Tag Archive: anthologies



         Hello everyone… when last I left you, I had promised to discuss some of the writing projects currently under way in the Para-Earth Series, and that is exactly what I intend to cover in this entry.

          Currently there not one, not two but over seven books under construction so to speak.

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          Each is at a different stage of development as far as length, but all are still only 1st drafts.  So there’s still a lot more to do on them, but progress is being made.

I’ll start with the book that will be released this coming November/December.  This one focuses mainly on my vampyre Nathan and his friends.  Before I released the first full-length novel starring Nathan last year, he and his friends had been the focus of a blog I started back in 2014 appropriately called “The Vampyre Blogs – Private Edition” (You can click this link to see the latest story: http://thevampyreblogs.blogspot.com/).

The purpose of the blog was to introduce readers to Nathan and company in a series of blog, e-diary, and e-journal entries and raise interest for the novel.  After three years there are now over 50 different stories of varying lengths that have appeared on the blog.  However, this also means that there are a lot of pages for a newcomer to try and scroll through to find the earliest tales or even the beginning of the more lengthy tales which can stretch from one to six separate entries.

          This has been a common lament that has reached our ears.  So just in time for the holidays, Helen and I have been gathering some of the earlier entries and are putting them into the first of what we hope will be a number of anthologies.  Mind you, this anthology will NOT just contain old stories.  Brand new tales are being added that have never appeared on the blog before, giving the readers something more to enjoy besides the convenience of accessing the earliest tales.  Some will be written solely by me or Helen, while others will be a joint venture, so you’ll be getting a taste of both our combined and individual styles.  Furthermore, as in the novel, the entries will be written from the points of views of various characters who appeared in “The Vampyre Blogs – Coming Home”

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Amazon.comhttps://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MDO8SLO/ref=series_rw_dp_sw 

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-vampyre-blogs-allan-krummenacker/1124855249?ean=2940153799605)

And as I mentioned earlier, we are planning more anthologies involving other never-before-seen tales of Para-Earth encounters starring characters from “The Bridge” and “The Ship” as well as brand new characters who may become part of our growing cast.  The first of that anthology will hopefully be coming in 2018, we’ll keep you posted on that front.

In the meantime, what other projects do we have that are currently in the works?

Well, the long awaited sequel to “The Bridge” and “The Ship”, currently titled “The Door”…

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 …stars Alex Hill, Veronica Ross, Cassandra Elliott and Julianna Cloudfoot is currently weighing in at 60,000 words.  This one has been a long project for me because I’ve been expanding the cast and finding the weight cumbersome at times.  As in previous novels, I’ve tried to keep a mystery going, while also playing fair and giving hints to the audience as to what’s really going on.  Furthermore, this book will address certain unanswered questions from the first two books about the mysterious white-haired man who has plans for Cassandra.  As well as provide more insight into Rachel’s baby.  It will also open the eyes of certain characters into past experiences they’ve had and even begin the first major crossover between this part of the series and the Vampyre Blogs characters.

I’m hoping to have the first draft completed and the second under way by the end of this year.  From there my goal is to release it mid or late 2018.  I will make sure the release date will not interfere or overlap with the Para-Earth anthology mentioned earlier.  I like to give each installment its moment in the spotlight, as well as release books more frequently than I have in the past.

Of course, working with two other authors is also allowing the series to build up a reserve of books to make future releases more regular and frequent (a goal I’ve been hoping to see come true for a long time).

The next novel(s) to be released after that will hopefully be “The Pass” and “The Vampyre Blogs – Family Ties”.  Both books are currently under way, with “The Pass” being the more advanced of the two.

As I mentioned in the previous entry, “The Pass” takes place during the Civil War.  Espionage, intrigue, paranormal, and Para-Earth all come together in this epic tale that draws upon actual historical events to make the tale even more exciting.  My partner Rich has been dutifully scouring history books and maps to make sure timelines, maps, modes of travel and how long the journey from the east coast to the west (before the Trans-Continental railroad was available) are completely accurate.

While most of the characters are original, certain historical figures will be appearing in the book as well as a ‘cameo’ by our favorite vampyre (whose origins are also directly connected with the Civil War).

But wait there are still more projects in the works, which I will cover in my next entry.   Until then, take care and keep writing my friends.


Mr. Ray Bradbury died on June 5, 2012.  It’s been a year since he left us with a legacy of books and stories, some of which have been made into movies and TV episodes (check out Ray Bradbury Theater on Amazon or YouTube).  In this blog entry I’m not going to recap his life story.  Mostly I’m going to share my own thoughts and feelings on the man from what I saw of him in his works.

Mr. Bradbury could capture the imagination in ways not many authors can.  I’m a huge fan of his short story anthologies, as well as his more lengthy works.  But it was those short stories that always captured my attention the most.  I’ve not done many myself, but I’m hoping to expand eventually.  I’m afraid I’m one of those authors who feels he has a big story to tell most of the time.  Perhaps I just haven’t come up with the right character(s) to be the voice or focus of some short stories.  I’ve got one or two in mind but I have to learn a bit more about who they are and what some of their short stories are like first.

But Mr. Bradbury’s style and ability to create characters and situations never ceased to amaze me.  He could take us to other planets, some nice others not, and allow us to meet people who were people.  They had foibles and shortcomings, a sense of duty, dreams, hopes, laughter and tears.  He had a way of making us feel the depths of these characters emotions and make us ask “How would I handle a situation like that?” without even trying.  Whether we were going to an alien planet with a cynical captain and discover that Jesus Christ had been seen there (title of the story is “The Man”), or a world that would literally love and grant you anything you wished but could turn hostile if you disrespected her (“Here There Be Tygers”),  or even taking on the prospects of reverse racism (“The Other Shoe”), he could make the readers wonder about themselves and the world around them.

But he wasn’t just about science fiction.  He could do contemporary with the best of them.  His exploration into childhood could be very moving and evoke emotions from your past with the skill of a master.  “The Sound of Summer Running” is a short that really took me back to summer days and sneakers.  How did a new pair of sneakers that were just right, feel to you?  Did you could believe you would run faster or jump higher than ever before?  What about the excitement of racing around in the front yards with your friends during those summer evenings, how did that used to feel for you?  Did you play kick the can, or hide and go seek, as the evening shadows slowly stretched and night fell?  I always loved to play then because the game became more interesting and exciting thanks to the added difficulty of the approaching dark.  And he brought all this back to me in that one little story.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that he was brilliant at conveying the human experience (for good or for bad).  There’s a charm to his work that can pull out emotions, memories or even contemplations from the  reader.  Part of this is because a lot of his characters are easy to relate to.  You can almost see yourself or people you know in them, making you feel more at home with them.

So raise a glass of Dandelion Wine or whatever your preferred beverage is and offer up a thanks to a man who gave us so much.  He’s left a lot of works behind for us to explore and enjoy, so if you get a chance to go to your local library check out a book or two of his.  You’ll be glad you did.

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