Meet Leisure Suit Larry’s Blue Notes, jazz band and secret commandos pursuing galaxy criminals

The Blue Notes not only enthrall their audience, they are expert at capturing criminals.

Piano/keys. Darcan Eldron. Nickname: Darc. From the planet HelioCeti. Arya’s accompanist and guardian. Powerfully purple. Keeps a HelioCeti zapper behind his back.

Drums. Leo Boraine. Nicknam: Beats. A wild red-head who can toss knives, swords, machetes.

Bass. Alfrax Sasand. Nickname: Fraxs. He’s from Galaxy Ten and is ghostly in appearance. Wafts into view when he’s deep into the music and then vanishes again.

Saxophone. Halton Bergeron. Nickname: Saxsex Built. Tall. Wears an open shirt to flex his abs at the swooning female species.

Guitar. Tazuro Ashate. Nickname: Taz (Earth Asian Mutant) Short, black-haired. A master at creating holographs to confuse pursuing criminals. His giant brain senses record the light scattered from an object and then reproduce the light in a way that appears three-dimensional.

The universe of Leisure Suit Larry and the Blue Notes

I haven’t posted in a few months. I’ve been busy developing my characters and the universe that Leisure Suit Larry and the Blue Notes will traverse for the Galactic Patrol and the Galactic Space Congress.

Arya, the lovely Princess of the Purple Veils, is the Blue Notes jazz singer, and in her other role, a warrior princess seeking to find the criminal who has poisoned her planet, HelioCeti, with a genetic anomaly that will eventually turn her people into gargoyles. On HelioCeti, the purple passion flowers imbue its inhabitants with a vivid royal purple or shades thereof. The lavender HelioCetians are a higher class since they live high above the ground in their Holidomes and are less affected by the flowers that are everywhere.

Meanwhile, I’ve found another sinister element hiding in the seas on HelioCeti. The Tripodian, which entraps any spaceships unwary enough to sink into its inland sea on the planet.

More later, my friends….

Leisure Suit Larry aka The Suit zooms to galaxies unknown

Leisure Suit Larry is the galactic hero, aka The Suit, of my upcoming sci-fi novel about a a super agent for the Intergalactic Council who travels through space and time capturing criminals. His jazz band, The Blue Notes, is the cover for his work seeking criminals. His lead singer, Arya, Princess of the Purple Veils, known as “Bubbles” to the band, is The Suit’s partner.

Along the way, they will befriend The Blue Squid, a highly intelligent deep ocean species, who police the depths.

Here’s a photo of an actual creature who will inhabit the pages of my novel through illustrations.

I don’t want give all of this away. As I work on the new book, I’ll post from time to time.

I loved Isis our Siamese cat

Isis is a regal Siamese cat who rules the house. She loves to leap onto a clean sock dropped in the hallway and surf down the hall, gazing at us as she surfs by the door. She will be Isis The Wonder Cat!

5-stars for ‘Rusty The Wonder Dog’

Reviewed By Kristy Volchko for Readers’ Favorite

Rusty The Wonder Dog by Jesse Hillman is a tender, heartwarming tale about a rescue puppy named Rusty and all the unforgettable, precious moments of his life’s journey. One sunny afternoon, Rusty’s world changed when he ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. The road. After the incident, Rusty (sometimes Stinky Dog or Rusty the Wonder Dog) was only able to see shadows but had super-duper hearing and smelling abilities that went for miles! What does he smell? New friends! And they show him the way things go around this new place where humans give lots of pets, treats, and fluffy blankets. Rusty loves his adventures with Isis (the Siamese cat), Dasha, (the guard dog), and Alphie (another rescue dog), but most of all, he loves his humans. Rusty’s journey has more than a few twists, turns, and changes, but is love and friendship the one thing that lasts forever and ever? A story of laughter, love … and maybe even tears (of joy!).

After reading Rusty The Wonder Dog by Jesse Hillman, I can honestly say that it’s a pick for my favorite children’s picture book of the decade! I really love it that much. Brilliantly written, there is so much truth about life’s joys and challenges (told from the pup’s perspective) between these colorfully illustrated pages and I believe there isn’t a child or parent out there that cannot relate in some way to the characters. I love stories that remind us about the power of love and I highly recommend this book for every home and library shelf. Five stars!

‘Rusty The Wonder Dog’ has arrived

There’s something special about seeing my first children’s book arrive in a plain brown box in the mail. Then open it up, and there is the story of my faithful Rusty, who was blind and taught us about being happy and living with courage! To order a copy, email hillhelengroup@gmail.com. ISBN No.: 978-1-7361525-1-5. Hardback. $17.99. ISBN No: 978-1-7361525-2-2. Paperback. $10.00. Shipping $5. A portion of every book sale will go to our local rescue groups.

“Rusty,” my children’s book, coming soon

I wanted to celebrate the life of Rusty, our blind retriever mix rescue, who lived with such courage every day. Publication date is Fall 2019.

RustyTheWonderDog1-2019-C

RustyTheWonderDog1-2019-C-1

Light Dancing on Swan Creek: “I love the light in it”

Light Dancing on Swan Creek is hanging in the light in a log home on a beautiful lake. It’s a setting and a home worthy of Southern Living. As a photographer, I am humbled and blessed that someone said, “I have to have that photograph on canvas! I love the light in it!” It was the light on that spring morning that called to me.

Comes a Tremor, Walking

I need a quark transfusion.

Did I say that right? Probably not, but I read somewhere that quarks are one of the subatomic particles used to build everything in the universe. If that’s right, then mine got glued together the wrong way, and they need to be re-done. I may have the wrong batch altogether.

Otherwise, I am just another one of the world’s front line grunts trying to Get Along, you understand? So I want the gurus of particle physics to bring out their I.V. equipment and give me a new batch of elementary stuff (fusis, as my ex-friend Ray Gilheadian would say).

A selection from Leisure Suit Larry and the Blue Notes by Jesse Hillman.

Talking about my photography

Getting ready for fall art shows is an interesting process. I wonder if people who stroll by will enjoy my photographs — many want to ask me questions, which is great.

For years, I’ve been a journalist. If I had a show of the portraits I’ve shot at every festival, every party, everything from ballgames to the duck blind drawing at Big Sandy, I could fill a room.

Now, where did I put those photos? Negatives? I just dated myself because I began with hot type in newspapers and cameras that used rolls of film, and I worked in a dark room to develop pictures for newspapers and magazines.

Now with the click of a camera lens, I take a photograph. But as many of you know, it’s not that simple. Remember the light pole sticking out of your aunt’s head in that photo that you took?

You do have to train your eye to see what’s really in the scope of your lens. Sometimes the result is just blind luck. Sometimes it’s carefully planned.

So as I share my photographs, I hope you enjoy them. Each one holds a memory of a time and place that was good in that moment.