Presidential Address - The Tainted Archive in conversation with Johnny D. Boggs

Born in 1962, Johnny D Boggs was destined to write about the West. He spent his formative years on a farm in Timmonsville in South Carolina. At school Johnny found he had a talent for storytelling and he would write down wild stories in longhand and sell them to class mates, detective and super hero stories.

His interest in the western developed when he discovered the true West rather than Hollywood's West - this history fascinated him and then later when he discovered the novels of Jack Schaefer and Dorothy M. Johnson he was hooked.

These days Johnny is an author of many bestselling westerns himself, the recipient of multiple Spur Awards and he is currently sitting in the exhaulted position of being president of the Western Writers of America.

I wondered what his duties were as President?


"As president, I try to put Western literature, and Western Writers of America, in the forefront. We've worked on building up WWA's Star Speakers Bureau, and promoting our Best Western surveys. We voted on the 100 Greatest Western Movies last year, Best TV series/miniseries/movies this year, and will vote on the Greatest Songs of the West next year, and after that, I hope, get into the books. We have a new anthology coming out, titled ROUNDUP!, which will be published by La Frontera Publishing. Duties, of course, include running board meetings, serving as a spokesman for Western Writers of America, putting out fires, maybe starting some fires, and, above all, preserving and promoting Western literature. All while trying to make a living as a writer."






The Western Writers of America do much good work for the genre but many feel that not enough is being done for the western on the Wild West Web. I put this to Johnny. What for instance can be done on the web to aid in the growth of the genre?





"You're doing it right here. Newspapers were once our target, but with the condition of newspapers, at least in the United States, these days, we have to do more promotion online. Look at Anderson Cooper on CNN. Between commercial breaks, he's blogging and answering emails. He's doing that for a reason, and the reason is more and more people are going online. Blogs such as yours, and other web publications, are doing much to push Western literature. I've heard some publishers site the web as one of the reasons they have seen an increase in Western sales. That's something we're well aware of -- not to mention Twitter and Facebook and Linked In -- but WWA is primarily a volunteer organization, so we can move a little slowly at times, and we're still trying to figure out how to make the web work for us."





Where does Johnny see the western going in the future? Do we need to widen the definition of the genre and include contemporary novels set in the West?




"Oh, I'm a big believer in tearing down fences. I think Tony Hillerman was one of the best Western writers we've seen in years. He wrote about men with hats and guns bringing law and order to the West, only his heroes happened to be contemporary Navajo policeman. Many publishers still define a Western as a story set west of the Mississippi River between the years 1865 and 1900, but the Wild West began when the first European settlers landed on the Atlantic coast. Actually, you can argue that the West began with the migration of our Native Peoples. We have writers who tell those stories, and tell them well. Jim Woolard's novels about the Ohio frontier are excellent. Michael and Kathy Gear write about Indians before European contact. Meredith Mason Brown won a Spur Award for her biography of Daniel Boone. The novels by Allan Eckert and James Alexander Thom are great studies of the frontier West -- often east of the Mississippi.

And I can step outside and find a cowboy at my local grocery. The West is very vibrant, and often wild and woolly, today, and there have been some great works set in the contemporary, or at least post-World War II West: Elmer Kelton's THE TIME IT NEVER RAINED and THE MAN WHO RODE MIDNIGHT. Max Evans's THE ROUNDERS and THE HI LO COUNTRY. Brady Udall's THE MIRACLE LIFE OF EDGAR MINT. Aryn Kyle's THE GOD OF ANIMALS. Plus the contemporary mysteries by C.J. Box, Michael McGarrity, and, as I mentioned earlier, Tony Hillerman. And I think Larry McMurtry's best works, aside from LONESOME DOVE, are his contemporary visions of the West in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, LEAVING CHEYENNE and HORSEMAN, PASS BY.

One thing we'd like to see more of are crossover Westerns, that is, Westerns that can find new readers, and new life, in other book sections. Historical romances and mysteries, naturally, but look at Emma Bull's fantasy novel TERRITORY, a retelling of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday -- as sorcerers! It's a tremendous read, and Emma's historical research was dead-on terrific. I can't wait for Emma to finish the sequel."



I asked Johnny how he would describe his books to new readers, mentioning that I had just read and enjoyed his novel, The Big Fifty.



"Thanks. My mother's a big fan of THE BIG FIFTY. I tell people that I'm a Western writer. I just don't always write the kinds of Westerns your grandfather read. By that I mean I'll bend the rules and settings. CAMP FORD's about a baseball game between Confederate guards and Union POWs. EAST OF THE BORDER's about the theatrical career of Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok and Texas Jack Omohundro. NORTHFIELD recounts the James-Younger Gang's blunder of a bank robbery, told by more than 20 different first-person narratives. Next up is HARD WINTER, due out in December, which is about a young cowboy's experiences during the disastrous winter of 1886-87 in Montana. I try to make my next book as far removed, in story, plot, setting and structure, as my previous novel, but I also strive to tell an entertaining, and maybe educational story, as historically accurate as I can. I also don't often write about white hats and black hats. Mine are definitely more gray. I write about people with strong convictions about what's right and what's wrong, and often those convictions are opposite, which leads to trouble."




On his own website Johnny writes that excluding, The Searchers, he much prefers the works of Anthony Mann and Bud Boetticher to John Ford. I asked him what it was that drew him towards these two directors?





"Mann and Boetticher had an edge to them, a depth to their heroes -- those characters played by James Stewart in Mann's films and Randolph Scott in Budd's were carrying a ton of baggage -- and superb villains. That's something screenwriter/director Burt Kennedy -- who wrote a number of the best of the Boetticher movies -- once told me: Make your villain stronger than your hero. That way it'll mean more when the hero wins out in the end. Burt also told me to put your hero in a situation where he can walk out of any time. That way it's more dramatic when he stays.

Budd never had much of a budget, and his movies are spartan, lean, but the best of the bunch -- THE TALL T, RIDE LONESOME, SEVEN MEN FROM NOW and COMANCHE STATION -- grab you by the throat and don't let go. And I admit that BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE is a guilty pleasure.

Mann was more polished, but really savage. WINCHESTER '73, THE NAKED SPUR and THE MAN FROM LARAMIE get a lot of analysis, but I think two of his best Westerns are DEVIL'S DOORWAY -- MGM released it after the success of BROKEN ARROW, but it's a tremendous movie about Indian-white relations, and an amazing political statement in 1950s America -- and BORDER INCIDENT, which is a film noir about illegal aliens and slavery in post-World War II Arizona. They're just dynamite motion pictures.

Ford, of course, gets the glory, and THE SEARCHERS remains my favorite movie, not just Western, but movie. John Wayne's Ethan Edwards has a lot of baggage in that one, and Ford turned Monument Valley into his own canvas. Yet the more I watch Ford's movies, the more his Irish humor wears thin, and the more flaws I find in his Westerns. On the other hand, I think some of his non-Westerns -- THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE QUIET MAN and HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY, in particular -- are among the best movies ever put on film."


As a British writer of westerns I ask Johnny if there is still the attitude in some quarters that you have to hail from the US to write westerns?


"The West isn't so much a physical place. It's more how you feel it. It certainly helps to live here, to know what the wind feels like, or the sound of coyotes yipping, but we're writing fiction. At some point, imagination has to take over, and if your prose can take me to that place, I don't care if you live in Leadville or Liverpoole. It's the words that matter, not your locale. I think most of my contemporaries feel the same way."



Desert Island Western - film and book?

"THE SEARCHERS and A.B. Guthrie Jr.'s THE BIG SKY. !"


And finally for fun - The Duke V Eastwood - Who wins?

"he Duke. He's a much better actor than he's often given credit for. His performances in THE SEARCHERS, TRUE GRIT, SANDS OF IWO JIMA, SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, HONDO and THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE really stand out. Then again, Clint has proved to be a fantastic director with his behind-the-lens work in MILLION DOLLAR BABY, MYSTIC RIVER, UNFORGIVEN and PLAY MISTY FOR ME. And THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES has grown on me over the years. Wayne's turns as a director, THE ALAMO and THE GREEN BERETS, are pretty much train wrecks."


The Tainted Archive thanks Johnny for his time

Johnny's books can be bought anywhere books are sold - there are links to buy any of his available titles on his website HERE

"I always wanted to wear the black hat." - Marcus Galloway interview

Nebraska based Marcus Galloway has the western imprinted deep within his genes - he is currently wowing western fans with his Man from Boot Hill series and he is also responsible for several works published under the Ralph Compton name. The Archive shared a virtual camp fire with the writer and, as expected, all thoughts turned West.

TA: How would you describe your work to new readers?

MG: I would say my westerns are for fans of Clint Eastwood movies. While a lot of traditional elements are present, I lean more toward the grittier end of the spectrum. My heroes tend to be shady, even when they’re doing the right thing. That’s just the way I’ve always written and those are the kinds of stories I like. I try to write characters that are just a bit off center from your typical sheriff or rancher. I also like outlaws. Even as a kid, I wanted to wear the black hat when playing cowboys and Indians.

TA: So what does the western mean to you?

MG: For me, “western” conjures images of freedom that we don’t have now, such as being able to pack up your bedroll and take off to a new town so the grass doesn’t grow under your feet. It means living freely and dangerously. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the 1800’s or even on earth. Star Wars is a perfect example of a western in space. All the classic figures were there. The gunfighter, the bounty hunter, the evil sheriff. The gunfighter rode against the rival gang, shot it out with them and rode away to fight again. A western is a wild, exciting adventure where strong characters are making their way in a tough environment. There’s a hard edge to every element of the story. James Bond may have plenty of shootouts and romance, but when you say “western shootouts and romance” it’s a whole different animal.

TA: Where do you see then genre heading in the future?

MG: At the moment, the genre is going through a rough patch. That’s got nothing to do with the writers in the field, but publishers wanting to stick with safe choices. It’s hard to get anything new going because publishers don’t want to take a risk. There will always be westerns, however, because that brand of storytelling is rooted in so many of us. As with anything else, this genre is cyclical. Pretty soon, after they hear readers demand more quality work, publishers will widen their scope to something beyond the same stuff that’s been out there for 50 years or more. As for the future, my money is on a new trend in the western writing style. It will be something subtle like a shift in dialogue to reflect more modern speech or possibly a shift in setting from New Mexico, Arizona and those sorts of places to settings that you don’t see that often. There’s got to be something to draw a new audience. Something like the dialogue shift may not be historically accurate, but it makes it easier for a new audience to relate to the characters. It doesn’t have to be snarky or anything like that, but just something to shake it up a little. Maybe a shift into something more like the pulp adventure novels would be good. Just something else to add some variety to the western section in a books store. Without variety, the future of any genre isn’t too good.

TA: What advice would you give to hopeful writers?

MG: First and foremost, they should write! Too many times, new writers say they’ve got a great idea but don’t know where to start. Or they’ve got a great book they’ll write someday. Step one is to write it. Don’t be afraid of messing up. Don’t be afraid of editing. Start in on it and you’ve set the entire process in motion. Also, write something you would want to read. Don’t try to write for a particular audience, because there will always be people who like or dislike a book. If you write something you enjoy, it shows. If you’re just writing to cash in on a trend, that shows too. Have fun with it and be persistent. Pluck away at it on a schedule. If you want to be a writer, that’s what you’re going to have to do.

TA: So what would be your own writing routine?

MG: I start off with an idea of a character first. I try to think of an interesting person and then flesh him out. As I’m doing that, a storyline comes into focus. Every day, I write anywhere from 12-20 pages no matter what. Usually, I write 2-3 pages and take a little break. Another 2-3 pages and then walk the dog. Keep that up and don’t go to bed until I’ve hit my mark. With editing, I run through the first time by polishing 20 pages a day. If I hit a snag, I’ll edit more the next day so my average comes out to 20 pages per day. The next go-around, I’ll edit 30 pages a day, then 50 a day and then send it in. After that, I’ve got to work with the in-house editors and it all starts over. I need to keep it on a schedule so I can gauge when to start and hit my deadlines.

TA: Tell us a little about your influences.

MG: My mom is my #1 influence. She’s supported me since I first started writing as a little kid. Even when I was typing little stories and coloring pictures to go along with them, she told me I could be a writer. Since she’s had plenty of experience writing her own poetry, short stories and novels, she is still a huge influence beyond just support. Also, my wife is behind me 100%. Bob Randisi is a great friend of mine and he’s taught me a lot about writing and surviving as a full-time professional in this industry.

TA: What future projects can we look forward to?

MG: I’ve got another western series making the rounds to several different publishers. I’m just about to start in on another book in the Ralph Compton series. Those are always fun. I’m writing a horror series under a different name about werewolf hunters. That’s a great example of how westerns have influenced me. I got the idea from buffalo hunters who used every piece of their kill and applied it to werewolves. I wanted it to be more of a western and set in the 1800’s, but shifted it to a modern timeframe. Even so, it has that western sort of feel that I described earlier.

TA: How important in relation to your work is reasearch?

MG: That depends on what sort of project I’m doing. Nick Graves from the Man From Boot Hill series is a gravedigger and Mourner, so I researched that. I also researched vigilante activity throughout Montana. For that series, I wouldn’t have Nick encounter historical figures simply because it wasn’t part of that story. I did have him get involved in a labor riot that actually tore apart an entire town because he was in that area at that time. The Accomplice is totally different. I researched Doc Holliday intensely to make sure he was where he should have been when he should have been there. When he was in Fort Griffin at a particular time and there were accounts of a shooting, I had that shooting take place. I wanted Doc to be Doc Holliday and not just some smart-mouthed gambler. The other character, Caleb, was completely fictional but even he was the sort of person Doc would have worked with. I’m writing entertainment, not textbooks. Any writer should be given some slack to tell their story. Referring to a certain kind of spur may be inaccurate, but usually doesn’t change the story. If you’re referring to the type of spurs a specific person wore, then that’s more important and should be accurate.

TA: You've written a number of titles under the Ralph Compton name. How different is it when writing under a house name?

MG: The big difference is in the style I use. When writing under my own name, I’ll write characters and action that’s a bit grittier or darker than normal. If it’s a series, I know where it’s going and can also change it drastically if I decide to do so. When writing under a house name, I do my best to maintain the same style as that particular brand. Since it’s not my series and I may not do the following book, I can’t do anything that may carry over from one book to another. They’re clean, standalone stories. As much as I like to play in continuing series, standalones are a refreshing change.

TA: Desert island western - film and book?

MG: Film – Unforgiven

Book – The Ghost with Blue Eyes – Robert Randisi

TA: Cool choices. OK - Clint versus The Duke, who wins?

MG: You probably already know the answer to this one by now. Clint all the way.

The Archive thanks Marcus for his time. Visit his website HERE

MAN OF THE WEST - DUSTY RICHARDS INTERVIEW

Accolades don't come much higher in the western fiction world than the Spur Award and the Tainted Archive's interview subject, Dusty Richards has snagged several. Along with writers like Elmer Kelton, Cormac Mccarthy, Larry McMurtry and William Johnston he's at the top of his game - and unlike William Johnston he's very much alive and kicking.

In person he looks every bit the western gentleman and could have stepped from a John Wayne movie. He has a vast knowledge of the western both past and present and I wondered what such a big voice in the genre liked to read?

"What do I read? My time to read is very limited. I’ll read ten times more historical books than fiction. Current books by people like Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtrey, if the story holds me I finish it, if it doesn’t I pass it on. No need to fill my shelves with books that have no reference for my own. I do read past authors like Alan LeMay and his Searcher’s novel. There was a man pounded words. It could have been his newspaper back ground but he could write. Elliot Arnold who did “Blood Brother” sent me to research the Apache wars. Will Henry and Tom Lea were my early favorites. But Charles Portis “True Grit” was a wonderful western—my true classic. Max Evans another—his novellas were beautiful. Robert Conley’s “Nickajack” a Spur winner, is one of the greatest books written about a native American."


Despite being a seasoned hand at writing, Dusty's prose displays the excitement and enthusiasm of someone in love with the process of creating fictional worlds. No matter how many times he sees his name in print one gets the feeling that the same level of excitement is felt as that first time.


"I don't know a greater honor for a Western writer. Spurs are the Oscars of the Western book. I can recall going to my first Western Writers of America Convention in San Antonio over two decades ago when I was trying to break into the New York market. I met those Spur winners that year and all the old hands that I'd read. I never thought this old cowboy would ever collect one of them. I was lucky to be writing and doing what I liked and had dreamed about."

Dusty loves the genre he works in, that much is clear from his books. I wondered what his writing routine was. How does he come up with his stories?

"How do I write my books? I have an idea. There’s a guy or gal and they have a problem that centers on another individual. Where at? What time period? Maybe I need to go read old newspaper for ideas. Then that’s started to ferment, I use a four quarter system. First quarter of my book my protagonist is lost. Second quarter, he is an orphan. Third quarter he is an emerging hero. Last quarter of the book he is a hero or martyr. Simply as can be, best guide I
ever found.

Several college profs across the country use “The Horse Creek Incident,” my 2007 Spur winner, as the ideal opening to pull people into read your book. That is flattery of the first kind.

John Nesbit, a recent Spur winner and I have have talked about it at various times. I think we pick up a book, many times, read some and say, “ I don’t want to listen to that voice for six hours.” Others stress the hook and scare new writer so they rewrote their first chapter twenty times and their first attempt was the best,

You must build faith in your fingers to brain production. My first draft is the book but I say that because I have written 94 novels for myself and under pseudonyms. I do it on a laptop Mac Pro. I wouldn’t own another tower model computer. The laptop has a wire less keyboard and mouse goes along. (my big fingers can type on the laptop but the board is better) At home I use a 24 inch Samsung screen and use 150 % type. My eyes are easily worn out.

I’ll have one of those real big screens when the price drops a little more. I have used the wheel idea for so long I can do my planning in my head. Where you put the central theme in as the wheel hub and your ideas as the spokes—simply a way to brain storm.

That uncouth old cowboy someone is saying, he’s never read Shakespeare or Joyce and has no good words for the real classic writers of Western lit. Tell the truth I found them hard to read like most middle readers do as far as for their pleasure. I never got that much out of their formalities, they were to me not what fiction was about.

Fiction lies in story telling that suspends your reader into another world. Have a voice that talks in your reader’s ear, bring him forth on that adventure so he smells the sagebrush, campfire smoke that makes his eye water and a hump back horse sky walking under his butt and you have a story. "

To listen to Dusty talk it is evident that he is a born storyteller. But when did he realise he wanted to be a writer? That he wanted to pound the keyboard for a living?

"When did I start writing? I wrote “books” in high school. High school was a bore. And I even had a few snatched up by teachers and read to the class. High school’s lack of challenge almost wiped out college I was so spoiled. It was so easy and I never needed to study. At Arizona State University I wanted to major in writing fiction and major in agronomy. First semester I got an A in fiction writing one. Second semester was rhyme and meter—I am tone deaf to start with—if that’s what it took to be a western writer I’d never make it. So I dropped that course and the minor in ficiion writing Now that’s how bitter university courses were. Folks say they did me a favor. But I still wrote “novels” for my own amusem

ent. My teenage girls read them, in long hand in loose leaf notebooks, I must have a hundred or more, they wanted me to submit them.

“I said writers are like song writers in Nashville. You know how you get them off your porch.”

“No.”

“Pay them for the pizza.”

But I accepted the challenge. I am a story teller that’s what you have to be first to write fiction. I was not a typist. I was not an English Grammar major. I can’t tell you the rule why it is wrong, but only because I can hear it is not right in my ear. All these things I needed to learn plus all the 75 other things that go into building a story on the page. I made mistakes like waiting on worthless literary agents. I finally sold my own first book and hooked up with a real agent to handle negotiations.

She and I have been through the ninety plus books that I have sold since the early nineties—love her.

A seventy year old fan wrote

me and asked why did I write those books for Ralph Compton when my own books were so good? I said. “I like to eat.”

I have two Spurs. One for “The Horse Creek Incident” paper back novel. The second one for a “Comanche Moon” a novella in short fiction for Amazon. Com. My publisher in Texas said, “You have two, Louie only received one.”

I have two book of the year awards from Oklahoma Writers Federation, One is for “The Abilene Trail” part of the Ralph Compton series and “The Natural” the only contemporary I ever sold about rodeo. And I also have the western literature award from the Cowboy Symposium for my efforts to help others write and my books. I share that list with Max Evans and Elmer Kelton."

The back list continues to grow and will do so for some time. It is clear you can't keep someone like Dusty from spinning stories. As well as working under his own name he's also contributed HOUSE NAME books. I ask him about future projects.

"Future projects: Book #3 the Sundown Chaser from Birkley is out this week. It is the third one in the Herschel Baker series, the man who took on the big outfits and became the sheriff. This new book is about his father Thurman who rode off fifteen years earlier and they will meet at last in Montana. (there is U Tube review on it out now)

Book #4 is on my editor’s desk in New York. ‘Wulf’s Tracks” Herschel has a cousin Wulf Baker who’s mighty handy at training dogs and horses but he’s cross ways with his step father, Wulf goes looking Herschel and himself in this book. I suspect releases in early 2010

November 7^th release dat

e “Texas Bloody Feud” from Kensington. Book number one in the Texas feud series. Chet Brynes and the Bar C Ranch series comes on the shelves. A tough book about the family war

s in Texas. Chet heads a dysfunctional family, all living under one large roof, each family member with their own set of personal problems and goals.

I have a third series on my agent’s desk called the “The Frank Brothers.” Identical twins Grant and Lee orphaned at sixteen when their abusive father shoots their mother and then himself. Along with a widowed cousin Gertrude, who comes to be their guardian must hold the Turkey Track ranch together against Comanche and land grabbers. It’s gritty story about the Texas hill country during and after the civil war. There are six books planned if the series sell.

Real Quick on research. For the Herschel Baker books, we did intensive library research in Sheridan, Wyoming and Billings, Montana. Read lots of old papers. I had old rancher buddy took me all over that country as well as my wife Pat and I driving over lots of it. I have very extensive library of western history books. But the o

ld newspapers were the best, they tell you how they thought. Folks in Billings were so afraid any taint of crime and the railroad would go around them, so the pressure was on the law man to keep crime

down. If the railroad avoided you your town died.

We did the same in the Texas Hill country.

I closed those four trail drive books with an epilogue about what happened to those people in later life and where they were buried. An army captain in Iraq wrote me a letter and said would I send him a map of those cemeteries, he was going home to Texas soon and wanted to look their graves up. Of course I wrote him back and said they like the book were fictitious."

Dusty can be found HERE

Thanks Dusty - you are a true man of the west.

western news

The Western Writers of America are to award Elmore Leonard (full story follows)

Western Writers to honor Elmore Leonard

ALBUQUERQUE, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The Western Writers of America has announced its plans to honor author Elmore Leonard for his lifetime contribution to the genre.

Leonard, 83, wrote the novel "Hombre," as well as the short stories "Three-Ten to Yuma," "The Captives," "The Boy Who Smiled" and "The Tonto Woman."

He is to receive the Owen Wister Award for lifetime contribution to Western literature on June 20 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, during the annual convention of Western Writers of America. The WWA is a nonprofit organization founded in 1953 to promote and recognize literature of the American West.

Leonard, who lives in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said he was surprised but thrilled to hear he'd be receiving the Owen Wister Award.

"I love the Western genre and writing them was a great way to learn to write," Leonard said in a statement.

"Elmore Leonard has had a tremendous impact on the Western and crime genres," WWA President Johnny D. Boggs said. "He has always been a gifted storyteller and never afraid to take chances. That's why his Westerns remain in print decades after they were first published and why anthologies of his short Western fiction fill bookshelves. Recognition from Western Writers of America is long overdue."

Leonard is also the author of the crime novels

"Bandits," "Get Shorty" and "Tishomingo Blues."