Local author and Signal columnist John Boston has released the long-awaited sequel of his 1992 novel “Naked Came the Sasquatch,” available for purchase through his own publishing company John Boston Books.
The sequel, titled “Naked Came the Novelist,” is part of a planned 15-book series and is centered around a fictitious High Sierra community and follows characters Mike Fenberg and his wife Elaine Mitikitski, on a new adventure following the first book.
“Naked Came the Novelist” follows Fenberg and Mitikitski on their side quest of running the weekly Sierra Rechazos Writers’ Group & Grange, which is made up of “13 eye-wateringly awful would-be novelists,” and things take a turn when the novelists, one by one, are murdered in ways mimicking their own writing weakness.
Boston, who has written almost 12,000 columns including two weekly The Signal columns titled Mr. Santa Clarita Valley and The Time Ranger, wants readers to enjoy the murder mystery that also explores humor, romance and the supernatural.
“The purpose of writing fiction is to create emotion — whether it’s laughter or fear or terror or sympathy, every page had emotion,” Boston said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
During his time growing up in Newhall during the 1950s and ’60s, the town was known for its quirkiness, Boston said, which also served as inspiration for some of the book’s characters and settings.
The threequel “Naked Came the Dogman” is currently in the works and is scheduled to be released in April 2026 followed by “Naked Came the Sasquatch: The Musical” in fall of 2026.
Having begun his professional writing career at the age of 14, Boston described writing as “just a place where I go,” and writers block is nothing but a myth to him, he said, adding that his way of expressing himself is through written words and tying in his real life experiences only helps make his stories even more so compelling.
As he celebrates the release of “Naked Came the Novelist,” Boston looks to where he can grow as a writer with every new blog, column, or book.
“You get good at what you practice, but I’m also looking, ‘How do I get better?’” he said, and after a medical scare back in April where he was in the intensive care unit for some time, Boston “can hardly write fast enough” now, he said.
“I was doing a chapter a day at some points, and I plan to do two books a year at least, plus everything else I do,” he said. Writing is “something I cannot not do,” Boston added, saying he hopes readers continue to turn the pages of “Naked Came the Novelist” until there’s no page left to turn.
Boston prides himself in being a Santa Clarita Valley historian, having taught community classes in local history for two decades. He has written three local history books titled “Images of America: The Santa Clarita Valley,” and the two-part “Monsters: The Most Haunted Town in America: The Santa Clarita Valley.”
To order Boston’s “Naked Came the Novelist,” www.johnboston-books.com.
