Musings of Two Creative Minds

 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...

Greetings one and all. And welcome back to the blog. Sorry to keep you all waiting, but last weekend got a bit crazy around here. Nevertheless, we're back with another Sneak Peek Saturday edition for you.  Continuing with "The Pass" coming next month, we realized that last time we'd introduced you all to a couple of our protagonists, so it's only fair this week we introduce you to two the villains of this piece.  So, without further ado, sit back and meet two very unsavory, and disturbing men who each has their own secret agenda in this story. Enjoy...         Some five hundred yards away, a man bundled in furs, lowered his still smoking Mississippi rifle. “Sorry, Jake, old boy. But business is business. And if you made it out of here alive, you’d be able to claim cousin Amanda’s inheritance which would’ve been bad business for me,” he sighed. In the distance, he could hear the baby’s wail.           ...

Okay, the countdown to the release of "The Pass" is on! Which means it's time for Sneak Peek Saturdays!  From here on out, up until the book's release, we'll be bringing you peeks into this brand-new novel (which FYI, is the first installment of a trilogy of books). Originally, Rich and I had planned on just one fairly good-sized book, but soon the story and the characters kept growing to the point we began talking about making it a two-volume tale. But of course, again the story kept expanding to where we finally said "FINE! We'll make it a trilogy... OKAY?" That seemed to satisfy our two muses. At least for now. There's a good possibility that further stories involving some if not most of these characters may be looming large in the future. But for now, we just have this one rather epic tale for you. And like any good epic, it contains a number of key and supporting characters. So, we've decided to take advantage of Sneak Peek Saturdays to ...

 It's been several years since I released any books myself, as I've been mostly focused on voiceover work and recording the first 4 books of Helen's "Forever Detective" series (I'm currently recording the voiceover for her most recent novel "Forever Chosen" and her anthology "W. I. T. C. H. Hunters Forever"). However, this does not mean I have not been writing during that period of time. In fact I've been doing quite a bit of writing, along with editing and formatting all of Helen's books, along with my other collaboration with my old high school friend Rich Caminiti. And at long last, Rich and I are ready to present the cover of the first installment of a brand-new series of novels. And here it is... This beautiful cover was created by the very talented Gabrielle (Gabby) Callan, who in addition to being a fabulous artist, has recently added talented tattoo artist to her list of artistic talents. But in addition to creating this gor...

  GOOD NEWS!  There's just a few more days now, until book 5 in Helen's "Forever Detective Series" is available on Amazon. Curious as to what she has in store for you all? Here's a little taste of what you can expect in "Forever Chosen". .. Remember you can still pre-order your Kindle copy using the link below that's appropriate for your region: Amazon Kindle:  Forever Chosen (The Forever Detective Book 5) - Kindle edition by Krummenacker, Helen. Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com. AmazonUK:  Forever Chosen (The Forever Detective Book 5) eBook : Krummenacker, Helen: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store AmazonCA:  Forever Chosen (The Forever Detective Book 5) eBook : Krummenacker, Helen: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store *NOTE: Links for more book sites will be posted soon* AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL FROM OUR HOME TO YOURS!

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. So this is the final weekend of your early Halloween treat, as we suspect most folks will have a lot to do next weekend with the holiday itself. But we still have 3 more chapters for you to sample "Forever's Too Long". Chapter 5 - NOT JUST A SPARK After a long day of tussling with crooked antique dealers and wasting time with useless police detectives who are more interested in playing games, Rafael and Clara deserve a night off. So they decide to step out and enjoy some music and dancing. So let's click on the link below, and enjoy their evening out as as they get to know a little more about each other. Chapter 6 - CULT FOLLOWING It seems like a simple job to Rafael. Go in, get some evidence of wrongdoing-- there's always wrongdoing by cult leaders-- and present it to Eugene's former employees to get them to get their lives back on track. But Rafael has no idea just how wrong things are behind the faca...

So, one of the first things I often hear from people when they hear I have a book coming out is, "Who's your publisher?" There's long been a stigma to self-publishing, and until recently, it was deserved. A writer had to buy a few thousand copies to get it printed at reasonable rates and generally did so as a pet project. Anyone who wanted to reach a wide audience and to possibly make money had to find a publisher who thought their work was high enough quality to invest in. It would go through rounds of editing before ever going to the shops. A real publisher meant the writer had talent. Self-publishing just meant they had money. But. That was then. This is now. Everyone knows there have been radical changes in how books are sold.There are many formats besides paper. Bookstore chains have collapsed or moved to online only. Publishing houses rise and fall, to the point where there are few one has heard of. But more has happened behind the scenes. Publish...

These days, books as well as movies are often advertised with trailers that use images and sound to give you an idea of the flavor of the book, as well as sharing information about genre, storyline, and availability. Allan Krummenacker was a huge help with this, doing the actual production based on music and images I chose, and a few finds of his own, but I especially like his vocal work-- since the book is almost entirely first person narration, I decided to script the trailer that way, so he's giving the voice of Rafael Jones. *And remember the book will be available on June 1st, but you can still Pre-Order an e-copy at the following links: Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/forevers-too-long-helen-krummenacker/1131555250?ean=2940163217083 Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RSGKTDF AmazonUK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RSGKTDF AmazonCA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07RSGKTDF AmazonAU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07RSGKTDF Smashwords: ht...