Release the Monsters!: Monsters and Mayhem are stories of creatures and an evil ghost

 

One day, when I posted on Facebook that I planned to submit micro fiction stories to a website, a person on my friends list asked, “Do you think you could do a book of these?”

 

I saw that comment and thought, Challenge accepted!

 

This particular person owned a publishing company and I had the idea of submitting such a book to his company. So I reached out to him to inquire how many words the manuscript should be. He gave me a number and I got to work writing stories for it.

 

Later, however, when I submitted the manuscript to his company, an editor contacted me asking if the book could be longer. So I threw in some flash fiction stories to replace some of the micros, since the number of micros in the book did not increase the word count number. The flash fiction stories for only 7 stories in that book made it work.

 

That publishing company ended up shutting down before the book could be published, so I just held on to it. I got busy with other things, all the while keeping an eye out for a new publisher to submit it to.

 

Then the day came when I learned of a new press that would be opening soon. And this press was interested in publishing my book of 7 stories! However, it was some time before this new press got off the ground, but it recently launched and my book of stories was the second ebook it published!

 

Monsters and Mayhem was published by Twisted Dreams Press on August 28 and I am thrilled to see this “surprise book” become available for everyone to read. I’m glad I took that person up on the challenge to put this book of stories together. Who knew that going from submitting micro stories to a website would lead me to creating a book of micro and flash fiction stories?

 

Monsters and Mayhem is available as an ebook from Amazon. It was edited by Jennifer Horgan and the cover was designed by Rebecca Cuthbert.

 

Here is the book’s blurb:

 

“Beware of the monsters who will strike at every turn! They are on a rampage through neighborhoods, hiding on top of roofs, or lurking within your dreams just waiting to materialize.

 

Beware the scary creatures that could tear you from limb to limb or steal you away into the night!

 

These seven flash and micro fiction stories offer new tales of monsters and the destruction they leave in their wake.”

 

Here is an excerpt:

 

 

Swallow Pond

 

 

“It’s called Swallow Pond.”

 

The woman looked at her hiking companion, a man in his thirties whom she had met last week at a bar. “What?”

 

“That pond out there,” he replied, pointing at the small body of water the two of them had been staring at. He kept his gaze on the water. “It’s called Swallow Pond.”

 

“Funny name for a pond,” she replied, smiling humorously as she looked at it again. “I wonder if it really does swallow anything.”

 

He was silent for a long time. She turned her head to look at him and found him smiling at her.

 

“Do you really want to know?” he asked.

 

“Sure,” she replied, shrugging.

 

He grabbed her and pushed her into the pond. She screamed, but then took a deep breath as she hit the water. To her horror, the pond really did swallow her whole!

 

She groaned as sharp edges that seemed like teeth chewed her up as she descended through a water funnel. The sharp, piercing teeth tore into her body, crunching up her skull and gnashing her to bits until all that was left of her were bloody pieces that drifted to the bottom of the pond.

 

 

And here is the book’s buy link