Beta Readers Invited to “Test Drive” BUMBY & THE SILVER BEACH: AN ERNEST HEMINGWAY STORY (11,500 words)

Famous writer stars as lead character in historical fiction preview from author Ryan Petty. 

BUMBY & THE SILVER BEACH tells the story of Hemingway and his four-year old son... and a walk they take through the streets of Paris on October 20, 1927... to pay a social call on the owner of the famous Shakespeare & Company... in the children’s area of her bookstore.

It’s an ordinary day... that will frame these three lives... in ways you will not soon forget. 

Nor, as the story unfolds, will they....

BUMBY & THE SILVER BEACH consists of 11 short chapters plus an Afterword and a Note from the Author (about the surprising mix of truth and fiction in this story). 

Beta Readers will receive the fairly-polished 3rd draft manuscript with illustrations and a street map showing the Hemingways’ route through the glory days of post-World War I Paris. 

The manuscript is approximately 11,500 words — 1/4 the length of an average novel. 

HONEST FEEDBACK NEEDED BY APRIL 16.

To participate: 

Send an email with “BUMBY" in the subject line, to:

RyanPettyWrites@gmail.com

You will receive the manuscript in prompt reply.

Expectations of Beta Readers are flexible - provide feedback any way you like. (Tough love welcomed.)

Those participating will also receive notice when BUMBY & THE SILVER BEACH is published in its final form in May of this year.

Tell your friends.

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[This offer expires April 12, 2017, or when over-subscribed.]

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ryan Petty was for many years the proprietor of Austin, Texas-based Cold Mountain Press. Among the respected names he published were two future National Poets Laureate: Donald Hall and Ted Kooser (who would also win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry). Others published include Allen Ginsberg, William Stafford, Wendell Berry, Denise Levertov, Robert Bly, Joseph Bruchac, Michael Hogan, Linda Pastan, and Gregory Orr. [The archives of Cold Mountain Press are held by the Harry Ransom Center (humanities research library) of the University of Texas at Austin.]

Today Ryan writes historical fiction and memoirs, as well as children’s books (using the pen name—Sage Merriman).