Buck Edwards's Blog
March 24, 2014
Stones Across the River
I am reminded of that old Kevin Costner film version of Robin Hood, 'Prince of Thieves' where he must cross the river, jumping from stone to stone. The writing/publishing process is not far removed from that image.
My creation, Marshal Boone Crowe, was put on Kindle about a year ago with the first installment, 'Dead Woman Creek', followed by book 2, 'Showdown in the Bear Grass'.
Kindle was a great way to jump to that first stone. After years of doing battle with the slush piles of agents and editors in NYC, and waiting for indifference responses, oftentimes taking six months to get a "does not meet our present needs", I was encouraged by fellow Kindle writers to 'brave the rapids'.
No regrets.
With so many people reading electronically these days, Amazon has done both writers and readers a great service.
But the river is wide. So the next jump, which I faced required a broader leap, taking me to CreateSpace and the publication of my first Boone Crowe western in paperback, which now satisfies the needs of those who must have a tangible book in their grasp.
I'm standing in mid-river now, wanting to continue in my stone-hopping with more paper publications. And I have many more to offer, including Boone Crowe 2.
But before I make that slippery jump, I must face Little John, who waits to throw me into the river.
Little John is my version of an attitude check. Why do I write? If it is for riches, I should be a well-driller in Alaska, or a crooked investment counselor. No, it is not riches. Serious writers write because if they didn't, it would be a fast track to the asylum. I write because I want to share the fun of what gallops across my imagination with others. Many others.
But why westerns, which are rarely read by the masses. Good question--for which I have no answer, except that the crusty old marshal from Wyoming Territory kept hammering at my sleep.
Normally he would have had to stand in line, as many other manuscripts stood before him. And still do. But Boone Crowe, even in his desire to retire from frontier violence, seemed ready for one great jump across the river.
Besides, Boone Crowe is not far removed from Jack Reacher, Lee Child's creation, or other genre heroes. My series is about justice. And not a Supreme Court type of justice. Boone Crowe is not 'politically correct', and he doesn't always want to wait for a good hanging. But he is fair, and women, with any sense for romance, will be taken by his softer side.
'Dead Woman Creek' is available at Amazon in paperback this very day, and taking a gamble on a western, such as this, may just find a whole new kind of western worth jumping across the river for.
My creation, Marshal Boone Crowe, was put on Kindle about a year ago with the first installment, 'Dead Woman Creek', followed by book 2, 'Showdown in the Bear Grass'.
Kindle was a great way to jump to that first stone. After years of doing battle with the slush piles of agents and editors in NYC, and waiting for indifference responses, oftentimes taking six months to get a "does not meet our present needs", I was encouraged by fellow Kindle writers to 'brave the rapids'.
No regrets.
With so many people reading electronically these days, Amazon has done both writers and readers a great service.
But the river is wide. So the next jump, which I faced required a broader leap, taking me to CreateSpace and the publication of my first Boone Crowe western in paperback, which now satisfies the needs of those who must have a tangible book in their grasp.
I'm standing in mid-river now, wanting to continue in my stone-hopping with more paper publications. And I have many more to offer, including Boone Crowe 2.
But before I make that slippery jump, I must face Little John, who waits to throw me into the river.
Little John is my version of an attitude check. Why do I write? If it is for riches, I should be a well-driller in Alaska, or a crooked investment counselor. No, it is not riches. Serious writers write because if they didn't, it would be a fast track to the asylum. I write because I want to share the fun of what gallops across my imagination with others. Many others.
But why westerns, which are rarely read by the masses. Good question--for which I have no answer, except that the crusty old marshal from Wyoming Territory kept hammering at my sleep.
Normally he would have had to stand in line, as many other manuscripts stood before him. And still do. But Boone Crowe, even in his desire to retire from frontier violence, seemed ready for one great jump across the river.
Besides, Boone Crowe is not far removed from Jack Reacher, Lee Child's creation, or other genre heroes. My series is about justice. And not a Supreme Court type of justice. Boone Crowe is not 'politically correct', and he doesn't always want to wait for a good hanging. But he is fair, and women, with any sense for romance, will be taken by his softer side.
'Dead Woman Creek' is available at Amazon in paperback this very day, and taking a gamble on a western, such as this, may just find a whole new kind of western worth jumping across the river for.
January 15, 2014
A Little Help from my Friends
My wife always says, that when looking at a new house to buy, if you like the way it looks in winter, with leafless trees and the drab gray of frost, then you will like it ten times more in the summer, when it is in full bloom.
Writing is like that. The actual writing, in some secluded corner, often airless and friendless, with the only company your characters, it can resemble 'bleak midwinter'.
But, when the initial draft is finished, and rested, then comes the first blossoms of friendship, as you hunt down those people who will help you proof and edit. Others add suggestions, some offer tech help. In the end, by the time this piece of work is ready for the reading world, and you look back at the project as a whole, you see that it is summer, your 'tree', so to speak, is in full blossom and leaf. Colors carry the faces of people, like Jennifer Moorman and L. Jay Scott, and Rachel Oline Boruff, and all is right with the world.
Writing is like that. The actual writing, in some secluded corner, often airless and friendless, with the only company your characters, it can resemble 'bleak midwinter'.
But, when the initial draft is finished, and rested, then comes the first blossoms of friendship, as you hunt down those people who will help you proof and edit. Others add suggestions, some offer tech help. In the end, by the time this piece of work is ready for the reading world, and you look back at the project as a whole, you see that it is summer, your 'tree', so to speak, is in full blossom and leaf. Colors carry the faces of people, like Jennifer Moorman and L. Jay Scott, and Rachel Oline Boruff, and all is right with the world.
