Tag: Westerns

2020

~ tone3d ~ 4 Comments

But first 2019…

As I mentioned in my last post, I ended the year in a new job. That is going well. And is all positive.

Some other ways I ended the year:

  • In December, I took a day off and made a whirlwind tour down to Florida and back to deal with a family legal matter. It was ridiculous in a way that typically would make me furious…especially at others involved.  Instead?  I got to see my father and stepmother, and spend some rare (and far too little) quality time with them.
  • On Christmas day, I finally got around to watching the film noir Christmas Holiday, something I’ve wanted to do for maybe the last 10 Christmases (is that a word?). It’s a Siodmak film, which makes it worth watching in its own right, but how can a film noir fan pass on the opportunity to watch it on Christmas Day? (It’s available on YouTube to watch any day FWIW). It wasn’t my favorite Siodmak film (Criss Cross), but I could think of far worse things to waste time on.
  • I ran three 5k races between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve. I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed participating in these events.  And I also forgot how the adrenaline takes over!  Despite telling myself each race, “I’m just going to take it easy this one.” I improved my times each time out.
  • My last read of the year was The Virginia City Trail by Ralph Compton. Recommended for fans of westerns and/or historical fiction. It very much reminded me of Lonesome Dove but it moved along at a brisker pace. I even wonder if Lonesome Dove’s fictional characters were based on the historical characters found in Compton’s book.
  • My last run of the year was 7 miles!  It shocks me to even type that.  On that run, I encountered a herd (?) of five deer. (Unless I’m getting my runs mixed up). Incredible experience, and when I finished I was disappointed…
  • Since Labor Day weekend, when I accepted the new job offer, I have lost 42 lbs. Going back further (about a decade), I am down 119 lbs. from my highest weight. You read that correctly.

Now 2020.

I have some goals, but I’m going to mostly keep those to myself.  Some of them are very high reaching, and I’ve learned that voicing them just gets criticism…especially writing goals…I will share the simple one.

Write. Every. Day.

and if I fail?

Don’t attempt to “catch up”, just jump back on the horse and start another write every day streak. The longest streak I’ve ever managed was sixty days.  That time I set out to match Joe D’s 56 game hitting streak. I’m not sure what 366 streak is out there to emulate, but I’ll pat myself on the back every time I bag another Joe D.

(One note – I only consider new fiction as writing.  So these posts don’t count, email doesn’t count, outlining, character development, and rewriting wouldn’t count either…if I did those things, editing stuff that comes back from the copy-editor doesn’t count either)

So far, I have written over 1000 words every day…and I’ve worked overtime. So, I feel like I’m off to a decent start.

The first book I’ve finished reading in 2020 was Kristen Lepionka’s Shamus Award winner What You Want To See. 2nd in her Roxanne Weary Private Eye series.  It was excellent just like the first. I am now reading Pepper Pike by Les Roberts…the first book to feature Cleveland P.I. Milan Jacovich. It was a Christmas present.  I have a good half dozen other presents to keep me busy reading in the early months of the year.

I have a short 3-mile run in the morning, so we’ll call it a night now.

Happy New Year readers!

–TD

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  • Wds this week — 4,509
  • Wds this year — 4,509

 

What I am Reading – Longarm

~ tone3d ~ 3 Comments

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Yes, I read Adult Action Westerns (blush). For those that don’t know, the Adult signifies that there are typically two or three scenes per book that would make Larry Flynt blush. Yes, it’s formulaic. And they usually have very little to do with the story. And for this reader they are uncomfortable to get through.  But…

These are the modern day equivalent of the Pulp Western. The action part of the books is fun. They can pretty pretty easily be read in a single night (they’re usually 40-50k words). And in the right hands, the storytelling is strong.

The traditional publishing companies dropped all the Adult Action Westerns several years ago, at the same time they all but finished publishing Westerns in general. Longarm was one of the most popular of the lines. It followed the adventures of U.S. Marshall Custis “Longarm” Long over approximately 400 novels…all written under the Tabor Evans, pseudonym.  Because, they are written by many authors (and more often than not, it’s impossible to discern who the writer is), the quality can be uneven.  But one of my favorite modern pulp yarn spinners, James Reasoner, has written a great many of them, and I have set about collecting those.

For those who aren’t aware of Reasoner, he, by his own count, has written over a million words a year, 14 years running.  As a result of this productivity, he has has had over 300 of his novels published during his career. Many, like Longarm, under an imprint’s pen name. As you might (or should) expect, that much practice has made Reasoner a very skilled storyteller.

The book I just completed, Longarm and the Border Wildcat (#229), was no exception. Longarm is assigned to the Texas border town Del Rio to essentially as body guard to U.S and Mexico diplomats meeting there to agree on border disputes.  Longarm is partnered with a Texas Ranger, who is all Texan. Of course, all hell breaks loose when a group of outlaws raid the town from south of the border.  And I won’t spoil any more of it, other than to say it’s one of the better ones I’ve read in the genre (certainly the series), and that Longarm’s “relations” do have a bearing on this story…so grin and bear it and read the “50 shades”-stuff.

Side note – 50’s crime paperback legend Harry Whittington wrote a handful of Longarms early in the run. I lucked out and found a few of these collectibles at a reasonable price on eBay, and they are on their way.  I look forward to reading to see how they stand up to the Reasoner entries.  Lou Cameron penned Longarms are generally pretty good as well.

— TD