David Cranmer's Blog, page 56

Washburn, Mims, and Foley

I'm at Macmillan's Criminal Element with Women Authors Leading the Western Charge.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

*****


Clayton Oliver Cranmer

(1928-2005)

Photo taken 1942


*****

Wayne D. Dundee's The Retributioners

J.D. Miller, aka The Lawyer, continues to hunt the men that slaughtered his family. His next target is Jules Despare who’s been riding with the Selkirk gang robbing banks. When the town of Emmett, Texas, is marked by the hardcases and the local marshal murdered, The Lawyer is asked by the town’s influential residents to track down the reprehensible outfit. But he has little use for the narrow-minded bigots that won’t stand behind the remaining deputy—a black man named Ernest Tell. After Tell resigns, he suggests a partnership with The Lawyer who refuses. It’s obvious, though, these two avengers are gunning for the same men and will eventually work together to settle old scores in THE RETRIBUTIONERS.

Farewell, Randy Johnson

One of Randy's avatars Randy Johnson was quick on the review. In the early days of BEAT to a PULP I would marvel at how fast I would release a book and his thoughtful appraisal would appear. Same day and often in the first few hours. I started thinking of Randy ahead of publication—his name would be at the top of my list of individuals to send a print copy. But I found his electronic review still popping up with lightning speed on Amazon, Goodreads, etc. Turns out he wouldn’t wait for the snail mail delivery and buy the ebook. He explained in an email that he had health issues and spent a majority of his time reading. It was his pleasure to do so he told me. I’m chuckling thinking about the one time I'd inadvertently forgot him (just by about an hour or so at the most) and didn’t want him to spend his money. I hastily wrote:

Randy,
I have a copy coming your way later this morning in eBook format and I'll plop one [print] in the mail.
Best,
David

His within seconds reply:

I appreciate the offer, David. But I purchased a copy this morning. Looks good.

So Randy became one of the core supporters that I would often send an advanced reading copy. Reviews are essential to an independent publisher and his continuing act of kindness over the last seven years will never be forgotten.

But much more than that, I treasured his random emails and occasional direct messaging on Facebook. (Often he would just say "good morning" when he saw me online.) He knew I was a fan of Longmire and would leave comments on the reviews I was doing for Criminal Element. He was the first to write and lament, "They cancelled Longmire! Damn!" And Randy appreciated my character of Gideon Miles—an African American US Marshal—that I loosely based, in part, on Bass Reeves. An early letter:

Randy Johnson here,
Don't know if you watch the Elmore Leonard series JUSTIFIED on FX. I thought about you watching tonight's episode. One of the characters asked someone if they'd "ever heard of Bass Reeves. Somebody ought to tell Denzel about him." Cheers

I'll deeply miss this friendship. He made a difference in my life and many others. R.I.P. comes to mind but doesn't seem to fit here. Randy was a metal fan and though I didn't share that particular interest I took delight in his enthusiasm for the music he loved. So instead of rest in peace--Rock on, old friend.

End

                                "At this time he had no messages for anyone. Nothing. Not a single word."

Killers, Jailers, and Bloody Hands

And I choose nine more of Gunsmoke's top episodes including "The Jailer" (1966) featuring a crazed Bette Davis.

Celebrating Gunsmoke’s 60th Anniversary: “Mannon”

Gunsmoke fans? Over at Criminal Element, I celebrate Gunsmoke’s 60th anniversary by looking at “Mannon," my favorite episode from the show.

Now Available: Ron Scheer's How the West Was Written Vol. 3

A pleasure to say our friend Ron Scheer's How the West Was Written Vol. 3 Glossary (Kindle Edition) is now available. The print will be available tomorrow and it will take a few days for print and ebook to link up on Amazon.

Here's an excerpt from Spur Award-winning author Richard S. Wheeler's introduction:

"Nothing escaped Ron Scheer’s sharp eye. In the course of preparing his magisterial work on early western fiction, he came across countless phr...ases, words, and usages that were unfamiliar to modern readers. The novels he was examining ranged from the late 19th century well into the 20th, and contained vernacular that had vanished.
 
He set to work recording these phrases, including their context, and their numbers multiplied over the years. Many of these phrases were at least a century old, and were connected to the social circumstances and technology of the times. As the world changed, so did language. Allusions to horses and buggies, steam engines, open-range ranching, and all the social proprieties of that period departed stage right, while new words, new vernacular crowded into our consciousness stage left.
He no doubt realized that for modern readers to grasp what those long-gone authors were saying, and the social events they were describing, some sort of glossary would be necessary. Otherwise, the pages of these novels would be crowded with gibberish.

The ability to translate these mysterious allusions and phrases into something modern readers can comprehend is a portal into other times. ... It illuminates a lost world, but it also illuminates Mr. Scheer’s genius."

Stone-Faced

In Cooperstown, NY, yesterday, on some unrelated to the writing agenda when Denise spotted the glum James Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851) sitting all stone-faced, seeming to ponder why everyone these days is more absorbed in talking no-hitters and stolen bases. His statue safeguards the grounds where his treasured Otsego Hall, the home his father built, once stood before it burned to the ground a few years after his passing. There was no parking so my charmer willingly hopped out to snap these photos while Ava and I looked on.

Get some SCORCHED NOIR!

The Border ... an alkaline limbo between two worlds, where desperation and violence loom like the ever-present sun. Scorched Noir takes a blistering look at crime along the desert corridos, the creosote bushes and dead arroyos where only scorpions thrive. Eight tales in the triple-digits by hardboiled author Garnett Elliott. From organ smugglers to drug-crazed brujas, this is one collection of Southwestern noir you don’t want to miss. Caliente!