Saturday, December 6, 2008

Are Heroes a Fantasy?

A review of Hollywood productions and published fiction might lead the casual observer to believe that the traditional hero is dead. The antihero now reigns supreme, and even the antihero is moving further and further toward the dark side. (The flaws of James Bond, Batman, and Spiderman are etched more deeply in recent films.) Protagonists are increasingly nasty characters that you would seldom invite into your home. What gives? Are the publishing houses and movie studios just giving audiences what they want?

I don't think so. The public is still drawn to traditional heroes, despite the fact that the creative class has relegated them to fantasies. People flock to Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, Luke Skywalker, and Superman. John Wayne's continuing popularity shows that traditional heroes endure across the years and generations. Hollywood and publishers attribute the popularity of fantasies and old style westerns to blind escapism. The filmmakers and publishers have come to believe that art must depict the mundane everyman or a sadly decayed society. Meanwhile, the public is forced to search out heroes where they can find them.

Are heroes a fantasy? No, they exist in real life and we admire them not just their deeds, but for their selflessness. Every civilization in ascendancy honors and depends on their heroes. And one way to honor heroes is with our stories, whether around the campfire, in print, or on celluloid. Good fiction lifts and inspires us.

Wouldn't it be great if everyone aspired to be heroic.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The Shut Mouth Society at the Kentucky Book Fair

I'm pleased to have been invited to participate in the Kentucky Book Fair.

The central purpose of the Kentucky Book Fair is to bring writers and patrons together in celebration of their mutual interest and to promote awareness of the importance of writing and reading. The Book Fair uses proceeds from the Fair to benefit causes associated with the promotion of reading and writing.

The Kentucky Book Fair, now in its 27th year, is a one-day event, held this year on Saturday, November 15, 2008. The event takes place in Frankfort, the state’s Capitol City. The focus of the 2008 Kentucky Book Fair will be Abraham Lincoln because his bicentennial occurs on February 12, 2009 and Kentucky was the state of his birth.

Although the invitation was based on The Shut Mouth Society, I'll be signing all my books. Over two hundred authors are confirmed, so this is going to be a large and exciting event. If you like to talk to authors or other people interested in writing, this is going to be a great place to meet people.

I hope you can make it.

Monday, September 29, 2008

The Shopkeeper trailer on YouTube


Sunday, August 17, 2008

"Evil be to him who evil thinks" Edward III (1312-77)

The Western Writers of America reviewed The Shopkeeper in the August issue of the organization's Roundup Magazine.

Best, James D. The Shopkeeper, A Steve Dancy Tale. Wheatmark. Trade paperback, 233 pps., $18.95. ISBN 978-1-58736-922-3

Steve Dancy is set on experiencing the West. At first glance, he is nothing more than a dilettante Easterner intent on writing a journal about his adventures on the frontier. He’s not running away from a hopeless life. To the contrary, he’s educated and seems to have enough money for his simple needs. Although anxious to avoid trouble, he can be pushed only so far, and when he chances upon some bad men doing unspeakable things to a woman, he feels he must take a hand. It isn’t long before he’s caught up in gunplay, which leads him into taking desperate measures, including buying a bank and a hotel, and influencing the upcoming gubernatorial elections. Dancy is a far different man than these Westerners think he is. Wealthy after selling off his Eastern businesses, maybe he should have told them what kind of goods he sold, because he’s sure not like any other shopkeepers they know.

This is a fast paced tale with an interesting hero. In structure, with short chapters, crisp dialogue, and lots of movement, it’s reminiscent of a thriller. Sadly, neither of the women in this story were enduring, the older too evil and crass to believe, and the younger far from worthy of the infatuation the hero apparently feels toward her. The motivation seems weak for all the mayhem that ensues. Still, you’ll certainly find enough twists and turns to provide an entertaining and exciting story.

I loved the review, but… "the older too evil and crass to believe?" This worries me because Mrs. Bolton was the only antagonist to survive in The Shopkeeper. Steve Dancy certainly finds her evil and crass ways unbelievable, but Mrs. Bolton has a villainous nature that might crush our gifted Mr. Dancy. I just hope that he wakes up and sees her for what she really is before the climax to Leadville.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Characters Matter

film, movies, hollywood
Chigurh From No Country for Old Men



Here's an example from my novel, The Shopkeeper


“You sent for me?” she asked.


“All right.”

“I haven’t told you what I want yet.”



“You mean can I forge?”

Friday, May 16, 2008

Basic Training-- Learning to Write Professionally








Thursday, May 15, 2008

Basic Writing Tools

Here is a starter set. Good Luck!

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Your book is in here. 
Some assembly required.

The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition

Assembly Instructions.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Speed Demons and Slowpokes

Open Range








Friday, February 22, 2008

Hollywood Celebrates the Anti-Hero







Friday, February 15, 2008

What happened to the Western?






Tuesday, January 29, 2008

What makes an appealing hero?

I asked myself this question as I tried to figure out why the Western genre had been relegated to a couple of obscure shelves in most bookstores. I tried to noodle this out for myself until I came upon Raymond Chandler’s 1950 definition of a hero. He was describing a detective hero, but it fits nonetheless. Here is my abridged version of Chandler's hero.

suspense, thrillers
Raymond Chandler

When publishers and producers abandon their penchant for off-putting antiheroes and return to this model, the Western will leap back to prominence.

People want heroes they can admire and long to emulate.