Total LOVE or Total HATE--My Reviews.

My short story Absorbed has been on Amazon for almost a year.

It is only 16 pages long and listed under horror, and has always sold at a decent clip. It is listed as a short story and states that along with the number of pages three times on the Amazon lising.

Amazon listed it as free for several months because they saw it several other places free. Then MANY  people got the story and started to review it. Thankfully it has received many (31 five star) good reviews, including a five star Amazon Vine review.

It has also received five ONE star reviews.

These reviewers hated the story so much that it inspired them to create Amazon profiles for the sole purpose of telling everyone how much they disliked the story. The one star reviewers called the story anti-men, too violent, too short, morbid, unsettling  and disturbing. One of them said a horror reader would probably love it.

That is why I wrote it. Because I love horror, and I know there are plenty of horror readers out there.

One wrote although the story was well-written, it was not their type of book.

Another wrote that she thought the book was great and full of surprises, but the story took a dark turn. She would have preferred it stayed on it's original path.

The story is for people who like the dark, the macabre, and the shivery feeling of fear. It is for that slightly off-center group who want to wonder what is around that next shadowy corner, and revel in chill as they wait. It is not for the weak-of-heart. That is why it is listed in the horror catagory.

If you like happy endings, my books are not for you--unless you would put bloody revenge, evil, and psycological mind-twists in the happy ending catagory.

Absorbed is a short intro to my writing--it is not a long and winding epic novel. Although I do not write to specifically offend, I will NOT avoid writing something if it is true to a character or will enhance the story. I do not think horror is a catagory that is concerned with political correctness. My characters will not say "Oh foo when another F word is more appropriate--and more real. This is not for everyone! And that is fine with me.  There are certain genres I do not like, and I usually do not look for books in this catagory.

I do not expect everyone to like my stories. On the contrary, I think it will be a mixed bag. But I would hope that our stories will be reviewed for what they are, and not what the reviewer expected or did not like because they were reading in the wrong catagory.

And if you are reading horror, keep that light on.  :)

Absorbed is currently free on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Absorbed-ebook/dp/B005SUBYYI

Absorbed and Anne Boleyn

My short story Absorbed is a dark tale featuring an overbearing and abusive boyfriend and his girlfriend Violet, who finds a beautiful but mysterious gift on her doorstep.

After reading Absorbed, my friend sent an email with a link to this painting by Tansy Myer.  It was recently featured at the Compound Gallery in Portland, Oregon, and was inspired by Vercor's novel, Anne Boleyn.

Myer painted Boleyn because "she was a strong woman, a rebel with convictions--and history, (written and manipulated by men) rarely looks kindly on that combination."

The painted stunned me because of remarkable congruences with my story Absorbed.

Lovely and terrible--hopefully just like my story.

Click pic and see Tansy's site------------->

Link to Absorbed below pic of Anne Boleyn---------->

Just in Time for Halloween

Ghosts, witches and a few nasty goblins are just what we expect during this chilly and creepy time of year.  The kid's can have some fun too when they read The Moon is No Place for a Ghost, released on Amazon today!

The ghosts need a place to live after their home gets infested with PEOPLE!  And Officer Splot and Goblin Grime want to put them Otherworld Jail for unofficial scaring.  Can their friend Penelope the Witch save the day, or will they end up in Otherworld Jail forever!!

I Want It Yesterday

I have pondered being a published author since I was 7 years old, when I wrote my first book, The Littlest Grape.  It was written on the paper from a 3 x 5 pad, and the cover was the cardboard from the back of the pad.  The illustration were done in colored pencil, and after I stapled the cover to the pages, I brought it everywhere and showed it to everyone I knew.  I thought it was the best book in existence, and could not even begin to fathom the leap from cardboard and staples to the seemingly magical and unattainable place on the bookstore shelves. 

The Littlest Grape was followed by endless writing. I loved the hit-and-run quality of poems, and one very popular (in my mind) poem I wrote was Waterbed, warning of a baby/waterbed combination.  I also wrote songs. Young Dr. Kildare, a soon-to-be chart topper, was as good as any Partridge Family tune.  I thought the flip side of that particular 45 would be another big hit, Veins in My Thumbs.  And I continued writing books. The Haunted House came with a warning on every page cautioning the reader of the terror he would soon experience.

I kept a diary/account of everything that happened in school and what I thought of everyone in my class in my desk in a maroon pad with a smiley face on the cover. It was discovered and passed around one day when I was absent, and some of the kids were not too pleased about what I had written. Though some of the attention was negative, I loved that people noticed and talked about the diary.

Life takes us many places.  We experience many things.  Some fall away, and some things stick with us.  Writing stuck.

I finally decided I would write as a vocation, and the process suddenly could not happen fast enough.  It was thrilling to publish my first book--but I compared myself to others I knew.  They had several books, and many reviews, and more titles in the works. They had 75 million Twitter followers and just as many reading their blog. I felt I was behind!  I had to catch up!  I had to write more and friend more people and Tweet everyone about everything and...

...then I realized something.  I can't catch up to everyone who has been doing this for a while.  It will take a long time to get followers and friends in this business and I will have to earn them. But the urgency came from a good place...I am finally doing the thing I should have been doing all along.  So--I took a deep breath, calmed down a bit, and let myself feel happy about everything that was going on.  I'll listen to the words of a great writer, Stephen King: 

"You have to read a lot, and you have to write a lot.  There are no shortcuts."

I'm still thrilled about my books and writing, but I'm not going to rush or compare myself to anyone.  I will take my competitive nature and use it to improve my writing.  I still can't wait to finish my next book...


Also want to mention two books I am reading and enjoying.  Cloud Nice is by Melissa Smith.  It is about a self-sufficient teen-aged girl who gets a very special guardian angel, and Underneath, by Heather Adkins, which is about an empathic woman whose new job takes her to deep, dark, terrible places.  I will be reviewing these books as soon as I am done reading them.  So far so great.

http://www.amazon.com/Underneath-ebook/dp/B0055COI9M

http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Nine-Paranormal-Guardians-ebook/dp/B004D9FF54         

Review

Five-star customer review on Amazon for Absorbed.

"Absorbed" is a Poe-esque tale that will get under your skin... Short in length, but not in content, this tale will make your skin crawl, as well as have you rooting for a character you're not so sure you should support. Crowe has crafted another fantastic piece of psychological thrill.

Absorbed

Today is the release of my short story, Absorbed.  Although it is not a Halloween story, it is creepy, dark and shivery.  You can find it on Amazon and Nook.  Have fun!

http://www.amazon.com/Absorbed-ebook/dp/B005SUBYYI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1317926781&sr=8-3