New England Author Conjures Up Some Halloween Horror — P.G.Smith

BOOTHBAY HARBOR, Maine – Sept. 22, 2017 – PRLog — “It all started with a nightmare.” That’s how P.G. Smith describes the beginning of the journey that resulted in his new book, Prayers for Evil: A Novel.”

“The image of the book’s villain was so vivid, so real, in my dream that I had to write down the character’s description when I woke up,” he continues. “Over the years, in between work, military duty, and serious writing projects, I added characters, settings, and plot twists until the horror novel took shape.”

Smith is a former U.S. Army Brigadier General and public school educator whose writing has appeared in many publications, including Country Living, Military History, Career World, Canada’s History, and the Boston Globe.

“Writing this book has been a great deal of fun as well as a bit of therapy for me,” Smith says. “It’s just the kind of story I love to read around Halloween – creepy happenings, unexpected plot twists, some spicy romance, with a little history added in. I love horror stories, but I’m not a fan of blood and gore, so squeamish readers don’t need to be afraid. And small town New England is the perfect setting for a tale about mysterious happenings with murky wfv links to the past.”

Becoming a bit more serious, he adds, “After returning home from military duty, diving into the world of this novel was a much needed escape where I could craft the environment and control events.” Smith’s 35 year military career included many disaster relief actions, duty in South America and on the Southwest border, and command of military forces in response to the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings.

Although Smith maintains that he wrote the novel just for some spooky fun, when pressed, he admits there are some serious underlying themes. “I’ve always believed that sometimes the deepest form of evil lies within those who are absolutely certain that they are doing the right thing.” Smith explains, “We need only to look at the atrocities that result from the fanatic religious fervor of ISIS to see the danger of self-righteousness.” Another theme relates to Smith’s background as a special education teacher. “Without giving too much of the plot away, I also wanted to create an unexpected courageous character who wouldn’t meet the conventional image of a hero. In my experience, true valor often comes from unlikely sources.”

Prayers for Evil: a novel is available at Amazon in both e-book and paperback formats. Smith can be contacted at pgsmith@net1plus.com or visit the book’s Facebook site at https://www.facebook.com/PrayersforEvil/?ref=bookmarks for updates.