Writing Xmas Carol

I wrote two sci-fi novels and a book of short stories before beginning Xmas Carol. The first few books taught me how to write fiction, which I'd never tried before. Turns out it's an awesome pastime.

Writing Xmas Carol was like visiting a magical land. After I chose the story idea, the tale came to me in pieces. I'd be thinking about other things when suddenly a piece of the puzzle would appear. In the end, it was like the story was sent to me. It needed to be written.

Perhaps you've found yourself drifting away from reading. This is understandable since most books written these days are boring. I wanted to write something that had life and energy -- and purpose. I wanted to write Xmas Carol.

I've always enjoyed sci-fi and horror books (and movies). But I'm also a rational fellow. I know there are no such things as witches, ghosts, werewolves or vampires. But I still had a pressing urge to write within these genres. So I thought about it for a very long time.

Then one day I asked myself a question: "What is like a ghost?" This simple question was the seed that turned into Xmas Carol. If you like horror and sci-fi, but you've also grown up and don't enjoy nonsense, you may be the perfect reader for Xmas Carol. 

This story is new. There's nothing like it in literature. Take the plunge. I priced the book at only $2.99 because I wanted to let readers in, not exclude them. I figured this was a price that just about everyone could afford. If you read the book, and I hope you will, I doubt you'll be disappointed.There is nothing boring about Xmas Carol.

Come one, come all

Male gharial. Image: Wikipedia Commons.

Consider this post an open thread where readers can comment on "Xmas Carol". Actually, anyone can comment whether they've read the book or not. You're all welcome. Tell me what you're looking for in a horror novel. Or let's talk about why horror is losing its punch these days. Jason? Zombies? Demons? Where's the fear?

In my opinion, horror only works when the reader (or viewer) can see themselves in the story. This has been the downfall of sci-fi, in particular. It usually takes place so far in the future that people can't relate. In my books, I try to avoid this pitfall.

For another thing, horror has to be possible. And that means it must be based on real life. As an example, let's use a movie rather than a book (I do this because we've all seen the same movies; not so with books). The reason why "Alien" is such a scary movie is that its premise is reality-based. Placing your young inside a body to gestate? Wasps do this every day, and pity the poor caterpillars into which they thrust their babies. They eat their way out -- just like in "Alien". And those jaws that contain so many teeth in a long, almost tube-like structure? Look at a gharial. It's the same mouth and teeth that we see in "Alien" (though the gharial's teeth are external). So "Alien" is based on things we already know from real life. Something inside you says, "this could really happen!" That's why it's scary.

What are you looking for when you pick up a horror or sci-fi novel? Let me know. And if you've read "Xmas Carol", please consider commenting and telling me (and others) what you thought of the book.

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