To kick off my very own Halloween week on my blog, I have Scott Nicholson. A very talented author.
Troubled
By Scott Nicholson
The novel that became Troubled was the first novel I wrote after becoming a “real” writer.
I’d had a couple of novels published, but while those were going through the process, I had to actually write a novel on the expectation of its being published instead of the hope, because my novels were published out of the order in which I’d written them.
The idea was pretty simple—12-year-old Freeman Mills is moved to a new group home for troubled kids. His deep secret is that he has an inconsistent psychic ability due to experiments performed by his father. What he doesn’t know is that he’s been transferred to the group home because those experiments are continuing. What the researchers don’t know is that the experiments, using powerful electromagnetic fields, are disturbing the spirits that occupied the building—from back when it was an insane asylum.
On reflection, the book was a parable of my own troubled youth, and though I didn’t deal with ghosts in real life, we all have a difficult journey through childhood and indeed through life. The Home, as they called it, may be my favorite book, or at least tied with The Red Church, but it sold the least well of all my Kensington paperbacks.
I understand why now, because of the numbers-driven system in corporate publishing that guarantees your book sales either increase steadily with each book or fall off until you’re out of the game and the next writer moves in. It could have been because the book is bad, but only one or two copies showed up in each store, which made it hard for anyone to find. The cover was uninspired and uninviting. And I was also going through a troubled phase of my own, so I didn’t promote it much.
I suspect it is a good story because it’s been optioned for a movie and has a realistic chance of getting made. I know, I know, every writer says that, and in truth maybe one out of 500 books that gets optioned ever hits the screen, but this was optioned by a team and the script was written by the very talented Stephanie Boddington. Steph took over the option because she believes in it, and it takes that kind of passion to build the necessary partners.
I am not culturally hip enough to picture the actors I’d favor, especially since the prominent roles are for young teens. I don’t even want to be involved, because I am curious to see how it turns out. Some writers whine about what they see as a betrayal or butchering of their work, but since I am a screenwriter myself, I understand there is an entirely separate set of considerations, the primary one being that film is a visual, collaborative medium.
But you and I don’t have to worry about that yet. We get to meet in the middle, in the story, using that special ESP know as “reading.” I hope you’ll take a peek. I promise, your troubles will be just beginning…
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Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, His revised novels for the U.K. Kindle are Creative Spirit, Troubled, The Gorge, and Solom. Other books include the thrillers Speed Dating with the Dead, Drummer Boy, Forever Never Ends, The Skull Ring, As I Die Lying, and Burial to Follow. He’s also written four comic series, six screenplays, and more than 60 short stories. His story collections include Ashes, The First, Murdermouth: Zombie Bits, and Flowers.
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