed, Wiley resolves at last to pursue the orbs, conscripting a younger man, Roan, to locate, extract and deliver the extraordinary rock back to him. Against staggering odds, Roan upholds his end of the bargain, but remains mum about the mysterious conditions under which he carried out the work.

With the rocks in his possession, Wiley implores Roan to stay, and surrounds himself with family—close and estranged—hoping the orbs will afford him the ecstatic send-off he envisions.

With alluring imagery and philosophical vigor, Dissolve challenges you to take part in a rapturous transition between life and death that tests, in the face of mortality, the liberating potentials of belief.

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About Dissolve

A Q&A with Rich Shapero
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Q: Dissolve is about the experience of loss, both for the departed and the survivors.

RS: It’s an experience all of us must have, sooner or later. In advance of my own demise, my most impactful experience of death was the loss of my mother-in-law. She was a rare individual. As long as she lived, I knew only support and gratitude from her; never a harsh or doubtful word. I felt her departure keenly. I was playing with the ideas for Dissolve at the time, so losing her influenced the project greatly.


Q: Wiley’s experiences are supernatural and his belief system is irrational. What’s your point?

RS: I don’t think Wiley’s ideas about the transit between life and death are any more irrational than those promoted by traditional religions. Whether they’re sanctioned by scripture and centuries of belief, or cooked up on the fly, the stories we tell about departure all amount to the same thing, don’t they?

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The Photos

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Dissolve Cover, Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Revelation,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Imagination,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Exploration,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Actualization,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Excavation,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Atomization,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Peregrination,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Encapsulation,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Navigation,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Declination,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Reconception,” Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

“Mister Moon” Bonus Track, Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

Roan in the Cove Cover, Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

Roan in the Cove End Plate, Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

Dissolve.net Home Page, Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

Dissolve.net Book, Image 1, Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

Dissolve.net Book, Image 2, Cameron Nelson, digital photograph, May, 2016

The Animations

Watch the Animations

Dissolve in the TooFar Media App

The multimedia version of Dissolve combines Rich’s novel with animations created from arresting photographs by Cameron Nelson, set to music written by the late Lhasa de Sela.

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Use your device’s camera to scan and download the TooFar Media App. Available on iOS and Android.

Acclaim for Dissolve

“Original ideas, strong prose, timeless and universal.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Shapero enchants and intrigues with his creative vision of the sublime mysteries that lie beyond . . .”
—James Trevino
@James_Trevino
“Shapero is a spellbinding storyteller.”
—Howard Frank Mosher
“Dissolve is well worth a read if you’re into magical realism. Interesting premise & characters, and very well-written.”
—Jean, Goodreads

Download Dissolve

Dissolve combines photos, animations and music to create a provocative story for the eyes, ears, and imagination.

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Download Dissolve

Get the full multimedia novel, including photos, animations and music, in the TooFar Media App.

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Rich Shapero

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Titles

  • Dreams of Delphine
  • The Slide That Buried Rightful
  • Dissolve
  • Island Fruit Remedy
  • Balcony of Fog
  • Rin, Tongue and Dorner
  • Arms from the Sea
  • The Hope We Seek
  • Too Far
  • Wild Animus

Download App

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© 2023 Rich Shapero. All rights reserved
Rich Shapero is an author, writer, and musician whose novels are available in hardcover, as ebooks (on Amazon Kindle, Apple Books and Google Books), and in the TooFar Media app for iOS and Android (on the Apple App Store and Google Play). His titles include Dreams of Delphine, The Slide That Buried Rightful, Dissolve, Island Fruit Remedy, Balcony of Fog, Rin, Tongue and Dorner, Arms from the Sea, The Hope We Seek, Too Far, and Wild Animus. Use this site to learn more about Rich Shapero and his work.
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