Musings of Two Creative Minds

Recently there's been a lot of discussion of Amazon Kindle's latest program... "Kindle Unlimited". Now for those of you have heard but don't know a lot about it, here's a quick recap in a nutshell. *Remember: this is only a brief overview and not an in-depth piece.  I understand there are still some details to be ironed out* With Kindle Unlimited, you pay $9.99 a month to have unlimited access to Kindle books through Amazon.  You don't have to 'buy' the books, you simply have access to them.  Sort of like a private library that you pay a monthly fee to have access to.  Now considering there are literally thousands of books on Kindle this is a pretty good deal for consumers.  You can sample and read any the books and decide if you actually want to purchase a copy for yourself in e-book or maybe go for an actual print copy, without wondering whether or not the book is to your taste. So on the surface, this sounds pretty good right?  So how do...

I'm looking for honest reviews for my new paranormal/mystery novel "THE SHIP".  So far I've had 4 reviews on Amazon (all of them 5 star ratings), but I've only had one on Smashwords and over at Goodreads.com.  I really would like to see more, since most prospective readers like to see what others are saying about a new book. So, in order to get them I'm offering 5 free E-Book copies through Smashwords. You'll be able to get your copy via a coupon I code I will be supplying any volunteers with.   For those who are not completely familiar with Smashwords, they have the following e-book formats avialable: (Nook, Kindle, Apple, Sony, and PDF). You'll hav e 1 month to read the book and provide a review on Smashwords and if you happen to have a Goodreads account, I would love to see it posted there as well.  BACK COVER SYNOPSIS OF THE NOVEL: Cassandra Elliott is a billionaire heiress, who has just come out of the closet.  She is also a p...

"THE SHIP" has just had another review written and it blew me away...   Book Review: The Ship by Joe Hinajosa Posted on  July 7, 2014 Finally, Cassandra slumped against the wooden rail and murmured, “It’s coming… we have maybe two hours to prepare…” The Ship © 2014 Allan Krummenacker Happy Monday! Hope you had an exciting 4th of July weekend. Now it’s time to get back into the swing of things. To help you out, I’m back with an all-new book to share with you.  The Ship  is the second book of the  Para-Earth Series  by Allan Krummenacker. In the second book, we follow Cassandra “Cassie” Elliott, heiress to the Elliott family shipping fortune, and a family with a dark secret. Cassie is beginning to embrace her gift as  a psychic , a gift that unbeknownst to her is putting her in danger. Cassie is also learning to  accept her sexual identity and is beginning a relationship with Julie Cloudfoot, a gifted woman of...

NEW BOOK REVIEW... Today I present you all with Daphne Du Maurier's classic "REBECCA".  A 5-STAR read in my opinion.  This is one of the best modern-day gothic novels that I've ever read and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good gothic mystery.  Read on my friends... "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again..." These few simple words open Daphne du Maurier's legendary novel "Rebecca". A hauntingly beautiful tale of love, revenge, and desperation.  For me, it is a ghost story where the ghost never appears. Instead the lead heroine is haunted by the shadow of her new husband's first wife, Rebecca. Everyone loved Rebecca, especially the housekeeper who runs Manderley with a seemingly iron fist.  Our heroine finds herself wandering the halls where Rebecca walked with grace and dignity. Her unseen predecessor's mark is everywhere, including on Max her husband. Everyone speaks of Max and Rebecca...

Book review time again.  Today I wanted to share with you my review on what I consider one of THE best  collections of vampire stories ever compiled.  It covers some of the earliest vampire tales known and finishes with more modern ones from the 1980's.  With the many takes on vampires we see these days from Anne Rice to Stephanie Meyer, I thought it might be interesting for you all to check out some other takes on the vampire genre done by other authors over the decades.  So without further ado, allow me to introduce you all to... THE PENGUIN BOOK OF VAMPIRE STORIES is one of the best anthologies I've ever found. Part of the reason is that it covers authors who've touched on this subject as far back as 1816 and goes up to 1984. There are a number of familiar names in this book like Clark Ashton Smith, Sheridan Le Fanu, Tanith Lee, and August Derleth to name just a few. But what fascinates me the most is seeing how the vampire legend is explored. ...

*UPDATE:  THE NEXT BOOKS IN MY PARA-EARTH SERIES WILL BE...* After giving it a lot of thought and listening to feedback from readers both here and on my blogs I've come to a final decision on what order the next few books will be coming in... Late November 2014 "THE VAMPYRE BLOGS" will be released first.  This will be the first of at least 2 books.  The story line I've been creating has grown to such an extent that it cannot be told in just one novel   So I will do what I've been doing with the other books.  A complete story will be told with a few dangling plot lines that will be addressed and wrapped up in the 2nd book which will come in time for Christmas 2015.   In May 2015 "THE DOOR" will be released and will take up where both "THE BRIDGE" and "THE SHIP" left off.  It will reunite Alex, Veronica, Cassie and Julie.  I won't give any spoilers away except to say that not only with the looming confrontation w...

My life has grown more complicated and I need you my readers to help me decide a course of action to take. Yesterday, I attended  an Orientation for the California State University of Monterey Bay, which I will be entering this Fall.  I will be pursuing my Bachelor’s  Degree  in Collaborative Health and Human Services .  The plan is for me to attend for 3 full years instead of just 2.  This will allow us to continue  residing on campus in very comfortable housing, provided I take 12 units a semester. However, a wrinkle occurred yesterday when I signed up for classes.  I wound up with 15 units because there were certain classes I HAVE to take before the Spring semester, so I had to bite the bullet on this semester. Future semesters will be kept to 12 or so units. This greater workload now presents me with a dilemma.  Originally, I was planning to get the first installment of “THE VAMPYRE BLOGS” out this December.  Unfort...