Musings of Two Creative Minds

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” (Scottish poet Robert Burns (from his poem "To a Mouse" 1785) As most of you, if not all, are aware that I've been trying to bring to life the "Library of the Obscure" (LOTO for short here), over on YouTube. The idea behind the library has long been to introduce listeners to a whole range of authors and short stories from decades or even a hundred years or more ago. Now some of you might be asking yourselves, why? What's so fascinating about tales that were written so long ago, when we've got authors galore coming out with stories and books these days? Well, the answer is actually quite simple. You ask just about any well-known author what prompted them to write in their most well-known genres, and most will tell you they were inspired by pieces written by other authors. Take Stephen King, he'll tell you about some of his favorite authors like H. P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and others whose...

  It's finally coming... on HALLOWEEN Stay tuned everyone.

" 'Cause, nothing ever goes as planned It's a hell of a notion Even Pharaohs turn to sand Like a drop in the ocean..." This is a snippet from the Styx song "Nothing Ever Goes as Planned", from their Paradise Theater album (one of my favorites albums I'll admit). Anyway, what does a Styx song have to do with today's topic for this blog entry? EVERYTHING! When we were still house hunting and came across what would become our new home, One of the things that really attracted us was the basement. It was set up almost like an old 1980's arcade, complete with black lights, an arcade game, a projector, and a black light carpet. See image below It was so wild when we had the black lights on, we started joking about holding 80's parties down in it. But of course... (cue the Styx song) That's right! You guessed it. Things didn't quite go the way we had been hoping. While we were in contract and had a home inspection done, it was discovered that...

This year has been 'difficult' for me on a number of fronts, some of which I've already shared with you. Still there are others, that are still ongoing and taking up a lot of my time and brain power. I have actually done a number of audio short stories which are perfect for this time of year, I just haven't had the time to really gather and piece together videos to present on YouTube for my "Library of the Obscure" channel. However, if any of you wish to hear any those recordings (complete with sound effects), I'll be happy to post them as a prelude to the podcast itself here on this blog as well as on the Library of the Obscure YouTube channel. Please let me know what you think by leaving your thoughts in the comments section below. In the meantime, here's the link to a story by Lord Dunsany (one of HP Lovecraft's greatest influences), that I shared last year. I hope you enjoy this tale, and I thank you for your understanding... NOTE: I will be a...

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Yes, it's that time of year again, and I hope you all are having a wonderful time with all the spooks and goblins you'll be seeing. Here's a little spooky treat from me to all of you.  As I've mentioned before, I've been working on a new YouTube channel called the Library of the Obscure where I'll be bringing you short stories from various authors, some familiar, others may be brand new to you. In the cases of familiar or even well-known authors, I hope the tales I bring will be brand new to you, which will offer some interesting new insights to some of those authors. In other cases, I hope to introduce you to authors whose names have all but been forgotten and may pique your interest to locate more of their work.  But that will be the work of the 'Curator' of the library to share with you. For now, the Library of the Obscure is still "Under Construction" and will hopefully be opening its doors to you all on January 1st of 2...

At the beginning of this year, I made a post listing my plans for this year. And as the end of the year draws closer, let's take a look at how things went, shall we? 1- Re-work, re-edit, and re-release “The Bridge” in a special 10th Anniversary version. RESULTS: As of today, this project is just shy of 2/3's of the way finished. So, it's well on target for being re-released in 2023. Admittedly, I had hoped to have it completed and ready to release in January 2023, but I'll settle for getting it out before the coming year is over. 2 – Get a complete 1st draft of “The Vampyre Blogs – Family Ties” which takes up mere weeks after the end of “The Vampyre Blogs – Coming Home”. RESULTS: Well... the first draft is under way, so that's something. Right? Please tell me I'm right. I'm feeling guilty over here. 3 – Release the first volume of “The Pass” trilogy, which I wrote with my old high school friend Rich Caminiti, with some fantastic illustrations by the tale...

Here's the book trailer for "Forever Festive" which is the 4th book in Helen's vampire/noir book series set in the 1947. Click on the image and see what she has in store for our favorite vampire detective as he tries to spend Christmas with his folks who don't know his little secret... “Forever Festive” is available now in paperback and e-book formats at: Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KCC5HZV AmazonUK Link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09KCC5HZV AmazonCA Link: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B09KCC5HZV AmazonAU Link: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09KCC5HZV Smashwords Links: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1112190 Barnes and Noble Link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forever-festive-helen-krummenacker/1140442307?ean=2940165068287 Kobo Link: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/forever-festive Apple Books Link: ‎ https://books.apple.com/us/book/forever-festive/id1592528404

  In the span of 10 months, Helen and I have released 3 audiobooks which I have narrated. We just released "Forever In Deep" last week.  Links: Audible          Amazon          Itunes All three books are the entire "Forever Detective Series" to date. Helen has more stories coming and will be releasing a fourth book "Forever Festive" this November. We are hoping to have the audio ready to be released at the same time so people can have that option to stick in someone's stocking or leave under their tree, (electronically speaking) of course. Remember, you can gift someone an e-book or even an audiobook. Links: Audible         Amazon         Itunes Links: Audible         Amazon         Itunes Now this may not seem like such a big deal, but for someone who spent over a year researching how to create audiobooks, as well as getting the proper equipment, a...

  Hello everyone, we hope you've all been doing well. It's been quite a week around here, or a couple of them actually. Both Helen and I got our 2nd Moderna shots, and both of us felt pretty crummy in the following days. Unfortunately, in my case a nerve problem in my back became exacerbated to the point that I've not been to work all this past week, and next week isn't looking to great either. My doctor is trying to line me up with an MRI to see what's going on.  But in the meantime, I tried to take my mind off my discomfort by being busy. In this case it meant finishing the final edits on the collaboration with my high school friend Rich Caminiti, and lo and behold... the 2nd draft is now finished and in the hands of beta-readers.  If you're wondering what the book is about, here's a little hint: Was it just bad luck and weather that doomed the Donner Party in 1846, or was it something 'else', something evil and powerful? And is it still there wait...

Happy New Year everyone! Yes, I know it was a couple of days ago, but I'm still wishing you all the best for this new year.  Like most people, I'm taking a look back at 2020 and what I managed to accomplish in spite of all the chaos we've experienced with this Pandemic. Helen and I have been extremely cautious to avoid getting it since both of us have conditions which would likely land us in the hospital if we were to catch Covid - 19. And here in California where we are, the ICU's are currently filled and overflowing.  Mind you, I've been working full-time for the county in spite of the situation. So I haven't had extra time to work on personal projects as much as one might expect. Still, I did manage to get a number of projects completed in 2020.  For starts, I managed to get my first audiobook narration out on Audible Amazon Link:  Forever's Too Long (Audible) I also created my 2nd and 3rd book trailers (both for Helen's "Forever Detective Series...

It's been a busy month for me, which is why I haven't been posting anything lately. Between editing "The Pass", my long-distance collaboration with my old friend Rich Caminiti and recording and editing Helen's 2nd book in her "Forever Detective Series", it's been hectic for me. On top of all that, I have been working on a new short story for our other site: "The Vampyre Blogs - Private Edition" (link:  https://www.thevampyreblogs.com/ ) The story will be a Christmas ghost story (an old English tradition), which I hope you will decide to check out when it is posted. (I promise to let you all know when that happens). Finally, as the title of this entry indicates, I've also started a new audio project that I hope to post on YouTube in December. What is it? Well, I'll be reading Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol".  Now I suspect some of you are already thinking "Oh great... ANOTHER production of that old story." So ...