Larry R. Macklin

I was probably in the third grade when I first discovered I could fly. It was probably because of recently discovered comic books I had found in an old box. Early versions of Superman, Batman, Blackhawk and others filled my imagination (and spurred on my reading). Of course, I was only really flying while I was dreaming, but it was wonderful. Gliding along the highway and slowly descending with my arms outstretched to my sides (and my legs too although I'm not sure how I accomplished that) gliding over the large elm trees that lined the long driveway to the farm house my parents were renting.

The fact that we were in the middle of Kansas and miles away from our town of 525 meant I had lots of room for that imagination to roam.

By the time I was ready for high school, my love of comics had started to fade. It was replaced by a love of science, particularly biology and chemistry. I participated in sports, and like in life, I was good at what I didn't like and not so good at what I preferred.

My world abruptly changed with the passing of my mother just a month shy of the start of my senior year in high school. My father remarried the following summer and moved us to California. I was a lost piece of flotsam bounced around on what seemed to be an ocean of humanity.

Somehow, I met a pretty girl who was a 'can doer'. After that first meeting, it seemed like we ran into each other every day. We started dating and that continued even after she picked a college in San Diego. Of course I followed her lead and fortune smiled on me again. It had a very highly ranked program for Microbiology. Micro and I were well suited for each other as was my girlfriend to whom I am now married.

After getting my degree in Microbiology, serving an internship and obtaining my license, I worked in a Medical Center Laboratory as a Clinical Laboratory Scientist then Supervisor and finally Asst. Administrative Director. I felt opportunity knocking and made the jump over to Information Systems. I eventually left the Medical Center and joined a computer software company where I worked with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department as my client for 6 years.

I love having meals out with friends, movies, walks with my wife and writing fiction. I appreciate the unrestricted possibilities that writing fiction provides for the imagination. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do writing it.