What a nicely balanced group of stories to debut from Snubnose Press. They are companionable yet each one has a different tone, setting, style.
Of course, as if often the case, a writer will choose the story most like what he/she would write, or hope to write, and in my case I would single out the story that leaked the least amount of testosterone: Herniated Roots by Richard Thomas. (Not meant to offend, Mr. Thomas)
It was a story that was most about prose. The language was lovely, the story well told. Thanks for a great debut from a wonderful group of writers. Nary a miss in the collection and such gorgeous writing all around.
Available where ebooks are sold.
Like wise I greatly enjoyed CASH LARAMIE. I hope no one will be put off by what I consider a great compliment-the stories in this volume were written by someone with respect for humanity. Perhaps westerns are traditionally more elegant and reverent than other genres, but I can't adquately express the pleasure I got from reading about two marshals who conduct themselves with decency. Not that the outlaws and
rapscallions in these stories are wimpy. But the good guys are...good guys. There is humor and pathos and history and a reverence for the land and times. What a nice collection.Two great ebooks for you to try.
8 comments:
One of the nicest reviews of my book, Patti. And thanks for posting on Amazon. Big thanks.
You deserve praise, David. Great collection.
Both fabulous works well worth your dollar. I, too, appreciated the quietly heroic and decent protagonists in David's collection.
Now back to writing stories where all the characters are a bunch of self-serving assholes...
That may be one reason I don't read all that much crime fiction. I really like the genres where you have the honest to goodness good guys. Sometimes in crime fiction it's not so clear.
That's really a good point about Laramie/Gideon, and Westerns in general-- the heroes have a remarkable sense of decency that, in our world of crime fiction, is often absent. Not saying that's good, bad, or indifferent, but for those of us who read about bad guys so much, it's damn refreshing.
I may have to do a blog post on these comments. Fascinating to me because I never looked at my writing in this light. I write the heroic and decent protagonists without even thinking about it. Where does that come from? Hmm… intriguing.
Maybe from your personal choice in reading material, maybe from your inner voice, maybe from the requirements of the genre, maybe from your parents.
Doesn't it come from a desire to live in a world where people don't infringe on the rights of others to exist without a hassle? You're right about doing a blog post, David, because this question has many answers and it can become very political.
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