Musings of Two Creative Minds

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...

REVIEW BY HELEN KRUMMENACKER This is one of the Phryne Fisher novels, a mystery set in Australia. These deal not only with solving crimes-- in this case, looking into the suspicious death of an eccentric writer of fairy stories-- but also the social structures of the times they are set in. It’s 1928, and the aftermath of the Great War is still felt in everything from the growth of women’s career options to international politics. For Miss Fisher, the international politics has turned her personal life on end, because her Chinese boyfriend is in danger just trying to handle his family’s import business while China is in crisis. As for the mystery, most of the suspects living as neighbors to the deceased were also her co-workers through a women’s magazine. And what a women’s magazine it is! While there are columns on child-raising and fashion, the magazine is full of how-to information on building your own radio and fixing your car, as well as health and gardening advice. ...

     Linda’s inspiration comes from her favorite authors and life itself. Her women’s fiction highlights characters that peel away outer layers of life to discover the heart of their dreams with some unexpected twists and turns along the way. Her writing integrates humor found in everyday situations, as well as touching moments that make readers connect with her characters.      Linda has an Associates Degree in Interior Design and a Master’s Degree in Reading and Language Arts with undergraduate work in Elementary Education and Fine Arts. Linda has two grown sons and lives with her husband and rescue dog in Michigan. You can follow her at her  Website ,  Facebook ,  and   Twitter .  When did you write your first book?      I wrote and illustrated my first book in grade school. My elementary school had this contest called “Calbery”. The term “Calbery” was derived from the names of the Ca...

Today I was in one of my moods regarding creativity and decided to share another side of myself.  As many of you know,  I not only write, but I'm also an artist who specializes in soft pastels and charcoal.  I know I've shown some of my book covers, but today I felt like sharing some of the other works I've come up with over the years. This first piece is a soft pastel which was inspired by a song by Nina Gordon, "Tonight and the rest of my Life".  Her we have an angelic figure who holds a universe in her arms and behind her you can make out large fingers which in turn cradle her. This piece was coming along beautifully until it came time to do the face.  I couldn't find the right one to use, or get the angles right.  Then my wife stepped in and posed her head just right, and from then on the painting seemed to come alive.  It held even more meaning than before to me as I retouched areas and strove to finish it with great love and affection, f...

As you all know, for the past couple of months, I was pulled away from my writing by all the demands of my classes at the California State University of Monterey Bay.  But now all of that is over, until next semester begins late next month/early February when it all starts up again... possibly, things may change before then.  I'm up for a couple of job interviews which could change everything. In any case, you'd think I would be eager to jump back into my writing right?  Yes and no.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm still in love with writing, but trying to awaken my muse has been hard.  Being away from my writing for so long left me drained emotionally and mentally on the creative front.  Plus there's been other things I had to deal with which also got pushed aside thanks to all the schoolwork. Luckily a lot of that is done and I have more time to get back to writing, only I found I was stuck staring at "The Door" and not being able to do anything wit...

As you all know I talk a lot about writing and the different aspects of it.  Recently I got to wondering about where it all begins.  Where do most stories originate or come from in the first place?  Naturally the answer is a person gets an idea and starts to explore different avenues with it.  But that wasn't good enough of an answer to me.  I had to ask, where does the idea come from in the first place?    Where does idea get its beginning?  What if...  I began to ask and then stopped.  I'd just found my answer.   Two little words... that's all it takes for a story idea to be born.  But it doesn't stop there.  Oh no, my friends those two little words keep popping up throughout the writing process.  Time and time again, I find myself asking or thinking those two words as I'm working on scene after scene.  Or if I'm trying to decide which direction to take the story next.   Ask yourself, how many...

Recently I was on one of the buses that I regularly take to get to my university.  As I was riding I was taking in the scenery and smiling to myself.  A girl who had taken the seat next to me noticed and said I must be having a good day.  I responded by telling her I was observing the scenery and thinking about some of the trees.  In particular I drew her attention to the Spanish Moss growing on several of the trees.  "Is that what's growing on them?  I've heard of Spanish Moss but I never saw it before," she told me.   I nodded and replied, "Now picture that stuff moving on its own, maybe reaching down and grabbing a someone as they're walking by." That freaked her out a bit as she looked at me with wide eyes and said, "That's creepy!  You must be into horror movies and such." At that point I explained that I was an author who had two books out already and a third coming in December.  From there she relaxed and I told her a...

Last night after I finished my class, I was waiting at the bus stop outside my university's library.  I was feeling pretty good, and was in a humorous mood.  So when two young ladies came out of the library, each carrying a large white board, my mirthful nature got the better of me.  As soon as they came up to the bus stop I said, "You know, most people find a notebook just as useful and it actually fits inside a backpack." They both laughed and came back with, "Yeah, but we make a lot big mistakes."   From there we started chatting and they explained the white boards were for two clubs they were part of.  It was at that point I notice that both of them were wearing  t-shirts with mushrooms all over them.  Curious I asked if mushrooms were involved with either club and they said yes.   From there, they began to explain how they're clubs were trying to do some research about mushrooms and how to try and make a business out of certain ones...

 Recently I went through another bout of Writer's Block. Actually, I hit this particular wall some months ago.  It was while I was still working on the original 1st draft of "The Door" when I encountered the block and it was a doozy.  No matter what direction I tried to take the novel in, things just seemed to get more complicated and confusing.  Too many characters, too many plot points and subplots going.   In the end I wound up working on "The Vampyre Blogs - Coming Home" story.  I had a pretty clear vision of where I wanted to go with that one so I worked on it instead.  I did this partly in the hopes of having a breakthrough with where I'd left off with "The Door", but in the end I never got past it.   Even when I completed the first draft for "The Vampyre Blogs" I wasn't any closer to getting past my block with "The Door".  Now anyone who's dealt with a severe case of Writer's Block will tell y...

CROATOAN A lone word carved on a pillar of a fort that had once housed a colony of 90 people from 1587 until 1588 or '89 perhaps?  Who can say, because in 1590, there was no trace of the colonists who had made the isle of Roanoake their new home.  No sign of a struggle or battle could be found, and the local native Americans on the island proclaimed no white men had ever settled there.   Roanoake, or "The Lost Colony" as it has come to be called, is an actual mystery right out of early American history.  Many ideas and theories have been put forward to explain the disappearance of the nearly 100 settlers, but no hard evidence has been discovered to say exactly which theory if any is the correct one.  As for the word carved in the lone pillar "Croatoan", what did that have to do with anything?  Well according to those who'd come to check on the settlers in 1590, a plan had been set in place where that word would be left in plain sight if the set...

This was going to be a Vlog entry about settling into my new home.  But it quickly went into a very different direction.  I did not plan this, it just happened and I ran with it.  I hope you enjoy this video.  It wound up inspiring an idea for a scene in novel #3.  It's just too good to not use.

I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor because my cell phone will only allow me to e-mail videos only once and I accidentally lost all of them on my laptop.  So I just sent all the vids to YouTube and edited the puppy here (http://www.youtube.com/editor). Anyway, this is the finale about my setting changing.  I know you all have been supportive and maybe wondering a little bit about why I chose to do this series. Well here's the answer, setting affects people.  Especially it affects your characters.  Their drives, dreams, motivations, how they feel (excitement, boredom, anger, resentment, etc.)  And changing settings can have a huge impact on them and what choices they make with their lives and how they react to it.  You've seen me go through a range of emotions and seen some parts about me I've never revealed to you before (like saying goodbye to a place and thanking it for all it had done for us).  Can a place be sentient or aware? ...

Here is part 3 of my 4 part video series on my wife and I moving from Santa Cruz to the Monterey Bay area.  The experience itself has given me loads of ideas and I hope it's been doing the same for you.  You've seen me going through a range of emotions and hearing how I feel about leaving the place that's been home and my inspiration for the last 4 years.  But with any new experience you can find a lot of ideas if you just keep your eyes and mind open.

Well, my wife Helen and I have finally finished moving into our new place.  I'll be posting some more videos from my Vlog about that shortly, but I wanted to focus on another subject today.  Hobbies, talents, things people do for adventure, enjoyment and relaxation. Now in creating characters that seem real to the audience I've found that the more real and reachable the characters are (i. e. they're like people you know or might meet) they're the ones that the readers seem to really relate to and even come to love.  Now one method I've used to make my characters seem more human and real is to give them traits that are familiar, and even somewhat odd but intriguing.  I've given characters hobbies or activities I've tried.  When they are finished with what I've written, some have even gone and done research of their own on the activity.  Some have even taken it up and made it a part of their lives. But how did that happen?  Simple, whether it's pla...