Musings of Two Creative Minds

*Before delving into the discussion, I wish to apologize for the long delay in posts.  Currently my wife/co-author and I have been looking for a new place to live which has taken much longer than we'd hoped.  Furthermore, I started this discussion just before the holidays and we all know how distracting they can be.  Our search for a new place continues, so don't be surprised if future postings are few and far between.  Once we're settled I hope to get back onto a regular schedule, as there are many topics I have in mind I wish to share with you all.  Thank you for your patience and understanding.  Now on to the discussion...* When I last posted I had shared how Helen and I received a Kindle Fire for Christmas back in 2015 and that I had started learning more about how to use it and to download books.  Again, many of you thought, "That's it we've lost him.  Good-bye paper, hello electronic..."  But that did not come to pass. It took ...

         Welcome back to another installment of collaborations: what do they look like and how do I make mine work?  Okay, actually, I’m continuing the discussion from last time.  After all, this is supposed to be a blog, not an ongoing saga.  I also want to apologize for any strange grammar or punctuation errors in this entry because I’m using Dragon instead of actually typing on a keyboard.  WRONG DRAGON! SORRY DIDN'T MEAN TO WAKE YOU UP, SIR.  PLEASE JUST GO BACK TO SLEEP!            Whew!  Anyway, I'll be sharing my adventures with Dragon Speaking Naturally software, and learning how to use it, in another blog entry,  For now I’m going to continue to share my experiences with collaborations            Now, last time I talked about my collaboration with my old friend Rich Caminiti, today I’m going to be discussing my other collaboration with my wife H...

How are things coming along with your next novel, "The Door" ? I've been hearing that a fair amount lately and I can tell you that last weekend I added another 2000 words to it.  This brought the total word count to just shy of 19,000.  A pretty good number, don't you think?  I'm proud of it.   Unfortunately when Sunday arrived so did something else, my Fibromyalgia.   It flared up with a vengeance and at first I wasn't even really sure it was the Fibro acting up.  I thought I might be coming down with a bug a or something.  But as the day progressed and became Monday I knew better.  There were no other flu or cold symptoms, just fatigue, pain and severe clumsiness which erupted when I least expected it. So I was forced to take a few steps back and slow down on what I could do.  I knew from experience that I'd have to budget my time and energies so as not to wipe myself out each day.  I stuck to the most important task...

The word "Flare" has many meanings such as style, finesse, a signaling device, but for the last two days it's had a different meaning for me.  Those, like myself, who suffer from Fibromyalgia know it to mean an exacerbation of symptoms.   There is a serious rise in pain and sensitivity levels.  My aches go way beyond the norm.  Even the simplest tasks can set off a pain reaction.  While picking up a cup of tea, I feel my hand ache in ways it shouldn't.  But I'll be damned if I let  the pain get in my way, I NEED my morning tea.  But it's usually one of the earliest signals that tells me I may be in for a bad time. Fatigue is another major issue.  I feel wrung out and exhausted even after a good night's sleep.  One would think I'd just completed a marathon instead of just having done a few simple chores around the house.  For the rest of the day I not good for much else.  I feel weak and unsteady.  My hand will tre...

Just a quick update from my Vlog today...

Hello everyone.  Didn't want to leave you with nothing to read but my older posts.  Here's what's been going on and why I haven't posted much lately.  The Fibro has calmed down quite a bit, but other issues came up.  My father-in-law landed up in the hospital coughing up blood.  We've spent the last couple of weeks on edge waiting to find out what's been happening.  A biopsy revealed cancer, but the full extent of it was still unknown until about 2 days ago.  It appears to be State 1 or 2, they have to examine the nearby lymph nodes to see if it's spread at all or remained localized.  The PET Scan did not reveal anything in the other lymph nodes, but they wish to make sure first. Around the same time I found out my own mother had been to the doctor after a test revealed a low red blood cell count and she had been losing weight.  This was in addition to finding blood in her stools.  The doctors took a biopsy last week and we hope to fin...

Greetings all.  I'm sure everyone has been noticing I've been putting up more and more videos lately as opposed to my usual entries.  Well, part of the reason for this was to get more traffic to come to my Vlog on YouTube.  But there is another reason. Those of you who watched the video on my last entry:  http://allankrummenacker.blogspot.com/2012/09/another-entry-about-creating-characters.html  will already know what I'm about to say.  I have a chronic pain condition.  I can still see the doctor who diagnosed me with it 12 years ago as he gave me a sad smile and said, "The good news is that it won't kill you.  But you'll be in pain the rest of your life."  The condition is known as Fibromyalgia and based on my own research over the years and from speaking with experts, I've had this since childhood.  I've always suffered pain more readily and easier than my peers back in grade school.  No one ever believed me when I told them how...

This latest installment not only deals with creating characters, but also explains a bit why I haven't been making as long an entry as I'd like lately.  I hope to do a more proper entry shortly.  Thanks...