Cooking up an antiquated western is easy!
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| Peter Leavell |
First, grab a mixing bowl—we call it The West. Throw in a trusty horse and a cowboy with a white
ten-gallon hat. Next, add spice—a gorgeous female in distress who wants a
cowboy to take her to a ranch, where she'll have babies and keep the house clean
for him. To add a bitter flavor, pour in a thin-lipped villain in black. Mix well.
Dollop scenes in sequential order and bake in the Arizona desert until burnt. Serve
with a side of angry Indian, a crusty gold miner looking for the Lost
Dutchman’s Gold Mine, and beans.
Gone (we hope) are the days of formula westerns. So why do numbers say
westerns are making a comeback? Because new westerns have qualities the enduring
American West novels embraced.
High stakes keep
readers turning the page. Losing a few head of cattle (when the stakes are
steaks) won't keep the reader’s interested. If lives of many are troubled by the fight between the hero and villain, the more interesting. Granted, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry is a
cattle drive. But an entire way of life is at stake.
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| Photo use by permission. Laura Harkins |
Give the girl a gun,
please. Helpless damsels in distress are no longer in fashion, unless it's simply a person rendered defenseless Historically,
women in the west were cast-iron. Charles Portis wrote True Grit’s Mattie Ross as the toughest person in the novel, with
more sand than even the meanest marshal she could find. She’s just awesome.
Embrace Ethnicity.
Many of the famous western writers loved the Native American’s way of life and portrayed their point of view. Some included the Chinese, African American,
Mexican, and countless others. Movies, however, needed faceless
villains. The plot lines wreaked havoc on minorities. I’m thinking of the stagecoach chase
scenes with feathered and painted Caucasian stuntmen galloping on horseback, only
to be slaughtered by bouncing riders with small Winchesters. In today's westerns, everyone’s point
of view matters.
No person is perfect.
Even heroes and heroines suffer from limitations. Giving them a fault or a medical
condition makes them more believable. Jubal, in Louis L’Amour’s Jubal Sackett, seems to suffer from ADHD
and possibly a mild hyperkinetic disorder. But yet, he finds a place where he can
be himself and discover love.
These tips and more are played out in my western West for the Black Hills, out now!
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Peter Leavell is an award winning historical fiction author. He and his family research together, creating magnificent adventures. Catch up with him on his website at www.peterleavell.com, or friend him on Facebook: Peter R. Leavell.
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| Out Now! |
Philip Anderson keeps his past close to the vest. Haunted by the murder of his parents as they traveled West in their covered wagon, his many unanswered questions about that night still torment him.
His only desire is to live quietly on his homestead and raise horses. He meets Anna, a beautiful young woman with secrets of her own. Falling in love was not part of his plan. Can Philip tell her how he feels before it’s too late?
With Anna a pawn in the corrupt schemes brewing in the nearby Dakota town, Philip is forced to become a reluctant gunslinger. Will Philip’s uncannily trained horses and unsurpassed sharpshooting skills help him free Anna and find out what really happened to his family in the wilderness?
With Anna a pawn in the corrupt schemes brewing in the nearby Dakota town, Philip is forced to become a reluctant gunslinger. Will Philip’s uncannily trained horses and unsurpassed sharpshooting skills help him free Anna and find out what really happened to his family in the wilderness?
