Flowers: To stay forever spring
How does your garden grow? If it’s like mine, it has a lot of weeds.
My writing career is sort of like a garden. There’s a scratched-out patch of dirt where my experiences have been clawing at the ground like a chicken looking for grubs. The holes got deep enough to hold a few seeds, the ideas I had developed over a few decades of watching the world. Practicing the craft of writing served as water and fertilizer, and eventually some spindly, withered vegetation emerged from the soil and stretched blinking toward the sun.
I played that metaphor in my first story collection Thank You for the Flowers, published 10 years ago and bringing together my published work from the beginning of my career. At the time, I hadn’t developed a set voice or genre, much less the “author brand” that gets so much play these days as something more important than the words themselves.
The collection had some mystery, ghost stories, and gentler fantasy, which made it a little hard to market. I wasn’t yet enough of a “Scott Nicholson” to sell the book on the weight of my author brand alone. Ten years later, I am still selling the book, and have a few cases in the shed.
I re-released it this spring as an e-book, pretty much verbatim, and threw in a bonus story from my teen years, back when I wrote about writers who smoked cigarettes. That in itself is a valid reason to never write what you know.
But as I looked at my body of work, it made absolutely no sense to be tied to that long-ago paper version. My garden had grown lush, verdant, and fertile, and I’d written in many genres, and some readers who liked mysteries might not care for gentle fantasies featuring children and young adults. Though my own reading habits touch many genres, some people know what they like and stick with it, and they know better than I do.
So it made sense for me to re-align all my story collections and use Flowers as the platform for those young-adult stories. My most successful tale ever, “The Vampire Shortstop,” is about a little vampire kid who wants to win hearts, not just a Little League championship. I feel like a sap for saying it, but it’s the only one of my stories I ever re-read, and it makes me cry a little every time. Probably because both the vampire kid and the coach are partly autobiographical.
The collection also contains The Makers series, a set of stories featuring kids who control the natural forces of the world, such as the wind, rain, sun, and moon. Their emotional condition affects their duties, and it’s an idea I hope to spin into a series of novels sometime, especially as they enter their turbulent teen years.
I’ve put in a few spooky tales, too, suitable for young adults, and there are even a good number with romantic elements. So I classify it as YA paranormal or YA fantasy—yes, the labels get tricky, which is why YA is usually just all lumped together in the bookstore or library. I’ve heard Scott Westerfield say that’s why he writes YA, because he can hit every genre and not worry about the slots that adult fiction has to get dumped into for marketing reasons.
The other interesting accent to the Flowers bouquet is that the e-book has sold more copies this year than the paper version has in 10 years. I am grateful to meet new readers and have a book my daughter can tell her friends about at school without getting these narrow-eyed glances or calls from “concerned” parents. Kids know what they want to read and they know how to find it, and they are smarter than many adults give them credit for. And, yes, they do still read.
I usually write my novels at a PG-13 level anyway, and I edited a spooky fun comic for kids called Little Shivers, though I guess the rating goes up to R in some novels. But here’s a safe place for young readers to enter my garden and pluck a few of these strange specimens, and maybe move on to Drummer Boy or The Red Church, where my teen characters get into more serious circumstances. Really, almost all of my novels feature children as viewpoint characters in one place or another. I think it’s because I am permanently stuck in childhood!
I hope you’ll join me in the garden. Let the grown-ups worry about bills, insurance, and retirement. We’ll just stay over here in these stories where we never get old.
Scott Nicholson is author of As I Die Lying, Forever Never Ends, and 10 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 through the blogs. Thanks for playing. Complete details at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm
I’d like to thanks Mr. Nicholson for taking the time to stop by! 
I would love to win a Kindle!!
dragonzgoil at gmail dot com
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I have Flowers in my TBR and going out to get an amazon card to get As I Die Lying
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So excited that Mr.Nicholson stopped by my favourite blog!
mischievousmaya@gmail.com
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Thanks Scott.
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Thank You for the Flowers was one of the first books by Mr. Nicholson that I read. I thought it was a diverse collection, and I was surprised because I couldn't really put it in a category. I thought of Scott as a “horror” writer, and yet this collection had so much more to offer. I think categorizing can be a detriment at times because there are many readers who, like me at one time, tend to look for one category and miss out on so much more.
-Neal
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Enjoyed todays blog post.
Carol
crljqs1@gmail.com
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Hi Scott following your blog tour. Your book sounds really good. I enjoy a lot of YA books even though I'm much, much older. I think there are a lot of great books out there waiting to be discovered. I am a follower of this blog.
Sue B
katsrus(at)gmail(dot)com
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I'm glad to see Scott discussing some of his earlier pieces. I am also very happy to hear that with age they can still be popular in e-book form. I originally met Scott when he was doing a book signing for the “L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Collection” Volume XV, where “The Vampire Shortstop” was selected as a top story for the collection. This was many years ago and I picked it up after speaking to him in the mall. Since then, I have happily read more of his material. Although I haven't read his entire short story collection, this particular story was much different from what he now writes. It is quite good and I can understand why he rereads it. I still have my copy and reread it at times too. Have a look at the short story and others. I'm sure youths and adults alike will find it quite enjoyable.
Weston
wakincade@gmail.com
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Another great post. Also, just purchased and have started reading The Red Church. Will keep you posted. So far it's great.
randymir@gmail.com
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That takes some imagination – a vampire Little Leaguer! I don't know how you think up these things.
Morgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
morgan@morganmandel.com
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I enjoyed your post and blogtour. I look forward to your other stops.
Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
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Flowers sounds like a good story to add to my TBR!
sailorwind@gmail.com
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I read Scott's collection of short stories “Thank you for the Flowers” and “Scattered Ashes” a while ago. They are wonderful but I particularly remember “The Vampire Shortstop.” I know nothing about baseball but I loved the feeling behind that story and I, too, got teary-eyed reading it. There is something about good young adult fiction that makes me want to cry. The stories seem to bring back all those moments in our own childhood when we felt raw and vulnerable.
Great stuff, Scott
And cute photo!
Christa
cpolkinhorn@msn.com
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So interesting to hear about the stories behind the stories.
Gail in Florida
cowgirl3000 at gmail dot com
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This was such a great feature, Missie! No need to enter me haha I don't have any desire to own a kindle (colour me crazy haha)
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Thanks for the post today Scott.
tztomfromcali _ at _ gmail _ com
Tom
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Enjoying getting to know you and your stories. Will have to check out that book.
caity_mack at yahoo dot com
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I like your garden analogy!
chey127 at hotmail dot com
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Writers like Scott are helping me to “think outside the genre” and broaden my reading perspectives, as well.
–Maria
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Thanks for the great post, I've added Flowers to my list, it sounds really interesting. I'm also sharing it with my teens, I think they would like it as well.
lorraine_lanning[at]yahoo[dot]com
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I have been wanting a kindle for awhile
ashleysbookshelf@gmail.com
Also don't forget to check out my amazing blog design giveaway that ends 9/13!
Ashley's Bookshelf
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Thanks for the giveaway!
dancer_girl76(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
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Thanks for the giveaway.
tawnyamayo@yahoo.com
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Lovin the blog tour. Thanks
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Still riding the tour bus. Great post.
michaellmartinjr[at]gmail[dot]com
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Hi, Scott,
I read “Thank You For The Flowers” a long while back–the first book of yours I read. But I wanted to touch on something which you mentioned breifly. It really has nothing to do with your post, per say, but it reminded me of something that seems to be a rather touchy subject with you…
You wrote–”How does your garden grow? If it’s like mine, it has a lot of weeds.”
Now I've seen your garden, and while from time to time it does have weeds, you are very meticulous about pulling them and keeping it weed-free. I know your goat girlfriends (I won't tell anyone about them—your secret is safe with me!) love it when you bring 'em a big bouquet of weeds to munch on and all…but there seems to be one weed in your garden that you are always combating. That just has me puzzled.
Several times I've called and ask how you've been doing and you'll tell me that I've caught you “yanking on the weed again.” Last weekend I think you said you were tugging on it three or four times. Sometimes I get your wife when I call and she'll tell me you are “out back pulling on his weed.” My stars, Scott! Such commotion for one pesky little weed?
Get some Roundup, let the goats have at it and eat it up, –do SOMETHING! I guess you already have a Weed Whacker…and that you've been whacking at the weed forever! There must be SOMETHING you can do to get rid of that nuisance that keeps popping up!
Anyway, whatever happens…I hope your “garden” continues to grow (but fall and winter are coming—just trying to sound ominous and forboding…hee hee hee)!
CHEERS!
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I don't read very many YA books, but am going to try Flowers.
kissinoak at verizon dot net
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No, don't do Roundup! It's evil! Monsanto is evil! I'm just sayin'… besides… who says weeds are a bad thing? It's plant discrimination I tell you. I, for one, adore dandelions!
BTW, I own Flowers (for my Kindle) and haven't read it yet. But it just moved up on my TBR list!
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i'll be honest…i would read this for the cover alone….but i love short story collections, so this just moved up on my tbr list!
k_sunshine1977 at yahoo dot com
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chaucher's canterberry tales and taylor cauldwell's grandmother and the priests (a much easier read than chaucher) both managed to link diverse stories together. but then, cauldwell managed different genre well anyway. morel: it can be done! wish she was on Kindle!
it's your fault the posting too my mind jumping backward! and i just don't care if it doesn't compute to anyone else!
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Looking forward to more. I'm very partial to YA and even children's literature (I was an elementary teacher) and enjoy many books of this genre. I am following the Hunger Game saga, for example. Promise to read the Vampire Shortstop after I help clean out the garage! I'll let you know and look forward to more exploration!
Jeff White
whitejw@ameritech.net
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Oh loved hearing about more of Scott's books!
candace_redinger at yahoo dot com
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Love this blog tour!
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First, gotta love that picture of you with the happy baby. If you have any romantic blogs scheduled on your tour, I hope you throw in some of those pictures of you and Lexie. Definitely the biggest smile I've ever seen on your face. Just bought As I Die Lying and am going to get the Little Shivers for my girl on the other computer that connects to the printer as soon as my husband gets off there. I did try to bump up The Red Church. Having lots of fun following your blog tour. varbonoff22 at cox dot net.
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I see Monster-A-Go-Go ist at it again. That man has his mind in the gutter, the goats, or the weeds! LOL.
Christa
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Oh, and by the way, great blog, Missie. I'll be back!
Christa
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Looking forward to getting my hands on Flowers and reading the other sides of Scott Nicholson.
calseeor (at) gmail (dot) com
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This collection is absolutely awesome! It has my most favorite story of Scott's, “Vampire Shortstop.” I'm neither a big baseball fan nor am I a huge vampire fan, but this story is great.
“Flowers,” in my opinion, really showcases Scott's writing abilities and is a excellent primer for anyone who has never read any of Scott's books.
Good stuff!
Scott
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Awesome interview! It's really cool to learn so much about you! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Kelly
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I bought Flower and 3 other of your books today.
Candy
dragonfly1976@gmail.com
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Too sleepy to comment something that makes sense. So just saying hi!
mayarend -at- yahoo.com.br
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Hmm… interesting. I may have to put this book on my wishlist. Sounds like a very good book.
books (dot) things (at) yahoo (dot) com
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Scott,
I remember reading Thanks for the Flowers years ago and loving several stories within. Vampire Shortstop was memorable although not really my kind of story. It is a story my daughter would love.
There are a couple of stories in the original book that I absolutely don't want Kara to read — one that comes to mind was very graphic in describing the decaying process — but Flowers, a collection of teen stories is exactly what I need: A way to share an experience with my child.
Thank you,
–Greg the Undead Rat
theundeadrat (@) gmail (.) com
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It's great that you have the opportunity to release this again in e-book. It's one I am definately interested in reading, I love short stories. I wonder, are really good short stories are harder to write than novels? I would think that they would be.
waitmantwillie at hotmail dot com
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Another book to put on my TBR list
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Short stories are nice because they can give you a taste of the author who can also write in many different genres that way.
kristiedonelson(at)gmail(dot)com
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That was a nice post…Thanks for the chance to win!
canadell@bellsouth.net
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Thanks for this guest post. Count me in please! You can reach me at luvpinkpanther@gmail.com
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Short stories are easy to finish in one go and you get a little something of everything, which is really nice… leaves you wanting more.
atta.girl@rocketmail.com
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I would LOVE a Kindle DX. Thanks for the opportunity to win one!
P.S. Click on my name for my contact info.
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Ooh, The Makers sounds intriguing. I ever get a Kindle or some other e-reader, I'll have to look out for those stories.
e-mail: rabidfox[at]ymail.com
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Another title to be added to my TO BE READ list!
Nadine stacypilot at yahoo dot com
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Kids love scary stories. When I worked as a children's librarian, I was amazed at how constantly Goosebumps, Scary Tales, and anything else along those lines were checked out. We may not like them, but the kids are reading and there is nothing wrong with spooky tales.
The Blue Ridge area is rich with ghost and spooky tales. I live in Jonesborough, TN and the local and regional tales are numerous. The National Storytelling Center here always has Ghost Story sessions during their annual festival the first weekend in Oct.
librarypat AT comcast DOT net
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. . . and threw in a bonus story from my teen years, back when I wrote about writers who smoked cigarettes. That in itself is a valid reason to never write what you know.
Writing about smoking cigarettes as a teenager? Did your parents bust you on this one? I know I got it pretty good bad before I was “of age” when I was caught smoking.
What is it with writers and cigarettes, anyway? Though I’ve pretty much quit the habit now, I smoked steadily for about 11 years, a big reason being my writing. Not for the stereotype, mind you. I started smoking for different reasons altogether, but I did find that I needed to smoke before writing otherwise the words wouldn’t come. Thankfully, that’s not the case nowadays. I will concede, though, that there’s nothing like sipping coffee, smoking a cigarette and pondering your story. I always zoned out during those times, which set me up nicely for a session at the keyboard.
Really, almost all of my novels feature children as viewpoint characters in one place or another. I think it’s because I am permanently stuck in childhood!
Such is our plight, my friend. I look around and see the majority of those I knew growing up having done just that: grown up, yet here I am playing pretend for a living, putting my imagination down on paper and bringing those stories to the masses. What a life.
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Great tour. Have fun!
Dwdorow@gmail.com
Thrillersrus.blogspot.com
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Keep up the planting. Sow words in the fall for a spring harvest.
byonge@lonepinetv.com
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Still following around.
web at jasonfedelem dot com
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I wonder if, now that the e-publishing revolution has arrived, readers will be more accepting of authors who dabble in different genres?
Twitter: MachineTrooper
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I'm still enjoying the tour. I love the picture of you with the baby.
andrea.infinger@gmail.com
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I hadn't heard of this author or book before, but it was an interesting post!
Tara SG – contact@taraSG.com
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I don't generally read short stories but will have to check this out.
-Jesse
conrad.jd (at) gmail (dot) com
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Cool, you're never too old to read YA books…at least I don't think I ever will.
I'll have to check this out for sure.
melissahelwig@hotmail.com
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Do you think your success with ebooks is because of the types of books your write, good marketing, or a sign of the times – i.e. ebooks are the wave of the future?
Margay1122(at)aol(dot)com
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Cackling at the “weed” commenter above. In fact it made me forget what I was going to say. Ha!
geekgirlunveiled at gmail dot com
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Just stopping by today
Jo Ann Jackson
jajjmj (at) quixnet (dot) net
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Still stalking Scott around the internet :0)
Love the Garden analogy though if my writing is as bad as my gardening I'm in for a lot of pain.
eva.s.black[@]gmail[.]com
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I haven't tried a lot of YA yet. I really want to read The Hunger Games since it has been so popular. I downloaded The Red Church and have started reading it!
sstogner1@triad.rr.com
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I'm falling behind on blog stalking Scott! Getting caught up!
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Great interview.. I have added Scott's books to my wish list. Need to get a few bought so I can add more.I am still following you Scott. lol
Thanks for this opportunity to enter for a Kindle DX. I can't sit for long at my computer so a Kindle would be awesome for this old gal. That way I can read more ebooks.
misskallie2000 at yahoo dot com
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Hey Scott, it really seems that you are finding success in the eBook market. I also still have the book flat “Thank You For The Flowers”.
Cheers,
~Dale
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I've been a Nicholson fan since Red Church. I'm glas to read about some of your earlier work. Keep it coming, my friend.
Stephen James Price
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I am enjoying the Blog Tour.
dreamer dot ima at gmail dot com
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Huh – intrigued to find that you write on a PG-13 level.
Maggie at tethered mommy dot com
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I'm really enjoying this blog tour, Scott. I'm learning a little bit more about you each time. Scary, isn't it?
lauralynnelliott@yahoo.com
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I think that short stories are underappreciated in general. I'm thinking that I want to check these out.
Stefanie647@msn.com
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This blog tour is awesome
kaitlynkline[at]gmail[dot]com
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Still hopping on the blog tour! Please enter me.
~Chrizette
baychriz at gmail dot com
http://www.allthedaysof.blogspot.com
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I have Flowers It is one of the 4 I bought will be reading it soon
Candy
dragonfly1976@gmail.com
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Thanks for entering, everyone! Entries capped at 81 but you are welcome to keep commmenting and join the other tour stops.
@Weston, wow, didn't think anyone remember Writers of the Future–back when I was young and fresh and cute and had a future…
@monster yeah I have nothing against weeds!
@Jeff I am glad Hunger Games brought serious ideas to YA (I know there's no shortage but when adults like it, too, that's cool)
@hodgepodge I can still remember the bit of Olde English Chaucer they made us memorize in high school
@Brenda, I am bringing Lexie into the tour at some point, either as interview victim or about our “other life” as people who dress in big puppets
@Greg, actually “Skin” was the most graphic in the original collection–part of the reason I scrambled the stories was because the original was just too broad. While it showed my range of interests, a lot of people don't care about that,a s I said–they like what they like
@Mark, Margay, Stefanie I definitely think the Kindle has inspired more people to try short stories and other sizes of fiction. The price is adjustable, it's convenient, and sometimes you only have a little bit of time. People carry their kindles in places they wouldn't carry a book. As far as success, I really don't know how to measure that. I am having fun and I rank in the top three percent of sellers but it's still as hard as making a living in New York. When I have 20 books out I might be able to think about making ebooks a career but right now I am focusing on having fun and saying what I need to say. Because it's all on me now.
Nobody's going to push me, market me, or save me. Well, you guys are helping by telling your friends. But it's just a wonderful journey.
The only measurable goal I set for the tour was to break the Top 100 at some point. That's a lot harder than it used to be. So I am cooking something up for October to reward those who help me spread the word about my books. See you on the next stop, and thanks, Missie for hosting. I look forward to coming back.
Scott Nicholson
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@Scott Nicholson! No, THANK YOU for visiting! It has been a real treat having all your fans stop by, old and new!
I'm so glad the tour has been huge success for you so far! It has been fun and I hope it continues.
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awesome post! sounds interesting.
-Len-
maidenveil(at)gmail(dot)com
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Wonderful idea!
ivechosendarkness[@]gmail[.]com
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Jeannine D
wuzzum(at)gmail(dot)com
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I'd love to read this book (and the rest of the books he's written) on a new Kindle!
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hufflepuffgrl13@yahoo.com
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