Guest Blogger: Scott Nicholson

A “C” Student in Science
By Scott Nicholson

http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/

I’m sort of a nerd, but I probably come up a little short in the geek department.

While most of my grades in elementary school were A’s and B’s, I distinctly remember making a C in science one year. If there’s one thing I abhor, it’s being average. I want to succeed or fail spectacularly. So naturally I blame this C on the teacher.

So when it came time to write science fiction, as used in my horror thriller Forever Never Ends, I went for the mushy stuff. In other words, science that doesn’t really have any technical basis that I’d have to research and probably get wrong. So I just brought in an alien entity and let it spread an infection through an Appalachian Mountain community. I liked the idea of “assimilation,” how the entity’s means of settlement is to join with, and simultaneously alter, its environment.

But the entity also has a consciousness that makes it aware of the changes. Far from “evil,” the entity is part explorer and part benefactor, believing the alteration is a good thing. Of course, like all the other do-gooders out there, the Law of Unintended Consequences is bound to rear its ugly head.

My science fiction short stories in The First veer more toward “science fantasy” than science-based work. I won’t wade into the quibbling differences between “Science fiction,” “SF,” or “sci-fi,” and personally don’t care whether time travel is realistic or not. It’s not going to happen in my lifetime, so it is not going to exist. But if I come back later and tell you I believe in it, well, take that evidence for what it’s worth.

I do borrow from science in some of my paranormal books, such as in Troubled, where EMF radiation used for experiments on children. A shadowy agency is trying to induce ESP in children—and of course only serve to bring back ghosts.

Speed Dating with the Dead features a high-tech ghost detector called the “Multiple Anomaly Coordinator,” or MAC Attack, that collects a plethora of audio, visual, radiation, and location data as a means to prove ghosts exist.

And I’m currently working on a thriller using research from the President’s Council on Bioethics, exploring the notion of whether we have an inherent right to happiness and what the cost might be.

I don’t foresee getting any smarter in science, but I also can’t escape the fact that I am on a tiny rock hurtling through a massive universe through which we know no limits. I don’t know what’s more miraculous—that it’s actually happening or that we’re actually aware of it.

Excuse me, I must go. Scientists tell me caffeine provides temporary stimulation and a fleeting sense of heightened awareness. Where’s my rubber Spock ears?

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This week’s Scott special is As I Die Lying, 99 cents for a limited time.

Scott Nicholson is author of 12 novels, including the thrillers Disintegration, Drummer Boy, Forever Never Ends, The Skull Ring,  Burial to Follow, and They Hunger. His revised novels for the U.K. Kindle are Creative Spirit, Troubled, and Solom. He’s also written four comic series, six screenplays, and more than 60 short stories. His story collections include Ashes, The First, Murdermouth: Zombie Bits, andFlowers.

To be eligible for the Kindle DX or Kindle 3, 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 e-books to a follower of “hauntedcomputer” on Twitter. Thanks for playing. Complete details at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm

Scott Nicholson
Haunted Computer Books
http://www.hauntedcomputer.com
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