East Greenwich Writer's Globe-Hopping Thriller Inspires Ugandan Film Community

EAST GREENWICH, RI—John Butziger didn’t write his debut novel The Second Tree with the expectation that he’d soon be winning awards and watching his story turned into a movie.

But that's the story for the East Greenwich writer who just released his second book, Eden’s Revelation, which he hopes will be met with similar success.

The second book in Butziger's The Order Series trilogy, Eden's Revalation unravels more of the action thriller that begins with a freak accident in Uganda and the discovery of something that’s “nothing less than miraculous – but miracles can be deadly.”

It’s a story of greed, international espionage and so far, has taken readers on a trip through New York City, the glitzy world of food television, China, and the mystical landscape of Uganda. And as the story unfolds, things are going to get a lot more global. And sinister.

Since the release of The Second Tree in 2014, Butziger has enjoyed market success and praise uncommon for a newly published writer, particularly one stepping out with such an ambitious project spanning multiple books.

Not only did it sell well, it won the 2015 Shelf Unbound Best Indie Award. And then, thanks in part to Butziger’s research into Uganda’s geography and culture, it caught the attention of a film society in the African country and inspired them put the story to screen.

Butziger, in an interview, said that the African Film and Writer’s Society in Uganda found his telling of Ugandan history and culture compelling, particularly his descriptions of the Kilembe Mines, a copper and cobalt mine at the feet of the Rwenzori Mountains.

The area is partially a national park, and “the wildlife and geography there is otherworldly,” Butziger said.

AFWS, which promotes local Ugandan screenwriters, actors and producers, reached out to Butizger to see if collaboration was possible. They soon signed a Memorandum of Agreement to film a demo.

Filing is finishing up and post-production is expected to be fully underway in June before a screening at the Uganda Communications Commission National Film Festival later that month.

The group, led by Alexander Driez Kalyango, has recruited people from across the region to act and all of the locales described in the trilogy serve as the backdrop.

Film in Uganda is a strikingly different medium as expressed by its people, Butziger said. 

“Some of the projects that have come out in places like YouTube have a different look and feel, attracting attention around the world,” Butziger said.

On Facebook and on his blog, Butziger has been posting updates on the film’s progress. Earlier this month, rehearsals were underway and actors were practicing fight sequences for the Kilembe mine battle scene.

In Eden’s Revelation, Butziger said the story becomes even more adventurous and exciting as the power unlocked in the first begins to take on a more global reach.

The latest book was published in March and Butziger said he expects to complete the third sometime next year. It’s a formidable pace for the husband and father who squeezes in writing time between work and family responsibilities. 

He said he’s thankful for the success so far, especially since it’s “always a struggle in these times for publishing." And he writes in a crowded genre, and by going out independently, he lacks the backing of a big publisher to market and promote his work. He has seen a bump in sales for the first book after the release of the second. 

“So many books are published now,” he said. “Book sales are up, but book sales per author are down for everyone across the board.”

To help promote the book, Butziger, along with using social media and positive Amazon reviews to get the word out, is making public appearances, too.

On June 15, He'll be reading and signing books at An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA—the bookshop owned by Jeff Kinney, the acclaimed author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Kinney passed along an invite and some footage of the AFWS short film will be screened.

Both The Second Tree and Eden's Revelationare available at Amazon.