Here are the Tweet-Stories

In case you missed it or don't feel like fooling around with Twitter, I've decided to post all of the Tweet-Stories on here so it'll be easier to read/look them up.  It was just an idea for this Halloween Weekend.  See if I could come up with a few Tweet-Stories that were in the same style of LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES, and if you've read LESSONS, you'll see a few characters you should recognize.

Happy Halloween, and enjoy!  I'm posting them in the order that they were originally posted on Twitter.  Follow me at twitter.com/m_crane.  Here they are:

The doll looked down at Charlie and smiled at the blood coming out of his mouth. "That'll teach you to call me bad names to your mom."

***

Mom thought Chucky was overreacting and making things up. When she left, however, she never saw the pair of eyes peeking out of the closet.

***

He had died days ago, but Martha had no intentions on getting rid of the body. If he wouldn't pick up after himself, then why should she?

***

The puppet smiled his horrible teeth as he looked at the baby. Finally, Mr. Giggles had found a new playmate.

***

"We don't have meatballs," Robbie's mom said. "Just eat your spaghetti." Robbie frowned at the pasta, staring down at his father's eyeball.

***

It's just a doll, he thought of the clown. It's not really alive. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Not once did he ever notice the knife.

***

He thought his wife was bat-shit crazy when she screamed about zombies, until she became one. Now, he doesn't do much thinking at all.

***

Terrance is afraid of spiders, snakes and heights. And after having his arm bitten off, he'll have to add "monsters" to the list as well.

***

Phil didn't want to dress up with Harriet for the party, but a compromise was made. He went with an ax in his head. Too bad the ax was real.

***

He snapped. Harry chopped off every one of his fingers with glee. After all, it was quite hard to get paper-cuts when one had no fingers.

***

Chad's mother decided enough was enough. She hired a hit-man to deal with her son. He was warned not to fail another spelling test.

***

She couldn't understand how selfish people could be. She shot her husband and as he was dying, all he could think was me, me, me.

***

Mark begged Jeff to let him in. Something about zombies chasing him. Then, Mark bit into Jeff's neck. "Had to get you to invite me in."

***

He had another bad dream about monsters. Silly, he thought. When he put his feet on his floor, claws shot out and grabbed his legs.

***

It's one thing when you're getting torn apart by a pair of zombies. It's another when those zombies used to be your mom and dad.

***

Becky loved sleeping with her husband's arms around her. She loved it so much, when he threatened to leave, she hacked them off with a saw.

###

Tweet-Stories: Happy Halloween!

It's been a long time since I've been on Twitter.  I used to use TweetDeck all of the time and when it stopped working, I gave up for a few months.

Well... I'm back to tweeting!

Not only that, but I'm doing Tweet-Stories today and probably tomorrow.  They're in the spirit of LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES.  In fact, a few characters from that collection have made a few cameo appearances in today's installment of Tweet-Stories.

So please, feel free to follow along at twitter.com/m_crane.  I hope you enjoy it!  I've done a few today.  Will try to do more tomorrow.

A POUND OF FLASH: It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!

Well, I'm happy to say that LESSONS has done excellent so far!  I've already sold 26 copies.  24 in one week--that is a record for me!  Thank you for checking it out, everybody.  I'll go into that more on a later date.

But right now, I'm happy and excited to announce that David McAfee's new horror collection, A POUND OF FLASH is now available on Amazon for only 99 cents!  I've read the first few stories, and it is excellent so far.  Not only that, but the book features bonus stories by authors David Dalgish and Daniel Arenson.  It is an honor to be included with them.

Please, pick up a copy today.  You won't regret it!

Thank you, everybody!

I cannot even begin to express how happy I am that it seems like people are digging LESSONS (AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES).  It's gone beyond my expectations.  It's been out less than a week, and already I've sold 12 copies and received some great feedback on it.  I'm at a loss for words.

Tomorrow is my KB Book of the Day (Kindleboards).  They advertise your book for a day (or more if you like) for a small fee, and so far it seems to be working for people.  I originally had it set for IN DECLINE, but this was before I wrote LESSONS.  I was able to switch.  I did it for 2 reasons:

a)  Halloween is coming up.  I think this is the perfect time to take advantage of that.  People are in the mood for something that's dark or creepy.

b)  Let's be honest.  As much as I love IN DECLINE and am thrilled with how well it's done so far for a little short story collection, it's a tougher sell.  I probably won't sell as many copies of that.  Plus, I can always select a future date for that one.  Right now, I want to get LESSONS out there to the public.

I also waited before I made this decision because I wasn't sure what the initial reaction would be, being that this is drastically different from what I normally write.  I'm happy to say that it's been very positive.  People seem to like it.  I hope it continues that way.

So once again, a BIG thank you to everybody.  You don't know how much it means to me.  Writing is fun, but it's even more fun when you find out that people are also enjoying your work.

BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

This has been a pretty exciting week for me.  Got to see my girlfriend perform in the opera, Carmen.  LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES is finally available on Amazon, and I've already sold a few copies of it.  And now, I have some exciting news.

One of my drabbles from LESSONS is going to be featured in David McAfee's new horror story collection, A POUND OF FLASH.

You have no idea how psyched I am about this.  The man is beyond talented when it comes to writing.  I even talked about his first collection, THE LAKE AND 17 OTHER STORIES  in the afterword of LESSONS because a) It's an amazing collection b) I feel that if there was no LAKE, there would be no LESSONS.  He showed me that you could have a lot of fun telling a story by using very little words, yet never being short on the "wow" or "surprise" factor.

So, to have one of my stories appear in his new collection... I can't even explain my excitement.  Not only that, but I'm also featured with two insanely talented authors, David Dalglish and Daniel Arenson.

I've had a lot of good things happening lately.  Just goes to show that if you do have a positive attitude, good things come your way.

BEDTIME: (a preview from LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES)

Since LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES is so short, I'm afraid Amazon doesn't offer much of a free preview when you go to sample it.  Very sorry about that.  Totally beyond my control.

But...

I've decided to post the very first drabble on here, so you can still get a preview of what to expect.  Enjoy!

BEDTIME

“There isn’t a monster under your bed,” Daddy says.

“Is so.”

“Bradley, I’m not going to let you stay up late because you’re making up stories about monsters and whatnot,” he says, folding his arms and frowning.

“Look under there, and if there isn’t a monster I’ll go to sleep.”

Daddy laughs and shakes his head.  “Fine.  If that’ll make you feel better.”  He gets down on his knees and sticks his head underneath my bed.

Then there’s a scream and a loud chomping noise.  I see the color red spill on the floor…

Daddy doesn’t have a head anymore.

A bloody glimpse...

 Yep... I think you know what this means.  Stay tuned.

Story List for LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES

You know how bands like to put up their track lists sometimes before they release an album.  Well, I felt like I'd do something like that--yes, I'm a nerd.  I get that.

Anyways, this is what the story list will look like.  As always, it's not set in stone until I actually publish it, but I think this is the final order:

BEDTIME
SPOILED
LESSONS
TARGET
INTERRUPTION
DETENTION
SIMPLE
MANNERS
OVERREACTION
CLOWN
LAME
APOLOGY
GROUNDED
SILENCE
PUPPET
NIGHTMARE
HANDS-OFF
EMPLOYED
S.O.L.
GRIM
CHITCHAT
VICTIM
HAUNTED
FILM
SOMETHING

LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES: Becoming a reality

It's funny how this whole thing began.

First, it started as me participating in an online writing contest where you had to come up with a story that was only 55 words long (and mine was one of the winning ones, btw!).

When I mentioned that on another forum, a fellow author asked me if I had ever attempted a "drabble" (a 100-word short story).  So, I thought I would come up with maybe one or two and put them up for free on Smashwords...

...then, it grew out of control

The thing took on a life of its own.  It called me to write more.  I can't even tell you if it was really me writing these damned things--I felt like I was possessed!  Like some dark demon had invaded my soul and forced me to put down horrible and terrible sentences together.

(okay, being a bit dramatic--maybe it didn't happen EXACTLY like that.  However, I'm a writer, and I'm allowed to make shit up, so blah!)

I now have 25 drabbles.  I've previewed them on the Kindle and they look great.  I'm having a friend of mine, who is an awesome artist, come up with a cover.  Please visit his FB and shop page, and support your indie artists!

WearWolfApparel Facebook Page
Shop page

And I have also finished the toughest task when putting a book together... the product description!  Ask any author, and 9 out of 10 times they will tell you how much they dread that part of the whole publishing process.

It's not in stone, but it may look something like this:

A man learns a painful and valuable lesson… one finger at a time. 

An old couple bickers over disgusting leftovers.

Kids go ignored when they tell their parents about the horrors that lurk in their bedrooms, until it’s too late…

LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES is a collection of 25 100-word shorts that range from darkly comic to downright terrifying and wrong.  Some shorts feature ghouls and monsters while others are simply about people behaving very, very badly.  Which is scarier?  Find out in this sick and twisted collection.

They may only be a few words long, but that doesn’t lessen the bloodshed any…

The book will be out within the next few weeks, if not sooner.  I will keep you posted.  I hope you all enjoy it.  It's very different from what I normally write.  If you didn't think I was a bit off in the head already... well, this should change that!

Who thought horror drabbles could be so much fun?

What started as me wanting to put one or two horror drabbles (100-word stories) on Smashwords has grown into something else...

I now have 13 of them, and I am going to make a collection out of them.  13's the current number, but that's not in stone right now.  I could add more if I come up with anything.

It's funny how this all started.  On the Amazon forum I was asked by another author if I had ever written a drabble.  I thought about it for a while and figured, what the hell?  I'd give it a shot.  So, I wrote the drabble, Lessons, which got some very positive feedback.

The rest is history.

Just goes to show that you never can tell where a project will take you.  I'm so psyched about this.  It feels good to create something else that I can release to the world.  Not only that, but it's stories that I normally don't write.  I feel as writers we should always try to challenge ourselves.  Attempt new things, even if we don't succeed in the end.  You should always try to do something that's outside of your normal comfort zone.

You never know where the journey will take you...

(Note:  I know I posted some of the shorts here.  I've taken them down, with the exception of maybe 1 or 2, since I plan on publishing these soon.)

INTERRUPTION: (a 100-word short)

I think I might've found my fifth story to add to the collection... W00t!

INTERRUPTION

He couldn’t finish his breakfast.  Wayne was annoyed with all of the moaning and groaning.

“Goddammit!” he hollered.  He threw his spoon into his cereal bowl and got up from his chair.  He marched to the basement door while mumbling to himself.  He opened the door and looked down.

A man was lying on the ground below the stairs, cradling his gut.  Blood oozed between his fingers while he moaned.

“Aren’t you dead, yet?  I’m trying to have breakfast!” Wayne shouted.

The man groaned again.

Wayne slammed the door shut and shook his head.

“Some people can be so thoughtless.”

LESSONS: (a 100 word short-short)

Since it is the month of Halloween, I thought I'd do something special.  On one of the Amazon forums, an author asked if I had ever attemped a story that was only 100 words.  I didn't at the time, and thought it'd be fun to try.  Also, if you've read THE LAKE AND 17 OTHER STORIES by David McAfee, there are some excellent stories in there where he did just that.

So, I thought I'd give it a shot.  It really is hard.  Kudos to him for being able to pull it off.  I had a hard enough time with doing it for only one story!  But it was fun.

So here it is.  Be warned... it's a morbid story.

LESSONS by Michael Crane

Poor, poor Mr. Wilks.  He used to have ten fingers, but now he only has eight.  And the fact that he’s screaming and calling me names isn’t helping the situation any.  He’s tied to a chair, anyways.  He’s not going anywhere.

Snip.  Another finger goes bye-bye.

Another howl of pain.  Another name I’m called.

Snip.  Snip.

What a terrible mess.  The floor is covered with blood.  This is going to be a bitch to clean.  No matter.  A lesson must be learned.  Lessons aren’t always clean, are they?

Maybe next time, he will learn to use his fucking turn signals.