I’ve been running a series of interviews with authors that are releasing new books. I hope you’ll take the time to check out their work. Today, please welcome back author, Scott Nicholson.

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I interviewed you for The Skull Ring a couple of months ago. Tell me about this new book.

Speed Dating with the Dead is an urban fantasy thriller, a term I invented that’s probably meaningless. “Urban fantasy” means you have demons and angels and sex (in my case), or werewolves and vampires and sex in the case of bestselling urban fantasy, but it’s not really a funny or erotic book, paced more like a thriller. I wish I could just do things normal and have a vampire shag something and make lots of money, but that’s just not my style.

What inspired you to write this particular novel?

I hosted a paranormal conference a couple of years ago at an old haunted hotel here in the Blue Ridge mountains and informed all the ghost hunters I was writing a novel about it. Of course, we didn’t stir up any demons that I know of, but the hunt stuff is real.

Which of your characters in this book was the most difficult to write about? Why?

Digger Wilson is loosely based on me, going metafictional because I play “Digger” in my own comic book series DIRT. Are you confused yet? He’s a cynical, alcoholic guy worried about being a good father and finding faith.

I have a keen interest in dark fiction. Tell me how you would classify this book and what’s dark about it?

I could give it a lot of labels. Paranormal works because of the paranormal investigation (though again, the phrase “paranormal” in publishing means something entirely different, because it’s shorthand for creatures shagging), or “supernatural thriller,” which I generally use for my books. I don’t like the term “horror” because I don’t think a lot of my stuff is horrific. I am more interested in psychological suspense.

What’s your dream job?

I’m pretty much living the dream. I’m a journalist and I garden. I write. I have two chickens. That’s about enough.

You have been very active in the indie author community. Tell me about your experiences of being a traditionally published author vs an indie author.

Six novels with a mid-major publisher and two paper collections from a small press. I was treated fairly but there was no “next level.” It was a great learning experience but today the field is so wide open, being able to connect directly with readers through e-books and build my audience organically instead of the 30-day panic to push a paperback release before you’re toast. I love this era. My new motto is “We’re all in it together.”

This blog is called Random Musings, so give me a random quote from the book – something you’re particularly fond of.

“Maybe ghosts are like clouds on a windy day. The ether merges in tapestry—then is torn away, and all you were is never again. A memoir writ in invisible ink.”

–Digger’s daughter Kendra, in the words of her comic book character Emily Dee, a ninja Goth version of Emily Dickinson.

What can we expect from you next?

I just put out a collection called Murdermouth: Zombie Bits, collecting eight zombie short stories, the comic script of the Murdermouth comic, and a bonus piece from Jack Kilborn, as well as a “Zombie Apocalypse Survival Scorecard” from Jonathan Maberry of Patient Zero fame. I’m about to embark on a 90-day blog tour in September and I’ll probably release two or three more books this fall.

Where can we find you on the internet?

Many places: Web, Blog, Indie Books Blog, or Twitter and Facebook.

Any final comments or thoughts?

Thanks for doing what you do for our indie community. As someone once said, “We’re all in it together.”

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My pleasure, Scott!! I agree. We ARE all on this together. And thanks again for dropping in. I look forward to hearing more about your blog tour when that comes around!

Purchasing information:

Amazon – Kindle
Smashwords