Larry Hamilton and his wife Karole, reside in Southwest Florida near many of the tropical locations featured in his books. Larry has led a diverse and interesting life in sales, marketing, music, and now his dream of being a working writer. We had a great chance to conduct an interview with him, in which he tell us much more about his intersting book “Critical Mass - Book 2 of the Atlantis Legacy Series”.
Check out the interview :
Please tell us something about yourself.
I am married to my wife Karole and she has been the one constant force in giving me encouragement to move forward as well as being my first reader. Karole is also developing a line of children’s books which we hope to publish in the near future.
I have four grown children; Stefanie, Matthew, Lindsay, and Jessica. I have two stepsons; Tom and Phil. Karole and I have 10 grandchildren. My protagonist in The Atlantis Legacy Series is named after my son Matt and I also used other family names in the books for sentimental reasons.
I have been in sales and business development, or some version of it, for most of my life. I completed three years of college at University of Dayton.
I grew up in the hills of eastern Kentucky and lived there until my teen years when my family moved to Ohio. I lived in many places in both Kentucky and Ohio before settling here in Southwest Florida where I currently reside.
I love sports. Grew up watching the Big Red Machine/Cincinnati Reds.
I am curious to a fault and the King of Useless Information. I soak up everything within my reach if I feel it has any value at all. My favorite question throughout my life has been “Why?”.
How did you get into what you do right now? Please tell us more about your journey?
Karole and I are currently developing two distinctly different businesses. We both sell real estate to pay the bills and we write books because we want to. We are getting ready to launch a website bearing the name Hamilton House Books which will be the contact point for all our books and information about what we are currently doing and planning on doing in the future.
I got into Real Estate because I know how to do it and make good money. Writing was a different story. I have always been an avid reader and lover of the written word.Somewhere in my young adulthood, I started to believe I had a book or two or three in me somewhere. Due to the craziness of running businesses and raising a family, I did not act on this belief until late in life.
About five years ago, I finally decided to see what I could do…if I was capable of actually completing a readable novel. I knew going in that the vast majority of people who begin a novel, never finish it.Nevertheless,The Atlantis Codes was completed. It took over five years. I rewrote it at least twelve times because I was using it as a course in novel writing. I continually read well-written books and applied some of those methods to my own writing. I learned what a marketable novel looked and felt like. I decided to self-publish my books and just finished the sequel, Critical Mass. I have teamed with a new publisher with a wide range of capabilities including marketing and social media so I can launch these books properly and see what they are capable of doing and how people feel about them. A third novel in this series is planned.
Who are your role models?
I have studied Stephen King’s life and writing advice and it has had a positive influence on me. I have the same feeling about the life and writing abilities of Neale Donald Walsch who wrote the “Conversations with God” series. John Locke has also earned my respect for being a barrier breaker in the industry.
Honestly, I decided to work diligently to preserve my own voice in writing, for better or worse, so I have not patterned myself after heroes for the most part.
What inspires you?
The tropical environment I live in. People who overcome every obstacle to achieve what is important to them. A well-written line or phrase. A compelling story. Smiles. A positive book review. A thoughtful and passionate conversation about almost anything. My morning coffee. Sometimes the characters in my books…they do some amazing things! A good editor. A grandchild’s face. Trying to remain relevant as I grow older. Still having something worthwhile to say or do.
Please tell us about your book.
I am in the process of releasing my first two novels at the same time. Critical Mass is the sequel to The Atlantis Codes. The Atlantis Codes ends in a cliffhanger so I felt it best to have Critical Mass available to the readers once they finish it. Critical Mass is a major cliffhanger as well, so I am working on No Turning Back, the third book in The Atlantis Legacy Series.
The Atlantis Codes is a combination of many things I have studied mixed with my own imagination. The premise of the book is this; an ordinary man becomes the owner of something that puts him, and his friends, in extraordinary situations that have global implications. How he responds to those scenarios is the backstory of the book while all the action is taking place nonstop in the foreground. The readers can identify with Matt as he faces unbelievable challenges from many fronts while he continues to try to do the right thing. Whether he can accomplish that is the question that carries the series forward. Much of the action in this book take place on Matt’s fishing yacht, Nice Catch, as well as in beautiful locations in Florida and the Bahamas. My version of the story of Atlantis holds many parallels to today’s world we live in…intentionally.
Critical Mass is the continuation of the story as Book 2 of the series. The premise continues, but the action and danger ramps up several levels and Matt’s challenges and decisions reach “Critical Mass”. New characters introduce themselves and readers get a peek into the real crux of the story which will be revealed in Book 3 that is currently being written. The things that are really on the table at the end, are not only planetary in their scope, but entirely possible in today’s world. It is fiction, but only barely.
What’s your most memorable experience?
That is an interesting yet dangerous question! Not sure I can even answer this.
How does one choose between standing on a driving range in the early morning chatting with my baseball hero Pete Rose while he hits the balls about 20 feet in front of us while telling me what a terrible golfer he is, or holding one of my children for the first time, or standing on a stage in a ballroom full of people and being surprised with a business award that I did not know I had won, or getting my first guitar on Christmas morning when I was 12 years old which I then took to bed with me and went back to sleep, or watching my daughter proudly lead her high school marching band onto the field during a large competition, or meeting my wife, or having a private conversation with Dr. Allen Hynek and his wife, or producing my first rock concerts, or holding printed copies of my first two novels.
How does one choose? I have now lived long enough to have too many it seems...
Which social media channels work best for promoting your work? What exactly do you do on the social media channel that makes it work for you?
We are just launching my first books on multiple platforms of social media, so the jury is still out!
What’s your greatest fear?
That I will disappoint myself and fail as a working, successful writer. That I will never have relationships with readers of my work which would enrich my life greatly and inspire future works.
Looking back, what’s one thing you wish you understood better before you ever got started?
Starting this journey earlier in my life. Giving me more time to build a catalogue of books. I am now playing catch up by starting later, but to be honest, I sometimes believe that I needed to wait this long to experience and learn everything life sent to me so I would have something worthwhile to write.
What are the strategies that helped you become successful in your journey?
For me, it has been about doing the opposite of what many writers do. I have not taken courses, I do not belong to writer groups, and I have not allowed others to tell me how I should write. Protecting my voice and saying things my own way is of paramount importance to me. I do not want to sound like other authors. I want people to recognize my writing when they pick up a book after having read the first one. If the readers don’t like my work, then so be it. At least I will have lived or died by my own hand. Also, I chose to be a pantser (someone who writes by the seat of their pants) rather than an outliner. It keeps me excited about my story because I never know where it is going next. I know my characters very well so I put them in situations and let them tell me what should happen from there. It was challenging at times to not know where I am going next, but it is a lot of fun.
And I didn’t give up...
What keeps you going when things get tough?
Fear of disappointing myself. Of not playing this out enough to see how well I can write or how successful I can be at finding readers. This is the last big thing I want to accomplish professionally in this life and I have to see it through to the end.
Any message for our readers.
Try my books, visit my website, read my blogs, send me messages, and tell me what you like or do not like. Tell me if you want the series to continue or not. Get to know me. I will have other books in the future written in other genres which I hope you will sample when they become available. Let me know if you will drop by to visit with me if I have a book-signing in your area? I want to sell books yes…but I also want to build relationships with my readers. I am genuine and what you see is what you get. I just want to have fun, write some good books, and make lots of new friends!
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www.amazon.com/Critical-Mass-Book-Atlantis-Legacy/dp/1735691089
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