Authors
Larry Dowell
Ever
since he was a child growing up in Kentucky, Larry Dowell has
loved art and the written word. He started drawing and painting
as soon as he could hold a pencil and brush. He was writing
funny limericks by the age of six. Those long Sunday afternoons
when the family visited the elderly aunts, adults sitting down
to talk and kids going outside to play, he would seek out the
room that held the tall Victorian bookcases; the dusty books
were the treasures at the end of his treasure hunt.
Larry’s poetry was first published in anthologies when he was in high
school and he began selling his paintings when he started
college. He studied Art, Education and English at Western
Kentucky University and received an Associate’s Degree in
Graphic Design at the Harris School of Design.
He then began a career that has spanned many varied aspects of
the creative world. His first professional job was Art Director
for Benson, a book printer, where he learned the book production
process, taking a book from manuscript, through page and cover
design, printing and binding. He was Art Director for
Holder-Kennedy, a national advertising/ public relations firm
and for many years ran his own creative services agency. As a
fine artist, Larry
has exhibited his paintings in galleries
across the nation. He has also been Web Manager for Sulzer-Medica, a large global company where, in addition to
designing and managing their internet/intranet web sites, he
conducted corporate training in the US, Switzerland and Japan.
Larry has designed and produced award-winning national and
international projects in print, graphic design, illustration,
multi-media and web design. His richly detailed European
paintings have won awards in multi-state juried competitions. He
has been ranked with “the best of the best working landscape
painters.” His book of poetry, The Orchard Wall, was called “a
brilliantly written and exquisitely produced reflection on
life’s sensual cycle.”
In addition to his poetry, Larry has written instructional
guides, online newspaper articles and marketing pieces. He is
currently writing a Young Adult historical fiction book with a
motivational and supernatural theme.
He is a member of the Writers League of Texas and the Society of
Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
In Martha Hannah, his wife and creative partner, he found a
kindred spirit with a similar love of the eloquence of art and
the written and spoken word, a love of travel and discovery, a
love and respect for people and their experiences that define
the stories of their lives, and a desire to make this world a
better place.
As a creative husband wife team, Larry and Martha now own and
manage the independent publishing company, CicadaSun, and have
recently released their first title, “The Ghost of Hampton
Court’. This wonderful, richly illustrated book is the first of
the ‘Maid Martha Tells It All’ series. Authored by Martha and
illustrated by Larry, it is a historical fiction ghost story
about Henry VIII and his fifth wife, Catharine Howard. ‘Gods and
Other Odd Creatures’, by renowned Classics author Rose Williams,
will be published by CicadaSun at the end of this year.
Larry and Martha present creative writing / book design seminars
and workshops for students and adults at schools, libraries and
universities. Workshops include ‘From Idea to Print- The Making
of ‘The Ghost of Hampton Court’’, that teaches the process of
creating and producing a book, and ‘E-Books- Bringing a Story to
Life’, an exciting workshop that teaches how to use technology
to add a new dimension to writing, creating and presenting a
book.
Larry Dowell enjoys now living in Austin, Texas with Martha and
their cherished golden lab mix Goldie, who knows well how to do
a one-eyed wink.
Visit Larry's
Web Site ...
