Reviewed by You: Midnight Garden Review of Kurst, A Salt Pines Mystery

About Kurst: A Salt Pines Mystery

 

Karen Kurst comes into the legal possession of her deceased grandmother's cabin in Salt Pines, Arizona. As she delves into the secrets of the quaint mountain village, she discovers that there is more than meets the eye. A mysterious creature roams the woods, a blended cryptid: Elemental, Sasquatch, and Skinwalker. The only way to contain this entity is through a magical spell passed down by her ancestor, Ralph Wallen II. Teaming up with the local indigenous sheriff, Karen is determined to break the family curse. 

However, the question remains - will she have to sacrifice her own life to protect her newfound community?

For more on A Salt Pines Mystery series, visit Undawnted's Kurst page. 

• The Kurst short story was published in Midnight Garden anthology by WordCrafter Press. 
• Kurst: A Salt Pine Mystery novelette is available as a stand-alone book, and published by Sonoran Dawn Studios/Publishing, and Undawnted.  

_____ 

The Review 

LINDSEY’S WRITING PRACTICE: Book Review 
Anthology Review: MIDNIGHT GARDEN: Where Dark Tales Grow

Also, suspenseful but not as grim, DL Mullan’s “Kurst,” is one of my favorites in this collection. Set in Salt Pines, a village in Arizona, “between dreamy pine peaks and unfathomable horrors,” the story opens when Karen Kurst leaves her [photojournalist] job to check out the “Kurst inheritance” on the [Tonto] National Forest’s eastern edge. After she encounters Sheriff “Bear” Barrett, who offers her background about her inheritance and [r]eading materials, this story takes readers on a wild—frightening—but fulfilling “ride.”

 

Read the rest of her review of Midnight Garden anthology on Writing to be Read.  

 

Also, on Undawnted's YouTube channel: Kurst: A Salt Pines Mystery | Review by You | DL Mullan. 

_________

About DL Mullan

A writer at heart, Undawnted’s own creative spark, DL Mullan, began writing short stories and poetry before adolescence. Over the years, Ms. Mullan has showcased her literary talents by self-publishing several collections of her poetry. She also writes novels, designs apparel, and creates digital art. Ms. Mullan‘s creative writing is available in digital and print collections, from academia to commercial anthologies. As an independent publisher, she produces her own book cover designs as well as maintains her own websites. She is an award-winning digital artist and poet.

Currently, she has embarked on writing her multi-book Legacy Universe, Supernatural Superhero Series, as well as creating original soundtracks for her publications and independent electronic music albums, featured on SoundCloud and YouTube.

DL Mullan holds a Master of Arts in Teaching and Learning with Technology, and is a syndicated columnist, writing Undawntech monthly.

For news and updates, subscribe to the Undawntable Newsletter. Find DL on Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

-------~o0o~---oOo---~o0o~~-----

Become an Undawntable

Keep up-to-date with everything Undawnted through Substack: Undawntable Newsletter. Join today! 

 

 

  

 

Corporate Philosophy has Tainted the Writing Community

Nominated for a 2017 Book Cover Award

I write here on Undawnted as well as manage, create, and direct over at Sonoran Dawn Studios, my design slash publishing house. Well, the book cover art I created for another author's book was nominated for a Book Event held by another promotional company.

The winning author gets one of three prizes. The book cover artist just gets the street cred. Hey, I could live with that. 

So I went on my Facebook writer's groups only to be turned away. No self promotion. No this rule. No that rule. How can anyone get anything done? 

I found one group that appeared to be okay with me asking some questions like: what do I do to help out my author? where do I begin? what is this event thing anyway?

I never got a response. Actually, I believe the desperate plea was deleted by the Admin. Nice.

So my thought was: has the corporate philosophy of me, Me, ME! gotten in the way of doing the right thing for another person? 

You do realize that this Western Category cover is not in competition with your vampire, romance, religious, or whatever book you have written, right? 

In today's world, piety and grace are left for preacher politicians to tell us how to live according to their interpretation of a dusty tome, but anyone else of that sect or another have forgotten their empathy.

Is this the legacy independent writers would like to leave about themselves and their craft? 

Has the corporate dog-eat-dog world been so pervasive in our culture that we as human beings cannot interact with each other except to step all over everyone else?

That is a sad state of affairs indeed. 

I choose not to be so callous or antipathic. I will do what I must, learn what I need, and help where I can. Although I am disappointed with the lack of basic human decency, the corporate dystopic behavior has bled over into our crafts, creativity, and camaraderie. 

What does that say about us? 

Have a great and wonderful day! 

...if it's in your bylaws!