GUEST POST: Author Scott Nicholson and Liquid Fear

Hi there readers!

Back again with a new post of bookish goodness just for YOU.

Today we are featuring a guest post from none other than author Scott Nicholson.  What's that?  You haven't heard of him yet (and if you have just play along...)?  Where HAVE you been!  No seriously, where? 

Having had the pleasure of reading and reviewing a book or two from this particular author (review links, in case you want to sample those as well...1, 2, and 3), I've seen a few of the many sides to his multi-faceted writing skills.  In fact, just last week another one of his works reached published status....which brings us to our post today.  Take it away Scott!

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Liquid Fear: Something For Everyone?

By Scott Nicholson

(Scott’s mystery/thriller Liquid Fear is launching at the sale price of 99 cents at Amazon, BN.com, and Smashwords—the signed paper version can be preordered at Haunted Computer. My mystery collection Curtains has also been temporarily reduced to 99 cents at Amazon and BN.com.)

“We have something for everyone…”

That was the answer I received while conducting an interview with a new business owner, when I was writing about their store for the local newspaper.  It’s a popular answer for people who need to be liked, or at least hope to sell something to a lot of people. And the contortions can get kind of ridiculous. There’s a nearby restaurant that claims “Something for everyone” right on its sign, yet it has no vegan entrees. In fact, I am pretty sure you can’t get anything that doesn’t contain bacon grease, even the iced tea.

But the business owner stating the line left out a very important conclusion that might have helped her understand her customer. She should have said “We have something for everyone…if you happen to own a horse.”  Looking around her store, calculating the value of the merchandise and the likely number of horse owners in the area, weighed against the cost of rent, I was thinking “I give it six months.”  I think they made it a year, but the point is that no one or no product appeals to everyone, especially a writer or a book, and what you offer may be worthless to many people. The customer is always right, even when they think your product is stupid or vile. During my old store signing days, selling supernatural thrillers, I’d try like crazy to avoid the dreaded H-word. If you even whispered “horror,” people would draw back and warily glance around to check the locations of their children.

So, with Liquid Fear, I hope to appeal to a broader audience, since thrillers, romance, and mysteries are still the champs. And Liquid Fear is actually all three, and it wasn’t really calculated to cross genres—that’s just the way the story unfolded. It has elements of psychological, political, techno, and medical thrillers, yet doesn’t quite fall squarely into any of those categories. There’s the “ticking clock” element common to thrillers, a mystery with a corpse and everything, and two romantic relationships at the core, and even a couple of erotic scenes that don’t quite go full monty.  You could stretch it into science fiction since I “fantasize” the Seethe and Halcyon drugs, though they are inspired by actual substances being researched. Heck, you could even say there’s a horror element—part of it might even resonate with “Saw” fans—but fortunately I don’t have to select a single genre in which to place the book on a store shelf. With a virtual bookstore, you really can be all things to all people, or at least many things to many people.

So it’s probably easier to say what Liquid Fear is not—it’s not a cozy, it’s not a slice-of-life (or at least I hope it’s not your life), it’s not literary fiction though I hope I have crafted it well. It’s not a paranormal romance and no vampires or werewolves make their appearances. It’s not historical fiction. It’s not Christian fiction. It’s not a children’s book. It’s not a self-help book, or, if it is, you have bigger problems than my book could possibly solve.  I don’t know. Maybe you just need to decide for yourself, because whatever genre you like, I am sure Liquid Fear is the book for you!

Something for everyone…if you happen to have an electronic device.

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Scott Nicholson is author of 20 books, including Disintegration, The Skull Ring, The Red Church, and Speed Dating with the Dead. Visit him at Haunted Computer.

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Quite the post huh?

Something to think about at the very least.  I mean not every book is for everyone, but I try to bring an eclectic mix of my own tastes to the bloggish table to at least give the reading feast some variety.  So what say you?  Another book that you want to add to your Wish List...or even your NOW Reading List? 

No worries, that's a rhetorical question.

^_^

Happy (belated) BOOK BIRTHDAY once again to Scott Nicholson and his latest work, Liquid Fear.  Should you seek more information on the author or this title, feel free to click through the links in the post above.

Until next time....happy reading!