Meeting authors, gaining knowledge of writing and publishing
I had the occasion to attend the annual conference of the Western Writers of America in St. Louis during the second week of June this year. For a writer, especially a struggling one like me, there is enormous value in attending a conference like this. You get to make connections with writers at all levels […]
Details Matter
I may be new to being a published author, but I am not new to the foundations of good literature, especially in Western fiction. On my bookshelf I have had a book called The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard that I finally cracked open the other day. In the opening pages we learn through […]
Origins of From the River to the Range – Part Two
After I had gained the friendship of Sam Schropp over Facebook, I was truly interested to scroll down to his posts. He would talk about being on a towboat somewhere and then “looking forward to getting back to the center of the universe and my sweet pea.” At that time, his center of the universe […]
Origins of From the River to the Range – Part One
Sitting in the pilot house of a towboat guiding barges on the wide rivers coursing through America and sitting on a horseback looking out over cattle grazing are perhaps two of the most iconic American images. We have Mark Twain to thank for opening our minds to the Huck Finn lifestyle of exploring the rivers, […]