Authorpreneur Dashboard – Rusty Beauquet
The Reckoning
Literature & Fiction
When McNeil rode into Dead Horse Crossing, a tiny town on the west bank of the Pecos, he wasn’t looking for trouble. Tight-lipped about the purpose of his visit, he immediately gets a chilly reception from the townspeople. McNeil rents a room at the hotel, only to be harassed by a cowboy named Cotton Patrick for no apparent reason. McNeil’s attempts to get directions to an area ranch create further hostility, prompting a local powerful rancher, Bull Sommers, to take a keen interest in McNeil’s presence. McNeil visits the town marshal’s office for help only to discover that the marshal, Bud Long, also doubles as the town drunk and is useless. McNeil mentions he is trying to locate a rancher named Denton Everhart at the local Lazy E ranch and Long becomes as hostile as the rest of townsfolk.Then when he persists in riding out to the Lazy E, real trouble finds him. It becomes apparent that the good people of Dead Horse Crossing have something to hide. And when McNeil stumbles onto their terrible secret, he touches a nerve so sensitive he spends the rest of his time in town fighting for his life. But he isn’t the only one. Part of the secret McNeil uncovers means he has a score to settle. Before he quits this speck of a town on the edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, others will fight to stay alive, too. For McNeil, it’s not about revenge. He demands a reckoning.
Book Bubbles from The Reckoning
The Influence of Louis L’Amour
With almost all of his existing works still in print, Louis L’Amour’s book sales are now well over 300 million. That’s a staggering number when you consider L’Amour’s books weren’t overly popular with the critics of his day. However, he wrote for readers rather than the literary critics. That’s why his books were and remain so popular with readers. I think we can distill the explanation behind the popularity of L’Amour’s writing into two things. He told his stories simply with an emphasis on action. L’Amour sought to entertain readers rather than to impress with overblown vocabulary or endless, extraneous detail. He attracted male and female readers alike who appreciated his simple, evocative prose. L’Amour gave readers bigger than life characters, but archetypes of both men and women that were like real people and believable. For us modern day writers of westerns, Louis L’Amour is the ghost we chase and will never catch. I don’t believe any author of western books will ever equal him, but there is much we can learn from him about how to tell entertaining stories.
Hankerin' for the Cowboy Code of the West
I once read a plaque entitled "Cowboy Code of the West." The words held much wisdom like: "Live each day with courage, take pride in your work, always finish what you start, be tough but fair, keep the promises you make, talk less and say more." It ended with: "Remember some things aren't for sale. Know when to draw the line." In the movie Open Range, Robert Duvall's character (Boss Spearman) says, "Man's got a right to protect his property and his life, and we ain't lettin' no rancher or his lawman take either." Today terms like "the elites of society" and "government" would substitute well in that quote. I have a hankerin' to return to the Code of the Old West. And that's what prompted me to write this book.
