Tag Archives: Fiction

Book Review: The Ship

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Finally, Cassandra slumped against the wooden rail and murmured, “It’s coming… we have maybe two hours to prepare…”

The Ship © 2014 Allan Krummenacker

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 Seneca descent, who harbors her own personal demons as well. Little do the pair know that more than attraction binds to two together.

As the book opens, we find Cassie is hosting a memorial for Julie’s uncle Jason, a Seneca shaman, at her beach house in Santa Cruz, California. It’s at the beach where odd things begin to happen, and where her psychic abilities beacon a danger that has haunted the seas for centuries, and which puts her and her new lover in danger.

A ghost ship – an entity that hunts and absorbs into ships into it’s being, and captures her crew, absorbing them into it’s grotesque form, prolonging their lives in unimaginable suffering – is drawn to Cassie by her abilities. She has become it’s next target for assimilation.

Thus begins a race to find its weaknesses, to subdue this malevolent creature before it can take Cassie into itself. The heiress finds help in Julie, who is coming into her own as a shamaness, Julie’s parents and family, and an unknown alliance from the mysterious Z, a man who has his own nefarious plans for Cassie and her abilities. Can this other-worldly ship be destroyed? Can the group save Cassie and themselves from a fate worse than death?

First, I want to say that though this is the second book in the series, it is very much a stand-alone book. It’s not necessary to read the first, but if I were to be asked for my opinion, I would suggest read The Bridge first. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

Now for the book itself, I found myself engrossed by the telling. I could not guess as to what was coming next, which was a nice surprise. It is an original tale from a highly imaginative mind. I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

It would have been to easy to exploit the main character’s newfound sexual identity. Instead, Allan balances Cassie’s journey into her first lesbian experiences with the needs of the story. There’s nothing gratuitous or pornographic. We see glimpses of a tenderness and passion, enough to satisfy the readers while keeping the private act private.

The focus instead is placed in the characters as individuals, Cassie as a psychic, and Julie as a shamaness. It’s is their gifts as well as the affection for one another, that is their greatest asset. It is their reliance on their support group, a network of friends and family that is at the core of this story.

It is the uniqueness of the cast, their mutual respect and admiration that I found most appealing. There is love, both romantic and familial, that drives the story through is climax and to its conclusion.

My verdict? This is a great book, one that I have no qualms recommending to all readers. Please give The Ship a try. You won’t be disappointed. You can find the book on Amazon or on Smashwords.

The Para-Earth Series
The Bridge
The Ship
TBA

List of Book Reviews
Next Review –  Find My Baby
Previous Review – The Trinity

Book Review: The Bridge

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I will post my review of the second book in the series on Monday. I wanted to share my review of the first book before then. Please check it out and have a great weekend!

Joe Hinojosa's avatarJoe Hinojosa

thebridge_allankrummenacker2 The Bridge – Allan Krummenacker

The Bridge is a paranormal thriller written by Allan Krummenacker. The story follows a psychic, Alex Hill, as he is slowly forced to embrace his abilities once again to help solve a crime, and in the process, absolve himself of the crime.

The story begins with an automobile accident witnessed by sergeant Veronica Ross, Alex’s girlfriend. Two teens who sergeant Ross mentors die as of a result of the accident, setting off the chain of events.

When it is discovered that the teens, who supposedly died in the crash, had in fact drowned several hours before, this brings Alex into the investigation, albeit reluctantly. No one in the town knows of Alex’s psychic abilities, preferring to keep it suppressed due to a tragedy many years before, but he is almost manipulated by happenstance to use his gifts to help his girlfriend, and his sceptical…

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On this holiday weekend…

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Happy 4th of July! Yes, in spite of the fact that I work at a retail store, on that is open today, I somehow managed to get the day off! I’m not going to complain. I’m elated to have a day to relax at home, spend some time with family, and just be an all out bum.

Actually, I did do a little work today. I cooked the obligatory holiday meal. I braised some ribs in the oven, though I lit the grill to cook out some chicken breasts and sausages. That, with coleslaw, mashed potatoes, and some avocado rounded out our small feast. I’m stuffed. I really want a nap.

Instead I’m writing. My story for NaNoWriMo is taking shape, though it is slowly doing so. I should be more diligent in writing, but I can’t. That’s why the low word goal. I may have to up the goal to 25K words, but I’ll decide that later, and I may do that for myself and leave the set goal at 10K. I’m not even sure I can change it.

On a more serious note, I want to take some time and do a quick Public Service Announcement. Please take care this 4th of July weekend. Remember that traffic with be heavier than usual, so please, please, please keep an eye out for other drivers, and please don’t drink and drive.

The reason I bring this up, last night I went to Plainview to grab a few things from Walmart. As I drove home, I passed a horrifying scene on the access road to I-27. At the on ramp, I saw two vehicles that had been in a front-end collision. I could not count the number of first responders on the scene, but the flashing lights only hinted at the severity of the accident.

A hospital helicopter landed moments before I passed the scene, undoubtedly to fly the more severely injured to Lubbock. Helpless in the situation, all I could do was say a quick prayer for the victims of the crash, and selfishly hope that I didn’t know the victims of the car crash. My prayers were answered, sort of.

I found out later last night that one person had been pronounced dead at the scene. This morning I found out that the deceased was the older sister of a classmate of mine from high school. How do you process this? I’m glad I wasn’t affected but sorry you were? I felt my heart sink because someone I knew ages ago would be experiencing a terrible ordeal this holiday weekend.

So while I may have had a delicious meal this evening, and while I may have spent the time with family, I know of at least on family impacted by a devastating event. I’m sure scores of others with share in the misfortune before this weekend is over.

Please take care while having fun. Spend time with family and friends. Shoot off fireworks and illuminate the night sky. Most of all, just be safe.

Impossible standards

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Welcome to day 2 of Camp NaNoWriMo! How are you doing? I’m up to 1023 words, though I have yet to write today. I plan to write a bit after I’m done with my brief update.

I’m not far enough in to make any judgments, but It’s hard not to be judgmental about my own writing. It’s CRAP!!! Okay, probably not, but what I find so damn frustrating about writing is having a clear idea of what I want to say and then failing to do so. Again, I haven’t written enough to feel that way, but I already do, of course. Am I alone in feeling this way?

I’m overreacting. I should let go and let the story evolve as it will, but I can’t. I want it to be the way I mean it to be! Also, I want to write a perfect copy, one that needs no proofreading or editing. Perhaps another sign of my lunacy?

By the time I write my final line, I’m sure I’ll be simultaneously elated and horrified by the results of my labor. I’ll feel pride that I wrote this particular work while feeling ashamed that I haven’t lived up to my impossible standards. Surly, you understand. It’ll be fine. I just have to remember to type away and worry about cleaning up my writing once I’m done.

Before I get off for the night, I just want to add that I finished The Ship, by Allan Krummenacker, and I can’t wait to share my thoughts with you. I urge you to check out my review for The Bridge, before my next review goes live on Monday.

Camp NaNo is about to begin

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2014-Participant-Twitter-Header-2Camp NaNoWriMo opens up in about 12 hours and I’ll admit to feeling some apprehension. I’m not going to pretend that apprehension is a bad thing. No, I believe it will be a good motivator to prove to myself that I can still do some significant writing. I really hate to fail.

I started participating back in November of 2011 and I killed it. I’ve participated every year since then, and I’ve won every time, if for no other reason than to say I did. I haven’t been as fortunate with Camp NaNo. I’ve tried only a couple of times, failing miserably with my goals. This time around, I have set a modest goal of ten-thousand words. That’s doable, right?

I think it is. If I can’t even do that, how can I claim to be a writer? I know I can do 50-60K in a month, so I’m certain I’ll surpass my goal. I’m not planning on writing a novel, but we will see as we go along. I’m looking at a short story about a woman whose cheating husband is facing death, and her prospects for true love after two decades of neglect.

I have things to say about fidelity and faithlessness, of betrayals and pain, but mostly of reconciling one’s self with the past. I hope to talk about forgiving the unfaithful partner as well as forgiving yourself.

It’s probably too ambitious for a short story, but I’m not dead set on keeping it so short. It’ll be as long as it needs to be to fulfill my objective, thought I don’t see it going past 25K. Again, we will see how it goes.\

That’s enough out of me for now. I’ll let you know how it goes. For those of you who are joining me, good luck! See you on the other side!