Scott Harris's Blog, page 10

Mile 15: 10 Louis L’Amours

I’m following up on the previous entry, “The Importance of First Chapters,” and writing about a specific author: Louis L’Amour. Historically, L’Amour has been my favorite Western author, and I wind up rereading all 100-plus of his Westerns about once every five years. I got to wondering about what draws me back to his books,

Book Review: The Cherokee Trail

I’ve been using this forum to introduce myself, and hopefully you, to new movies and new books, and I’ve enjoyed the journey. But sometimes, it’s good to go back to old Western favorites, and for me, that usually means Louis L’Amour. I have the complete Louis L’Amour leatherette collection, which I love. Last week, it

Forum Featuring Livia J. Washburn

When — and why — did you first fall in love with Westerns? I used to watch “Gunsmoke” with my daddy. It was one of the few TV shows he watched. I liked stories of good vs. evil where good won. That’s not always the case in real life, but it should be. Also, I

Mile 14: Importance of First Chapters

I recently took an online class on writing fiction by James Patterson. It’s offered as part of the MasterClass program. Mine was a gift from my son. Thanks, Justin! While I’ll do an entire post on the class somewhere down the trail, I do want to mention one thing that Patterson highlighted now. I’m paraphrasing,

Movie Review: Stagecoach

Let me just get this out of the way, right away. I am 61 years old and not once in those 61 years have I ever looked as cool as John Wayne does in this black and white photo. “Stagecoach” is a 1939, John Ford directed monster. It’s Wayne’s breakout role and early enough in

Forum Featuring M. Allen

When — and why — did you first fall in love with Westerns? About a year ago my publicist, Nick Wale, recommended I give writing a Western series a go. Six novels later, and I love writing my “Sutton Brothers Series.” I like the freedom that comes with writing great adventures with lots of action

Epitaph

L.J. Washburn’s 1987 novel, “Epitaph,” opens with Hank Littleton, a teenage boy, being raised by his grandfather in a small West Texas town. In a matter of days, Hank thwarts a robbery, killing two of the three would-be robbers, and in a completely separate incident, watches his grandfather, the sheriff, get gunned down and killed

Mile 13: Surround Yourself

As I started to write this particular Trail Notes, I found myself kicking around a couple of different ideas. As I often do when I’m thinking about writing, I found myself looking around my office, and I realized this week’s topic was right in front of me. In fact, it’s all around me. I’m staring

Movie Review: BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID

“Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” is one of the best-known and most popular Western movies of all time — and with good reason. Robert Leroy Parker, better known as Butch Cassidy and brilliantly portrayed by Paul Newman, teams up with fellow outlaw Harry Longabaugh, better known as the Sundance Kid and played by the

Forum Featuring Michael D. Abbott

When — and why — did you first fall in love with Westerns? I suppose the mid-1980s was when I first started getting into Western films, but Western writing came much later — 2011 or so. I liked the drama in it. It was similar to science fiction, which focuses more on the future; Westerns