Musings of Two Creative Minds

As you all know by now, I've been working on not one but two different collaborations.  The first is "The Pass" a historical/fantasy piece with a fellow I went to high school with some 30 years ago, Richard Caminiti. (for the sake of privacy, I left the clipboard showing his name and arrest number from this police photo out - JUST KIDDING!)  Actually it's not really a mug shot, but I couldn't resist  using this shot because the expression on his face is so serious.  Of course I'm going to get an earful later for this, but that's what friends are for, right? The other is another installment in my Para-Earth Series, titled "The Misty Mountains", with my wife  Helen Krummenacker.  Note: DEFINITELY NOT A MUG SHOT! Okay, now that I got that bit of silliness out of my system, lets get back to today's topic namely the discussing more challenges one faces with a collaboration.  Now in Rich's case, the biggest challenge ...

As a writer, I try to avoid talking about choices made by other writers in regards to where they decide to take characters or storylines.  I know how much thought must go into each story idea and how it grows, develops, and takes final form.  I also understand how certain decisions are in the end solely up to the author.   When J. K. Rowling published the seventh book in the "Harry Potter" Series, I was very one of those readers who was screaming and jumping up and down in a rage at the loss of certain characters (I won't mention names as there might actually be readers of this blog who have not read her series), because I felt their deaths served no real purpose to the main story itself, especially since some of them took place off camera.  Since then, even the author herself has admitted regret in some of the choices she made. However, all those characters were her own creation and she had full control to do with them as she pleased.  Whereas, f...

  After getting my hands on the original "Rosemary's Baby", I was fascinated to see where Mr. Levin would take the characters after having left them untouched for almost 30 years. I was not disappointed. This story takes up 34 years after the conclusion of the first novel. We find Rosemary waking up from a coma she had fallen into some 28 years earlier. Her last memories were of still living in the Bramford, and glancing at her son Andy who had recently celebrated his sixth birthday. From the other side of the walls, she could hear the coven chanting as usual then blackness. She awakens in the year 1999, to learn that the coven had put her into a long-term care facility under the name of Rosemary Fountain (the last name of one of cults members). Realizing the coven had put her into a coma as they had her friend Hutch, she is outraged and fearful for what had become of her son Andy, whose father is Satan himself.  She soon learns that Andy, has become a...

After reading Miss Du Maurier's classic "Rebecca" I set out to find more of her works, in particular I wanted to read some of her short works.  In "The Doll: THe Lost Short Stories" I found a treasure of tales which left me both fascinated and a bit disconcerted.   One might easily wonder at how I reconcile those two emotions, but I can safely say I learned from the author herself.  In this collection of early works, we get to see the sharp insight Miss Du Maurier had to the minds of people.  Each story contained in this tome, involve people making bad choices in love and relationships, yet still pursuing objects of affection who are most definitely wrong for them.  Those they pursue are either disturbed, toxic, or playing games with the affections of others.  Yet, Miss Du Maurier keeps our interest in each tale, as the reader finds themselves reflecting on their own relationships and behavior, or those of family and friends who they've watch...

I've waited to get my hands on this novel for some time and it was certainly worth the wait. Keeping in mind that this book was written and set in 1967, this novel is tame in some respects compared to the gore and horror many authors and movies unleash on today's readers. But they are able to do so thanks to the efforts of Mr. Levin and other authors who broke ground and explored these myste ries and possibilities. Rosemary Wodehouse and her husband Guy find themselves searching for a new home in New York City, so Guy can pursue his acting career on the stage, and soon find themselves with the opportunity to rent an apartment in the old Victorian building called "The Bramford" which has seen its share of notorious characters including a Devil worshipper who claimed to have summoned Satan himself some decades ago. But now, considered a respectable/historic structure, Guy and Rosemary take a chance after seeing the apartment who's last elderly tenant ...

A few days ago, I managed to finally locate a copy of this book at my local used book store and immediately snatched it up.  Having seen both the original 1975 movie starring Katharine Ross, as well as the more recent Nicole Kidman version, I was eager to read the actual book that made the term Stepford Wives part of our everyday lexicon. I'm going to assume that most people reading this blog already knows the story and how it ends.  If you haven't seen either movie I strongly recommend the 1975 version which is much closer to the book, and not read the rest of this entry until you have because it contains huge SPOILERS! For those who are continuing to read this post you have been warned... Mr. Levin once again presents us with an idyllic setting and situation, namely the homey little town of Stepford with its picturesque white picket fences and home town charms.  We meet Joanna Eberhart who has just moved here with her husband Walter and their two child...

When most people talk about an experiment failing, we all get a particular image in our heads... But, not all experiments take place inside a cartoon or a lab.  Some experiments take place in our writing.  Time and again writers struggle to make a scene or idea work with varying results.  Sometimes we get great results, other times we have to take a step back and have a think... In any case, it's important to realize that no matter how many times you try to write a book, scene, character, or whatever... you learn from the experience.  The piece may not work out the way you had hoped but you gained knowledge, namely what didn't work. Recently, in an effort to jump start "The Door" (which had been languishing for months in Limbo because I couldn't come up with a clear path of where to take the story next) I introduced one of up my upcoming characters from another novel which is part of my Para-Earth Series.  Specifically, I brought in Nathaniel ...