Guest Post with Scott Nicholson and Giveaway

Curling Up by The Fire would like to welcome Scott Nicholson, author of Ghost Box: Six Supernatural Tales.  Scott is touring the bloggosphere this month with some great promotions and giveaways and if you get a chance to read some of his ghostly tales, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed.  For those of you who read The Red Church, you will be interested in the guest post today as Scott elaborates on the setting for the story and gives us some background information.  I enjoyed The Red Church tremendously and hoped to have the review posted earlier, but glitches in Blogger have left me high and dry this week.  Sorry about that folks!!


The Red Church: House of Legend

By Scott Nicholson
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/

My first novel The Red Church was inspired by a little country church in our community. Built more than 150 years ago, it was moved once and is now largely unused, except for the occasional wedding or summer sermon. But a reputation for paranormal activity clings to the church, and it’s become the subject of many myths that I was able to use in the book.

I produced a short documentary video on the church, with opinions ranging from the regional priest’s “The only ghost there is the Holy Ghost” to a little old lady and former parishioner’s reflections of how everyone knew the church was haunted. The story that a disgraced preacher “hung hisself” there is not backed up by the historical record, but it makes a good story, anyway, and thus my novel was born.

But a legend by itself isn’t enough. Without interesting characters, a structure is just “wood and nails,” as one person put it (a line that appears in the book, too.) So I created Ronnie Day, a concoction of some of the things I remember going through at the age of 13–your body is exploding with strange hormones, you realize girls look different now, and, most importantly, that you can’t necessarily count on all the things adults have been telling you and you have to make your own sense of the world.

Ronnie’s mom is attending a local haunted church after a mysterious preacher returns to town. It’s put a strain on the family and is causing Ronnie to question his Baptist upbringing. Throw in the fact that people are dying in Whispering Pines, and the preachers is demanding sacrifices, and Ronnie has to grow up fast–and he can’t be sure if he’s praying in the right direction.

The actual church that inspired the legend sits on a peaceful knoll overlooking a river. The beautiful woodwork was crafted with obvious love by those people who are no longer here, many of whom reside in the graveyard outside, stone markers so worn their names are now lost.

The church itself is a little infamous, and some of the people in the valley are very protective of it, to the point they get upset if anyone publicizes its ghost stories. I can understand, since the church has been vandalized before, and local college kids like to play tricks there. Out of respect, I don’t share the formal name of the church, though it’s pretty easy to find.

I don’t believe those spirits rise from their graves in the misty moonlight. But as the little old lady said, “I always hurry on by there just in case.”

(The Red Church is one of six novels in Ghost Box from Scott Nicholson, for the low price of $9.99 at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

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Scott Nicholson is giving away 15 percent of his ebook revenues in September! Details are at http://hauntedcomputer.blogspot.com/. His other books include The Skull Ring, Speed Dating with the Dead, Drummer Boy, and nine other novels, seven story collections, and six screenplays. Look for Liquid Fear and Chronic Fear from Amazon on Dec. 20. More at Haunted Computer.


Giveaway: $10 GC to Amazon

One lucky reader will win a $10 GC to Amazon.  All you need to do is leave a comment with your email address.  Open internationally.  Contest ends 30 September 2011.