Tag Archives: Writing fiction

The Nobel is Irrelevant

Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the Nobel committee, said in 2008 that American novelists are “too insular and ignorant.” His opinions appeared again in the Telegraph, Oct. 4, 2011, just prior to last week’s announcement of Nobel winners. Alexander … Continue reading

Posted in literary fiction, novel writing, Westerns | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Why I Write What I Write

I’ve been thinking for more than a year about why I’m driven to write about people in nineteenth-century Montana. Unlike some people who can drive straight to a conclusion, I have to mull, then tuck ideas away in my subconscious … Continue reading

Posted in Civil War, God's Thunderbolt, Gold Under Ice, historical fiction of the West | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

Absent Law, What Then?

I’ve been offline most of two weeks. On Twitter and Facebook, the twin steeds of my online Roman ride, that’s, like, eternity, man. When I remount, I expect to have to rebuild relationships and re-introduce myself to the Web-iverse. I … Continue reading

Posted in Civil War, due process, Fifth Amendment, God's Thunderbolt, gold, Gold Under Ice, habeas corpus, historical fiction of the West, historical research, Idaho Territorial Law, Law & Vigilance, Montana, Montana's Vigilantes | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Learning by Pruning

For years I told myself that my writing would never win awards or get much notice. (I’m great at negative thinking, as you can see.) Then two awards and a second place sort of rocked my comfy negative world. I … Continue reading

Posted in historical fiction of the West | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off

How to take the sexual temperature

I’ve never given much thought to varieties of sexual temperature, but then Jamie challenged me to think about it for this series. Writing hot, writing cold, writing warm — I’m afraid I don’t know how to do any of that … Continue reading

Posted in historical fiction of the West | Tagged , , | 8 Comments