See page 26.

TheAugust 2023 issue of Roundup Magazine, official publication of WesternWriters of America, focuses on the theme “Writing the Traditional WesternNovel” in a series of articles. One story, by Western Writers Hall of Fameauthor Loren D. Estleman, offers adeparture to talk about Western novels that stray from the herd in search ofsomething more.

Estlemanwrites in “Westerns: Beyond Tradition”: “The difference between the‘traditional’ Western and literature that resonates through the decades is thesense that these stories are not confined to the page. The characters seem tohave a life outside the story. Men and women live and die, often violently; butthey don’t exist merely to thrill. While they live, other lives are affected,and when they die, others are left to mourn, or at least ask why. That simple premiseis what separates the enduring classic from empty tradition.”

Offeredas examples are The Virginian by Owen Wister (of which, Estleman says, “Nearlyall the tropes we associate with the Western were invented by one writer in onebook”), Shane by Jack Schafer, True Grit by Charles Portis, thenovella “A Man Called Horse” by Dorothy M. Johnson, Ride the Wind by LuciaSt. Clair Robson, and All My Sins Remembered by Rod Miller.

What?If that last bit surprises you, imagine my surprise when I saw it. About thebook, Estleman writes, among other things, “Miller tells his story with aminimum of emotion and just the right amount of pathos, masterfully expressedbetween the lines of his spare prose. A 2022 release, All My Sins Rememberedis a late addition to the long string of Western classics and promises thatit’s nowhere near its end.”

Byhappenstance, when the article appeared I had just started proofreading thegalleys for the pending paperback and eBook editions of All My SinsRemembered, due out within the next couple of months. The hardcovereditionis still out there and will be, I hope, for a long, long time.