In three weeks I'm heading to the Western Writers of America convention in Las Vegas. There are so many good writers that show up at these things that no way can a man have read all of their works. One man who is receiving a special award, Jory Sherman, who will take home the coveted Owen Wister Award. I had never read his work, so off to the library I went and have just finished reading The Medicine Horn. I was not surprised to discover that he is a very good writer, and, over the course of a long writing career, has written a good many books. For The Medicine Horn the WWA awarded him a Golden Spur Award, so it was one I wanted to read for sure. In it a story of early settlers moving west unfolds. A man raises his son by himself because the wife runs off, and when a fire destroys everything they had worked for in Kentucky, they took off to St. Louis to follow the dreams and stories of beaver trapping in the mountains. The author was a genius in leaving the ending to be followed up by more books, something which he did do. What is the significance of the powder horn? It was given to the son as a gift by a mountain man who had planted the seed of heading westward. If a person only had the time to read all of the good books!
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Speaking of the convention, I just received my assignments to cover and write articles for the upcoming issue of "Roundup" magazine. One of the featured events is a tour to the Mob Museum, officially known as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. I'm to interview several of the tour participants and find out what kind of ideas they formed after visiting the facility. Wife Mary says now we'll find out what kind of a writer you are. Another assignment is to report on the "Editors and Agents" panel and focus on trends, and what types of writing they are looking for. And people think these conventions are all just fun and games. Other panels for which other writers have been assigned to cover are The Victorian West, - Writing About Cowboys, - Black Cowboys in the West, - Old Spanish Trails, - Legal Issues and Rights, - Researching and Writing About the Mormon West, - WWA Traditions and Memories, - Songwriting the West: Regional Influences, - Spur Award Winners and Finalists, - Writing Western Songs, - Authenticating History, - and Marketing. The days do get filled with informational meetings. Of course, in the evening, the guitars come out and the whiskey flows. I still drink O'Douls. (By the way, the WWA sponsors a nice website, and many of the "Roundup" articles can be found there.)
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And I worried a couple of weeks ago about the fields blowing away in a dry wind. Not gonna happen this year. We've been getting so much rain, accompanied by cool temps, that farmers aren't getting their field work finished.
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Speaking of the convention, I just received my assignments to cover and write articles for the upcoming issue of "Roundup" magazine. One of the featured events is a tour to the Mob Museum, officially known as the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement. I'm to interview several of the tour participants and find out what kind of ideas they formed after visiting the facility. Wife Mary says now we'll find out what kind of a writer you are. Another assignment is to report on the "Editors and Agents" panel and focus on trends, and what types of writing they are looking for. And people think these conventions are all just fun and games. Other panels for which other writers have been assigned to cover are The Victorian West, - Writing About Cowboys, - Black Cowboys in the West, - Old Spanish Trails, - Legal Issues and Rights, - Researching and Writing About the Mormon West, - WWA Traditions and Memories, - Songwriting the West: Regional Influences, - Spur Award Winners and Finalists, - Writing Western Songs, - Authenticating History, - and Marketing. The days do get filled with informational meetings. Of course, in the evening, the guitars come out and the whiskey flows. I still drink O'Douls. (By the way, the WWA sponsors a nice website, and many of the "Roundup" articles can be found there.)
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And I worried a couple of weeks ago about the fields blowing away in a dry wind. Not gonna happen this year. We've been getting so much rain, accompanied by cool temps, that farmers aren't getting their field work finished.
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One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed.
She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"
The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room."
A long silence was broken at last by a shaken little voice saying, "The big sissy."
Some more? OK - Where did the meteorologist stop for a drink after a long day in the office? The nearest ISOBAR. - What do you call two straight days of rain in Seattle? A weekend.
Some more? OK - Where did the meteorologist stop for a drink after a long day in the office? The nearest ISOBAR. - What do you call two straight days of rain in Seattle? A weekend.
