The Doors keyboardist publishing novel

Ray Manzarek of the Doors will step away from his keyboards next month to publish a novel. It's called Snake Moon, and it's set during the Civil War. Manzarek said it's "a tale of the supernatural, forbidden love, and man's greed and folly set in the South of 1863. The idea came from my interest in things Americana, the world of phantoms, and the possibility of transubstantiation. Could the world of solidity somehow be joined by the world of the shades? And what is it that drives men to risk everything for the feeding of their egos?" Snake Moon will be available in April in the usual places, while a run of 250 signed editions that also have extra artwork and a short story written by Manzarek can be ordered through nightshadebooks.com.

Snake Moon was originally written as a screenplay, but Manzarek and co-writer Rick Valentine turned it into a novel when there was no interest from Hollywood. They previously worked together on the 2001 film Love Her Madly, which was Manzarek's directorial debut, and for which Valentine wrote the screenplay.