Mountain Religion Harvested in "The Farm"

When author Scott Nicholson moved into a small Southern Appalachian community two years ago, the first thing he noticed was the goats.

"I wondered why so many farmers had goats," Nicholson said. "You never see goat meat for sale, and goat cheese is a product you can only find in specialty and health food stores. Why would anybody would want to raise these troublesome creatures?"

Nicholson began researching goats and became fascinated. For his latest thriller, "The Farm," he fictionalized the community history of Todd, NC, a once-booming forestry and railroad center that had declined, and threw in some small-sect Baptist religions that were sprinkled among the mountains. A 200-year-old circuit-riding preacher, a ghostly ex-wife, a pot-growing Libertarian, and a blood-thirsty scarecrow are among the characters in the book, but the story is built on the relationship between Katy Logan and her daughter Jett.

"Katy has married so she can move out of the big city and keep Jett away from bad influences," Nicholson said. "Except bad influences come in many forms. When a herd of carniverous goats are watching you from the dark throat of the barn, you're probably better off taking your chances with drugs, gangs, and pollution."

Nicholson has written four other novels based in the North Carolina mountains. His first, “The Red Church,” was a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award and an alternate selection of the Mystery Guild. It was inspired by a haunted church near his home. His novel “The Harvest” is a B-movie allegory about encroaching development in the rural mountains, and in “The Manor,” Nicholson used real ghost stories about the Cone Manor on the Blue Ridge Parkway to invent a tale about a haunted artists’ retreat. "The Home," released in Aug. 2006, was inspired by a child's death at a local group home.

Nicholson has worked as a journalist, painter, musician, dishwasher, carpenter, and baseball card merchant. He studied creative writing at the University of North Carolina and Appalachian State University. His website at www.hauntedcomputer.com contains fiction, writing advice, and an online journal.

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High-resolution color author photograph available at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/media13.htm

For more information, access the online press kit at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/media.htm or contact Scott Nicholson at scottnicholson AT hauntedcomputer.com

This release is uncopyrighted and may be freely published or distributed. To learn more about the book, visit its official webpage at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/farm.htm

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