Tell Me Your Ghost Story and Win an eBOOK

It's October, a time for hauntings and ghost stories to come alive. This is  the time when we dress up like ghouls and goblins, visit haunted houses and tell creepy tales of Aunt Gretchen floating down the hallway.

In honor of the season, I want to give you a chance to tell your creepy tales here at the writing bomb. And the best thing is, I will give you a FREE copy of my latest release, CREEPY, just for posting your ghost/haunting story.

Here's an excerpt from CREEPY to warm up your creative creepiness.....

....The noises continued.

I listened carefully, trying to make sense of it all. The squeaks and groans seemed to be coming from every direction. No big deal, I thought. It’s just a cabin. Get over it and fall asleep. 

Then, something curious happened. The creaking floorboards began to move closer to me. One at a time I’d hear what sounded like footsteps rolling across the wood floor, carefully pressing down, trying not to be heard. My heart, as you can imagine, hammered in my chest, nearly bursting through my rib cage. I looked at the reflection in the TV screen to see if there was anyone walking behind me, but I didn’t see anything. Then when this thing, whatever it was, pressed on the floor right next to the couch, I couldn’t take it. I sat up, turned my head toward the open space and heard a voice forcefully whisper, “Hello!”

This wasn’t a quiet, “don’t let them hear you” whisper. Oh, no! This was an “I’m not presently living in your dimension, so I’m screaming at you” type whisper.

I panicked, jumping straight up like the scaredy-cat that I was, nearly falling off the couch. 

As I turned I saw a dark silhouette, adding to my terrifying experience. Seconds later, I realized that the shape beside me was only a floor lamp, but that didn’t make me feel any better. My heart continued pounding like a jackhammer.

•••

For no less than thirty minutes, I felt an electric energy buzzing through my body. I felt as if something hovered over me, almost nose to nose, staring at me. I peered through the corner of my eye but couldn’t see anything—nothing physical, anyway. But I knew in the deepest part of my soul that something was there. I lay frozen in place, like an icy Neanderthal in the Tibetan ice caps.....

Now Tell Me Your Scary Story! And be sure to leave your Twitter Handle or email so I can contact you to get you your free digital copy of CREEPY. 

Creepy Book-Cover Contest Winner!

WOW! What a response.

Thank you for coming to The Writing Bomb. I love taking reader, fellow author and publisher advice. You guys have been very helpful and I hope you see that in the updates I made to covers #1 and #2.

If you watch the video, you'll discover that I randomly picked Lauren, Twitter handle: @Iniysa. Laura's the winner of the $10 Amazon gift card. I'll contact her asap. Congratulations Laura! Thanks for voting. She picked #2, which incidentally, had the highest number of votes. 






And The Final Results Are....


Cover #1 ~~> 13 votes
Cover #2 ~~> 15 votes..The WINNER!
Cover #5 ~~> 12 votes 

I was surprised by the results. I actually thought #2 would win hands down, but it was a close race. Thanks to your input, I think I'll have the best cover of the five options. 

Here are the covers after tweaking....

Cover #2 is the WINNER! 

Cover #2, A Close Second Place.

What do you think? I love them both.

Thank you all so much for voting and stopping by. Be sure to follow my blog by email to get my weekly posts about writing, publishing, and my inspirational words that'll motivate your muse. Then, go buy one of my books and help me feed my 4 kids!

Twitter Writing Contest!

Hello, My Dear Blogger Friends

This post is going to be especially fun, because I am hosting a Writing Contest! 

Why? Because if you visit here frequently, you already know how I write - smooth, energized, well paced prose leaning on the darker side of literary perfection. Egh - egh - caugh - gag! Scuse me - choked.

Seriously, I want to get a taste of your writing for a change. So here's the deal: If you are on Twitter, all you have to do is write a series of Tweets that when put together make a short-short-story. If you're not a Tweeter, a "tweet" is a string of words no longer than 140 characters total; including spaces and punctuation. The stories should be no less than 3 Tweets and no more than 5 Tweets. All stories must have a Christmas theme - beginnning, end, and must maintain a pg-13 rating; some of my creative writing students follow me. They can be scary, funny, suspenseful or inspirational. And for all you poets out there, they can be in poetic format as well. Next, paste them in the comments section below. It's that easy.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

So what's the Prize, you ask? I hope it's worth the trouble, but I'm offering a A FREE BOOK COVER DESIGN for your next or in process book (ebook or otherwise) - front cover only; I don't do splines and backs. The picture to the right is an example of my work and is the cover of one of my forthcoming novels. Not writing a book? Not interested in a cover? How about a FREE COPY OF THE RUMBLIN', my suspense short-story? Better yet, how about both? Okay. Deal.

Here's an example of what I'm looking for. I posted this a few days ago on Twitter to kind of get the feel for it. It's not a Christmas story, but you'll get the idea....


      The War of the Words by Jeff Bennington

• Words splash in my eyes like raindrops, dripping, wetting my lips. I taste them. I speak to them and they come to life, roaring back at me.
• Big words, little words, scurry about with their claws out, chasing me into a corner. They screech and cry out to me...take me, take me!
• I laugh at the evil little letters with ax in hand. Do as I say, or I'll hack your apostrophe off! Do you hear me, you little bastards?
• The little things scuttle into corners and cower in fear. One by one they recede into the crevices, slithering back into their dark-hell.
• They'll be back. I'll wait - sitting here with my ax.

So there you have it. The Writing Bomb's first contest with tangible giveaways worth over $100! If you have any questions, post them. If I'm unclear about something, let me know. If you want to bribe me - feel free! Good luck and may the best writer win! 

Contest ends Christmas Day - December 25th.  

Oh, and by the way, I get to pick the winner, but I'll probably pick it according to popular vote; that is if any one dares to comment. And I'm very sensitive, so if no one enters, I will feel very bad about myself and probably get an early start on my winter depression, and you don't want to do that to me - do you? BOOM!