Tom Xavier

Please check out my books and let me know what you think of them! Thank you!

My apologies for being behind with my writing. COVID-19 has necessitated some adjustments. The violence here in St Paul (mostly being caused by outsiders from hate-filled groups) is taking my attention to more pressing writings. I’ll be back soon!

Does horror need to have violence? There’s hardly any violence in The Exorcist. Is there a difference between a ghost story or a story of the supernatural and horror? Frightened and horrified have different meanings.

I was looking at the Wikipedia definition of horror, which says: "Horror is a genre of speculative fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its readers by inducing feelings of horror and terror." That is the most circular definition I've ever read. Besides, I think good horror can do more than frighten, scare, disgust, or startle. Look at the stories of Frankenstein and Dracula. They have lasted because they fascinated . In fact, they hardly scared as much as they intrigued.  I think good horror fiction creates fear by describing a deadly world powered by forces initially appearing to be beyond our control or understanding.. But then the main characters stand up against these forces and sometimes they actually prevail, or at least survive.

Just added Chapter 15 to The Scent of Evil.

How many of you read more than one book at the same time? If you do read multiple books, do you ever have trouble remembering what you've read? And how many will you have going? I usually read two books at the same time but they have to be different genres. I'm not sure I could read two fantasies and keep the characters and plots straight, even if they were really different stories. Right now, I'm writing both The Scent of Evil and the sequel to Neffatira's First Challenge and I'm having a remarkably easy time handling two stories . This is surprising!  And a first for me. I've always written one novel at a time.

So, what motivates someone to write to be published? Is it hunger for fame and fortune? A few writers have the success of J.K. Rowling or Stephen King and if that's why you're writing, good luck! to you, I hope you succeed! Me? I write to tell a good story that some readers will want to read but also, I write to create relevant stories. Evil is about to become more concrete in The Scent of Evil and its significance in Maggie's world - which is also our world - will grow clearer as the story progresses. It is the place I've been working hard to reach. It's a part of what motivates me to keep going.

A new Chapter 14 added to The Scent of Evil!

For those of you who are published authors, here's an easy online catalog to see which libraries have purchased and are carrying your books. Just use the Books tab when finding libraries. https://www.worldcat.org

Just added Chapter 13. Lots of unexpected things happening!