Scott Nicholson Guest Post & Giveaway: Kindle 3!

Welcome, Author and Guest Blogger, Scott Nicholson! We're thrilled to have you at Rex Robot Reviews. Scott is the brilliant writer behind The Skull Ring and is here today to talk about the False Recovered Memories!

 False Recovered Memories: The Skull Ring
By Scott Nicholson
www.hauntedcomputer.com

The Skull Ring was a novel that got me my first agent, way back in the publishing Dark Ages of 2001 or so. He liked it, but The Red Church sold through the slush pile before he finished it, and as my career moved on, somehow the novel fell in the cracks. It sat dormant and was slated to be published as a limited-edition hardcover a few years ago until the publisher  went out of business. This novel was killing so many agents and publishers that I thought I might as well stamp “666" on it and toss it in the dead-letter office.

The digital revolution inspired me to see how audiences would respond to the story of a woman who can’t trust her own memories as sinister forces from the past close in around her. A couple of people, including a professional counselor, basically said Satanism was dead, and the False Recovered Memory Syndrome that was a diagnosis du jour in the 1980's was as dated as disco and MTV. But, heck, Koontz released a novel called False Memory not that long ago, and all evidence indicates Satan is still very active in the world today. In researching the novel, I dug into the psychological case books and the diagnostic manuals, researching details of actual cases and the mumbo jumbo of the modern voodoo called "Psychology.” Really, a counselor with a wicked streak can do a lot of damage, and when you combine that with a belief that one serves a higher, darker purpose, then how can a mere mortal stand a chance?

Before the diagnosis eventually became ridiculed, a number of psychologists built reputations by "uncovering” so many childhood victims of ritual abuse that it seemed like there must be a coven on every street corner. The problem with all these claims was that not one shred of evidence and not one skeleton of a sacrificed baby was ever discovered, though law- enforcement agencies regularly receive “education” on the insidious cult influences in our schools and neighborhoods. Of course, that’s exactly what Satan would want us to believe, right? My research naturally went to the Internet, where I found the organized Church of Satan is as scrubbed-up and orderly as any Christian denomination, more intent on selling you marked-up regalia and ceremonial talismans than encouraging evil intent. The core principle is selfishness, not so different from many other organized belief systems.

And Julia Stone is a victim of this selfishness, rebuilding her life and her past after her father disappeared and she was injured during a long-ago night of chants, fire, and people in hoods. Now the past has followed her to the peaceful town of Elkwood, where a mutilated body turns up in a local river. Someone knows about her past and is leaving taunting and cruel clues around her house. Her lawyer boyfriend is turning violent and the local handyman seems all too eager to share his religious views. Then Julia discovers children’s bones under her house, the ring closes in, and the chase is on through the Appalachian wilderness, where even nature seems to be on Satan’s side.

Julia Stone will remember, even if it kills her.

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Scott Nicholson is author of The Skull Ring, Speed Dating with the Dead, Drummer Boy, and nine other novels, five story collections, four comics series, and six screenplays. A journalist and freelance editor in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, he often uses local legends in his work. This tour is sponsored by Amazon, Kindle Nation Daily, and Dellaster Design.

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 ebooks to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. And, hey, buy my books and put me in the Top 100 and I’ll throw in another random Kindle 3 giveaway. Thanks for playing.  Complete details here.