Larry Hammersley

Chat date for CTR on my new release

2012-01-25T15:32:00.002-05:00

The release of my new romance short story from Wild Rose is set for February 15th. I have scheduled a chat at Coffee Time Romance for friday February 17th from 5 PM to 9 PM. I'll provide a link later but if anyone, author or reader would like to show please let me know who you are and I'll enter your name with Regina before the chat takes place. Showing for any length of time would be appreciated and I'm giving away a copy of my ebook End of a String. My new release as you can see is Beautiful, Inside and Out. It is about a sharp college engineering student named Bess Simpson who perceives she's overweight. Can she win the heart of Art Fuller who is dating Angie the petite drum major? So far Miss Mae, Gail Pallotta, Anne Patrick and Cindy Christiansen have agreed to show up on chat night. I thank them for that.

Marcy's Struggle final submitted

2012-01-20T20:55:00.002-05:00

I've sent Marcy's Struggle to Wild Rose editor Nancy Swanson hoping this final version will make the grade. Our computer quit for several days and is going again although I fear it will go out again. I'm glad at least that all the files are intact at this point. Now again it is a waiting game.

Next Publisher and their request

2012-01-07T07:49:00.002-05:00

After my rejection I sent a synopsis of A Change of Heart to Wings ePress and they immediately came back and requested my full manuscript. I spent a lot of time formatting my manuscript according to their instructions. It is about ready to go and I'm filled with hope. I've penned a blurb as they asked. Here it is:
Leroy Doyle has been hurt deeply when his childhood sweetheart leaves him. He enters college, resolved to avoid women--that is until he meets Jody Stinson. Jody carries past baggage herself that has left scars so deep that she continues to push Leroy away. Leroy pulls out all the stops to win Jody's heart, but how long can his persistence stretch?
Will Jody ever have a change of heart toward Leroy? After four years of college and two years in the work place, Jody wakes up, but is it in time? Leroy has quit his job and left.

Rapid Fire Rejection

2012-01-06T11:08:00.003-05:00

Musa Publishing says on their website that their response time for submissions is 6-8 weeks. Well, I submitted yesterday and today the rejection came through on my novel A Change of Heart. This has to be a record: 13 hours. The upside is that I don't have to wait for another two months for a reading on the novel before I submit somewhere else. Should I even submit again? This publisher said they like sweet romance so why such a rapid rejection? Kay I need more boosting from you here. Thanks again for your encouragment on an earlier post.

Bad news in bunches

2012-01-03T12:06:00.002-05:00

Well, bad news comes on the same day or in bunches. I received a rejection email on my novel A Change of Heart from Turquoise Morning Press and my short story An Arm and a Leg was rejected by The Pedestal Magazine. My science fiction novel is still at Cresent Moon Press and they say it will be a long time before they get back to me on that. In checking my files yesterday I realized my SF novel has been rejected more times than I thought. Those rejections are from agents.

Submissions of two novels

2011-12-11T21:30:00.002-05:00

I have two novels out to publishers for their consideration. One is a science fiction novel entitled The Higher Mission which features Joe Cramer and Mona Watson who are employed to take on more and more dangerous missions in the solar system. Finally, they both embark on a voyage to a nearby star, Sirius and the space craft goes slower than light speed. The other novel, A Change of Heart features Leroy and Jody from the short story Lab Partners. Leroy pursues Jody in order to win her heart throughout four years of college and two years at a work place. It will take 5-6 weeks to hear from the Leroy/Jody saga and the SF novel has been out since October 21 so word on that should be soon.

The image is Saturn as seen from Iapetus, a painting by famous space artist, the late Chesley Bonestell. I have a license to display some of the images of his paintings on my blog and future website. This painting depicts the opening scent of the SF novel.

Marcy's Struggle

2011-11-29T08:43:00.003-05:00

Marcy's Struggle was rejected for the contemporary line a time back so I've submitted it to the Vintage Rose line at Wild Rose Press. I had to change a few things to root it in the early sixties. Also, the reason I show the Lab Partners cover is because this character is taken from the novel which features Leroy and Jody called A Change of Heart. Leroy only shows briefly in this story. Marcy was a minor character in the novel. Ross, her love interest, shows even more brief in the novel. Since Marcy lost her bid for Leroy in the novel I wanted her to find romance and so enter Ross, the quarterback into her life. She's in graduate school working toward her PhD in chemistry. She must convince Ross that she's over Leroy but she must convince herself too.

A Change of Heart rejected

2011-11-21T08:45:00.001-05:00

I have included the Lab Partners image here because A Change of Heart is the novel version cast in modern times for Leroy and Jody who are the characters in my Lab Partners story. I knew when I started reading the email from the editor that it was going to be a rejection. Almost without fail these messages take the same form. The good points are brought out before the other foot comes slamming down with the problems causing the story to be rejected. I've had so many rejections I'm not sure what form the acceptance emails take. Well I just refreshed my memory. The acceptance of Lab Partners took off immediately praising the story and offering me a contract. Thank you Anna even though you won't hear this as you are no longer an editor at Wild Rose. The problems with A Change of Heart were numerous with the same old thing about my using language and events that make the story sound like 1950s instead of contemporary. Also there was a lack of emotion involved so the reader can not feel it. I disagree but then my opinion doesn't count. I'm discouraged to say the least and it was suggested I not submit again until I learned the ropes on emotions and being accurate to modern day. I am extremely discouraged by this rejection and am at the point of giving up. Help, anybody out there. I need some encouragement. I know there are reviewers and my lady friend authors that like my writing. Signing at this point.

Photo Beauty off to good start

2011-11-04T20:50:00.001-04:00

My new story at Smashwords, Photo Beauty, has had three downloads at Smashwords already and my first story at Smashwords, Small Is Beautiful, had four downloads after all this time from Smashwords, but I received $10.80 from them due to downloads via e-readers such as Sony and Kindle during the third quarter. That computes to 19 downloads via that mode for Small Is Beautiful. So it appears the distribution via e-readers is a big part of sales. Priced at 99 cents I get 56 cents.

At this point I have three stories out there being considered. One is my science fiction novel, The Higher Mission, one is my novel featuring Leroy and Jody at Wild Rose entitled A Change of Heart, and a short science fiction story to Pedestal Magazine entitled An Arm and a Leg. Pedestal Magazine is an online magazine which is free and they pay very well: 5 cents per word. I had to hold my story to 2000 words. I had to shave off nearly 500 words to attain that.

Release date for Beautiful, Inside and Out

2011-10-28T16:36:00.003-04:00

I have a release date for my new Vintage Rose story, Beautiful, Inside and Out, at Wild Rose Press. It is February 15, 2012. The price is $2.50. I also heard from the editor at the Sweetheart Rose line who is assigned my novel A Change of Heart. Her name is Kinan. The editor who is usually assigned to my contemporary submissions, Vicky Reed, emailed me and said she was leaving Wild Rose because of health reasons. She has always been very courteous and complimentary to me. I'm sure the present editor will be too, just from the tone of her email to me when she informed me she would be looking at my novel in the next 3-4 weeks. Could this be it? I can hope so.

New story at Smashwords

2011-10-28T16:18:00.002-04:00

As of today I have a new story entitled Photo Beauty at Smashwords priced low at 99 cents. It is about a small town fellow who has paid three grand to dine with a blond model he's crazy about. He has all her available photographs. Can Miss Gena, the New York model, be impressed with Dave? The link to this story is http://smashwords.com/b/99959 and you can read the first 20% (five pages out of 29) free. Already someone has purchased a copy. I purchased her photo from istockphoto.com just for this story. My lightbox over there has 14 photos, all of her. The story POV is Dave and he describes her via my writing based on this photo.

2011-10-21T20:40:00.001-04:00

Today I received the images, various sizes for my new short story coming out at Wild Rose. View the image here. I don't have a release date yet but that should be coming down from cyber space before too long. I think it is a rather good cover, capturing the smarts of Bess, the heroine in the story. It does take place in cold weather so the head covering is appropriate.

A bit of bad news today though is the rejection of my science fiction novel by DAW Books. I immediately queryed Crescent Moon Press via email and see what happens there. I encourage my followers or anyone else to drop me a comment. My poor blog doesn't get much traffic that I know of.

Free Read Romance Story

2011-10-17T12:06:00.001-04:00

I have a free read short romance story that went live today at http://www.read-a-romance.com/

The title is Ice Rink Romance. There is the option of voting for it in the rating system: 1-5 stars. Here is the link directly to the story. http://www.read-a-romance.com/contemporary_romance/ice-rink-romance/

Hope you take the time to give it a read. Their program is in place that prevents in mass voting so take your time in voting. I'm going to try to place the link in my sidebar as well.

Galley for Beautiful, Inside and Out

2011-09-24T17:12:00.000-04:00

The galley has been received and I noted one small correction. That has been fixed and Nancy has sent it on its way for a cover selection. The end is in sight for my new short story.

Progress on Beautiful, Inside and Out

2011-09-23T19:17:00.001-04:00

The latest on my story Beautiful, Inside and Out is that Nan Swanson, my editor has returned the second edit to my story and I have gone over the few remarks and sent it back to her today. She acknowledged receipt and the first galley proofs will be forthcoming. Hopefully, this will be a shorter wait and then after approval of the galley proofs it will be a cover chosen and a release date.

I'm still waiting on assignment of my novel A Change of Heart by Wild Rose Press to an editor to read my synopsis. At that point I'll learn if they want to look at the manuscript. If it doesn't fly then I have at least two other publishers to check on.

My story Ice Rink Romance rests at Read-a-Romance.com indefinitely. I emailed them after a nine weeks wait (they said it should be checked on in eight weeks) and the reply was that the head editor was having health problems and wanted me to be patient. I'll not be able to ask again on that one and it may be in limbo as health issues many times are not resolved.

I've been trying for several months to obtain a license to display Chesley Bonestell's space art paintings here on my blog. Many exchanges have resulted via email and the lady said she'd be glad to grant the license but it seems several unanswered questions and issues have not been resolved. Again, I have a bad feeling if this is ever going to take place. I can only hope.

A Change of Heart novel

2011-09-14T09:38:00.002-04:00

I have submitted a synopsis to Wild Rose Press and Rhonda acknowledged its receipt. Now there will be an editor from the Sweetheart Rose line assigned to look at the synopsis. The novel is A Change of Heart which features Leroy and Jody from my ebook Lab Partners only I have told their complete story cast in modern day.

No word yet on my short story which is back in the hands of my editor, Nan Swanson who has my track changes and editing take on her editing. I accepted most of her suggestions but some I stuck to and changed my original writing.

Beautiful, Inside and Out, editing.

2011-09-05T18:19:00.002-04:00

Once again I've been remiss about posting to my own blog. I must quit being a slob. My story with Wild Rose, Vintage Line is now in the hands of Nan, my editor. I went along with much of her suggestions but not all. It is now in her hands and I should hear in a week or less. I added a scene with dialogue to the story as per her suggestion. It was actually in the original story anyway but the editor at the other Rose line wanted it taken out because of dwelling on a secondary character. I was glad to put it back in as it lends substance to Bess, the heroine in the story.

I just received an email from one of my running girl friends and she is starting a running blog and will post in it to start it off. She wants me to be the second one to post so I must get my thinking cap on for that one.

I have finished editing and revising my Leroy/Jody novel and am now ready to seek a publisher. I'm considering Wild Rose first and then I have two other possible publishers that might work out too. I'd like to see it in print form. Of course ebook is okay too.

Until next time which I hope won't be too long.

Beautiful, Inside and Out

2011-07-31T16:47:00.000-04:00

An additional note here with good news. Nan Swanson and her senior editor has accepted my subject story. I've signed the contract and mailed it to Rhonda at Wild Rose. It is now a matter of waiting for the editing to begin.

Royalties and such

2011-07-31T14:07:00.011-04:00

I hope you followers and others will drop a line or comment. I received a pleasant surprise in the mail. Motorcycle Woman netted me $19.15 worth of royalties. This is since it was released. So some interested readers have downloaded a total of 19 copies according to the quarterly reports. Soon after that I received a report from Smashwords that Small Is Beautiful has netted me $19.37 in royalties. That is presently resting in my PayPal account. Although these are not tremendous sums they are significant to me.

Remember I'll be on the Ask An Author spotlight August 2-4 on the Goodreads site so drop in and learn of me and ask me questions.

2011-06-30T21:46:00.002-04:00

I heard from my Wild Rose editor, Nan Swanson and she liked my story Beautiful, Inside and Out, but I'm not home free. She will ask her senior editor to offer me a contract. Wild Rose is taking the fourth of July vacation so I'll not hear until after they return to work probably in mid July. Nan said the new title is better than my old title of Big Is Beautiful. As always, I've included my most popular short romance story in the vintage line, Lab Partners.

Ask an Author

2011-06-25T19:42:00.003-04:00

I am scheduled for an Ask An Author interview at Goodreads on August 2-4 where I'll post a bio and be available for questions from readers and other authors, whoever may show up. I hope to be available during the evening hours when probably most of the traffic will appear. Hope to see you there.

News sort of

2011-06-22T14:41:00.003-04:00

I just lost all my previous message and I'm not happy so you'll be getting a short version of that message. I've not posted because I was waiting for JOyce's contest to finish where I offered a free download of Motorcycle Woman. The winner in Illionis, Shannon, really liked it. I have two short stories out being considered, one at Wild Rose and the other at a Science Fiction magazine. At Wild Rose is Beautiful, Inside and Out and at Analog Science Fiction is Ice Cap Run.

Motorcycle Woman from Red Rose Publishing

2011-05-05T21:21:00.009-04:00

Tess McBride has a wounded soul from happenings in her past. Can her motorcycle heal her wounded soul? She meets stranded biker, Johnnie Parker and finally realizes that he can fill the gap that her Harley Davidson Sportster cannot fill. The buy link for Motorcycle Woman is http://redrosepublishing.com/books/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=177&products_id=404.

Resubmission of older story?

2011-05-02T20:29:00.002-04:00

Although my story Marcy's Struggle has been rejected, the editor whom I've grown to know, encouraged me to resubmit a former story, Big Is Beautiful, to Wild Rose again only this time submit it to Vintage Rose since my "voice" seems to be remaining in the fifties and sixties. The story will take some revising according to her. I"ve printed out her objections to that former story and with her continued advice will try to revise and resubmit to Vintage Rose and perhaps give it a different name. I'll be upfront with the Vintage folks and reveal it is a resubmission.
The editor also advised me to check into RWA's mentor program and also some other leads she mentioned. I'll do that and hope I can find the time.

2011-04-30T20:40:00.002-04:00

I heard from Wild Rose on my submitted story Marcy's Struggle. It was rejected. One of the constant problems sited is my old-fashioned language and settings. Also I write my women characters with a good knowledge of chemistry in a college setting. I feel this establishes the character of the woman. My stories are not working but I'm at least remaining true to what way of writing I do. I feel that is important despite my continuing rejections.

Mentor for my WIP A Change of Heart

2011-04-25T20:36:00.002-04:00

I have enlisted my good friend and author, Crystal Wilkinson, whom I met at Antioch Writers Workshop in Yellow Springs, Ohio. I was privileged to be in her workshop. In a later year she also critiqued a short story of mine. At any rate I've been sending her 45 pages of the WIP and she is giving me feedback on suggested improvements and pointing out my strong points as well. I'll soon send her the third 45 page packet, hopefully in May. A Change of Heart features my characters Leroy and Jody from my 1950s short story Lab Partners (see the image at left) only I've cast them into modern day and stretched it into a 72,000 word novel. A brief mention of one of my weak points is that I hurry through a scene without describing the setting. I am inconsistent on this point as at other times I describe in detail the surroundings.

2011-04-09T20:53:00.003-04:00

Well, the internet bailed on me after I was ready to post. Isn't that special? Wild Rose requested, based on my synopsis, the full manuscript of Marcy's Struggle. I can hope for the best. Leanne mentioned she liked the college setting but didn't like the long time frame of the story taking place. I explained that the long time frame in my synopsis was actually back story. The actual length of time for this sweet romance is one college year: Marcy's final graduate school year. So I'll hope for the best. I may hear soon or several days from now based on their work load.

Terribly remiss at posting

2011-03-20T19:29:00.003-04:00

I'm surprised at how long it has been since I've posted. It doesn't seem like December. Not much has happened since then. I have a synopsis at Wild Rose Press on a short romance story entitled Marcy's Struggle awaiting its fate. I'm revising slightly my science fiction thriller The Higher Mission for submission to DAW Books. They will accepted unagented manuscripts. I've reaped several rejections by agents on my most recent novel A Change of Heart. That features my Lab Partners characters Leroy and Jody only cast into modern times. There has been one more purchaser of my story Small is Beautiful at Smashwords.
Family problems and duties has taken away my writing time and posting time. I've had to go on digest with one yahoo group and am still active with The Sweetest Romance Authors Yahoo group. That is briefly what I've been involved with since December in the writing line.

I've pasted in my short Unspoken Love

2010-12-16T09:46:00.002-05:00

My very short story Unspoken Love seems to have disappeared off my Allromanceebooks. It was in the newsletter section and I guess they don't retain anything that is over two years old. It appeared there on September 20, 2008. This is very short as per their guidelines. I first penned this at a writers conference in 2008 I believe. It won't take you long.

UNSPOKEN LOVE
BY
LARRY HAMMERSLEY
The brown, wooden sign with white letters read Antioch College. Rounded hedges and a circle of bricks stacked two high surrounded the sign. A myriad of flowers flaunting a kaleidoscope of colors, violet, yellow, red, orange, nestled within that stone circle, threatening to break out into the nearby green carpet of grass. A tree donated its protective shade.
A hundred yards away, a four-story brick building stood. It was there that my eyes first feasted upon her. From the doorway she came, her steps short and rapid, a purpose in those gentle strides. Even from this distance, I knew she was beautiful. Beauty. Is it painted lips, perfect wavy blonde hair, and a model’s figure? No. What of her beauty? The closer she approached, the more inadequate words became to describe that beauty. Her smile, a blushing innocence, burst forth in its gentleness as of the sun peaking around the edge of a cloud.
Her eyes glued to mine and she stopped. I did not scan her from head to toe nor did she me. My breath caught, a connection with her affecting all my senses, sight, taste, touch, hearing, smelling seemed sensitive like never before. Brilliant colors flood my eyes, the freshness of the flowers and hedges exciting my taste, the feel of the light wind caressing my skin, the rustling of each leaf distinct from every other leaf distinguished by my ears, the fragrance of each flower recognized in turn by my nose.
She moved with grace, her steps delicate, feminine as she came, stopped, and placed one of her hands on one of the rounded hedges. She gazed at the hedge a few seconds, then at me. My heart melted. I approached her, daring to stand within a few feet of her. I placed my hand on the hedge next to hers, the prickly stems threatening to break my focus on her. She smiled, cocked her head a little and then rested her free hand on mine. I sighed and laid my free hand on hers. So soft, her hand under mine, so warm, her hand on top of mine. The gouging stems became a dim memory.
I gave a head motion toward the flowers and we skirted the circle of bricks, stopping first at purple blossoms, kneeling. She moved her full skirt up slightly, her bare knees resting in the grass. She touched a flower, and I touched the top of her hand. I touched another flower and she touched the top of my hand. The aromatic essence, the fragile petals, the intense violet color channeled through each of our hands, arms, heart and back into our other hands, arms and heart. The touch, smell, sight mixed from heart to heart. Each group of flowers around the brick perimeter kept building, pouring into my heart and I could feel it into her heart too.
I stood up and grasped her hand, helping her to lift from her bended knees. She clasped her hands on mine, facing me. Our hands lifted slightly, then our eyes met, hers piercing to my core. I could see her knowledge of my heart and I watched her take a deep breath, tilting her head up, her face flushing, her lips parting, her eyes moving from one spot to another on my face. I didn’t know what lovely part on her face, or hair to enjoy. No matter how I tried, I couldn’t get enough of the emotional feast for it consumed me. I started to speak, but she raised her forefinger, placed it on my lips, and puckered her mouth, adding to her insistence that I remain silent. A most wonderful enlightenment, building to full force now, swamped me. I knew we belonged together, and would never part.

My short story at Smashwords

2010-11-23T16:13:00.003-05:00

I have a short, sweet romance story at Smashwords. It is a story that was workshopped to death at the 2008 writers' conference at Antioch in Yellow Springs. After that it was rejected by an online site. I believed in the story and had it published at Smashwords with the help of Miss Mae. She did the cover and formatted it for me. The link is http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/30971. You can read 40% of it without springing for the ninety-nine cents. The title is Small is Beautiful and is in a college setting. Judy Compton is five foot one and the towering basketball player, Brad Whitherspoon who is six foot five has caught her eye big time. Can she overcome her concern for her shortness and compete with the voluptuous Yvonne Dancing who is the Platinum girl in the marching band?

Queries and rejections

2010-11-03T16:57:00.002-04:00

The rejections from agents are rolling in as I expected. Two out of the four I've put out there have already sent their rejections stating it isn't right for their agency. I question this answer as all the agencies have stated they are looking for romance. A Change of Heart is purely romance and nothing else. No word from Pedestal Magazine. My Wild Rose story is now in the right hands. I hate to be negative but I expect a rejection from that one too. I learned via one of the yahoo groups I'm active in that the publisher I sent my SF novel starring Cramer and Mona is having family problems so I'd best not email them to ask the status. November 15 will make four months for that one. I have other possibilities for my novels and will explore those when I receive the negative replies I'm expecting.
One positive thing though is the editor appreciation day at Wild Rose always nets me replies from those editors that worked with me on my accepted stories. I always email Natasha Bacchus via the Wild Rose marketing lady, Lisa and she sends my email on to Ms. Bacchus who is no longer an editor at Wild Rose but worked extensively with me on the story Motorcycle Woman and although Wild Rose rejected it Natasha helped me considerably and that resulted on it being accepted at Red Rose. Well, Ms. Bacchus actually answered my appreciation email and said some really nice things to me. It is the first time I've heard from her and what she said lifted my spirits. We need our spirits lifted in this world of rejections. I thank the ladies from RAMP and Sweetest Romance Authors yahoo groups for their encouragement.
Until next time drop in and comment. Larry

I'm querying

2010-10-28T11:14:00.002-04:00

Again, I've been neglecting my posting. I have been posting to friends blogs and sites though. I see I have two followers now. Glad to see that. My subject talks of querying.
I've had the first three chapters of my SF novel, The Higher Mission with Whimsical Publications for three months and two weeks tomorrow and no word. They state a response from one to three months. I'm going to email them today and see what the status is. Also, I've began querying agents about my fifth novel, A Change of Heart, the sweet romance between Leroy and Jody, my Lab Partners characters. I have completed a short romance story entitled Big Is Beautiful and submitted a query to Wild Rose Press but the address they gave bounced. I've emailed Leanne the head editor of the Sweetheart Rose Line where my story belongs but have heard no word on that. I probably should have emailed Lisa at Wild Rose and may do that before the day is out. One more item and I'll end. I submitted a revised short story to The Pedestal Magazine, an online mag that pays very well. The story is entitled Beyond The Fence and is not romance. It is a tale of strangeness. Anybody interested in the contents of any of my submissions I've mentioned here be sure and let me know via comments. Thank you in advance for checking into my blog. I hope someday to have a website. A friend was constructing one for me but I've not heard from her in a long time. Time for another email. Larry

My interview at Miss Mae's site

2010-09-16T14:28:00.003-04:00

I know I've been tardy at posting. Shame on me. However, Miss Mae has an interview with me at http://www.missmaesite.com/ so it isn't too late to come on over. Several dear friends have already been there and commented. I've also replied to them.

Previously, I said I submitted two novels to two different places. I decided to pull my recent novel since the site I submitted to dealt only in ebooks. I still want a print version of my novels. The recent novel I wrote and decided to pull is entitled A Change of Heart. I left the submission of my SF novel The Higher Mission at Whimsical and should hear within the next month.

A Change of Heart features Leroy and Jody from my fifties short story Lab Partners only I've cast them into the present. No, it isn't time travel. I prefer to say it is Leroy and Jody's real story. Please keep your thoughts with me on those two novel submissions.

So far on Lab Partners I've had 15 downloads, the most popular of my short romance stories and the first one I had accepted. I'll give you the cover once again. Larry

Two novels submitted

2010-08-02T18:25:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone and my one follower. I've submitted my SF novel, The Higher Mission to Whimsical Publications. That story features Joe Cramer, a widower in his fifties, and Mona Watson, a woman in her twenties who is a space explorer herself. They join forces in missions in our solar system. Cramer's top priority is to provide medical care and eventual cure for his ill daughter, Cindy. This is a mixture of adventure and romance. The Higher Mission could be interpreted either as Cramer finally getting the money to pay for the expensive cure his ill daughter, or Cramer being shanghaied for a trip to Sirius, a star 8.6 light years distant. There is no faster than light speed in this novel.

My other novel has been submitted to Romance at Hearts Publishing, a new online and print book publisher. A Change of Heart is about Leroy and Jody, my characters from my most popular short story Lab Partners only casting them in modern times. It is strictly romance, the sweet variety. Leroy and Jody meet in college and the story goes six years to a nice conclusion.

Please keep me in your thoughts as I wait for news.

I must thank my Sweetest Romance Authors for giving me a plug on my mini sequel of The Higher Mission. Janet at Whimsical was at that chat.

Scavenger Hunt and SF story submission

2010-07-20T20:25:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since I've posted. I had so many encouraging comments about my short SF story which I posted be segments each week. I have just submitted my science fiction novel which features those characters Cramer and Mona to Whimsical Publishing and we'll see what Janet thinks of it. Keep your fingers crossed for me. My novel I just completed and revised is now ready for submitting. I believe I'll go to Desert Breeze Publishing with it. I'll have to check their formatting guidelines and do some work on that.
SCAVENGER HUNT INFO: Click on this red letter M to go back to the sweetest romance chat room for finishing up the scavenger hunt.

Final Segment of Unscheduled Stroll on Triton

2010-06-21T18:55:00.002-04:00

Here is the final offering of my short SF story. This is a shorten version with a segment left out. That segment was a special conversation between Cramer and Mona. It contained some endearing remarks between the two characters and some astronomical observations by Cramer. Did you know there are asteroids locked in Jupiter's orbit, an area known as the Lagrangian Point? That is a stable area forming an equalateral triangle between Jupiter, the sun and the Lagrangian Point. Now you didn't need to know that did you? Time for the final segment.

Cramer groped in the dark, seeking for warmth, fleeing from thirty-eight Kelvins at the end of the hall behind him. A soft hand on a long elastic arm pulled him forward toward a comforting orange light ahead. Yielding, he tried to help that wonderful hand.
“Joe, come out of it.” The familiar voice came from a blurry vision that coalesced like cloudy water losing its fine air bubbles. A lovely face with shiny, long blond hair clarified: Mona. How wonderful she looked in her flight coveralls. Cramer grasped her hand with both of his. Tears flooded his eyes, not from a brush with death, but angry, unforgiving tears at his irresponsible actions.
“How could I be so stupid? A rank amateur wouldn’t even unclip their safety line.” Cramer gritted his teeth at the thought. Mona carefully pulled him to a sitting position.
“Don’t go beating yourself up,” Mona said, her wonderful consoling aura soothing him.
“Look at the years of experience I’ve had on mining ventures in space. You’d think. . .”
“Hush!” Mona placed her forefinger on his lips. When he started to finish his self-condemnation, she placed her palm over his mouth.
“Think about it, Joe. You saved your own life by disconnecting from that line.” Cramer squinted at that statement.
“Whatever do you mean?”
“If you had been attached to that line when the geyser hit you, I know your neck would have snapped or your helmet seal would have broken when the slack was gone.” Mona squeezed Cramer’s arm, a serious look spreading across her face.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Cramer said, wanting to believe her.
“The force of that geyser would be magnified without any atmosphere to buffer the nitrogen blast.” Cramer thought about it. Mona’s logic was flawless. He would have been killed as he remembered how far the nitrogen jet had sent him.
“You’re right but it was pure stupidity that I unhooked myself.”
“No, it wasn’t. Look how many times in the past you’ve done something on the spur of the moment and you, me or somebody has been saved.” Mona cupped Cramer’s face with her hands. He took a deep breath at her touch and reached up and took her hands with his.
“I owe you my life anyway. We’d better finish our job.”
“We’re done. That last batch was very high grade thorium. Witherspoon will be happy with what we’ve got. Let’s prepare for the trip back.”
#
Witherspoon, happy with the high grade thorium, had another mission for them, but Cramer and Mona adamantly refused to let him force another postponement of their wedding. They got by with that since Witherspoon considered they were the best miners, along with Cramer’s old mining partner, Floyd.
Everything fell in place this time. Cramer and his late wife’s daughter, Cindy, stood with Mona, and Floyd stood with Cramer. On the sandy shore of Burr Oak Lake in the wilds of Ohio, they exchanged their vows. It was here that they had first said those wonderful words of “I love you.”

I hope you enjoyed this story. As I said, I've submitted this to an online magazine that pays a hefty per word on acceptance. We'll see what happens in a few weeks. Consider this story and all previous segments copyrighted material. Thanks for those who have followed the story, Laurie, Miss Mae and Anne. Hope others have too. As always I invite any comments you may have. Larry

Fifth segment of my SF story

2010-06-14T12:28:00.002-04:00

The snow puffed from under his boot soles as he landed with each long stride. Cramer’s mind link overrode safety protocols but couldn’t block the impending suit failure messages when his time dipped below five minutes. His legs, like lead, surprised him since he expected a sudden failure of heating in his suit. The lithium batteries, when depleted, would lose their power quickly, but under freezing conditions the voltage would plunge to zero like a switch had turned them off. Perhaps his mind played tricks on him, the way sympathy pains hit when listening to somebody describe in graphic detail their medical procedures or ailments. Maybe his mind also fed him images he wanted to see, such as Mona and her approach with the rover. He held onto that image because it was the last one he had as his suit became very cold. He toppled forward into the snow.

I know it was short but you'll have to wait until next Monday for another segment. Thanks for reading. Laurie, I left you a comment on the last segment, a brief answer to your question. Larry

fourth segment of Unscheduled Stroll on Triton

2010-06-06T21:24:00.002-04:00

I'm giving you the fourth segment of my short SF story on Sunday night since I'll be super busy tomorrow all day.

He willed the radio’s power to increase to one hundred milliwatts. Before he turned his mental power to switch on the radio, another warning scrolled before his eyes. It read, “Danger! Increasing radio power one hundred fold will shorten suit environmental functioning to 22.5 minutes.”
“Hey. That’s a good trade off. Halving my suit’s time for a hundred fold chance of being heard,” he expressed.
He was glad that mind power overrode safety interlocks. He stood still and centered the virtual cross hairs in his helmet visor on the gleaming steel spike of the cruiser in the distance. Switch-on, he willed. The warning letters dimmed when the radio sent its thirty second burst. After the end of the transmission, a countdown of suit failure began. Cramer didn’t want to know so he willed it off and then began his loping run.
He glimpsed the severed disk of Neptune, a blue blister sitting on Triton’s horizon. Any other time Cramer would have admired that view, the mother planet with the Great Dark Spot. That far plane of Triton’s surface seemingly leading to and touching Neptune displayed the strange mosaic of channels to the practiced eye. The old Voyager flyby in 1989 had first spotted them. The regular icy features defied explanation then and even now could not be understood.
Cramer thought of the mission he and Mona shared on Titan. The people of Sirius had chosen Saturn’s largest moon to build their city under a methane lake. After exploring the old city in its bubble at the bottom of the lake, Cramer had fallen from the rover as he and Mona rode back to the ship. Lost in the ammonia snow, he’d almost perished before Mona and Lila pulled him into the safety and warmth of the ship. His suit had started its precipitous temperature drop on that occasion.

There you have the four installment of my short SF story. Tune in next week for the next segment. Thank you Miss Mae, Laurie and Anne for commenting on my blog as I continue feeding you segments of this short story. Larry

Third segment for Triton stroll

2010-05-31T14:44:00.002-04:00

As promised here is the third segment of my SF short story Unscheduled Stroll on Triton.

He got up and despaired as the cruiser appeared as a silver needle. He couldn’t even make out the rover. He started taking big bounding strides, thanks to the light gravity. After half an hour the ship had hardly grown in size. Having one hour of air left was a small problem compared to his suit’s heating system. The thermal battery would only keep the lithium batteries warm enough to operate another forty-five minutes. He was looking at catastrophic failure, and it wouldn’t matter about the remaining fifteen minutes of air. A human body at thirty-eight degrees Kelvin wouldn’t need it, besides, the circulating system would freeze too.
If only Mona knew he was up here instead of at the base of the cliff. There was one slim chance, but it was better than his present course. He switched his suit controls from analog to mind control. Immediately, a warning message scrolled across his liquid crystal panel inside his helmet’s visor.
“I know, I know. My mind control hasn’t attained an acceptable rating to use it for suit vitals. So what else is new?” Cramer muttered.
The tiny Yagi antenna mounted atop his helmet was directional. If he could boost the radio’s power and point toward the ship, there was a chance Mona could pick it up. Carrier wave mode, the best use of power, would alert her to his whereabouts. From this distance, one hundred milliwatts ought to do it. The rover was capable of twenty kilometers per hour and Mona might reach him in time if she jumped in and came straight to him. She could plug the rover’s power source into his suit’s external power port.

There you have the next segment of my story. Enjoy and thanks for coming over to read it. Larry

Unscheduled Stroll on Triton second segment

2010-05-24T09:57:00.002-04:00

As was suggested I'm posting the second segment of my SF story here. Cramer and Mona find themselves on Triton, large moon of Neptune, mining for thorium. Here is the next segment and thank you for reading. Well, for some reason it isn't pasting. Let me try again. Ahh, it worked that time. Second time charms.

Triton, the coldest body in the solar system nudged the Kelvin temperature scale to a frigid thirty-eight degrees. Cramer and Mona’s special suits, greedy for power to keep them warm and operate the air circulation system, short changed the radio, allowing it only a starving milliwatt of power. That provided communications for line of sight, perhaps stretching to fifty meters. No matter, Cramer thought, as he tumbled slowly in Triton’s near hard vacuum. Mona, far above him, and out of sight, wouldn’t hear him anyway.
Face down now, he could see the nitrogen/methane snow illuminated by Neptune’s eerie blue light. Slowly, the powdery white plane approached him.
Suddenly, an explosion of white fog erupted directly below him. In half a second it hit him. The nitrogen geyser spurted from the otherwise bland whiteness below. Cramer rode its force upward, much faster than his descent. He tumbled, glimpsing the rover, cruiser and Mona’s suited figure as he cleared the top and sailed in a wide arc. She didn’t see him as he barely cleared the cruiser’s sharp nose and gained height, hurling beyond. Farther he went until finally he descended at a shallow angle.
Cramer worried if his momentum would carry him beyond the plane off the far side cliff. Once he bounced, twice, three times, skidding in the snow. He knew he was close to the edge from the view of distant snowy ridges stretching to the horizon.
Okay tune in next Monday for the third segment. Let me know what you think and if you want a longer segment next time.

Unscheduled stroll on Triton, opening scene

2010-05-17T10:00:00.002-04:00

A brief note that I'm half through typing my revisions into my WIP, the novel version of Leroy and Jody from Lab Partners.
As promised I'll give you the opening scene of my short SF story Unscheduled Stroll on Triton. This story although workshopped to death at Antioch last year was still rejected by Pedestal Magazine. Thanks to Anne and Laurie for expressing an interest in seeing this story. I'll paste in the opening scene below including an extra paragraph beyond what you all read on our chat at CTR recently.

This is a mini sequel to my science fiction novel The Higher Mission.
Unscheduled Stroll on Triton
by
Larry Hammersley

Joe Cramer fell toward the snowy surface of Triton, a little over a kilometer below him. He weighed thirteen and a half pounds here on Neptune’s largest moon, so the seventy-five second fall wouldn’t kill him. Mona Watson, his mining partner whom he had hoped to marry soon, wouldn’t be able to rescue him from the base of the butte they’d been mining. Their mining cruiser only carried their equipment and a rover, no space taxi. By the time she lifted off with the cruiser and landed it near the cliff base they’d been mining she’d only find his frozen corpse.
Moments before, he and Mona retrieved the high grade thorium ore from the side of the cliff near the top. Their cruiser and rover were parked on the flat plane above. When their catcher drills storage bags were full, Mona hoisted herself to the top to empty their contents into the rover’s ore compartment, and replace the drill bits. That’s when it happened. Cramer knew better. He’d detached himself from his safety line, intending on repositioning it so he could reach a new spot for drilling. His hand slipped and he drifted downward away from the line’s clip.
The old adage, “Only a fool makes the same mistake twice,” doesn’t apply in space. Make one mistake and no one has time to call you a fool because you’re dead. Oh, he and Mona had taken risks and ended up saving each other’s lives on several occasions but that was different from making a blatant error.
copyright by Larry Hammersley
There you have the opening scene of the story. I'm giving you the shortened version, not the longer version from the workshop. So you won't invest a lot of time reading. I'd appreciate any comments you have whether negative or positive.

WIP second time through

2010-05-09T16:23:00.003-04:00

Well, as of today, I've been through my novel the second time. I'll now type in the revisions and see what it looks like. Maybe I'll exceed 71,000 words with the revisions typed in as I developed one of the minor characters a bit more. I made her a nicer person.
A dash of bad news. My planned trip to Nashville, TN to RWA convention is off as the Gaylord Opryland Hotel was flooded recently and RWA relocated their convention to Orlando, Florida, a distance I don't care to drive.
I kept their list of agents and will check on them to see if there is one or more I could query with my WIP, A Change Of Heart.

First draft and running

2010-04-26T10:32:00.002-04:00

I'm working my way through the first draft of my novel A Change of Heart. I'm over half way through but will have to go through it again certainly. Another bit of non writing news. I won my age group in the mini marathon (half marathon: 13.1 miles) this past Saturday at Louisville. I have dreamed of some day winning my age group in that race and finall did. Things had to work for it to happen. I had decent conditioning, the nagging injury was toned down and no hot dog runners showed up. My time was one hour fifty-nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds. I wanted to break two hours and really had to cook that last 1.1 miles to do it. I've had six second places in that race and finally won. There were 31 men in the 70+ age group. Larry

First Draft done

2010-04-14T17:18:00.002-04:00

My first draft of A Change of Heart is finished. It numbers 70,835 words. Now I begin the process of going through this rough draft. Should I labor for active voice all the way through? What about eliminating the "he said," and "she said," tags? New writers or unpublished writers must do this apparently but seasoned writers, what about them?

WIP first draft almost done

2010-04-13T19:57:00.002-04:00

I am now at 70,339 words and have one scene left which is the wedding night scene. No, there won't be anything beyond sweet romance. Jody and Leroy have just finished quoting their wedding vows and the reception is over. I may complete this first draft tomorrow or next day. I don't believe I'll go beyond the wedding night even though there is a hint that Jody and Leroy's jobs may get in the way of their devotion to one another. Jody's career orientation tendencies has already been worked to death and so I probably won't go there again.

WIP report

2010-04-04T21:30:00.002-04:00

My new novel featuring Leroy and Jody from my short story Lab Partners is now at 65,697 words and will be completed soon. In two days I will have been working on it for three months. I've written some on it every day since January 6 and continue to do so. Leroy has asked Jody to marry him and she has accepted. This was a long time in coming but how sweet it is. I've not decided how far to carry the story beyond their marriage. Still thinking on that. I don't know how many more words I'll go at this point but present plans are estimated at another 3000 or so words depending on how carried away I get with their marriage vows.

WIP, rejection and winner

2010-03-26T13:41:00.002-04:00

First the good news. I won the scavenger hunt last night on the chat at Sweetest Romance Authors. I'll be getting the banner soon and will display it here as well as sending it to Val so she can put it on the website she is constructing me.
The bad news is I suffered another rejection of a short story, numerous reasons given not the least of which I was told I switched POV during the story and didn't know anything about the Witness Protection Program. Honestly, I learned what I could on the internet. One invalid criticism was I didn't identify the bookstores my heroine did her signings at. Well, I did. I went to the trouble of learning exactly where they were in New York City, their addresses. That can be checked out easily. This is seven rejections of contemporary stories now.
My WIP stands at 58,828 words but I don't think it will reach 70,000 words or beyond unless I think of some new twist to put into the story. I'll paste in a cover of Lab Partners since the characters in that story are cast in my WIP.

WIP continues and analytics paste

2010-03-08T13:33:00.003-05:00

My story, A Change of Heart is now at 45K+ and has reached a critical point in JOdy and Leroy's saga. JOdy has yelled at Leroy but he was only trying to help because she is ruining her health by working such long hours.

The above is pasted from Google Analytics as per their request. I don't know what it all means but here it is. I'll be able to track traffic to my blog and hopefully there will be some. Well the script above didn't paste. Larry

Links to my ebooks

2010-02-13T13:31:00.005-05:00

For my free read Buddy's 12-year Crush click http://www.thewildrosepress.com/buddys-twelve-year-crush-p-1099.htmlFor Lab Partners click http://www.thewildrosepress.com/lab-partners-p-536.html

For End of a String click http://www.thewildrosepress.com/end-of-a-string-p-778.html
Comment on this story. The cover does not represent the story in that there is no woman in a strapless dress nor is there a jukebox in the story. Natalie is appropriately dressed, is an electrical engineering major and very intelligent, and very modest.

For Taking Advantage click http://www.thewildrosepress.com/taking-advantage-p-3538.html
Access to all Wild Rose titles click http://www.thewildrosepress.com/larry-hammersley-m-249.html
For Motorcycle Woman click http://www.redrosepublishing.com/bookstore/product_info.php?products_id=484

Progress on WIP

2010-01-30T20:34:00.003-05:00

Well, I just lost ten minutes of typing by trying to download an image from my computer. I began my new novel A Change of Heart on January 6, 2010 and have not missed a day of writing since. Here it is Jan. 30. My worst day was 58 words and best day was 1620 words. Wish I had more days like that. Today I penned 945 words. Of course nearly every day I should be doing something else but I'd get no writing done if I adhered to that. I'm worried that this won't be a full novel. I'm at 20402 words now. Leroy and Jody are in their sophomore year second semester and Jody is up to her old tricks at holding Leroy at arm's length despite Leroy doing her a great kindness which you can read about in Lab Partners, the ebook introducing these characters. Will Leroy ever be able to get close to Jody?

More on WIP

2010-01-20T06:33:00.002-05:00

I'm continuing on my work in progress with the romance between Leroy and Jody, characters in my short story Lab Partners. I started on January 6 and have been writing every day. I'm beyond 10 K words now. Jody remains standoffish to Leroy and she senses that he's crazy about her. Gretchen, Jody's roommate wants Jody to have romance in her life and she strives to get Jody and Leroy together much to the dismay of Jody of course. A good day I'll write a little over a thousand words but that was offset with a dismal 58 words one day. Well, at least I wrote a paragraph. Thanks again to Anne, Miss Mae and Laurie for commenting below. Larry

Work in Progress

2010-01-07T17:31:00.002-05:00

I've just started on a new novel, my fifth. It is entitled A Change of Heart. The characters are the same ones in my online short story Lab Partners. Is it possible to plagerize your own work? I don't know the implications of this so I must check on Wild Rose's contract to see if there is a problem me doing this. By the time I complete this novel Lab Partners will probably be gone from the Wild Rose catalog anyway. Nobody is downloading it any more or at least very few are. Leroy and Jody are my favorite characters. I actually wrote a sequel to Lab Partners but never submitted it.
A Change of Heart is my first attempt at writing from two view points, Leroy and Jody. We'll see how it works out. Please comment and check me out. Larry

The name of the game is REJECTIONS

2010-01-07T17:24:00.002-05:00

Since last posting several months ago, I've reaped two more rejections from Wild Rose. The stories are Photo Beauty, a story I had critiqued at Antioch and revised extensively, and a story entitled Runner's High which relates to my knowledge as a runner. The story is purely fictional by the way. I'm not 59 years old and I'm not sweet on a 28 year old woman runner.
Presently, I have a story being considered by Wild Rose, tentative title of Buck's Wake Up Call. I'm waiting on the fate of that one. I've turned in a novel to Whimsical Publications for Janet's consideration. I have my fingers crossed on these two. See next post for a work in progress description. Larry

THE SWEETEST ROMANCE SCAVENGER HUNT

2009-09-24T14:07:00.002-04:00

Johnnie showed his love for Tess, the Motorcycle Woman, by building her a beautiful musical jewelry box. One of the features on the box was an inlay built into the lid. It was a basket with more than one flower coming out of the basket. Needless to say, she liked the jewelry box very much, so much so that it brought tears to her eyes. Should she still leave for the open road as she planned? Now that she's sure Johnnie is deeply in love with her, she will be breaking his heart by leaving. As she leaves early one morning without him knowing it, she sheds tears and realizes she is in love with Johnnie too.
The link for the next leg of the scavenger hunt is http://rachelrager.blogspot.com.
Good luck. Larry

Works in Progress

2009-09-23T20:42:00.002-04:00

I have three works in progress. Two have not been submitted yet and the other is being considered by Wild Rose. That one is entitled Photo Beauty and I'm expecting to hear from it any day. It is in the Sweetheart Rose line. The editor said she'd let me know this month of September.

I have two I'm still revising, one called Triangle and one called Runner's High. I'll not detail the contents but if anybody checks my blog here and is interested and comments I'll let you know. I will also post the Motorcycle Woman cover here again and hope nobody forgets it. Tomorrow night I'll be posting the Scavenger Hunt hint for our Sweetest Romance Authors chat which will be from 8-9 PM tomorrow night, Thursday, Sept. 24.

Number of reviews

2009-09-09T20:50:00.003-04:00

Taking Advantage has had a number of reviews which I'll post later. I just wanted to try highlighting a single word and get ready for the scavenger hunt later this month.

New Story released July 15

2009-07-23T21:30:00.002-04:00

My new story from Wild Rose Press was released July 15. Thanks to Val and Miss Mae for holding a promotion party for me while I was in Ohio for the Antioch Writers Workshop.

New story released today at Red Rose

2009-04-23T07:54:00.003-04:00

My new story, Motorcycle Woman, is being released today at Red Rose Publishing. I'm excited about that as this story has had its ups and downs but thankfully ending on an up. Thanks to Val for reviewing this story before it hit the charts.

It is about Tess McBride who breaks free from a motorcycle gang, being tired of the men and their sordid agendas toward her. She only joined because she loved to work on motorcycles. Free of them she resolved to avoid men, mainly because of her father running off with another woman and her mother dying a year later. Her resolve is undermined when she meets stranded biker, Johnnie Parker. He's different from the other men she met. Is he for real? Deep down she hopes so but she won't admit that. She repairs his motorcycle and reluctantly lets him tag along on her road journey. She ends up in Johnnie's hometown, gets a mechanic's job and is determined to hit the road again after she replenlishes her traveling bankroll. But what about Johnnie? He's fallen in love with her. Should she leave for the open road again? The answer is obvious when she comes to realize how special he's treated her and that she has fallen in love with him too.

Buy this via www.redrosepublishing.com. Read the review at http://yougottareadreviews.blogspot.com/2009/04/review-motorcycle-woman-by-larry.html.

Thanks and all comments welcome.

2009-03-19T11:23:00.002-04:00

My new story in the Vintage Rose line at Wild Rose Press will be released July 15. It is entitled Taking Advantage and is in 1949, a sweet romance between two high school seniors, Gloria and Zack.

New Story awaiting release date.

2009-02-09T17:06:00.002-05:00

My new story via Vintage Rose with The Wild Rose Press now has a cover. The story is entitled Taking Advantage and is about Zack and Gloria, seniors in high school in 1949. Can Zack overcome his own feeling of inadequacy, Gloria's strict mother and the three sports heros Gloria is dating, to win Gloria's hand? His sister, Molly, encourages him to wade into the midst of all the jocks Gloria is dating and go up against Gloria's mother to land a date with Gloria. No release date yet and it will probably be down the road a ways.

Free Read released Dec. 29

2008-12-31T21:19:00.002-05:00

Happy News. My Free Read entitled Buddy's 12-year Crush was released at The Wild Rose Press on December 29, 2008. Can a ten-year old boy fall in love with a sixteen year old girl? When sixteen year old Vicky teaches ten year old Buddy to ride his new bicycle he falls in love forever. Is there anyway he can overcome the obstacle of age difference and the other low and inside curves life throws his way to win Vicky for the rest of their lives? Well, of course, this story has a happy ending. Check out this story at http://www.thewildrosepress.com/ and click on Free Reads. You go through the steps as if you are going to buy it only the balance is zero, hence "free read." Hope you take a look see. Larry

My Free Read early January

2008-12-07T16:01:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone. I'm told my free read will appear in early January at The Wild Rose Press. It is entitled Buddy's 12-year Crush. It was quite a challenge to compress Buddy and Vicky into 2500 words and cover twelve years of their lives. Hope I get some comments.
Larry

New Story coming

2008-11-23T21:06:00.002-05:00

I have a new story that will release via the Free Read section at The Wild Rose Press. It is entitled Buddy's 12-year Crush. I have another story that has been accepted by Red Rose Publishing due out in the future. I will keep you posted.

My new story on Allromanceebooks.com

2008-09-20T13:46:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to let you know I have a 700 word romance story on the allromanceebooks.com site. The title is Unspoken Love and yes, there is no dialogue in it. I've been looking for my Free Read contribution to Wild Rose but have not seen it released yet. It should be any day as this is Vintage Rose month. The title is Buddy's 12-yr Crush. If you see more than thirty titles listed in Free Read then maybe it finally made it. Catch you later. Larry

New Story, End of a String, released today, Apr 9.

2008-04-09T21:05:00.003-04:00

My new story, End of a String, has released today, April 9. For potential downloaders I must add that the woman on the cover is not the woman in the story. Natalie is a brilliant electrical engineering major, beautiful and arrogant toward Slim. He meets her at an exchange dinner where sorority girls come to the residence hall where Slim stays. Slim is on scholastic probation after flunking calculus the previous semester. Unable to afford to have a girl friend, Slim sees it may be best since Natalie wouldn't give him the time of day. However, she relents later in the evening and agrees to help him with calculus. Slim couldn't be happier. At the end of the calculus help session with her, he takes a desperate step in hopes of seeing Natalie again. Roller skating is their common interest and finally after a number of skating dates, Natalie proclaims to Slim that he is the end of a string of boy friends she's had. Slim couldn't be happier. I'll include an excerpt in a later post. Thanks for reading and thanks to Nancy Swanson, my editor, for working with me on this story.

New Story: End of a String

2008-02-19T15:35:00.003-05:00

I have a new romance story coming to The Wild Rose Press, release date of April 9, 2008. Slim Canton can't afford the distractions of a girl friend since he is on scholastic probation. When he meets Natalie Adams, a beautiful sorority girl and brilliant electrical engineering major, he can't help himself. he has his work cut out for him as she is arrogant toward him. in a desperate attempt to break down her barrier he gets lucky. they both like roller skating. Natalie has had a whole string of boy friends but in the end she proclaims to Slim that he is the end of the string. The girl and jukebox on the cover show the time period but neither occur in the story.

Lab Partners reviews websites

2007-12-13T19:51:00.001-05:00

I have two reviews of my story Lab Partners available through Wild Rose Press. Those can be found at http://www.longandshortreviews.blogspot.com/2007/11/review-lab-partners.html and http://cocktailreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/lab-partners-wild-rose-press/

New stories being considered by TWRP

2007-09-03T12:26:00.001-04:00

I'm anxiously awaiting word from Wild Rose Press on my two submitted stories and am hoping they will make the grade. Both are short romance stories, one in a college scene and one in a high school scene. My released story Lab Partners is still on the opening page at Wild Rose. Some people are downloading it but I don't know how many. Catch you later.
Larry

Lab Partners released today

2007-08-22T22:23:00.000-04:00

My story Lab Partners has released today, available on www.thewildrosepress.com for download for $3.00. Please go to that site and at least click to see the blurb which Anna, my good editor, help me compose. Let me go ahead and give you the blurb here and hope somebody drops by to read my blog spot.
Leroy Doyle, a college chemistry major and track star, is on the verge of scholastic probation after flunking calculus. As he enters his sophomore year he can't afford the distractions of having a girl friend, but that changes once he meets Jody Stinson. A chemical engineering major and the smartest student in the sophomore class, she is beautiful, arrogant and not very happy about being forced into being his lab partner. But Leroy senses there is more to Jody than she portrays to the outside world. Her treatmet of him only serves to fuel his interest and despite her barbed remarks, he strives to win her heart.

Lab Partners release date

2007-08-10T11:18:00.001-04:00

Story release date is August 22, 2007. As mentioned the cover is here. I hope to do some promo if I can figure out how. The Wild Rose Press editor has really been great. More later.

Post no. 2

2007-07-28T21:47:00.000-04:00

I'm having a time getting photos and images on my blog. I wanted to get rid of the small Lab Partners image but don't know how to. Well, anyway I got a larger one and I wanted that. Also my ugly mug is in now and I hope it shows when I post to The Wild Rose Press blogspot. Only time will tell. I have a second story with TWRP now and maybe in a couple or three weeks my editor will read it and give me either bad news or good news.
Larry

Various notes

2007-07-26T09:49:00.000-04:00

I've joined the authors on The Wild Rose Press and will have a short story with the cover shown here published on their site soon, probably in mid August. As one person I worked with in civil service who always said he was impersonating a government worker, I hope I can say more than I'm impersonating a writer. My editor, bless her heart, thinks I can write. My story is set in the 1950s and is romance. I like writing science fiction (Please SF, not sci-fi) and in those stories I seem always to put some romance.

Until next time. Larry, retired chemist, runner, amateur radio operator and writer.