FRESH DIRT: Scott
Nicholson's Journal 3-6/03
June 25, 2003
Somehow I lost several
posts that I'm sure were succinct and insightful. I know
I've updated this recently but apparently the FTP program
fumbled the ball (wonderful that we have all this
technology to blame for our failures!) And I've
completely forgotten whatever it was I was philosophizing
about. It couldn't have been too important.
News: The first chapter of The Harvest is posted if you want an early taste.
Let's see, story "You'll Never Walk Alone"
appears in The Book of Final Flesh, the third of Eden Studio's zombie
anthology series. In the midst of bookstore mailings for
the Harvest tour. Amazon.com and the B&N store
computers claim the book's release date is Sept. 28, but
it's actually Sept. 2. It may create some havoc in
setting up my store signings. An interview with Margaret Maron is posted in the Ghostwriter section.
June 17, 2003
There's something
wonderful about how a genre can celebrate its
"lowbrow" status yet still maintain a cerebral
aloofness about itself. For example, SF writer (sorta)
Jim Munroe targets his work as being in the
"cultural gutter" in an essay published at Booksense, the central brain and a noble
attempt by independent booksellers to stave off the
conglomerates. What makes the essay decidedly askew is
that his titles (I haven't read his fiction, and can't
vouch for quality, etc., but he writes sentences well
enough) are published by the esteemed small press outfit
Four Walls, Eight Windows. Yes, they are literary SF
books, apparently, and that clouds his entire argument.
He is as removed from the SF ghettoes as Joyce Carol
Oates is removed from the "horror" label, a
trade paperback writer in a mass market world. Even the
writers linked in the article are of more highbrow SF
such as China Mieville and Ted Chiang, award-winning type
stuff that has its literary merits touted as much or more
than its fantastic qualities.
I love independent bookstores, and support them with my
dollars whenever I can, but I think they hurt themselves
by taking a high-minded, intellectual approach to
bookselling. Perhaps they feel they are better off
competing in quality rather than in quantity, but it does
smack a little of snobbishness. I've been told by some
indies that they won't have me for signings because my
books are "in the chains" and that we
"can't help each other." I utterly disagree. If
indies reached out more to regular book buyers, the
impulse shoppers who don't feel the need to impress
people with the books they read in the coffee shop, more
of the stores would survive and even thrive. Sure, they
can't compete on cranking out Potter or Hillary, but they
can find those books that even the chains get tired of
and actually build their own authors. I know this can be
done because I've seen it happen. A single store where
the employees are enthusiastic about a book can sell
dozens more copies than the place across town that just
dumps them on the table for a month. It doesn't even have
to be literature that's "good for you." It
doesn't even have to be "literature." It can
just be a book.
June 15, 2003
At last I have a free
moment to reflect on my impressions of New York City.
Admittedly, my perceptions were fleeting and skewed by
the fact that my exposure was limited to mid-town
Manhattan. I went in expecting aggression, rudeness,
crime, trash, noise, and graffiti. What I saw was a lot
of people doing their own thing and letting everybody
else get on with their lives. I saw only three American
flags the whole weekend, only one of those on a vehicle.
Here, the flag has almost become a symbol of arrogant
oppression, to the point where the mere lack of publicly
displaying patriotism makes one suspect. I got a sense
that New York was over it, the war, the Trade Center, the
terrorist fear. They haven't forgotten but they haven't
surrendered to paranoia, either. Quite frankly, they
restored my faith in the country, which I had been
fearing was consuming its own miserable tail through
xenophobic nationalism.
What also struck me
is the city's residents have something on the ball,
energy and optimism and places to be. They don't mill
around with cell phones glued to their ears the way so
many people do here. The only roadway aggression I saw
came from professional drivers, the taxis, buses and
shuttles that have been placed in a highly competitive
arena. The regular drivers were as patient and polite as
those in any of the rural areas I've visited. I loved the
diversity and vibrancy of the city, the evolutionary
power of the buildings shooting into the sky, the
throbbing pulse of a huge, multi-limbed beast. True, I
didn't get mugged, or I might be singing a different
song. But it's second on my list of favorite  places,
right behind these here Blue Ridge Mountains.
June 10, 2003
The advance reader
copies of The Harvest have arrived and I'll be sending them
out over the next week or so along with Pinnacle as soon
as we harmonize our strategies. I'm making a more focused
regional approach this time and am expanding my signings
into Tennessee, Virginia and South Carolina in addition
to the Old North State. I've put up a few more promo shot
thumbnails for the "Deliverance Banjo Boy"
tour. Now I'm eager to actually get back to writing. It's
been a while since I've fallen into a serious grind, and
I need it for my mental health. I've been getting some
acupuncture lately and it's pretty neat. After
experiencing some of the cynicism and arrogance that
pervades western medicine, I believe it's almost better
to die in a state of inner peace than live in the shadow
of a doctor's ego.
June 8, 2003
Just back from New York.
That is one wild town. I thought I would hate it, but it
turns out that I connected with it in a way I never
expected. Looking out on the city from a high floor, I
got a sense of a huge organic being, every bit as vital
and willful as the rolling mountains I see here around
home. I look forward to returning someday when I have
time to do all the cheesy tourist things. As it was, this
mountain boy was sitting by a fountain in Central Park
nibbling a knish. Who woulda thunk?
My agent is amazingly cool. I got to meet him for the
first time, after about two years as business partners. I
met my editor Friday. The Red Church didn't win in its
Stoker category, but that's okay. There were some great
people at the conference, some truly bizarre moments, and
a bunch of stuff that is insignificant. More on all that
later. For now, some rest before the return to the weary
workaday world.
June 3, 2003
Not much chance to
update anything with all this traveling. Got to meet some
great writers at ConCarolinas, such as Andy Duncan, David
Weber, MM Buckner, Stephen Euin Cobb, and Laura Fowler. I
went from Spock ears and medieval combat on Saturday to
suits and ties at the Rotary Club this morning, and each
were equally alien. I hope to pop in Thursday, trying to
fit news around the Nix the Hillbillies campaign and a
screenplay rewrite. An advance check showed up yesterday
and I'm thinking of getting a car whose wheels don't fall
off (which is a constant threat with an old Sabaru). I
was hoping to save up and buy a small piece of land but I
guess that can happen maybe next year or later if I'm
lucky enough to sell another book or get a decent royalty
check. Since I've never owned a car that was less than 15
years old, I guess it's time to think about moving into
the '90s.
A publicity photo
by Marie Freeman for The Harvest campaign is up in the press kit.
There were some good ones (despite the worthless subject
matter!) and I'll post a few others as thumbnails for
press use. This is the one I'll probably send out with my
press kits.
May 30, 2003
Off to Charlotte
tomorrow for ConCarolinas, a chance to see some good
friends and relax a little as well as play
"writer" on some panels. I'm also taking some
books to give away, stuff I rescued from the cheesy trunk of terror. Unfortunately, some of them got wet in
my car and got a little moldy with stuck-together covers.
Lots of minor classics. Ah, well, the way of all flesh
and that bit. Next week will be extremely busy: A Rotary
Club presentation on the Nix the Hillbillies campaign, a
trip to Whitesburg, KY, to the Center for Rural
Strategies, interview with a major daily newspaper about
the campaign, then pack up for New York and the HWA conference on Friday. I must confess I
am as excited about seeing the Apple and the Met Museum,
and meeting my agent and publisher after two years, as I
am about the conference itself.
My article
"Square pegs, Triangular Holes" about book
genrefication will run at Scifidimensions through June. I've also been playing
solo parent for the past few days. Not many dirty dishes:
Taco Bell and pizza for dinner, though I do like to cook.
Not fussy, fancy meals but three-piece things like
chicken, pasta, veggie. One day I hope to master the art
of spicing. I usually keep it simple because food is so
expensive, though I find myself buying more organic food
these days. It has actual taste.
May 27, 2003
Okay, three months to go
before the release of The Harvest, time to start the old
promo campaign in earnest. I think I've got a good
campaign idea, and I'm trying to expand my region a
little bit with this one. What's interesting is the
roster of horror/suspense mass market paperbacks I'll be
competing against that have release dates that same
month: Robert McCammon (one new and two re-releases),
Douglas Clegg as well as his alter ego Andrew Harper,
Richard Laymon (who's the most prolific dead author since
L. Ron Hubbard), Bentley Little (perennial competition,
since my publisher appears to be positioning me as the
Budget Bentley), and Al Sarrantonio, as well as any
re-releases my publisher puts out and any OTHER
paperbacks from the other major companies, not to mention
the usual seasonal slew of small press titles. And it's
also the major hardcover release season, getting warmed
up for Christmas.
My bookstore
contacts tell me all the competition isn't necessarily
bad, because it will bring more readers to the stores and
probably into whatever section we all happen to be
shelved in. My philosophy is that any impulse buyers are
a gift from the heavens, and those who find out about the
book through my promotional efforts are also extra. And
you, my reader and supporter, are the most important and
cherished thing I could ever have. Even if you don't buy
my books, at least you think enough of me to pop in once
in a while and confirm your opinion of my sanity.
May 23, 2003
Just finished revisions
for the Triptrap project which will be printed out over
the weekend. One last bit of immediate business is to
revise the screenplay for "The Manor" and send
it into the Chesterfield competition. The Nix the Hillbillies campaign is going well, getting a little
interest, and about 130 people downloaded the petition in
the first two days. I hope to get some paper copies
floating around locally, too. I wish I could take a week
and devote to this drive, but I'm very pleased to have
given it a decent launch and hope others will pick up the
torch.
Took publicity
photos yesterday for The Harvest campaign, theme of "Deliverance
banjo boy with a typewriter." It's amazing how
synchronicity plays a part in this thing a lot of people
call "art" but I consider "reality."
So many events seem to correspond and intersect at
appropriate times whenever I'm working on something. I
don't know if I would call it divine guidance or luck,
but positive energy yields positive results. My friend
Marie Freeman took the photos, and she is very gifted. If
you want to hire her for a shoot or get some wonderful
scenic Appalachian photos, let me know and I'll have her
contact you.
May 21, 2003
It all happened fairly
rapidly, but Sharyn McCrumb, Homer Hickam and I have
launched a petition campaign against the planned CBS
reality TV show "The Real Beverly Hillbillies."
While obviously those two writers are far better known
than I am, my role in the trenches as a journalist has
allowed me to contribute a bit. You can read about the
campaign here or download your own petition.
I have already
heard people tell me, "I'd probably watch an episode
or two," "That wouldn't last a season
anyway," and "If people want to take money to
make fools out of themselves, that's their right."
To which I can only respond, does that mean we bring back
public hangings, midget wrestling, and gladitorial
deathfests? The idea essentially grew out of a Sharyn
email line about Hitler: "Evil flourishes when good
people do nothing." Maybe comparing CBS to the Third
Reich is a little extreme, but given the overall
reluctance of people to speak their minds against a
seeming majority, I'm pleased to be able to express my
democratic rights and principles. I respect people's
decision not to oppose the show, but I'm also not
apologizing for my own opinion.
May 19, 2003
On the theory that it's
dumb to waste a year of my life on an unplishable novel,
I've been engaged in a rewrite of last year's book, which
we can call "Triptrap," since that's most
likely not the name that will be used. I actually like
the story better now that I have a chance to go through
the whole thing and make changes. It's a little bit
different for me, a little claustrophobic, and several of
the main characters are kids. If all goes well, it could
be published in a couple of years or so. I finally got a
contributor's copy of Black October #3, which published
my story "Penance" last fall. I like the art
they used, very perceptive, since the tale was inspired
by the Medieval practice of walling Black Plague victims
inside their homes.
I'm putting
together the last pieces of the promotional campaign for
The Harvest, and have begun the process of setting up the
signing appearances for September and October. I'm going
to mix in more libraries and writing group presentations
this time. While the bookstores are still the front lines
for meeting readers, the truth is that you're more likely
to get local media publicity for a non-commercial event
(though of course you hope to sell books in addition to
giving people entertainment and education).
May 15, 2003
The new issue of
Hellnotes opened with a quote from me in its "Write
Off The Bat" segment, a snippet from my article
"Confessions of a Bottom Feeder." When I write these things, I only
expect one or two people to read them. When a lot of
people pop in at once, I feel a little as if my fly is
unzipped-- meaning, I ask myself, "Did I say what I
THOUGHT I was saying?" But one of the benefits of
being a journalist is that you learn to stand by your
statements, because you figure you were right the first
time. If you start second-guessing yourself, you end
up...you end up...I think they call them critics.
May 12, 2003
I discovered there is a
new rock/metal band called The
Red Church. I wonder if
the name was inspired by my novel. Somehow I doubt it, as
your average rocker doesn't read all that much. The band
seems to be new, forming in the last year or two, and
they make a big play on the religious aspects of their
name. I'm sure neither of us have enough money to sue the
other and titles aren't copyright-protected anyway,
though the band could claim it is a trademark. For the
record, I was using that title when the manuscript was
begun in 1998!
I made the
horrifying realization that the novel I was expecting to
publish someday (the last one I completed) may be too
off-the-wall and unwieldy to allow to see the light of
day. At the least, it is going to take some major work.
It also veers off the linear path I envisioned for my
career and, uh, call it my "artistic
direction."
The first five
chapters of The Red Church will run this week, one per
day, at the aptly-titled Chapter-a-Day. Signup is free by
sending email here.
You get a new book sample every week.
May 10, 2003
Just as I was shipping The
Manor off to New York, I got the final proof pages
for The Harvest. I forgot I had to go through
the book yet again. Ah well, it will give me something to
do, even though I'm unable to make any changes at this
point and that old devil, Doubt, starts raising its ugly
head. I have to keep reminding myself that the book is
done and over with, and it's time to get on with the rest
of my life. Which at this point includes getting back to
the novel-in-progress that I had to shelf for a few
weeks, and also a quick second draft to the novel
finished more than a year ago that I haven't had time to
do anything with. Sure beats working for a living, no
matter how you look at it! (Not that this is a living.)
May 9, 2003
Sometimes you really
have to wonder about this business. Some former reporter
named Glass, who was busted and canned for making up a
lot of his facts and sources for major magazine articles,
is releasing a novel about a pathetic reporter who makes
up lies and fools people. I guess the joke is on NY (or
all of us) because he has a 55,000-copy print run and
lots of publicity. The sad fact of American celebrity is
that you can be an idiot or a crook and still be
idolized, especially if your name is in headlines.
Another recent one
I heard: one of the Bachelorette TV show runner-ups got a
book deal because some editor was sitting behind him on
an airplane. Christ, can anybody remember the name of the
actual winner, much less the runner-ups? Stories
like that are very discouraging for the average writer
who toils in obscurity and finally sells something after
many years and rejections, then has to work like mad to
get any public notice at all. The only saving grace is
that the Bachelorette book is guaranteed to be
canary-cage lining within a year, while a truly
well-crafted work that contains an author's entire soul
will probably find a way to stick around and maybe make a
difference in the world.
May 5, 2003
I got a new printer over
the weekend, and it's amazingly fast. My former one was
probably eight years old, and I had to practically feed
each page in by hand to make the rollers catch. Now I can
do several things at once while the printer's working.
Last draft of The Manor, two copies to publisher
and one to agent. I've done three more drafts since I
submitted the outline. This thing has probably gone
through at least seven drafts and I'll bet less than half
of the original remains. As usual, I alternate between
loving it and hating it, but either way I'm finished, at
least until the copy edit comes back sometime next year.
I traded for a
bunch of used books today: Spider by Patrick
McGrath, A Graveyard for Lunatics by Ray
Bradbury (a novel I'd somehow never heard of), Boy's
Life by Robert McCammon, and In the Electric
Mist With Confederate Dead by James Lee Burke.
I'm tightening up
my PR angle for The Harvest, going with the
Appalachian/Deliverance banjo boy with a typewriter
approach. The first draft of the press release is here.
Also, the new feature "Scott...in action!," a page where I'll post photos of
my book signings and convention appearances.
May 1, 2003
If you're in the
Charlotte NC area May 30-June 1, you should check out ConCarolinas. Nice guest list including David Weber,
dgk goldberg, Karen Taylor, Andy Duncan and yours truly.
Reading several
interesting books at the moment. The car audiotape is The
Hot Zone, about the ebola virus and how it nearly
hit America hard in the late 1980's when some funky
monkeys reached an Army lab near Washington, DC. I have a
theory that viruses (or viri, in strict Latin)
are the pinnacle of evolution, the perfect
"life" form, even though they are more akin to
machines than organisms. Our place in the chain? We're
here to serve as hosts. The SARS story is pretty
fascinating. I've read that the strain in North America
is different than the strain in China, showing that it
mutated that rapidly, and that there's at least more
strain. It apparently has been around awhile but some
strange unknown trigger caused it to make the recent jump
to humans.
Also reading Created
By, a novel by Richard Christian Matheson, who is
mostly a television and movie writer. It's written in a
fast, cinematic style and is a fairly bitter though
darkly humorous indictment of Hollywood.
April 26, 2003
One of the few problems
with being an unknown author is that most of the time you
can't slip into "recluse mode" and still bring
new readers to your work. While I try to remain
professional in my promotion and not scream my alleged
greatness from every message board and rooftop in the
world, once in a while I suffer an immense hunger to shut
down the Internet and disappear for a few weeks or
months. Having been a professional journalist for nearly
six years now, I think I've reached the level of
information saturation. I write opinion columns on world
events, I can't help perusing the Yahoo headlines and the
front pages of the regional dailies, and I get paid to
keep up with local government. Ten years ago, I couldn't
have named a single county commissioner and probably no
more than two members of the President's cabinet. Now I'm
developing the traditional cynicism that accompanies the
profession, and I don't like cynicism. Someone said to me
a few days ago, discussing this very subject,
"Scratch a cynic and you'll find a disappointed
idealist."
Yesterday morning,
standing on my back porch with a cup of coffee and
listening to the birds, I remembered what it is I want
out of all this writing-type stuff: a farm with enough of
a boundary that I don't have to know or care what the
neighbors are doing. Maybe that's a dream that's both
simple and difficult to fulfill, but it's more important
to me than any award, perceived success, critical
acceptance, peer approval, or wealth. The more hectic and
discordant life becomes, the more I crave peace, both for
the world and for myself. And for you. Find it wherever
you can.
April 22, 2003
Whew, between a family
birthday, a family wedding, a holiday, and a sick
daughter, I finally understand what people mean when they
say that the real world sometimes gets in the way of
writing. Not that I'm making excuses, because I'm still
getting my moments, but sometimes I just long for a
delicious stretch of uninterrupted time. Isaac Asimov
wrote about looking forward to holidays because he knew
the phone wouldn't ring since the rest of the world would
be busy with family. I don't know whether he had any
children or not, but he did write over 300 books, so
maybe he had a point.
I've finished
laying my travel plans for New York in June and I'm
craving a visit to the Metropolitan Museum. I don't have
any other places on my wish list at this point, though
I'll probably want to ride a subway at some point and
maybe check out Times Square from a safe distance. Got an
insightful review of The Red Church from Rick Kleffel, one of the more thoughtful of literary
observers. I like his line "It's American
faith-based fiction at its finest."
April 17, 2003
I usually don't go into
personal matters here, but my grandmother has a brain
tumor and is expected to live less than two months. She
is 80 and has led a full life, has a large family, and
her religious beliefs allow her to face the prognosis
with a great deal of grace. Such things always fill the
family with regret because not only is it a reminder of
the mortality of each of us, but we think back on all the
missed opportunities and things we should have done. I
feel a deep regret over not having spent more time with
my late grandfather, who was a backwoods savant,
philosopher, inventor, musician, and all-around maker of
things. While he struggled in poverty all his life, I
think he was simply born a generation or two too soon. Of
course, a lot of his talents live on in the bloodline,
and perhaps in some small or large part in me. Never
forget that we always follow in the footsteps of those
who walked before us.
April 12, 2003
Sitting in Wal-Mart to
promote literacy today was an eye-opening experience.
Since the store wasn't selling my books, I took a box of
old books from my collection and gave them away, one per
person. I was startled by how hard it was to give away
books. Even after people overcame their idea that I was
trying to sell them something, they were hesitant to pick
out a book. I got the usual, "My parents won't let
me read Harry Potter because it has wizards" and
"I don't read horror, I only read the 'Left Behind'
books." I didn't have a wide range of genres,
because I don't have many westerns or romances in my
collection, but the Hemingway went well and I even met
one horror fan, though nobody took the science fiction
books. If Wal-Mart is truly a cross-section of America,
then I understand why people get the impression that
literacy is dying in America. However, I did meet a
couple of real book enthusiasts, and of course that
always makes up for everything.
April 8, 2003
Okay, the latest
screenplay is finished except for one last pass at
tightening the final act. (Yeah, we call it the
"build to climax" in any other form of
storytelling, but all these screenwriting advice books
have to impart the secret language so you feel like
you're getting your money's worth.) The three-act
structure that the expensive workshops teach is nothing
more than a natural form that's been around since the
cave dwellers-- beginning, middle, and end. It's there in
The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Cinderella, it's there in
Shakespeare, it's there in any Stephen King novel, and
the construction worker at the bar is using the same
format when telling about his weekend fishing trip.
I had a great idea for my third novel, The Manor,
which I'll be revising over the next four weeks or so.
The basic story is already in place but a couple of
elements popped up when I went past the obvious and
sought what I like to call "the third twist."
Usually the first twist you think of will be the ordinary
one that's been used before, then you invert that, but
even the inverted twist is not really a surprise. That's
when you have to wander into left field and find an
answer that's suggested by both of the previous twist
possibilities (setting up a certain expectation in the
reader). This third twist should be unexpected, yet also
seem obvious and simple once the beans are spilled and
the curtain dropped. Not that a surprise ending should be
the only pay-off; if that's all you have to offer, you're
stealing a reader's time and money.
April 4, 2003
The Red Church made the final ballot for a Bram Stoker
Award in the 2002 "first novel" category. The
award is given by the Horror
Writers Association with
the winners announced in June. Some deserving work didn't
make the ballot, but the psychology of the voting is
always interesting in itself, regardless of who wins. I
try not to covet things like that, and winning awards has
never been a big goal for me, but I'm proud that the
novel's readers felt moved enough by the book to show
such support. Given the hallowed list of Bram Stoker
winners that includes Stephen King, Joe Lansdale, Bentley
Little, Neil Gaiman, and many others I admire, I'm
certainly honored to even brush up against such legends.
I'm planning to attend the award ceremony in New York and
learn a little about the publishing world and see how
this mountain boy fares in the Big City.
I have a lot to
finish before then. I'm getting excited about The
Harvest's release, and I'm wrapping up the latest
revision on a screenplay to submit to the Nicholl Fellowships contest sponsored by the Academy of
Motion Pictures (the folks who dole out Oscars). I must
turn in the final version of my third novel before June,
and I have a couple of smaller projects under
construction. All in all, it's a fun season with far more
tasks than time will bear. As I told a fellow Stoker
candidate, as they say in the Big Leagues, "I'm just
happy to be here."
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