Musings of Two Creative Minds

Okay, I'll admit it's been more than say two weeks. Come to think of it, it's been more like almost four weeks. But in my defense, I'd point out that hey, this makes at least 1 post per month so far this year! That's right, this isn't March, or April or even October and given my track record last year, for me,  this  is soon. So there what do you think of that, Perry the Snootypuss...  SPECIAL ALERT!!! Okay, enough with the silliness. Wait, who am I kidding? Myself? Not bloody likely. I know me too well. In fact, I've known me since the day I was born. FYI, I've recently mastered Doofenshmirtz's voice and added it to my voice library. I have NO idea, when I'll ever use it, but hey... maybe one day I'll get invited by the creators of Phineas and Ferb to stand in for Dan Povenmire. You never know. (Oh, and just in case Dan or his partner Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, happen to be reading this, I can also do the voices of several other characte...

 Only six more days until you reach "The Pass"... That's right folks. In just a few more days (on 4-14-2024) you can get your copy of "The Pass". A novel that Kirkus Reviews has called "A supernatural espionage tale that keeps the excitement high." Rich Caminiti, my co-author (an old friend from high school - Levittown Memorial H. S. class of '82 to be exact) and I have woven this tale of supernatural mystery and intrigue, set in the old west (or the Civil War to be precise). This book is the first of a trilogy we have been working on for some time, and the next installment has a completed 1st draft, waiting to be re-worked, edited, re-drafted, etc. Plus, the third installment is already underway as well. Besides having a cracking good tale to tell, this volume has some beautiful pen and ink illustrations created by the wonderfully talented Gabrielle Callan (artist/tattooist) whose link to more of her work I will provide towards the end of this ent...

Back when I was 18 (many many moons ago) I received a rejection from a college I had applied to for their Commercial Arts program. I was so crushed I didn't pick up a pastel or pencil for over a decade. If anyone at that time told me I'd one day be doing book covers I'd have asked what they had been smoking and did they bring enough for everyone? Yet here I am having just finished my 8th book cover for my wife Helen (who wrote all the stories in this collection). Plus I'll soon be voicing those stories for Audible. The journey is never a straight one my friends, but you have to keep moving forward to see where it leads. PS: This collection of paranormal tales (which is a spinoff from her Forever Detective Series) is set during World War II will be arriving this September. *So now you all know where I've been and what I've been doing for the last few months. This was an very involved piece for me and I was trying be more meticulous th...

     As usual I started experimenting with a basic quick sketch of what I had in mind. I knew right from the start that I wanted to incorporate the title into the image for this one, especially since it was our more traditional two word titles. Naturally I aimed for an actual door, knowing it would be fairly easy to incorporate the word "door" into the wood grain.      From there I started testing out different color schemes for the wood grain itself. But then I started asking myself, how would a door that had been exposed to the elements for almost two centuries look? So I did some Googling, to find images to get a better idea of what such a door might look like. Here's a few of the examples I found:      So now I had a basis to build upon. Yet I also felt that whatever I created should have good strong colors that still gave that weathered yet somewhat foreboding feel. So I pulled out my soft pastels and started laying d...

As some of you may or may not know, besides being an author I'm also an artist.  I work mainly with soft pastels and charcoal, and have designed and painted the covers for three of our books. Now I  do not consider myself a 'professional' cover designer, but I've also seen artwork on books that many times had very little to do with what goes on in the story. And as one of the two authors who knows the story inside and out, and as an artist who had taken awards in various art shows over the years, I felt I was qualified enough to give it a shot. Especially when I had a specific image in mind that would incorporate the title of the book into the artwork itself. "It should be a piece of cake," I told myself. I suspect a number of you already have an idea of what came next. Our old friend the "Learning Curve" decided to make his presence known. First there were the experimental designs I knew right from the start that I liked the title being pa...