Susan K Mann

Award Nominated Mummy & Parenting blogger. Blogging about the highs and lows of being a working mother of two princes & princess, living out our own fairytale in Scotland.

Halloween Week – Troubled By Scott Nicholson

By 91 Comments

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…
————-
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.
To be eligible for the Kindle DX, simply post a comment below with contact info. Feel free to debate and discuss the topic, but you will only be entered once per blog. Visit all the blogs on the tour and increase your odds. I’m also giving away a Kindle 3 through the tour newsletter and a Pandora’s Box of free e-books to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. Thanks for playing. Complete details at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm
This post is protected under copyright. SusankMann 2009 – 2014

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Comments

  1. Ahh, youth! Look at you… the young and not-so-innocent (you'd already discovered goats by the time this photo was taken, if I'm not mistaken) Scott Nicholson. I remember that photo. Your parents AND teachers were all hoping they'd see it on a milk carton some day…but, just as you curdle blood now with your creepy tales, there was concern your photo would curdle milk, so they knew there was never any hope that they'd see your mug on the dairy products…if, that was (fingers crossed), someone bothered to kidnap you in the first place. Hmmm… (Of course, you'd have prefered to be featured on a container of goat milk, I'm sure.) Did you design the shirt? With that glaring typo, I would be YES! (Or was this shirt made after your family told you to "Get the 'H' outta here" — and you took them literally and dropped your Hs everywhere???)And, if I remember correctly, you were wearing your lucky underwear on that class picture day. Remember? You told me that if you were wearing it when you got your picture taken, it would help you to become famous (imfamous?). You've never taken them off since (and you've got the skid marks that now look like airport runways to prove it!).It's too bad "The Home" (the title I read it under) is fiction and you didn't go to a place like that. You would have learned some swell people skills, encountered real ghosts…and maybe, just maybe, gotten some fresh underwear to wear. But then, if it wasn't for your lucky undies, you wouldn't have had your books published, you wouldn't be holding this blog tour…and I'd be asleep right not instead of leaving this comment. (Damn your lucky Fruit of the Looms!)Good night!

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  2. Boy, Monster A Go-Go, do you ever sleep? I was sure to put the first comment since I'm 6 hours ahead of the East Coasters and 9 hours ahead of California, but darn it, you beat me to it again. Scott, what a cute picture! What happened to your face since then? Just kidding."Troubled" doesn't seem to be available yet on Amazon?Christacpolkinhorn@msn.com

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  5. Great post! This book sounds really creepy. There is something about old isane asylms that is creepy. This was the perfect way to start you Halloween week Susan.romancebookjunkiesdanielle at yahoo dot com

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  7. Any movie or book with kids scares the hell out of me. Whether or not that was the intention :-Pteawench at gmail dot com

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  8. Haven't read The Home yet, but former insane asylums have always piqued my imagination. I'm happy that ebooks have no artifical deadlines, so if you think you need to take longer than a year to do a book justice, you can, and if you're up to writing three or four quality books in one year, no problem. You can even revise after epublishing. Also, I noticed how difficult it is for some of my friends to write their current novels while they're on their publisher's promotional tours for former novels. Also, some of the big name authors' work seems to have been destroyed by traditional publishing deadlines. I stop buying their books after reading a few that feel unedited or that have no endings. I wish my former favorite authors were given more time to finish their traditional novels, because I could see the great promise in their published, yet unfinished works. Like the picture. varbonoff22 at cox dot net

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  12. That's fantastic that your book has been optioned for a movie. I do so hope it happens for you Scott, you deserve it. I'm so very glad that I "took a gamble" on this "unknown" author years ago when I first saw The Red Church sitting along side The Harvest at my local B&N bookstore. As you mentioned above, there were only a couple copies of your books on the shelves, all of them spine side out smashed between other spine side out, "unknown" authors. I know corporations don't care about individuals, and as such amazing authors such as yourself end up spine side out until you hit the bargin bin or are removed from the store completely, but it still doesn't make any sense to me. You'd think that every author would be promoted and pushed. Books should be altered every so often displaying the covers of all the authors on the shelves through the course of the month. When I owned a comic store in teh early 1990s, I would run specials that people would have to actually step inside my store to find out about (no ads, no signs outside, etc). I'd also take tursn promoting various comic publishers and also various titles – not just the typical Marvel and DC books (although I would include those as well). More times than I can count, I had folks come up to me and thank me for turning them on to titles or even publishing companys which they would never have tried had it not been for my tactics of constant "look at this" rotations at the front of my store.Putting my soapbox away, I want to say again that I really do hope to see a Scott Nicholson movie in the near future.calseeor (at) gmail (dot) com

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  15. Nice to know a bit of backstory. This one will get moved up a bit on the tbr list. I like to recommend to our school librarian and may even pass a copy on to her. Still wishing for the kindle :)deedeekm@gmail.com

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  16. I enjoyed TROUBLED (I read it as THE HOME). I remember when I first discovered Scott's work I looked up his titles on Amazon. THE HOME was your best "reviewed" work there at the time (I think 4.5 out of 5 stars). I was surprised when you said that it was you poorest selling of you MMPB's.-Neal

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  19. Well, count me in as someone that'd be in line at the theaters if it is made into a movie!emily_erickson@yahoo.com

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  27. Even if the screenplay is askew, the movie will definitely encourage people to read the book and of course proclaim how much better the book is compared to the movie.bunkercomplexATgmailDOTcom

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  29. I'm reading The Home right now and it's fantastic. Guess who little Freeman looks like in my mind, though. Thanks for getting me started on The Home. I enjoy any book with that immersion effect. I'm going back to reading now.

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  31. I cannot wait to read this and many more of his stories! If only I didn't have to sleep!!! I guess if I were to start reading this one, I may not be able to sleep, therefore I could read all his books…

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  33. Stuttering Stanley! Stuttering Stanley!Oops, sorry, got carried away. I don't see dead people. But this sounds like an interesting book.Twitter: MachineTrooper

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  39. "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."true but really… sometimes it gets butcheredstephanie(.)pridgen(at)gmail(.)com

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  40. Sounds like a creepy movie! Not my thing, but I have 3 young adults that would see it opening night.lorraine_lanning[at]yahoo[dot]com

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  44. Sometimes, a book doesn't always work as a film. Books tend to be more intimate and work your imagination whereas movies tend to be more about visuals. Give me a good horror book and I can pain the boogie man with my own colors of fright.

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  46. sounds like this will make a good film. I'd go see it – if I went to scary movies. They're too real to me on the screen. Guess I'll just have to read the book.dulcibelle [at] earthlink [dot] net

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  47. Interesting premise…on the parent experimenting on psychic child concept, it reminds me a little of The Door to December. jamesemr (at)gmail (dot) com

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  57. I think the full text of the t-shirt Scot is wearing is "Hang onto me, I ride the short bus!"I like that little "pig tails" sticking out the back of your hair (or is it a goat tail?).Scott, too!

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  63. So where are you at it the "book sales either increase steadily with each book or fall off until you’re out of the game and the next writer moves in" spectrum. I think "troubled" sounds great, I don't know there's just something about a troubled childhood that drives a book.hmhenderson AT yahoo DOT

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  64. @Brenda I think writers have to take the responsibility of taking the time–ultimately, it all falls on them. They sign the contracts, and they can say "no." But I understand how tempting it all is, as well as the threat that it can all vanish rapidly.Insane asylums are popular spots for ghost hunters–the movie Session 9 is incredible.@Sharon the scary thing about the sane is they think they ARE@hendy I was up and down the NY roller coaster but now everything is exponential because all my books can be available. The irony is the ones controlled by the publisher AREN'T. Like, I am now a better publisher for me than a publisher was. That's why the industry is shifting so rapidly.Scott

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  67. "The Home" sounds like a good read. I'm sorry to hear that it didn't do well, but hopefully it will make up for it in movie sales and take off on Amazon. A horrid story about the troubles of children is always a tear jerker, and can certainly keep you on the edge of your seat. If you don't mind my asking, how many books had you finished writing before you got your first book publication?Wakincade AT gmail DOT com

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  72. Wow this sounds like such a creepy book! Not usually my kind of thing, but I'm very tempted to try it out. Must be the Halloween spirit =)

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  74. I would love to enter. I was just thinking, what a trip it would be to have all of Scott's books in my library. I'd be so happy.dorcontest at gmail dot com

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  76. Gail, "Troubled" is only available in non-US territories and right now the only place to order it is Amazon UK. I am trying to get the rights back but it might be two years before it's available in the US.@dor you can get all my ebooks for about the price of one hardcover, so it's doable!Scott

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  78. It’s interesting that you wrote this based on your “troubled” circumstances. Indeed, it was troubled circumstances that got me writing to begin with and formed the basis for my first book, A Stranger Dead, and my second–though unpublished and for good reason–For the Cause.To a degree, you can’t help but wonder if there’s a tie between horror and troubled lives aside from the obvious. I know I gravitated to horror in the beginning of my career because it was in darkness that I dwelt at the time and it seemed to be the only place that understood me, while everyone else around me was chirping, “Hey, you’re fine. What your feeling is too glum. Cheer up. We don’t understand your pain, but we want you to be happy anyway, so locked those feelings away and come out singing.”Hrrrrmmm . . .Now I’ve learned horror is more than just darkness, but instead can be used as an amazing vehicle to explore the human condition in a very raw sense, in a way that other genres can’t handle.Coscomentertainment [at] gmail [dot] com <br" rel="nofollow"> <a href="http://;www.canisterx.com<br” target=”_blank”>;www.canisterx.com<br />POSSESSION OF THE DEAD and ZOMBIE FIGHT NIGHT available for the Amazon Kindle. Grab your copies here!

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  79. The thoughtless way the big publishers treat their authors really burns me up. How can they ever expect to find their next bestseller if they treat their authors like garbage, publish them in small print runs, fail to promote the books and then dump them when they don't sell.In the coming years, I suspect the big publishing companies will reap what they sow. I wish you loads of good fortune in the second act of your career.Greg "The Undead Rat" Fishertheundeadrat @ gmail . com

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  84. Twas the night before Halloween and I read this post, Was it the strange noise outside or what I read that frightened me most?Thanks for the chance!jedoggett@embarqmail.com

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  85. The Trick or Treaters kept me busy tonight and such a cute bunch of kids.Hi Scott, I am still following you and have my name on one of the Kindles.misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com

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  87. Thanks for entering, everyone, entries here capped at 86. Keep following and thank you, Susan, for hosting.Annet D, thought it was T & Ters but it might be a ghost…@Stacey, like the Robyn Hitchock quote that opens the book, "Life is what happened tot he dead"@Greg, publishers don't need to create too many bestselling authors. The system only needs (and can only handle) a small number. It's not fair but neither is life!Scott

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