Old West Moments That Shaped My Writing

Howdy, !

Mark Redmond here. I write clean, historically accurate fiction for adults and children. Why this genre? Well, saddle your pony and ride along with me as I give you a quick "peek into the past" to learn the answer to that question. 🐎🤠

I've been fascinated by the old West from the time I was a child. Readers frequently ask me where I get my ideas for the books and the stories I write. Sometimes the answers are complicated. Sometimes they're simple. Let me tell you about two simple ideas that inspired me.

A PHOTOGRAPH SPARKS CHARACTERS

Over a span of about forty-five years, I've had my photograph taken in multiple old-West photography studios. You know, the kind of places that let you dress in period clothing and have your photo developed in a sepia (brownish, old-fashioned) tone.

One day when I was looking through some of the photos I'd collected, I noticed the difference in my appearance because of the years that had passed between the times the photos were taken. A stranger looking at five of these photos might have believed he was seeing five brothers. Right then, my writer's imagination kicked in. Great idea! I'll do that for a book! So I created the five Womack brothers who are featured in my novel, Bounty Hunter Nate Landry: Family Fury.

A SIX-SHOOTER SAFETY TRICK

A second idea resulted in the title of my short story collection, Five for the Trail. Here's the explanation of how I chose the title. (I also share this explanation at the beginning of the book.)

Although the cowboy's sidearm was commonly called a six-shooter, a careful cowboy only loaded five chambers most of the time. By leaving an empty chamber under the hammer, he eliminated the risk of shooting himself or his horse if his gun was bumped, dropped, or snagged by the brush through which he was riding. The title for this collection of short stories comes from that old West safety measure. When a cowboy sensed or saw trouble coming, he thumbed a cartridge into the empty chamber and faced the situation with his six-shooter fully loaded. With that practice in mind, I "thumbed" a sixth story into this collection just for fun. I hope you enjoy all six stories.

These are just two of the ideas that have helped shape my writing. I'm currently writing my fourteenth book, the third in the Box M Gang series, The Box M Gang and the Apaches. Watch for it sometime in October!

. . . is an award-winning author who has published eight middle-grade western fiction and five westerns for older readers. Arty Goes West is his New Classics featured book, and includes a free study guide. Mark aims for historic accuracy and the truth that God was as present in the old West as He is today.

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