New York Times best-selling author Jason Mott received an unexpected visit three years go—a visit that would change his life. In the summer of 2010, Mott had a dream about his mother. “I dreamt that she was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me, and we discussed everything that had occurred since she passed. It was such a warm, special thing, and I felt that I was really with my mother,” said Mott in a recent phone interview. Taking the remnants of a vivid dream, Mott formed them into reality in his debut novel, “The Returned,” which currently is being made into a television series.
Mott visits Elizabethtown College’s Bowers Writers House to host a workshop at 4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23. Later that evening, at 8 p.m., he will read from his novel.
“The Returned” delves into issues about life and humanity’s relationship with death. The story centers on an elderly couple, Harold and Lucille Hargrave, whose son died more than 40 years earlier at his eighth birthday party. One day, the Hargraves’ son returns from the dead—living and breathing, and they must find a way to deal with the repercussions of his arrival. As the novel progresses, this occurrence becomes a global pandemic as more people’s loved ones return from death.
Mott began work for this novel in the summer of 2010 and finished the full manuscript a year later. By December 2011, Mott landed his literary agent—Michelle Brower, with Folio Literary Management; within a few months, the book found its home at Harlequin. Once connected with a publisher, the agent suggested considering the novel for a TV series or film. To Mott’s surprise, multiple production companies were interested, including Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B Entertainment.
In May 2012, after thoroughly researching the company, Mott chose Pitt’s firm, which works in association with Brillstein Entertainment and ABC, to produce the television series. “It was their [Plan B’s] level of candor and honesty that swayed me in their favor,” said Mott. Books optioned by production companies often take years before they are brought to fruition as films or television series; therefore, Mott did not expect to see such a fast turnaround. He illustrated this when he noted that Plan B’s recent production of “World War Z” hit cinemas eight years after being optioned.
[The production companies] are keeping it true to the heart and spirit of the novel. I’m not looking for them to transplant the book to TV.”
When he gave full rights to the production companies, Mott said he understood his story was open for alternate interpretation. “Once you finish your project it is no longer yours …. It is in the hands of the reader and whoever interprets it.” Earlier in the production process, Mott participated in preplanning meetings with the scriptwriters, including Aaron Zelman writer of AMC’s television series “The Killing.” Since then, Mott has been “hands off” with the production process. “I have no veto power. We spent so long on who to actually give the project to, that I have full confidence in all who are involved in the production,” said Mott. “[The production companies] are keeping it true to the heart and spirit of the novel. I’m not looking for them to transplant the book to TV.”
Filming for the series began this past July in Atlanta, Ga. The production company will film through October and start postproduction this winter. Mott visited the Atlanta set when the pilot was being filmed. “It was surreal to see these characters that I spent a year and a half living with and hearing the dialogue that I wrote come from their mouths,” he said. “It was a magical experience.”
Mott earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in poetry from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington writing mainly poetry until his recent stint with novels. He published two poetry collections, “We Call This Thing Between Us Love” and “…hide behind me…”. Additionally, his poetry and fiction appeared in “Prick of the Spindle,” “The Thomas Wolfe Review,” “Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets,” “Measure” and “Chautauqua.” In 2009, Mott was nominated for a Pushcart Prize award and, later, Entertainment Weekly named him as one of its 10 “New Hollywood: The Next Wave” people to watch.
“Resurrection,” the name adopted for the television series, airs March 9, 2014, on ABC. Expressing his expectations for readers of “The Returned,” and viewers of “Resurrection,” Mott said, “Ideally, I hope I see people, maybe, going to the closet and pulling out the old photo album, to take the time to remember sparks or connections and reestablish them.”