When wandering through the aisles of a Barnes & Noble, the last thing you’d expect to find is a tiger among the famed and iconic authors and books. Next time you go shopping, stay on the lookout for El Paso High’s very own, Sal Carlos’ novel, Wicklow Pines. The novel itself, a horror, takes inspiration from Sal’s background.

“I’ve always been interested in horror stories, I was introduced to that genre from a really young age, my mom loves horror movies. The book is actually dedicated to my godmother who also loves horror movies and takes me to see them all the time. I really love that genre and one of my favorite classic monsters has always been werewolves and I think this story sort of comes from my idea of what a werewolf is and where they come from,” Carlos said.

Being a published author at 18 is no small feat, and it shows through Carlos’ long and arduous process.

“The book is an idea I’ve had since freshman year and I wrote a couple of drafts then, but I came back to it this year and I realized that it was a good idea and I could clean it up and make it better so I started rewriting it earlier in March,” Sal said.

While his writing journey may seem relatively simple, there are many steps to officially finalizing a draft before publishing a book.

“When I started, I had known that I wanted to write a full book, but I just had too little ideas for how big I wanted the story to be, and I had scenes and I had the ending and the beginning, but I couldn’t fill up the space and so that original process was me kind of filling up the book with filler more than actual story which is why I set it aside and kind of didn’t look at it,” Sal said.

Sal’s creative pursuits at school this year helped him find the words to complete his story.

“This year, I had been looking to be more creative and I went back to theater which I hadn’t been in since freshman year and I started going to film club and it got a lot of my creative juices flowing. I wanted to go back to it and through that I think the more that I read what I had, the more ideas kept coming to me, and the more I was able to build it up,” Sal said.

Sal not only had help from his community at El Paso High School, but his close friends and one teacher in particular.

“My two closest friends, Rodrigo Barron and Alondra Tinajero, were very supportive in my process and were very proud when I was able to finish it. Mr. Rodriguez pushed me to continue working on it even when it felt it wasn’t going to be good or developed enough,” Sal said.

Along with his peers, Sal took insight and inspirations from other authors.

“Obviously throughout these four years I’ve read a lot and one of my favorite authors Grady Hendrix was a big inspiration and I took a lot from his writing style and how his stories were structured,” Sal said.

Sal Carlos, having already written, illustrated, and published a comic prior to Wicklow Pines, makes it seem as if writing is his calling, but Sal has another plan in mind.

“My main goal overall is a career as a filmmaker but writing books and being able to tell stories in a long form like that definitely helps with being able to break it down into an hour and a half. I definitely think I’ll continue to write, but right now I’m really focused on getting this book out there,” Sal said.

This is only the beginning for Sal.

“I do plan on writing more books, I have two ideas right now, one of them I actually have started working on and structuring, and they could definitely turn into books in the future.”

Wicklow Pines Plot Summary: 

After the tragic death of his son, Detective Sam Griggs returns to his isolated hometown, hoping to bury his past under routine and whiskey. But when a string of disappearances rattles the frozen town, Sam is forced to face a deeper, older rot taking root among the trees. As he and a young officer named Oliver dig into the town’s history, they uncover a secret traded in blood – a cursed ash tree that feasts on grief, offering mercy at an unspeakable price. Meanwhile, newcomer June and her mother Marla hope Wicklow Pines will be a fresh start. But something in the woods has already noticed them – something that remembers every broken promise, every shattered heart. As winter closes in, the town’s sins claw their way to the surface, and no one can outrun the monsters they’ve helped grow. In Wicklow Pines, the forest never sleeps. It only waits.

Click link to order Wicklow Pines:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicklow-pines-salvador-carlos/1147398989?ean=9798317667801