I thought it might be fun to share some opening lines from books I've read over the years. Some are recent, while others date back to a long time ago. What do you think of how these various authors begin their stories?
Image (C) Doris McCraw
"The drenching cloudburst ended as abruptly as it had begun." A Pride of Men - Peter Dawson, Bantam Books
Image (C) Doris McCraw
"He was asleep and then he was awake." Utah Blaine - Louis L'Amour, Bantam Books
Image (C) Doris McCraw
" "What do you care, anyway?" asked Reeve-Howard philosophically." The Lure of Dim Trails - B.M. Bower, G.W. Dillingham Company
Image (C) Doris McCraw
"The pendulous lip of rock overhang cast a silhouette of sylvan shade down across the walls of the Spruce Mountains and out in a pointed, arrowhead shape over the range of Reno Balfor." Terror Trail - Lauran Paine, Leisure Books
Image (C) Doris McCraw
"My father spread his homesickness like a disease." My Heart Lies Here - Laurie Marr Wasmund, Lost Ranch Books
"The horse herd broke and began its run right after topping the crest of the pass." Black Rock Desert - L.P. Holmes, Blackstone Publishing
Image (C) Doris McCraw
"It was a time of great and exalting excitement." The War Prayer - Mark Twain
What are some opening story lines you remember, or perhaps like or dislike, excluding "It was a dark and stormy night."
I recently came across the phrase 'talking with the dead'. Initially, I thought it sounded rather morbid until I thought about what it was really about. To me, it's connecting with the past in ways we might not think about. This also follows an earlier post about what inspires your stories. For those who would like to take a look at that post, here is the link: What Inspires Your Stories
This fifth and last post in this series is about books. Perhaps the first book you think of is Edgar Lee Masters work "Spoon River Anthology". This book is literally people talking to you from their graves. This work is the epitaphs of the residents of Spoon River telling their tales to the reader. I confess I've read it many times. It typifies small-town life and it doesn't hurt that the author lived not far from where I grew up. The stories the residents tell I can relate to. If you are interested you can download a free version of the book here: Spoon River Anthology - free ebook - Gutenberg
However, I am referring to books in a broader sense. The classic Westerns we love are the authors talking to us, telling us how they perceived the area they wrote about. For some, it was based on actual events they observed or took part in. For others, it was retelling the stories they grew up with or read about.
There is also the diaries and snippets contained in various books that have been published over time. Helen (Hunt) Jackson wrote about the life and people she observed as she traveled. Her work, "Bits of Travel at Home" is an enlightening read. Published in 1878, Helen's essays are an on the ground view of train travel, city growth, and people who caught her eye. You can download the book here: Bits of Travel at Home or perhaps "Century of Dishonor", first published in 1881 chronicling the Indian's treaties with the government. You can download the free book here: Century of Dishonor
The "Covered Wagon Women" series of books uses letters and diaries to tell the story of the trek west. Or perhaps Isabella Bird's book about her travels in the Rocky Mountains. "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" published in 1879, is a fascinating read, as Isabella recounts her journies through Colorado. You can download the Gutenberg project ebook here: A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains
These and many more books have given me numerous pieces of information on life during the time I write on. They have inspired ideas that become short stories or novels. So when I talk and write about 'Talking with the Dead', I am referring to the wealth of information those who came before have left us.
Here's to the story inspired by the past. Here's to those who keep the Western alive with tales taken from pieces of history. Here's to the next book or anthology celebrating our shared past.
May you all have the best remainder of November possible. Please stay safe and well. I look forward to your next story.
Doris Gardner-McCraw -
Author, Speaker, Historian-specializing in Colorado and Women's History
Angela Raines - author: Telling Stories Where Love & History Meet
It seems altogether fitting and proper to remember Louis L'Amour
for my June article, since June 10, 1998 was, sadly, the day he passed away.
There are any number of biographies about him on the Internet, so I won't include a bio here, but his website has entertaining reading about him: Louis L'Amour
– Website http://www.louislamour.com/
The first book of his I read was Last Stand at Papago Wells
during my junior high years (c. 1966 – 1968). Long about 10th grade, my literature
teacher looked down her nose at his books, because they were so far below my reading level that I wasn't challenging my brain or expanding my literary knowledge. We agreed to disagree, because I was reading plenty of challenging books: The Godfather, Catch-22, Lost Horizon, The Man in the Iron Mask, Pride and Prejudice... You get the idea.
When she finally admitted she'd never read any of his novels, I
challenged her to read my favorites at the time (five or so – don’t recall which ones). She agreed if I'd read Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace.
I read War and Peace and went on to read other books by Russian authors. While she didn't love Louis L'Amour, she admitted for
reluctant readers, especially boys, his books had value.
So, Win-Win. She never openly criticized my choice of books again.
This is my commemorative Louis L'Amour coin (front and back).
Front Inscription: Louis L'Amour
Back Inscription: The Dream is in the mind – Realization in
the Hand – Act of Congress 1981
(The image is a mountain in the background with a
miner/frontiersman walking ahead of his pack mules.)
Here are my Top 10 favorite Louis L'Amour books.
Last Stand at Papago Wells (1957)
The Key-Lock Man (1965)
The Man Called Noon (1970)
Down the Long Hills (1968)
How the West was Won (1962)
Conagher (1969)
Brionne (1968)
The Sackett Brand (1965)
Sitka (1957)
The Haunted Mesa (1987)
What are your favorite Louis L'Amour books? If you have a Louis L'Amour anecdote or story, it would be great if you'd share your story in the comments or leave a comment on the Facebook post of this article.
Many moons ago, writers wrote (longhand or via typewriter - that's Louis L'Amour, by the way - before the desk computer or laptop). They wrote from start to finish, printed off the pages, boxed it up, and sent off their book (to an agent, editor, or the proverbial slush pile.) Once they signed a contract, writers started the next book. Did they worry about promotion? Nope. Did the publisher routinely take care of the book's cover? The print run? Distribution?
Yup, yup, yup.
Things are a bit different now. Some western writers are hanging on to the "old ways" by their fingernails. A blog, what's that? Why do I need a website? Tweeting is just plain silly, like teats on a bull.
Some writers believe they'd rather not put a "face" to their name, especially on Facebook. What's so social about Social Media? Writers might believe it robs them of precious writing time.
While that might be true (and some people waste hours on Facebook), you can say the same about answering the telephone, watching television, playing video games, reading others' books, exercising their horse, even sleeping. "Call me old-fashioned, just don't call me late to dinner."
It's all about networking. Surely you've heard that term. And while life happens, so does change. And friends -- the times, they are a-changing.
The most successful business man is the man who holds onto the old just as long as it is good and grabs the new just as soon as it is better. Robert Vanderpoel
Every writer -- no matter the genre, no matter how young or old -- has to consider they are IN BUSINESS. A hobby doesn't fly with the IRS. So every serious writer needs the basics besides a solid plot, characters and a finished manuscript. YES, a finished manuscript, because writers rarely sell on proposal (unless you're already published with a good sales track.) You want to sell, and make money doing it. Right?
First off -- will you use your real name? Think about what "public" really means. If you prefer privacy, come up with a pseudonym. And consider the idea of "branding" -- just like the old days of cattle ranching. Say Double-Bar L aloud -- it rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? -- versus a surname difficult to pronounce or spell. Think about the bookshelf, too. Top, middle or bottom? Where do you want your readers to find you? Remember, many readers purchase on-line now so that's not as important as it once was.
Does a name/brand matter? Yes. Readers need to find you, unless you're Louis L'Amour, Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. It's a fact. Your name is ON your book, and "brands" that PRODUCT as yours. And readers want to do more than crack open the spine. They want to know more than the story. They want to know YOU, the writer. And that means taking to "social media."
So. You're an author, with a book -- or several. A WEBSITE can be cheap, and sometimes easy. But they often LOOK cheap and easy too, so consider that if you're working your way up the ladder of success. A website can be your first investment. It's relatively cheap to buy your "domain name" for a year -- and cheaper for three years. Avoid the URL of "authorname" followed by blogspot.com or wordpress.com because people will remember "authorname.com" a lot easier. You also need an ISP like GoDaddy or Hostgator or some other host for your website, paying a set amount per month. You could also hire your grandkid, a friend or someone who knows what they're doing to "set up" your website. Shop wisely, because you ought to know how to maintain and update your website once in a while.
Next, consider a choice between Twitter and Facebook. Unless you're willing to tweet (and that means NOT constantly promoting your book - keep that to once or twice a month) about anything and everything, avoiding politics, religion and sex, AND re-tweet other followers' 140-character tweets, forget it. It's useful to get your name out there, but not necessary. FACEBOOK will do a lot more for an author. Caution: if your timeline is filled with gross photos, jokes or rants between family members, change the setting to private. Keep that stuff far away from your author name/brand. I've often seen authors rant on and on about the school parking lot idiots, or their a**backward relatives, or spout F-bombs and worse, and thought, "Whoa. That's not professional." Remember -- keep your author name *sacred* and stay on "topic."
How? Create an AUTHOR PAGE and profile. Post updates of your books, reviews, print or ebook giveaways, writing tips, etc. Think visual, too! Share other writers' inspiring photos, quotes or interesting ideas about books, reading, writing or whatever might relate to your book. For example, when my western mystery Double Crossing debuted, I shared all kinds of information about trains -- with photos from the CPRR.org website, details about the Pullman Palace cars, maps of the cross-country transcontinental railroad route, menus of the station houses along the way, etc. Quick visuals often "tell a story" faster than a long stretch of words. Even this blog post has visuals to give the eye a rest and add color and interest.
Which leads to the last option I'll share about Social Media possibilities -- and in my opinion, is the most fun. PINTEREST -- what is it? Think "virtual corkboard" or "scrapbook" only on the web. See the "sharp point" on the bottom of the P? Yup. PINS.
It's easy to become a member, too. It's similar to Facebook in networking potential. And it's also a way to spend hours exploring ideas for characters, costumes, places, food, celebrities, films, books, whatever your little heart desires. The minute Pinterest appeared, I signed up. Hey, I'm an artist and love visuals!
How can you use Pinterest to your advantage? I typed Pinterest.com into my browser, and then typed "western books" into the search bar -- VOILA! Click here to see. From book covers to film posters to baby shower ideas, it's all there as a visual feast. It's also pretty
self-explanatory to create your profile and "boards" before adding "pins" -- for example, either uploading your book covers from your computer or inputting the URL of the purchase links from Amazon, B&N or Smashwords. I recommend the latter, in fact, because it's another way to nudge readers to buy. To the left, the graphic shows a sample profile with boards.
I can hear the grumpy (cat) men whining aloud. "Why, why, why would I bother to use Pinterest? It's mostly for women! Men go to the bookstore, they buy my books, I'm fine." Uh, huh. Sure. But don't men want *more readers* to buy their books? Why limit your readership? So get over it. Say YES. You'll thank me for it. Check out my book board by clicking here if you want to see. Then check out the rest of my boards while you're there.
The same goes for women -- I'm here in Western Fictioneers to network with a lot more male writers and readers than my books would normally reach. It's not easy learning to juggle all this "social media" with a writing career. How can you do it?
Time management, of course. And knowing your limits, because you can't cover the Ponderosa in a day on horseback. The same goes for networking. Unless you're as famous as the late Louis L'Amour, who has a website and videos about his career, and a staff to keep his name/brand alive.
Hey, great idea. Maybe one day...
Mystery author Meg Mims lives in Southeastern Michigan with her husband and a 'Make My Day' Malti-poo dog. Meg loves writing novels, short novellas and short stories, both contemporary and historical. Her Spur and Laramie Award winning Double series is now among the Prairie Rose Publications book list. Meg is also one-half of the D.E. Ireland team writing the Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery series for St. Martin's Minotaur. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.
I subscribe to a little trivia newsletter called “Wisegeek” that comes a couple of times a week in my inbox. The other day, the topic was, Do Americans Still Read for Pleasure?
Here’s what their data shows:
Americans still read for pleasure, with about 75% of adults claiming to have read at least one book during the previous year, according to a 2013 survey. The number of Americans who have not read a book in the past year is estimated to have tripled since 1978, however. For people who do read for pleasure, the format has changed, as about 40% of American adults surveyed said they had read books electronically. Another 2013 survey found that adults age 18-39 who owned e-readers or tablets had read an average of 21 books in the previous year, compared with 13 for people who did not own such a device.
More about reading habits:
• A little more than half of all Americans older than 16 visit a library during a year.
• India is the country where people read the most, at an average of more than 10 hours per week.
• More than 80% of Americans age 50-64 say they read the pleasure, which is the highest rate of any age group.
Do these figures shock you? For me, they were a real eye-opener. I was amazed to find out that there were 25% of our population of adults that had NOT read one book in the past year! In the past 35 years, the number of people who have NOT read a book in the past year has tripled. That breaks my heart! And it’s astonishing to me.
The one good thing—if you can call it that—that this survey shows is that on average, 8 more books per year are being read by adults with some kind of electronic device to read them on. Now don’t get me wrong. I love my Kindle. But…I read a lot of paperback books, in addition to this. I’d like to know about people like me who have both—an e-reader and the paperbacks all over the house.
What was the best book you read in 2013? I think mine would have to be The Outsider by Penelope Williamson. It’s an oldie, but a goodie—and I just discovered it this year, thanks to our own Kathleen Rice Adams. It was so good, in fact, that a movie was made from it. I’m anxious to hear your thoughts about this survey and if any of this surprises you—then let’s talk good reading. What’s your pick for 2013?
It may be January, but in two weeks everyone's thoughts will be drenched with loooooove.
Valentine's Day brings hearts, flowers and chocolate (of course!) to mind, but to any lovers of the western genre, it may also bring a fluttering for their favorite cowboy or soldier hero. Today I'll explore some of the movies set in the west that the ladies consider real heart-throbbers.
Look at that baby face to the left. What I found interesting was seeing images of the actors when they were young, versus being portrayed as western heroes. Oh, the manliness! Oh, the chiseled jaws! Oh, the *muscles*... er, sorry.
I'd like to start with THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, which for its time was set in "the western frontier" of the United States as depicted in James Fenimore Cooper's day of 1757 during the French and Indian War.
Notice the change wrought in Daniel Day-Lewis' face after he takes on the role of Hawkeye, or Natty Bumpo, or Long Rifle... whatever you want to call him. He looks worried. He's got major diplomatic troubles dealing with the French and British, plus the Huron scout Magua. He's supported by Chingachgook and his son (as the last of the Mohicans) and then the Delaware tribe -- since the measly British won't send reinforcements for poor Colonel Munro and his soldiers. All that worry! He looks exhausted too.
Thankfully the movie plot simplifies the book (for the better, imo) by boiling down the war between the French and British, setting up a four-way romance with the Munro daughters, Hawkeye and Chingachgook's son. When Wes Studi (Magua) is determined to kill Munro and take his daughters captive -- well, let's just say I'd jump off a cliff too. That Magua scared me to death!
Hawkeye gets the girl, that's the important point of a romance. It's all about the HEA -- happily ever after. Come on! Who wouldn't want to end up with DDL in that costume? But being a western hero sure changes a guy. Really.
As a bonus, I found this image of Daniel Day-Lewis and Russell Means.
Both of them are pretty hot here.
Every single time I watch Mohicans, I weep when Russell Means is killed and Alice chooses to fall off the cliff after him rather than remain Magua's captive. When I met Wes Studi last summer in Albequerque at the WWA convention, I changed my mind about choosing that same fate. Wes is a great actor -- funny, warm and sweet, very generous about taking photos and giving autographs. He sure fooled me when I first saw the movie! That's fabulous acting.
Let's move on to Elmore Leonard's HOMBRE with Paul Newman. Ooooh, those baby blues! Who can resist those, or that manly chiseled jaw, or those muscles... er. Ahem.
The book and movie are pretty strong (I saw the movie, but must confess I have not read the book) for the "revisionist" western genre -- meaning the underlying issues of race are brought to the surface, in this case, the hero was raised as an Apache and faced big-time prejudice after he returns to the white man's world. I guess the blue eyes didn't matter much. I had trouble believing Newman as a Native American, but his acting is decent in the film.
Still, I much prefer him as Butch Cassidy. Sorry.
How about the book DANCES WITH WOLVES by Michael Blake? Oddly enough, the Comanche tribe is switched to Sioux, and Kevin Costner acted and directed this epic western into a real classic.
Once again, portraying a hero takes a toll on youthful men. That's a very young and hot Kevin Costner on the right, versus portraying Lieutenant John Dunbar (see the photo to the left below.) He looks tired. And worried, especially given the problems he's facing...
Oh, all right -- enough of that. Kevin portrays a disillusioned Civil War soldier who wants to die and ends up an unlikely hero during a battle. He then requests a transfer to a remote western fort -- apparently to redeem his burden of guilt and serve his country after an attitude adjustment. Alas, he "goes native" after seeing how unfair the government treats "the people."
I'd say the gorgeous cinematography of the prairie along with the portrayal of the natives by wonderful actors, and even the wolves and teeming herds of buffalo (which bring to life what the early post-Civil War era of the west) are as much Western heroes as Costner's character.
Kevin also gets the girl, a white woman who was taken in by the tribe he befriends. Like I said before, HEA is what makes a real romance. They go off together into the sunset.
Next up, let's see how portraying a hero took a heavy toll on another famous western actor... the Duke. Talk about manly! Talk about a chiseled jaw!! Talk about muscles - oh, fine. On to the gallery of photos. First up, the young Marion Morrison himself.
Such a baby-face here. He was born in Iowa but his family soon moved to California. Marion intended to play football on a USC scholarship - but a bodysurfing accident put an end to that dream. All the better for us romantics, I say! Who knows what would have happened to Duke if he hadn't turned to small bit parts at the Fox studio.
Marion's first leading role was in the western The Big Trail which came out in 1930. He kept working in other roles, a few leading, until he became a superstar in 1939 in John Ford's Stagecoach.
Based on a 1937 short story titled "The Stage to Lordsburg" by Ernest Haycox, it features several strangers who travel by stagecoach through Apache territory. I saw the film long ago and it was okay. Sorry, just my opinion! But it boosted John Wayne's career, that's for certain.
See the photo on the right - the Duke looks worried, if not tired. He portrays Johnny Ringo, a fugitive, and is attracted to the prostitute who was run out of the Arizona town and is heading east on the stagecoach to New Mexico, along with a seedy doctor, the pregnant wife of a soldier and a whiskey salesman. The stage driver and a lawman make up the "company" that meet hardships along the way, including an Apache raid, before the cavalry rides in to the rescue.
Filmed in the Monument Valley, the movie became a classic and was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress for their National Film Registry.
Let's take a look at another significant western featuring the Duke - The Searchers. Also directed by John Ford, the film is based on a novel published in 1954 by Alan LeMay, set during the Texas-Indian Wars, featuring a Civil War veteran on a quest to find his nieces kidnapped by Comanches.
The Searchers is one of the favorites of many Western Fictioneers and WWA colleagues of mine. I liked this one better than Stagecoach, although the setting is fairly similar, so perhaps it's the worry, the tiredness of hero John Wayne along with his adopted nephew (Jeffrey Hunter, who caught my eye as a hot hero - see photo).
That was one looooong search, and Natalie Wood didn't seem all that appreciative of their efforts. Yeesh.
The Searchers earned some great top honors. In 2008, the film was named the GREATEST AMERICAN WESTERN OF ALL TIME (yep, you heard that right!) by the American Film Institute. This after it climbed to 12th place on the AFI's 2007 list of the100 Greatest American movies ever! Besides a few other awards, the film was named the Best Western of all time by the magazine Entertainment Weekly. Not bad! And BOTH heroes look like they went through HELL, all for love and loyalty. Sigh.
Here's several other young studs who looked fabulous -- until becoming heroes in famous western films. I tell you, being a hero out west is bad for your health. Look at these manly guys, the chiseled features, those muscles! Clint Eastwood looks great until he turns into a scruffy, worried, tired Man With No Name. Robert Redford looks spiffy in that uniform until he grows a thatch of beard and long hair, dons buckskin and then scalps people and eats their livers. See how Tom Selleck looks so happy, healthy and hot in Hawaii as Magnum, the ultimate private eye, until he goes FURTHER west to Australia and gets all worried, tired and grungy.
Of course, this is all tongue-in-cheek. We LOVE these hot western heroes. They're worried for good reason -- the situation needs changing! The heroine needs loving! And they can prove just how much of an American manly man they are by saving the day.
God bless American heroes!
Meg Mims is an award-winning author with two western mysteries under her Eastern belt. DOUBLE CROSSING earned the 2012 WWA Spur Award for Best First Novel, and the sequel DOUBLE OR NOTHING was recently named the First Place Winner in the 2013 Laramie Awards for Western Mystery. Her story, "A Savior Is Born," is included in the Western Fictioneers' anthology A WOLF CREEK CHRISTMAS. Meg lives in Michigan, where the hills are like driveway slopes and trees block any type of prairie winds. LIKE her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter or check out her books on her website.
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